SGYieldHub

Updated 16 Apr 2026

How to buy T-bills with CPF

The CPFIS-OA process for T-bills: what you need, fees, timing, and the 'dead money' gotcha that can wipe out your yield gain.

Informational only, not financial advice. Process details below are current as of Q2 2026 based on MAS, CPF, and bank documentation. Fees change; verify on your bank’s CPFIS schedule before applying.

Using CPF OA to buy T-bills is one of the most popular retail moves in Singapore. The case is simple: if T-bill yields are above 2.5%, you earn more than OA’s floor. But the fees, timing, and dead-money gotchas eat into that gain — sometimes enough to wipe it out. Here’s the full picture.

What you need

  1. CPF Investment Scheme - Ordinary Account (CPFIS-OA) account with DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB. Open once, use for all CPFIS-OA investments.
  2. CPF Investment Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ) completed. After completing, wait 3-5 business days before your first investment.
  3. OA balance above S$20,000. The first S$20,000 of your OA cannot be invested under CPFIS-OA. Only amounts above this floor are available. Source

What CPFIS-SA doesn’t cover

There’s often confusion about CPFIS-SA. For members under 55, CPFIS-SA historically allowed T-bills, SGS bonds, FDs, annuities, and selected unit trusts. Source

For members 55+, the Special Account was closed in January 2025 — balances moved to RA (up to Full Retirement Sum) and any remainder went to OA at 2.5%. CPFIS-SA is effectively phased out for 55+. Source

This article focuses on CPFIS-OA for T-bills, the most common path.

The application flow (online only)

All three banks now support online CPFIS-OA T-bill applications. No physical bank visit needed. Source

DBS/POSB

  1. Log in to digibank web or digibank mobile
  2. Go to Invest → Singapore Government Securities (SGS)
  3. Select current T-bill auction
  4. Choose “CPFIS-OA” as funding source
  5. Enter amount (min S$1,000, multiples of S$1,000)
  6. Submit at least 1 business day before auction close (cutoff typically 9pm the day before the auction)

OCBC

  1. Log in to OCBC internet banking or OCBC Digital app
  2. Go to Investments → SGS / T-bills
  3. Select auction, choose CPFIS-OA
  4. Same S$1,000 minimum; same ~1-day-ahead cutoff

UOB

  1. Log in to UOB internet banking (PIB)
  2. Go to Investment → Singapore Government Securities
  3. Select T-bill auction, choose CPFIS-OA funding
  4. UOB supports online CPFIS-OA T-bill applications (has since late 2023).

Fees — and why they matter

Typical CPFIS charges per transaction (rates vary slightly by bank; verify on your bank’s CPFIS schedule):

FeeAmount (incl. 9% GST)
Transaction fee (per application)~S$2.50 + GST ≈ S$2.73
Quarterly service charge (per holding, per counter)S$2.00 + GST ≈ S$2.18/quarter

A 6-month T-bill spans two quarters (e.g. bought April, matures October). So you pay:

  • S$2.73 transaction fee (application)
  • S$2.18 × 2 = S$4.36 quarterly fees (two quarters)
  • Total ~S$7 in fees per 6-month T-bill

Sources: CPFIS fees (CPF PDF) · OCBC CPFIA schedule · DBS CPFIA schedule · UOB CPFIS charges

On S$10,000: S$7 in fees is 0.07%. On S$1,000: S$7 is 0.7% — often larger than the yield spread over OA 2.5%. Small allocations don’t make sense.

The dead-money gotcha (the big one)

This is where most first-time CPFIS T-bill users get hurt:

  1. You buy a 6-month T-bill with OA funds. Money is debited from OA, earning T-bill yield for 182 days.
  2. T-bill matures. Principal + interest is returned to your CPF Investment Account (CPFIA), not directly to OA.
  3. CPFIA pays zero interest. The money sits there earning nothing until you (manually transfer) or the bank (auto-sweeps after ~2 months) moves it back to OA.
  4. During that dead period, you’ve lost the OA 2.5% floor you’d have earned if the money had stayed in OA.

Net math: if a T-bill yields 3.0% and OA yields 2.5%, the spread is 0.5% for 6 months = ~0.25% on principal. If your cash then sits in CPFIA for 2 months earning 0% instead of 2.5% in OA, you lose ~2.5%/12×2 = 0.42% on principal. Net: you’re worse off.

Sources: Growbeansprout CPFIS→OA guide

How to avoid the dead-money trap

  • Manually transfer from CPFIA to OA on the day your T-bill matures. All three banks support this via their CPFIA interface.
  • Roll into the next T-bill auction — if the next auction is close to your maturity date, you skip the dead period.
  • Only deploy CPF to T-bills if yield spread is wide enough to cover fees + dead time. A useful rule of thumb: T-bill cutoff should be at least 0.8% above OA 2.5% (so ≥3.3%) to comfortably break even after friction, especially for smaller allocations.

Current T-bill vs CPF OA math

As of Q2 2026, recent T-bill cutoffs have been below the 2.5% OA floor — meaning CPFIS-OA T-bills are actively losing money vs. just leaving funds in OA. Check current rates on the T-bill tracker before deciding.

Competitive vs non-competitive when using CPF

Under CPFIS-OA you can submit both bid types. Practical guidance:

  • Non-competitive is simpler — you accept the cutoff yield. Capped at 40% of issue size and S$1M per individual per auction.
  • Competitive requires picking a yield. The risk: if your bid is too low, you’re shut out. If too high, you still receive the cutoff.

Most retail CPFIS users submit non-competitive.

Other gotchas

  • First S$20,000 of OA is excluded from investing. You cannot deploy this portion into T-bills even if you want to.
  • Some banks limit CPFIS-OA transactions to office hours for same-day processing. A 9pm submission on auction-day-minus-1 might not settle in time — submit earlier.
  • Maturity proceeds in CPFIA do not count toward the First $20K protection. They’re part of the investable balance.
  • Inactive CPFIA counters may still incur quarterly fees (S$2 per quarter). Close unused counters if you stop using CPFIS.

When it does make sense

CPFIS-OA T-bills are compelling when:

  • T-bill cutoff is materially above OA 2.5% (e.g., 3.5%+), AND
  • You’re deploying at least S$10,000 (fees drop to negligible %), AND
  • You’ll roll into the next auction or manually transfer on maturity (no dead-money period).

Otherwise, leaving OA funds alone is usually the better move.