Is Your Money Protected? SDIC Deposit Insurance

If a bank or finance company in Singapore fails, deposit insurance is what gets your everyday savings back. The scheme is run by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC), and the rules are simpler than most people assume.

What is covered, and how much

If a Deposit Insurance (DI) Scheme member bank or finance company fails, all of your insured deposits with that member are aggregated and insured up to S$100,000 by SDIC. The cap is per depositor, per Scheme member — so two accounts at the same bank share one S$100,000 limit, while deposits at a different member bank are covered under that bank’s own separate limit.

Two cases have their own separate S$100,000 cover at the same member:

• CPF monies: amounts you place with a Scheme member bank under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) and CPF Retirement Sum Scheme (CPFRS) are aggregated and insured up to S$100,000, separately from your ordinary deposits.
• Trust and client accounts: deposits held in trust, and client accounts held by non-bank depositors, are insured up to S$100,000 per account.

What deposit insurance is not

SDIC also administers the Policy Owners’ Protection (PPF) Scheme, which covers certain life and general insurance policies if an insurer that is a Scheme member fails. That is a different scheme from deposit insurance — your bank deposits and your insurance policies are protected under separate arrangements.

Not everything held at a bank is an “eligible deposit.” Some products are not covered by the DI Scheme, so if you hold investment or other non-deposit products, check SDIC’s site for the current list of what is and isn’t insured before you rely on the cap.

What this means in practice

• You do not apply or pay for deposit insurance — it is automatic for eligible deposits at Scheme members. If a member fails, SDIC pays you the insured amounts.
• If you hold more than S$100,000 in cash and want it all insured, spreading it across different Scheme member banks (not just different accounts at one bank) is what increases total cover.
• Confirm your bank or finance company is a Scheme member, and treat the S$100,000 figure as the per-member cap, not a per-account one.

Common misunderstandings

• ✗ “Each of my accounts at the bank is covered for S$100,000.” → ✓ Accounts at the same member are added together under one S$100,000 cap.
• ✗ “My insurance policy is covered by deposit insurance.” → ✓ Policies fall under the separate PPF Scheme, not the DI Scheme.
• ✗ “Everything in my bank is insured.” → ✓ Only eligible deposits are; some products are excluded.