It’s wise to buy gold and silver from banks because they provide a steady supply with a solid financial background. UOB(United Overseas Bank) is a niche in trading gold and silver. The bank offers comprehensive and exceptional investment services related to gold and silver products you would think about.
In the following, you can learn more about investing in gold and silver and the benefits of UOB’s strength in this area. Read more on how to start investing in Singapore here.
Reasons Why People Are Investing in Gold and Silver
- Valuable metals: Since earlier times, people have bought gold and silver to keep the asset value from loss. They do it in inflation and war times. You may know the gold and silver market prices have risen to 44% and 24% respectively over the last 5 years. Gold and silver provide investment values.
- An inflation beater: Gold and Silver are good hedges against inflation and currency. If you calculate the gold and silver prices in US currency, you will see a 3.5% depreciation of the Singapore dollar against the US dollar and an inflation rate of about 3.5% over the past 5 years from 2017 to 2021. A total 7% value loss in 5 years! However, gold and silver have returned 37% and 17% net in the period.
- Efficient and convenient investments: You don’t need a large basement or safes to store gold and silver. Banks like UOB or other financial institutions issue gold and silver certificates or savings accounts replacing physical metals to clients. They become a guarantor promising the delivery of gold or silver.
- Diversification: Investors may use gold and silver to diversify investment or portfolio risks. When stocks and bonds in global markets shake in prices, people usually turn to gold and silver as a conduit of reducing risks.
- Traditional investments: In addition to being an investment tool, people purchase treasuries made from gold and silver as wedding, birthday, or party gifts and view the metals as valuable assets.
What are UOB Gold Savings Account and Silver Savings Account?
Like a bank savings account, UOB offers an account service recording your gold or silver trades on a transaction basis. You can have information detailing gold and silver sales and purchases with an account. It is a paper gold or silver account with UOB as the guarantor.
The benefits are you do not need to transport and store physical metals at home where you may spend effort and money protecting them; besides, you may purchase insurance policies against theft or loss. You entrust the commodities with UOB at ease and have your assets fully protected with some fees.
How do An UOB Savings Account and An Silver Savings Account Work?
How to trade
You have two ways to make the trades:
- UOB Personal Internet Banking: A total of 15 trading hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every business day is available for deals. All you have to do is log in to your personal internet banking account on UOB’s website and begin to trade.
- Mobile Banking: You have no time restriction on trades with the UOB mobile application because it is in business all day round except for public holidays. The UOB gold and silver prices are in line with the international markets.
Eligibility and Fees
- You must be 18 or above.
- You should have a minimum initial deposit of 5 grams for gold and 10 ounces for silver when you open an account with the bank.
- The minimum balance fee is 5 grams for a gold account and 10 ounces for a silver account.
- The two account holdings are not subject to the Singapore Goods and Services Tax(GST).
How to buy Gold and Silver from UOB
You can register a silver passbook savings account with UOB and purchase gold through 5 channels from UOB.
1. UOB Silver Savings Account(SSA)
You can open a silver savings account with UOB and buy and sell silver directly on the savings account. The minimum transaction amount is 10 ounces of silver. An administrative fee of 0.375% p.a. is calculated every month based on the highest balances of your silver account.
The fee collected is not less than 0.2 ounces of silver. UOB deducts the fee which incurs a GST at a year’s end or account closure. The minimum balance fee is 10 ounces for a silver account.
You have to pay a S$30 early account closure fee for the first 6 months of a new account.
2. Gold
You may choose one of the other 4 ways to buy or sell gold besides a gold savings account. Below is the following gold services available in UOB:
3. Buy Physical Gold
A variety of gold bars in size and weight are available. They range from gold wafers to cast kilobars. Moreover, UOB provides globally-accepted gold bullion coins for trade and investments. You can trade the commodities with UOB at market prices. The details are in the gold and silver price chart following.
4. Gold Certificates
You can also buy gold certificates from UOB. A gold certificate indicates the volume of gold purchased stored with UOB. Additional fees are necessary for gold certificate transactions:
- A S$5 for each gold certificate
- An annual administration fee of S$72 for each kilobar.
In addition, a goods and services tax(GST) applies to a gold certificate transaction.
The gold quality is 999.9% fineness, and the maximum quantity per gold certificate is 30 kilograms. You should have an account UOB for fee deductions.
5. UOB Gold Savings Account(GSA)
A gold savings account is a viable and popular investment vehicle in Singapore. You can make investing in gold more manageable at one-stop through a UOB gold savings account which shows all your past investing activities on ledgers without any physical delivery. The minimum amount is 5 grams per transaction.
Fees and Requirements
The 3 gold products come with charges and expenses. Let’s see the summary of fees and requirements:
Fees | Requirements | |
Physical gold |
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Gold certificate |
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Gold Savings Account(GSA) |
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UOB Gold, Silver Price Chart
Physical Gold
UOB offers four kinds of physical gold, one gold certificate, one gold savings account, and one silver savings account to buyers. All prices in Singapore dollars on 27 September 2024 from UOB websites.
DESCRIPTION | CURRENCY | UNIT | BANK SELLS | BANK BUYS |
ARGOR CAST BAR | SGD | 100 GM | 11087.00 | 10957.00 |
ARGOR Heraeus Lunar Bar | SGD | 10 GM | 1182.00 | 1093.00 |
ARGOR Heraeus Lunar Bar | SGD | 1 OZ | 3521.00 | 3406.00 |
CAST BARS | SGD | 1 KILOBAR | 110219.00 | 109586.00 |
GOLD CERTIFICATE | SGD | 1 KILOCERT | 110219.00 | 109586.00 |
GOLD SAVINGS A/C | SGD | 1 GM | 110.29 | 109.58 |
GOLD BULLION COINS | SGD | 1 OZ | 3495.00 | 3408.00 |
GOLD BULLION COINS | SGD | 1/2 OZ | 1785.00 | 1703.00 |
GOLD BULLION COINS | SGD | 1/4 OZ | 905.00 | 851.00 |
GOLD BULLION COINS | SGD | 1/10 OZ | 385.00 | 340.00 |
GOLD BULLION COINS | SGD | 1/20 OZ(GNC,SLC &GML) | 216.00 | 169.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 100 GM | 11110.00 | 10957.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 50 GM | 5591.00 | 5477.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 20 GM | 2267.00 | 2189.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 10 GM | 1163.00 | 1093.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 5 GM | 603.00 | 545.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 2.5 GM | 321.00 | 271.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 1 GM | 137.00 | 107.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 1 OZ | 3502.00 | 3406.00 |
PAMP GOLD BARS | SGD | 1/2 OZ | 1760.00 | 1702.00 |
SILVER PASSBOOK ACCOUNT | SGD | 1 OZ | 41.20 | 40.37 |
UOB Lunar Bar | SGD | 1 OZ | 3544.00 | 3406.00 |
- Argos Cast Bar: It is a 99.99% pure gold bar manufactured and refined by the Argor-Heraeus SA in Mendrisio in Switzerland.
- Cast Bar: It is a UOB gold bar of 99.99% fineness.
- Gold Bullion Coins: Two kinds of gold bullion coins are available in UOB. One is the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Gold Coins and the other the Australian Gold Nuggets. They are on offer with 999.9 fineness and in various weights(see the gold bullion coins row in the above table)
- Pamp Gold Bar: The Pamp acronym for Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux, one of the artistic precious metal products, is noted for its leading gold and precious products.
- International gold prices: the international gold price is quoted on a 99.95% fineness, while the UOB gold price is on a 99.99 fineness.
What are the risks of investing in gold and silver?
Investing involves risks. Gold and silver are no exception. Before putting them in your portfolio, you must know the risks:
- Price risk: Gold and silver prices are volatile. You may suffer a loss due to heavy price swings in the market.
- Dividend risk: Unlike stocks or bonds, you do not receive dividends or interests from gold or silver investments.
- Storage cost: If you buy physical gold, you may pay transportation expenses, storage costs, and insurance expenses. You may increase the costs for gold investment.
Final Words
You can benefit from investing in gold and silver through UOB as the bank offers comprehensive services to savvy investors through varied channels like real and paper metal investing services. Investors can trade everywhere using the latest technology.
- UOB offers physical gold, such as gold bars of sizes, gold bullion coins, and non-physical gold like gold certificates, gold savings accounts, and silver savings accounts.
- You can trade gold and silver through personal internet banking and mobile app.
- Physical gold comprises Argor cast bar, cast bar, gold bullion coins, and pamp gold bars. They vary in different sizes.
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