UOB Lady’s Savings Account – MoneySmart Review (2022)

We’re used to seeing all sorts of products marketed at women only, from pink mobile phones to the UOB Lady’s Credit Card. So, the fact that UOB’s Lady’s savings account is a thing hardly comes as a surprise.

Unlike the UOB One account, however, the UOB Lady’s Savings Account is not a high interest savings account.

With the UOB Lady’s Savings Account, the bank has moved away from high interest rates as a selling point and appealing to customers with other perks such as female cancer insurance coverage, some medical and wellness benefits.

But are these perks attractive enough to justify stashing your cash in a low interest rate account? Let’s find out.

 

How does the UOB Lady’s Savings Account work?

Let’s get to the facts straight away. The UOB Lady’s Savings Account is not a high interest savings account. They pay out a base interest rate of only 0.05% p.a., which is similar to what you’d get from your basic POSB or DBS savings account.

What it is, however, is a savings account that offers complimentary female cancer coverage for 6 cancers (breast, cervix uteri, uterus, fallopian tube, vagina/vulva and ovary) as well as some medical and wellness benefits. The amount of insurance coverage you receive increases based on your account balance. To qualify for the cancer coverage, you must not be older than 55.

The initial deposit required is $1,000, and you have to maintain a minimum balance of $1,000 in order to avoid the fall-below fee of $2 per month. This fall below fee is waived for 6 months if you opened your account online. 

UOB Lady’s Savings Account general medical and wellness benefits

Here’s a run down of the account’s two key medical benefits apart from insurance:

• Free yearly health check — You’ll be screened for obesity/blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and ovarian cancer marker, and also get a 3 strain flu vaccination.
• $13 flat fee standard GP consultations for you and up to 4 dependents at 500 MHC clinics island-wide.
• Exclusive dental package at $95, which includes scaling, polishing, fluoride treatment and teeth whitening package at a preferred rate of $1,288, which includes in-clinic treatment for instant results and a take-home whitening kit for maintenance.
• A one-time private pilates session at $97 – You’ll be hard pressed to find any private pilates lessons below $100.

These healthcare and wellness perks are the same no matter how much or how little cash you have in your account.

UOB Savings Account cancer insurance

The insurance offered by this account covers six cancers specific to women — breast, cervix uteri, uterus, fallopian tube, vagina/vulva and ovary.

The sum assured rises with your account balance. Here’s a breakdown of the monthly average account balance and the insurance sum assured: 

Monthly average balance	Female cancer insurance sum assured
$10,000 and below	$1,000
$10,001 – $25,000	$10,000
$25,001 – $50,000	$25,000
$50,001 – $75,000	$75,000
$75,001 – $100,000	$100,000
> $100,000	$200,000

Who is the UOB Lady’s Savings Account suitable for?

Only women aged 16 to 55 can sign up for the account. The insurance protection is valid until the age of 64.

This account could be worthwhile if you already have critical illness protection and want to beef it up with UOB’s free protection. As only six female cancers are covered, it is definitely no substitute for a more comprehensive critical illness plan if you think you need one. It could be useful for those with female cancer risk factors or a family history of these cancers.

Another case for opening this account is if you are simply very health conscious, or have existing health issues and could make full use of their medical benefits. You get the free health screening and $13 GP visits no matter what your account balance is, so if you don’t feel like tying up too much cash here you can just deposit $1,000 in the account, which is the minimum balance you need to avoid the fall-below fee.

Ladies with large families can benefit even more from the account as the $13 GP visits can be enjoyed by up to 4 other people.

So, to summarise, consider signing up for this account if you satisfy one of the following:

• You want to beef up your existing critical illness protection.
• You have high risk factors or family history of the six female cancers protected by the plan.
• You are health conscious or have existing health problems, so you visit GPs often and/or want to take advantage of the free annual health screening.
• You don’t receive free GP visits (eg. through your employer).
• You have family members who could benefit from the $13 GP visits.

Our opinion? If you have $1,000 to spare, it might be worthwhile to sign up for this account just to enjoy the cheap GP visits and health screening. But it’s probably not worthwhile to try to deposit as much as you can just for the sake of the insurance, because in order to enjoy meaningful insurance protection you need high amounts of cash which could be better deployed elsewhere.

UOB Lady’s Card + Savings Account promotions

When you sign up for both the UOB Lady’s Savings Account and the UOB Lady’s Card online, you get a complimentary Enhanced Health Screening package.

Not only that, if you sign up, spend $1,500 in the first month, and happen to be one of the first 200 new customers, you will also receive $250 worth of Grab vouchers. Both the promotions are ongoing till 30 June 2022.