Can I purchase Savings Bonds in joint name or under a trust account? You need to have a CDP Securities account in your own name in order to purchase Savings Bonds. However, you can pay for the Savings Bonds from a joint bank account tagged to your personal ATM card.
What do I need in order to buy Savings Bonds? For cash applications, you will need: A bank account with DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB. You will also need to have an ATM card or internet banking access for the account; and An individual CDP Securities account linked to a Direct Crediting Service (DCS) bank account. Interest payments and redemption proceeds of your SSB will be paid to the designated DCS bank account. For Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) applications, you will need: A SRS account with one of the three SRS Operators (i.e. DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB) and internet banking access with the SRS operator. You need to be at least 18 years old to open an individual CDP Securities account or a SRS account. It is not necessary to have a trading account with a securities broker to purchase Savings Bonds.
Why do I need to open a CDP Securities account to buy Savings Bonds using cash? Can I use my joint CDP Securities account to buy Savings Bonds? CDP is the custodian for Savings Bonds. You will need to have an individual CDP Securities account to hold your Savings Bonds if you are applying with cash. Savings Bonds may not be held in any other types of CDP accounts (such as joint accounts).
Can I use Central Provident Fund (CPF) funds to buy Savings Bonds?No, CPF funds cannot be used to invest in Savings Bonds.
What is SRS? I do not have a SRS account. How do I open a SRS account? The Supplementary Retirement Scheme is a voluntary scheme to encourage individuals to save for retirement, over and above their CPF savings. Contributions to SRS are eligible for tax relief. For more information on SRS, please refer to the Ministry of Finance’s website (https://www.mof.gov.sg/schemes/Individuals/Supplementary-Retirement-Scheme ). You may also visit the websites of the SRS Operators (i.e. DBS/POSB, OCBC and UOB) for information on how to open a SRS account. DBS: http://go.dbs.com/sg-srs OCBC: http://www.ocbc.com/srs UOB: https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/invest/financial/srs-account.page
When can I apply for Savings Bonds? A new Savings Bond will be issued every month. MAS will announce (www.mas.gov.sg/ssb) details of the upcoming Savings Bond issue (such as the amount available and interest rates) on the 1st business day of each month. The application period for each Savings Bond issue opens on 6.00pm on the 1st business day of the month and closes at 9.00pm on the 4th last business day of the month. The operating hours for application submission are: 7am-9pm, Mon-Sat (excluding Public Holidays)
Can I apply for past SSB issues or buy more of an SSB issue that I own? No. SSBs are only available for purchase during the bond’s application period. Older SSB issues are not for sale once the application period is over.
Can you help me understand the names and the issue codes for Savings Bonds? Savings Bonds are issued monthly and are thus identified by the year and month they were issued. This means that the bond’s issuance year and month will be shown when you apply for or redeem Savings Bonds at ATMs or via internet banking portals. The bond’s issuance year and month will also be shown in CDP and SRS statements which state your Savings Bonds investments. Lastly, bank statement and SRS accounts would reflect the name of the Savings Bonds when you receive your coupons and principal. For instance, when you apply for the Savings Bond which would be issued on 1st Oct 2015, the ATM screen will show “GX15100F issued on 10/15”. Subsequently, your CDP account will show the bond as “SBOCT15 GX15100F”. Interest payments and redemptions will show in your bank statement as “CDP-SBOCT15”. GX15100F is the unique issue code assigned by MAS. The first two letters, “GX”, denote that this is a Savings Bond. The next four numbers show the year and month the bond was issued, e.g. “GX15100F” is the bond issued in Oct 2015. The last digit (“0”) and alphabet (“F”) are for MAS’ internal reference. Finally, SGX assigns each Savings Bond an ISIN (“International Securities Identification Number”), in line with international practices for securities.
Where can I apply for Savings Bonds? For applications using cash, apply via DBS/POSB, OCBC and UOB ATMs or internet banking portals, and OCBC’s mobile application. Have your CDP account number ready when you apply. For applications using SRS funds, apply via the internet banking portal of your SRS Operator. Please note that you cannot apply for Savings Bonds at the bank counters in person.
When will the monies be deducted from my bank account? Do I receive interest on the monies that are deducted from my bank account when I make the application? For applications using cash, the money will be deducted from your bank account at the point of application. For applications using SRS funds, banks will lock, or earmark, the SRS funds at the point of application. This means that once the application has been submitted, you will not be able to use the SRS funds for other purposes until the SRS funds have been released by the next business day after allotment day for rejected applications, or partial allotment. You will receive interest only after the Savings Bond is issued.
Can I make changes to or cancel submitted applications?No. You will not be able to amend or cancel submitted applications.
Can I make multiple applications through different banks for the same Savings Bond issue? What will happen to my earlier requests? Will they be overwritten or superseded? For applications using cash, you can make multiple applications through either the same or different banks. However, each application will be charged a $2 transaction fee by the bank. For applications using SRS funds, you can only submit applications through your SRS Operator. However, you can submit multiple applications through the same SRS Operator. Each application will be charged a $2 transaction fee by the SRS Operator. You will not be able to amend or cancel your submitted applications. Submitted applications will not be overwritten or superseded. We will compile all your applications and apply the Individual Limit at allocation. Please note that you cannot submit a redemption request for the same bond in order to reduce the application amount. Redemption requests can only be made for securities that you already hold.
When will I know the results of my Savings Bonds application? How do I know how much Savings Bonds I have received? What happens if my application is unsuccessful or partially filled? MAS will perform the allotment and announce the overall application results on the 3rd last business day of the month. You will be able to view the results on the Savings Bonds website (www.mas.gov.sg/ssb). The two important figures to look out for are: The cutoff amount: if the amount of Savings Bonds you have applied for is equal or less than the cutoff amount, you will receive the full amount you applied for. If the amount you applied for is above the cutoff amount, you will receive either (i) the cutoff amount, or (ii) $500 more than the cutoff amount. Random allotment %: this is the chance that you will receive an additional $500 of Savings Bonds if your application is above the cutoff amount. If your application is successful, the Savings Bonds will be credited into your CDP account (for cash subscriptions) or SRS account (for SRS subscriptions) on the issuance date. This information will also be updated on the Savings Bonds portal one day after the issuance date. If your application is unsuccessful or partially filled, For cash applications, any excess money will be refunded by the next business day after allotment day. You can check the amount refunded with the bank through which you applied for Savings Bonds. For SRS applications, banks will release the earmarked SRS funds back to your SRS account by the next business day after allotment day.
How are Savings Bonds allotted? Why would I be allotted less than the amount I applied for? After the close of the application period, MAS’ allocation system will sum up all applications received using cash and SRS funds, check that these applications do not exceed the Individual Limit and distribute the bond to applicants. In a situation where total applications exceed the total issuance size, each applicant will receive at least $500 of Savings Bonds, with the amount increasing in multiples of $500 for every applicant until an applicant has received the full amount that he has applied for, or until all the available bonds have been allotted, whichever comes first. The box item on the next page provides an illustration of the allotment process (also known as the Quantity Ceiling format). If the number of applicants is so large that issuing $500 per applicant will exceed the total issuance size, the bonds will be allocated among applicants on a random basis, at $500 each. This means that, in the event a particular issue is oversubscribed, you may not get the full amount that you have applied for. If your combined cash and SRS application is partially filled, the order will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis according to the time of each application. Example: Applicant makes three applications (1st application -$6k cash; 2nd application - $6k SRS; 3rd application - $6k cash) and was allotted $15k of SSB based on the Quantity Ceiling format. In this case, his 1st, 2nd and $3k of his 3rd application will be filled (i.e. overall, the applicant is allotted $9k of SSB from cash applications and $6k of SSB from the SRS application).