Fixed deposits vs bonus-interest accounts vs T-bills vs SSBs vs money-market funds: five cash tools compared like for like

A like-for-like comparison weighs different cash tools on the same time horizon, degree of guarantee and liquidity, rather than lining up the highest rate each one advertises. The five cash tools compared here fall into three legal categories: Singapore-dollar fixed deposits and bonus-interest savings accounts are bank deposits; Treasury bills (T-bills) and Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) are government securities; and money-market funds are collective investment schemes.

Definition: what a like-for-like comparison compares

Savings insurance is an insurance contract: its term is usually measured in decades and its return includes a non-guaranteed portion, so it does not share the time horizon or guarantee basis of the five cash tools on this page and is left out of the main table. For a like-for-like comparison of savings insurance with fixed deposits, T-bills and SSBs, see the comparison page on sister site saving.sg; for where it sits in household cash, see where savings insurance fits on this site.

Legal category determines three things: who stands behind the money if something goes wrong, what it costs to get your money out early, and whether the return is fixed at the point of purchase. Only once these three are aligned does the level of the rate become meaningful. For example, the cut-off yield on a 6-month T-bill and the 10-year average return on an SSB are very different things: one locks your money in for six months, the other can be redeemed in any month but has coupons that step up year by year, so comparing the two numbers directly leads to the wrong conclusion. All rates on this page are examples as at October 2026, change monthly and are not a ranking.

Like-for-like comparison table

Savings insurance (an insurance contract whose guaranteed benefits have capped PPF cover, commonly with terms of 10, 15 or 20 years) falls outside the basis of this table; for a point-by-point comparison with deposits and government bonds, see sister site saving.sg/compare.

Sources: MAS Compare Products for Individuals and T-bill information page for individuals (accessed October 2026), SDIC Deposit Insurance FAQs (accessed October 2026), MoneySense (28 September 2026), MAS SSB FAQs (March 2026), MAS CIS Code Appendix 2 (2 July 2026), IRAS (15 October 2026).

Point by point: protection, liquidity and certainty of return

Source of protection. Deposit insurance is administered by SDIC and covers only Singapore-dollar deposits with member banks; fixed deposits and bonus-interest accounts at the same bank count together towards the cap. T-bills and SSBs are issued by the Singapore Government and are not covered by deposit insurance, but their safety comes from government credit. Money-market funds must comply with Appendix 2 of the MAS Code, for example a weighted average maturity of no more than 6 months and at least 10% of assets in daily-maturing liquid assets; these rules limit risk but do not remove it, and the fund's unit value can still fall below the purchase price.

Liquidity. Bonus-interest accounts and SSBs are the two tools with the lowest cost of early access, but they work differently: a bonus-interest account can be drawn on the same day, while for an SSB redeemed in a given month, principal and accrued interest are paid by the second business day of the following month (MAS). Fixed deposits and T-bills both lock in until maturity: withdrawing a fixed deposit early may forfeit interest and incur fees (MoneySense, 28 September 2026), and a T-bill can only be sold on the secondary market, at a price that may be higher or lower than you paid (MAS).

Certainty of return. With fixed deposits and T-bills held to maturity, you know the return when you buy. An SSB's coupon for every year is announced at issue, so redeeming early simply means giving up the higher coupons of later years. Bonus interest on a savings account is assessed against criteria each month, and banks can change the terms. A money-market fund's return moves with its holdings and fees and is not guaranteed.

Minimums, limits and residency: who can buy and how much

Minimums and limits determine how much money a tool can hold. The S$200,000 aggregate limit per individual for SSBs means they can take only part of a large cash balance. Bonus interest on savings accounts usually applies only to roughly the first S$100,000 to S$150,000 (subject to each bank's terms; see the examples in the next section), with anything above that earning the base rate. T-bills have no individual holding limit, but non-competitive bids are capped at S$1 million per auction; anything above that must go in as a competitive bid, with the possibility of not being allotted (MAS).

On residency, there is a clear answer for foreigners on SSBs: question 5 of the MAS SSB FAQs (March 2026 edition) answers "Yes", provided you are at least 18 and hold an account with DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB plus an individual CDP securities account linked to the Direct Crediting Service. The MAS page does not set out separately the conditions for foreigners applying for T-bills with cash, so this site describes them as "requires a local bank account and the relevant accounts, subject to MAS and bank requirements". Buying T-bills with CPF Ordinary Account savings applies only to citizens and permanent residents with CPF, and the OA balance must exceed S$20,000 (CPF Board, 19 November 2024).

Rate examples, October 2026

No figures are given for money-market funds: each fund differs, so read the fund's factsheet and bear in mind that past performance is not indicative of future performance. The examples show only how to read the terms, not which provider pays more; rates change monthly, and the current pages of the banks, MAS and the CPF Board take precedence.

Personal tax treatment

Under current IRAS rules, interest earned by individuals on deposits with approved banks in Singapore is not taxed and does not need to be declared (IRAS, 15 October 2026), so fixed deposit and bonus-interest account interest generally does not need to be reported. SSB interest is tax-exempt according to the MAS FAQs. T-bills are Singapore Government Securities, and under the MAS tax page, interest and discount gains are tax-exempt for individuals, except where received through a partnership or a trade or business (MAS, 23 June 2023). Distributions from Singapore unit trusts are generally not taxed for individuals (IRAS, 27 February 2026); the nature of a specific fund's distributions follows its fund documents.

All of the above describes Singapore's treatment of individuals, on the basis that the income is not derived from a trade or business. For cross-border tax and CRS reporting reminders, see multi-currency cash and FX risk.

Choosing by time horizon, and common comparison mistakes

There are four common comparison mistakes. The first is comparing a 6-month T-bill cut-off yield with the 10-year average return on an SSB, when the horizons and access terms are both different. The second is comparing a bonus-interest account's "maximum rate" with a fixed deposit without working out which balance tier you can actually qualify for. The third is comparing an SSB's 10-year average return with a 1-year fixed deposit, overlooking the lower coupons of the early years. The fourth is treating a money-market fund's past returns as a fixed rate. For more detailed horizon planning, see five household scenarios and the cash ladder checklist. If you need this interpreted for your own circumstances, you can register your enquiry through the contact details on this site.