Updated 16 Apr 2026
How Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) work
A plain-English walkthrough of SSB: step-up coupons, monthly issuance, the $200,000 cap, random allotment when oversubscribed, and redemption at face value.
Informational only, not financial advice. Rates and rules below are summarized from MAS. Verify against the sources cited before acting.
Singapore Savings Bonds are a retail-only government bond issued monthly by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. They are designed to be a simple, low-risk place to park money — something between a savings account and a traditional bond.
The current SSB issue (GX26060N) offers 1.46% in year 1 and an average of 2.11% over 10 years (as of the last ingest; see freshness badge at the bottom of any page). See the full issue details →
The mechanics, briefly
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Issuer | Monetary Authority of Singapore |
| Tenor | Up to 10 years |
| Minimum | S$500 (multiples of S$500) |
| Per-person cap | S$200,000 across all SSB issues |
| Interest payments | Every 6 months |
| Redemption | Any month before maturity, at face value plus accrued interest |
| Capital loss risk | None — you always get your principal back |
| Cash / SRS | Eligible to buy with cash or SRS funds |
| CPF | NOT eligible — you cannot use CPF OA or SA funds to buy SSB |
Sources: MAS SSB overview · MAS SSB FAQ · MAS “How to Buy SSB”
The step-up coupon
SSB’s signature feature is a step-up coupon schedule. The interest rate in year 1 is lower than year 10; each year’s coupon is pre-announced when the bond is issued.
For example, a bond that pays 1.40% in year 1 might pay 2.96% in year 10, averaging to around 2.14% if you hold the full 10 years.
Why step-up? It rewards holding the bond longer, which aligns with the government’s goal of a stable retail savings vehicle. It also smooths reinvestment risk for savers — you don’t have to worry about what rates will do next year because your coupons are locked in at issuance.
You can see the full 10-year coupon schedule for each issue on the SSB tracker — click any issue code to see its year-by-year coupons and cumulative returns.
Worked example: S$10,000 for 5 years
Say you invest S$10,000 in an SSB with this coupon schedule: Year 1: 1.40%, Year 2: 1.59%, Year 3: 1.74%, Year 4: 1.89%, Year 5: 2.05%.
Your interest payments (paid every 6 months) would be:
| Year | Coupon rate | Annual interest | Cumulative earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.40% | S$140.00 | S$140.00 |
| 2 | 1.59% | S$159.00 | S$299.00 |
| 3 | 1.74% | S$174.00 | S$473.00 |
| 4 | 1.89% | S$189.00 | S$662.00 |
| 5 | 2.05% | S$205.00 | S$867.00 |
After 5 years you’ve earned S$867 in interest on S$10,000. Your effective average return is about 1.73% per year. If you held to year 10, the step-up coupons would push the average higher.
You can redeem at any point — if you redeem after year 3, you keep all the interest earned so far plus your S$10,000 principal.
Application and allotment
- Applications open at 6pm on the first business day of each month and close at 9pm on the 4th-last business day of the month. (This is not the same as “the fourth Thursday” — check the exact date on MAS for each issue.)
- Apply with cash via DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB — through their ATMs, internet banking, or (for OCBC) their mobile app. Apply with SRS through your SRS operator’s iBanking.
- There’s a non-refundable S$2 transaction fee per application and per redemption request.
- If total applications exceed the issue size, allotment is by random lottery, with a per-applicant cutoff that MAS publishes after the allotment (the “cutoff amount”). Everyone at or below that cutoff gets their full request; applicants above the cutoff get the cutoff amount plus a random chance at the remainder.
- Bonds are issued on the first business day of the next month. Your money is debited on issuance day.
Sources: MAS “How to Buy SSB” · MAS SSB FAQ
Worked example: applying via DBS/POSB
- Log in to DBS iBanking
- Go to Invest → Singapore Government Securities (SSB)
- Enter the amount (min S$500, multiples of S$500)
- Confirm the S$2 fee
- Submit before the application close date
OCBC and UOB have similar flows under their investment menus. The menu wording varies between banks — look for “Singapore Government Securities” or “SSB”.
Redemption
You can redeem any month at face value plus accrued interest, with no penalty. Submit a redemption request (S$2 fee) during the monthly application window; your money arrives on the 2nd business day of the following month.
Source: MAS “How to Redeem SSB”
This is SSB’s key advantage over a fixed deposit: no lock-in. If rates spike after you buy and you want to move money into a higher-yielding T-bill, you can.
There’s also a credit-risk distinction worth understanding. Bank fixed deposits are protected by SDIC deposit insurance up to S$100,000 per depositor per Scheme member (i.e. per bank), so balances above that threshold sit on the bank’s own balance sheet. SSBs, T-bills and SGS bonds are direct obligations of the Singapore Government — they are not deposits and are not under SDIC, but they don’t need to be: they carry the credit standing of the issuer (Singapore is one of a small number of sovereigns with AAA ratings from all three major agencies). For amounts well above S$100,000 in a single bank, this is a meaningful difference.
Source: SDIC — Deposit Insurance Scheme
Common mistakes
- Applying too close to the deadline. If you apply on the last day and the bank system queues your order for the next business day, you miss the window. Apply at least 2-3 days before closing.
- Forgetting the S$200,000 cap. This is across ALL your SSB holdings, not per issue. If you already hold S$180,000 in older SSBs, you can only apply for S$20,000 in the new issue. (The S$200K limit has been unchanged since it was raised from S$100K in 2019.)
- Comparing year-1 rate to a fixed deposit rate. An SSB paying 1.40% year-1 looks worse than a 12-month FD at 2.5%, but the SSB steps up — the 10-year average might be 2.14%. The right comparison is the 10-year average against the FD’s tenor, not year-1 against year-1.
- Forgetting the credit-risk distinction with FDs. SSB is a direct Singapore Government obligation. FDs sit under SDIC deposit insurance up to S$100,000 per Scheme member; balances above that depend on the bank’s own balance sheet. For amounts well above S$100K in a single bank, this is a meaningful difference (see “Redemption” above).
- Trying to use CPF for SSB. You can’t — SSB accepts cash and SRS only. T-bills are the only Singapore Government instrument retail CPF members can buy with CPF (via CPFIS-OA); see how to buy T-bills with CPF for the mechanics.
What to compare against
- T-bills: higher yields (usually) for 6-month or 1-year lock-in, no early redemption
- SGS bonds: longer tenors (2-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 30-, 50-year) with no per-investor cap — relevant when you want to lock in rates beyond SSB’s S$200,000 cap or for longer than 10 years. Tradable on SGX, but prices fluctuate before maturity (interest-rate risk)
- Fixed deposits: often comparable rates for 1-2 year tenors; check against SSB year-1 rate
- Money market funds / high-yield savings: variable rate, fully liquid, usually lower after-fee yield
See the side-by-side comparison for current rates, or read SSB vs T-bill: which makes sense for you?