In 2020, Singlife offered the highest interest rate of 2.5% p.a. for a no-frills insurance savings plan.
This was amazing because every high-interest savings account offered by banks were cutting interest rates every other month, but Singlife maintained its interest rates for quite some time.
However, that quickly got reduced to 2% p.a. in late 2020 and as of 29 Jan 2021, will be further dropped to 1.5%.
The question that remains now is: is Singlife still worth it?
In order to find out if Singlife is still worth it at this rate, we need to compare it to its 2 strongest competitors: Dash EasyEarn and GIGANTIQ, which are both insurance savings plans as well.
Singlife VS Dash EasyEarn VS GIGANTIQ
Here is a table summarising the details of the 3 plans.
|
 |
 |
|
| Interest Rate | First $10k: 1.5%
Next $90k: 1% >$100k: 0% |
First $20k: 1.8%* (1.5%^ + 0.3%)
>$20k: 0% |
First $10k: 1.8%* (1%^ + 0.8%)
Next $190k: 1%^ >$200k: 0% |
| Initial Deposit | $500 | $2000 | $50 |
| Min Account Balance | $100 | $2000 | $50 |
| Withdrawal Fee | N/A (FAST) | $0.70 (PayNow) | $0.70 (PayNow)
$0.50 (FAST via DBS/POSB) |
| Top Ups | No restrictions | Min $500 Multiples of $500 |
Min $1 |
*: For 1st policy year only
^: Guaranteed for 1st policy year only
Let’s take a closer look at each point.
Interest Rate
At a glance, it is easy to see that after this latest revision of interest rates, Singlife’s interest rate has fallen behind its competitors, albeit by a miniscule 0.3% p.a.
While both Dash EasyEarn and GIGANTIQ offer the same interest rate of 1.8% p.a., there are differences that should be noted.
For one, Dash EasyEarn guarantees 1.5% out of its 1.8% interest rate for the first year while GIGANTIQ only guarantees 1%.
This means that you will definitely earn 1.5% interest on your balance in Dash EasyEarn on your first year, so you don’t have to worry about sudden interest rate cuts for one year.
Meanwhile, Singlife’s 1.5% interest rate is not guaranteed, so there’s nothing stopping them from reducing it further in the months ahead.
Dash EasyEarn also allows you to earn 1.8% interest on balances up to $20k, while Singlife’s 1.5% and GIGANTIQ’s 1.8% are only applicable on the first $10k balance.
This gives you more earning potential with Dash EasyEarn on balances of $20k and below.
Based on interest rates alone, Dash EasyEarn is a better option than Singlife as it’s guaranteed interest rate is equal to Singlife’s non-guaranteed interest rate, and is applicable on a larger balance.
While there’s no telling how Dash EasyEarn’s interest rates will change after 1 year, that’s a problem to worry about at a later time.
Initial Deposit
GIGANTIQ offers the lowest initial deposit amount of only $50, making it the most accessible option to consumers.
This is especially so if you’re a student with very little savings or have most of your savings safeguarded by your parents – it may be difficult for you to put together $500 to open a Singlife account.
GIGANTIQ‘s higher interest rate of 1.8% for the 1st year makes it a better option than Singlife.
Minimum Account Balance
Both Singlife and GIGANTIQ have very low minimum balances of $100 and $50 respectively.
For Singlife, having a balance below $100 means that you won’t earn any interest for that day.
For GIGANTIQ, having a balance below $50 results in account closure – and the accrued interests you earned during the policy month will be forfeited.
This means that Singlife has a more lenient policy for maintaining balances in your account.
Withdrawal Fee & Top Ups
While both Dash EasyEarn and GIGANTIQ charge fees for withdrawing from your policy account into your bank account, Singlife charges 0 fees.
Coupled with the fact that there are no restrictions on top ups for Singlife, Singlife offers the greatest flexibilty in terms of cash management.
You are able to top up and withdraw as much cash as you want and as frequently as you like for no cost.
In contrast, withdrawal fees of $0.70 and $0.50 will diminish the additional 0.3% interest offered by Dash EasyEarn and GIGANTIQ if withdrawals are made more than 4x or 5x a month respectively, assuming a $10k account balance.
This makes Singlife a more suitable option if you need to constantly access the funds you have put aside in any of these accounts.
Verdict
So, is Singlife still worth it? Personally, I’d say yes.
But if I had to pick 1 out of the 3 insurance savings plans, Dash EasyEarn would be my pick because of the higher and guaranteed interest rate which is applicable on a larger account balance of $20k.
However, this doesn’t mean that I’ll close my Singlife account and stop using it completely.
Singlife still offers some benefits that both Dash EasyEarn and GIGANTIQ don’t – the freedom to withdraw cash at no cost.
In this regard, a Singlife account functions most similarly to a regular savings account, and can be a good place to put short-term savings that you need to tap on frequently such as expenses.
On the other hand, I’d use Dash EasyEarn to keep long-term savings such as my emergency fund or for big-ticket expenses in the future such as housing.
This allows me to enjoy the benefits that both have to offer.
It would also make sense to keep your Singlife account if you happen to have more than $30k cash on hand – the balance can be kept in Singlife after parking $20k in Dash EasyEarn and $10k in GIGANTIQ to maximise your earnings from interest rates.
Closing Thoughts
If you haven’t already done so, I’d recommend you to open both a Dash EasyEarn & GIGANTIQ account.
I believe it’s only a matter of time before they follow in the footsteps of Singlife and reduce their interest rates.
By opening an account now, you will secure your 1.8% interest rates on both accounts so even if they reduce interest rates after that, you won’t be affected – until the end of your policy year.
You can open a Dash EasyEarn account via the Singtel Dash app and you can open a GIGANTIQ account via the Tiq By Etiqa app.
If you’d like to support me, please use my referral codes when signing up for Singtel Dash and GIGANTIQ below – they’ll go a long way in helping me maintain this site so I can continue sharing personal finance knowledge & tips! Thank you!
| Singtel Dash: Enter code “DASH-Q628D” or sign up here GIGANTIQ: Enter code “R179272” at checkout |
To summarise,
While the revision of Singlife’s interest rates makes it a less optimal option compared to its competitors, I believe that it has not been rendered obsolete just yet.
Singlife’s reduced interest rate of 1.5% is still higher than the likes of SC Jumpstart or CIMB FastSaver, and functions very similarly to a bank account due to its 0 withdrawal fee and flexible top up option.
For me, this is enough to keep Singlife relevant, and it will continue to be a part of my finances – at least for now.
Will you continue to use your Singlife account? Let me know in the comments below!