Over 2.4 million Singaporeans to receive $200 to $400 cost of living payment in September
Eligible adult Singaporeans will receive between $200 to $400 in September as part of the Cost of Living Special Payment.
PHOTO: The Straits Times file
PUBLISHED ONAugust 13, 2024 4:10 AMByBhavya RawatMore than 2.4 million Singaporeans will receive a one-off special payment of between $200 and $400 in September, which aims to help alleviate the rising cost of living.
Those aged 21 and above, who own no more than one property, and have an annual assessable income of up to $100,000 are eligible for this payout, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Tuesday (Aug 13).
The type of property in which citizens reside will not affect their eligibility.
Singaporeans can check their eligibility for the COL special payment at the govbenefits website by logging in with their Singpass.
Eligible recipients will automatically receive their payments in September.
The COL Special Payment was first announced in February during Budget 2024 by then-Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.
It is part of the $1.9 billion enhancement to the Assurance Package introduced in 2020 to cushion the GST increase.
MOF encourages Singaporeans who have accounts with the 12 participating banks to link their NRIC to PayNow by Aug 26. This will allow them to receive the payment earlier, from Sept 5.
The participating banks are: Bank of China, CIMB, Citibank, DBS/POSB, HSBC Bank, ICBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, RHB Bank, Standard Chartered, Trust Bank and UOB.
Those without PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts, but have a DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB bank account, can update their account information at the govbenefits website by Aug 27, in order to receive payments via GIRO from Sept 13, added the ministry.
Eligible citizens who have not done the above will get their payouts via GovCash.
They can withdraw the payments from OCBC ATMs from Sept 23 by entering their payment reference number, which can be found at the govbenefits website, and their NRIC number, along with passing a facial verification.
An OCBC bank account is not required for withdrawals of such payouts at OCBC ATMs.
To safeguard against scams, recipients will be informed of their benefits via an SMS notification sent by gov.sg. They do not have to reply, click on any links or provide any information to the sender.
bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com