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Frequently Asked Questions

Deposit Insurance Scheme

1. What is the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: The DI Scheme protects insured deposits held with a full bank or ﬁnance

company. Insured depositors will be compensated up to a maximum of

S$75,000 in the event a DI Scheme member fails.

2. How does the Deposit Insurance Scheme work?

A: In the event a DI Scheme member fails, MAS will request SDIC to step in.

Arrangements will be made by SDIC for depositors to be paid either by

cheques, cashier’s orders or through electronic payment methods. SDIC will

make the compensation from the DI Fund which is built up from the

premiums that DI Scheme members pay annually.

3. Who are covered under the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: Individuals and non-bank depositors such as sole proprietorships,

partnerships, companies and other unincorporated entities like associations

and societies are covered under the DI Scheme.

4. What types of deposits are covered under the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: The DI Scheme covers the following Singapore dollar denominated

deposits placed with a DI Scheme member in any of its branches in

Singapore:

A deposit held in a savings account

A deposit held in a ﬁxed deposit account

A deposit held in a current account

Any monies placed under the CPF Investment Scheme

Any monies placed under the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme

Any monies placed under the Supplementary Retirement Scheme

Other products, as prescribed by MAS

If you want to know if your ﬁnancial institution is a DI Scheme member,

please refer to the complete list of DI Scheme members.

5. How do I know if my deposits are covered under the Deposit Insurance

Scheme?

A: Singapore dollar deposits of non-bank depositors such as individuals, sole

proprietors, partnerships, companies and unincorporated entities like

associations and societies held with members of the DI Scheme are covered.

You can request for a register of insured deposits from any full bank or

ﬁnance company to ﬁnd out which deposit products are covered. Also, the

account opening forms, deposit account statements and marketing materials

will display the DI Scheme disclosure statement if a product is insured.

6. What is not covered by the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: The DI Scheme does not cover foreign currency deposits, structured

deposits and investment products such as unit trusts, shares and other

securities.

7. Why are foreign currency deposits and structured deposits not covered? They

are very popular and the banks have been actively promoting it.

A: The main objective of deposit insurance is to protect small depositors.

Many of them do not have foreign currency or structured deposits. Foreign

currency deposits and structured deposits also have an investment feature

where the investor is required to assume higher risk for the higher return.

Such products do not typically form part of the core savings or transaction

accounts of small depositors.

8. Are foreign banks included under the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: All full banks and ﬁnance companies in Singapore (unless otherwise

exempted by MAS) are required to be members of the DI Scheme. However,

wholesale and offshore banks are not required to be members. So a foreign

bank which has full-banking license would be included under the DI Scheme.

If you want to know if your ﬁnancial institution is a DI Scheme member,

please refer to the complete list of DI Scheme members.

9. How much is the coverage under the Deposit Insurance Scheme?

A: Singapore dollar deposits in savings accounts, ﬁxed deposit accounts,

current accounts and monies placed under the Supplementary Retirement

Scheme are insured for up to S$75,000 in aggregate per depositor per

Scheme member. Monies placed under the CPF Investment Scheme and CPF

Retirement Sum Scheme are aggregated and separately insured up to

S$75,000. Trust and client accounts are insured up to S$75,000 per account

without aggregation. For more information, you may refer to Calculation of

Compensation.

10. How am I insured if I have multiple accounts with the same bank? For

example, I have a savings account and a ﬁxed deposit account with Bank A.

A: The DI limit of S$75,000 is applied on a per depositor per Scheme

member basis. The deposits in your savings account and ﬁxed deposit

account with Bank A will be aggregated and covered up to S$75,000. Only

trust and client accounts are separately insured on a per account basis.

11. How am I insured if I have multiple accounts with different banks?

A: The DI limit of S$75,000 is applied on a per depositor per Scheme

member basis. This means that your deposits will be covered up to S$75,000

for each bank.

12. How are joint accounts protected under the Deposit insurance Scheme?

A: For joint accounts, SDIC will split funds in the joint account evenly unless

the DI Scheme member has records that show otherwise. Each account

holder's share is then combined with his or her own accounts and the total

amount of insured deposits is then covered up to S$75,000. For example, if

you and your husband have a joint account with S$70,000, and you have a

separate account of S$60,000, your total deposits of S$95,000 will be

covered to the maximum of S$75,000. If you want to know more about the

calculation of deposit insurance coverage for joint accounts, please refer to

Calculation of Compensation.

13. What about insured deposits held by a sole proprietorship?

A: Insured deposits in a person's own name, and in the name of his sole

proprietorship held with the same Scheme member, will be aggregated.

Similarly if the sole proprietorship is owned by a company, then the deposits

of the sole proprietorship and the company will be aggregated. If you want to

know more about the calculation of deposit insurance coverage for sole

proprietorship accounts, please refer to the Calculation of Compensation.

14. What about deposits held by partnerships?

A: A partnership is treated as a single entity for the purpose of DI

compensation and no aggregation of its insured deposits with insured

deposits of its partners is applied. Assume a partnership with 3 partners - A,

B and C and they have a deposit of S$80,000 with a Scheme member. Partner

A maintains S$30,000 with the same Scheme member in a personal savings

account. In the event of a DI payout, the partnership will be entitled to a

compensation of S$75,000 as a single entity with a Scheme member. Partner

A will receive S$30,000 in his own personal capacity.

15. What about deposits held in trust and client accounts?

A: Deposits held in trust and client accounts by non-bank depositors are

insured on a per account basis up to S$75,000. If you want to know more

about the calculation of deposit insurance coverage for trust and client

accounts, please refer to Calculation of Compensation.

16. What happens to my deposits if my bank (Bank A) is merged with another bank

(Bank B)?

A: If you have insured deposits with both Bank A and Bank B and the

combined balance exceeds S$75,000 immediately before the merger, your

deposits will be insured by SDIC for up to S$150,000 for one year after the

transfer. In determining the total protection limit during this one-year period,

SDIC will combine the separate protection limits of your deposits from Bank

A and Bank B into a single protection limit. For example, if you have

S$60,000 in Bank A and S$90,000 in Bank B immediately before the merger,

you would have protection limits of S$60,000 and S$75,000 from SDIC,

respectively. In this example, the total protection limit of the insured

depositor will be S$135,000.

17. What if I have pledged my ﬁxed deposit as collateral for a loan?

A: There is no impact on your coverage even if you have pledged your

deposit. The DI Scheme will insure pledged deposits up to the S$75,000

limit.

18. Who is in charge of deposit insurance?

A: SDIC administers the DI Scheme in Singapore. The board of SDIC is

accountable to the Minister in charge of MAS. If you want to know more

about SDIC, please refer to Organisation.

19. Why is deposit insurance necessary? I thought Singapore's banking system is

very safe?

A: Singapore's banking system is known to be safe and well regulated. MAS

has rules to ensure that banks and ﬁnance companies are well managed, well

capitalised and have enough liquidity to meet any unforeseen needs.

Deposit insurance is just another layer of protection for small depositors.

These are hard-earned savings and while the going is good, it is better to

build up an insurance fund than wait for a crisis to happen. Experience

elsewhere has shown that if you have a mechanism in place to guarantee the

safety of deposits, people are less likely to panic if and when things go

wrong.

20. Is SDIC part of the government?

A: SDIC is not part of the government. SDIC is a company limited by

guarantee under the Companies Act. However, SDIC has been designated to

be the Deposit Insurance and Policy Owners' Protection Fund Agency under

the Deposit Insurance and Policy Owners' Protection Schemes Act (Cap 77B).

The board of SDIC is also accountable to the Minister in charge of MAS.

21. What do I need to do to be covered by deposit insurance? Do I need to pay?

A: Coverage is automatic. There is no need to ﬁll out any application form or

pay any premium. But do remember to keep your bank updated on your

personal details such as name, ID number, mobile number and address so

that any compensation payment can be sent to you promptly.

22. When will there be a deposit insurance payout?

A: MAS may decide that a deposit insurance payout should be made if:

A court order has been made to wind up a DI Scheme member; or

MAS has determined that a DI Scheme member is insolvent, unable or

likely to become unable to meet its obligations, or about to suspend

payments.

23. What do I need to do when my bank or ﬁnance company fails?

A: Nothing. If your bank or ﬁnance company who is a DI Scheme member

fails, you do not need to ﬁle claims with SDIC as payouts will be computed

based on the records of the failed bank or ﬁnance company. SDIC will also

make ofﬁcial announcements in the Government Gazette, through mass

media such as newspapers, television, radio and SDIC’s website. If the

compensation you receive from SDIC is less than your total amount of

deposits with the failed bank or ﬁnance company, SDIC will submit a claim

on your behalf to the liquidator of the failed institution for the difference.

24. How and when will I get my money back after my bank collapses?

A: Compensation will be done promptly either through cheque/cashier’s

order sent to your registered mailing address with the failed bank or through

electronic payment methods. SDIC’s target is to send out most of the

payments to depositors within 7 working days after payout is activated by

MAS.

25. I wish to ﬁnd out what is the balance in my bank account and how much will I

be compensated after my bank collapses. How can I ﬁnd out?

A: The Insured Depositors’ login portal will be enabled on SDIC’s website if a

bank collapses and payout is activated by MAS. The portal allows you to log

in to view your insured deposits with the failed bank and compensation

amounts under the DI Scheme. Statements and payment letters will also be

sent to your registered mailing address with the failed bank. More

information will be made available on SDIC’s website when the event

happens.

Overview

Scheme Members

Scope Of Coverage

Calculation of Compensation

Deposit Insurance Payout

Deposit Insurance Fund

Rules & Regulations

FAQs

Consumer Guides

Media Release

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