SeaBank is a mobile banking application offered by SeaBank Philippines Inc (A Rural Bank). It offers up to 5% interest rate per annum on savings with no initial deposit requirement and no maintaining balance to worry about.
- Offers higher saving interest rate (as of Mar 2023)
- 5% per annum up to PhP 250,000
- 3% per annum in excess of PhP 250,000
- No Initial Deposit required
- No Maintaining Balance
- Free Fund transfer (as of Mar 2023)
- Daily crediting of Earnings
SeaBank Philippines Inc. (A Rural Bank) is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and deposits are insured by the PDIC up to P500,000 per depositor. With this, your hard-earned money is secured when you save at SeaBank.
Furthermore, SeaBank is part of Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), a global consumer internet company founded and headquartered in Singapore and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It operates three core businesses across digital entertainment, e-commerce, as well as digital payments and financial services, known as Garena, Shopee, and SeaMoney respectively. (Source)
Opening a SeaBank Account
Since SeaBank is considered a digital bank, you can only open an account via the mobile banking app. Just download and install the SeaBank PH app in Google Play, App Store or App Gallery. Search the app or you can click the respective icon below to download the app.
After you successfully installed the app, just follow the on-screen instructions to create an account online.
- Use your mobile number or your Shopee account details to start the application.
- An OTP will be sent to your mobile number. Enter the code in the space provided to continue.
- Then, create a password and re-enter it to confirm.
- Take a selfie for Facial Verification.
- Upload 1 valid ID and wait for ID verification. Click here for the list of valid IDs. If you presented an ID without an indicated address, you need to send a Proof of Residensial Address (PORA).
- Review the terms of service and agree to complete the application.
- Set-up a secure 6-digit PIN.
- Wait for an SMS within 24 hours that you successfully open a SeaBank account.
Once you receive an SMS that your account is ready, you can now login to your account via the SeaBank PH app.
SeaBank accepts the following IDs for opening a savings account:
- Unified Multi-purpose ID (UMID)
- Philippine Driver’s License
- Philippine Identification Card (PhilID) or National ID
- Postal ID (plastic format)
- Philippine Passport
- Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID
- Social Security System (SSS) ID
Features and Services in SeaBank PH app
Account Number
Once you successfully login to your SeaBank account, on the main dashboard, you can see your Account Number at the top of the page. You can copy that number and start savings by transferring funds from your other bank accounts or e-wallets accounts.
Earnings Calculator
To help you know how much interest income you will receive based on your savings, there is a calculator provided in the app. Just click the Information icon (i) beside the Total Earnings, and tap the Calculate Earnings button. Enter any amount up to 500,000 to know the interest earnings based on 5% interest rate.
Try to use this Calculator to compute the interest earnings based on 5% savings interest rate.
Please note that the interest earnings is subject to 20% withholding tax. As an example, for a saving of 100,000 (P), interest earning for 1 year (t) based on 5% (r) interest rate will be:
Interest Earning (1 year) = P*r*t = 100,000*5%*1 = 5,000
Withholding tax deduction = Interest Earning*20% = 5,000*20% = 1,000
Interest Earning received (1 year) = 5,000-1,000 = P 4,000
To compute for the daily interest earning:
Interest Earning (1 day) = (P*r*t)/365 = P*r*t = (100,000*5%*1)/365 = 5,000/365 = 13.698
Withholding tax deduction = Interest Earning*20% = 13.698*20% = 2.739
Interest Earning received (1 day) = 13.698 – 2.739 = P 10.959 ~ P 10.96
I’ll leave to you how to compute the 30 days interest earnings. What you just need is to multiply the daily earnings to 30.
Daily Crediting of Interest Earnings
Enjoy daily crediting of interest earnings. The computation of daily earning will be based on the previous day total amount balance of your account.
Fund Transfer
With fund transfer, you can send money to other banks and e-wallets via InstaPay and PesoNet. Tap the Pay/Transfer icon, and select the bank or e-wallet and enter the account details of the receiver’s account. Transfer fee to other banks or e-wallets is free as of January 2023.
Link SeaBank to your ShopeePay
For easy and free fund transfer from your SeaBank account to your Shopee account, you can link your SeaBank account to your ShopeePay account. Once you successfully link the acccount, you can cash-in your ShopeePay account directly from your SeaBank account.
E-Statement and Bank Certificate
E- Statement is automatically generated and can be viewed in the app. You can view the statement per month and can be accessed through the Transaction History or in E-Statement in Me icon.
For Bank Statement, you can send a chat in the app to the SeaBank Customer Service to request for a bank statement.
Keypoints and Takeaways
- SeaBank offers a higher saving interest rate (up to 5%) compared to traditional banks
- SeaBank conditions to open an account are good to consider
- No initial deposit required
- No maintaining balance needed
- Only 1 valid ID for opening an account
- Account opening is through online via the SeaBank app
- SeaBank features consist of:
- Daily crediting of interest earnings
- Earning Calculator
- Free fund transfer to other banks and e-wallets (as of Jan 2023)
- Link to ShopeePay account
- E-Statement and Bank Certificate
- Your savings are safe and secured in SeaBank since it is regulated by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and deposits are insured by PDIC
- As of the moment, SeaBank is not yet offering a Debit Card or Credit Card
For more information about SeaBank, visit their official website, https://www.seabank.ph/. For any related inquiries and concerns, you can contact them via the following details:
- Email: [email protected]
- Chat: Use the Chat with SeaBank in the app
- Local Hotline: (+632) 8891 7927
Photo Credit: Mockup by freepik.com