About 2.5 million Singaporeans will receive the 2023 Cost-of-Living (COL) Special Payment in June

With about 850,000 seniors receiving up to $700 from the 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus 

I.    Enhancements to the Assurance Package (AP)

1.   Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong announced during Budget 2023 that the Government will enhance the Assurance Package (AP) by $3 billion to reach around $9.6 billion. This enhancement ensures that the AP will continue to offset additional GST expenses for the majority of Singaporean households for at least five years, with around ten years offset for lower-income households. To address immediate cost-of-living (COL) concerns, the enhanced AP will also provide an additional one-off support to Singaporeans in 2023.

II.   2023 COL Special Payment & 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus in June 2023

2.   About 2.5 million adult Singaporeans will receive up to $400 in cash under the 2023 COL Special Payment to provide cost-of-living relief for Singaporean households, with more support given to lower- to middle-income groups. Adults with annual Assessable Incomes of up to $100,000 are eligible, regardless of the type of property they live in.

3.   About 850,000 senior Singaporeans will receive up to $300 in cash under the 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus to provide additional cost-of-living support for seniors.

4.   The 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus will be disbursed together in June 2023, with eligible senior Singaporeans receiving up to $700 in total. Please refer to the Annex for more details.

III.  Useful Information

Eligibility

5.   Citizens may check their eligibility for the 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus at the AP official website (go.gov.sg/assurancepackage) by logging in with their Singpass.

Modes Of Payment for 2023 COL Special Payment & 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus

Go Digital to Receive Cash Benefits Sooner

6.   PayNow-NRIC provides added convenience and privacy for citizens to receive the cash benefits in their bank account, without having to disclose their bank account details to the sender. Since 2021, the Ministry of Finance has been using PayNow-NRIC as the default payment mode for citizens who have linked their NRIC to PayNow.

7.   Citizens are encouraged to link their NRIC to PayNow if they have accounts with the ten participating banks by 23 May. They will be able to receive their 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus as early as 7 June 2023. Please visit the AP official website (go.gov.sg/assurancepackage) for the list of participating banks.

8.   Those without PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts can also update their bank account information (with DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB only) at the AP official website by 5 June 2023. They will be able to receive the payment by 15 June 2023.

GovCash has Replaced Cheques as Mode of Payment

9.   From 2022, GovCash has replaced cheques as the mode of payment to citizens who have not linked their NRICs to PayNow or provided their bank account details. Citizens on GovCash can withdraw their 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus at OCBC ATMs islandwide by entering their 1) Payment Reference Number (PRN) that will be sent to them from 20 June 2023, and 2) NRIC, and after passing the facial verification. They do not require an OCBC bank account to withdraw the payment at the OCBC ATMs. GovCash recipients can also use the LifeSG app to make payment to merchants by scanning their PayNow or NETS QR code or transfer payments to their bank accounts via PayNow if they subsequently register for PayNow-NRIC.

Notifications

Singpass App as a Mode of Notification

10.   Eligible recipients will be notified in June after  the 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus have been credited to them, either via their Singpass app inbox or SMS notifications for those who have registered their mobile numbers with Singpass, but have not downloaded or completed their one-time setup of the Singpass app.

11.   To guard against scams, the SMS notification (sent by “MOF”) will only inform citizens of their benefits. Citizens will not be asked to reply to the SMS, click any links, or provide any information to the sender. There will not be any messages relating to the COL payments sent via WhatsApp or other mobile app messaging platforms. Citizens are encouraged to download the Singpass app from the official app stores (e.g. App Store, Play Store or Huawei AppGallery and to check that the app is developed by “Government Technology Agency”) to receive secured notifications from the Government. 

Contact Information 

12.   For more information on the above schemes, please visit the AP website (go.gov.sg/assurancepackage) or contact the following:

Issued by:
Ministry of Finance
Singapore
11 May 2023