A Singaporean who will argue over a 50-cent difference in cashback at a hawker centre may have no idea what their savings account pays. New research suggests that person is the norm.
Some 89 per cent of Singapore residents hold spare cash, according to a survey of 1,000 people conducted by research firm Milieu. Among them, three in four do not believe that money is working as hard as it could. Only 11 per cent are very confident they know the interest rate their bank accounts pay.
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The study was commissioned by Chocolate Finance, the cash management fintech founded by Singlife creator Walter de Oude. Chocolate Finance happens to launch a product in November that addresses the gap its research identifies. That does not make the numbers wrong. The fieldwork ran from 25 September to 5 October 2026 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 per cent. But it is worth remembering who paid for the survey when reading what it concludes.
Points beat percentages
The most revealing finding concerns where people’s attention goes. Nearly half (48 per cent) of spare cash holders checked their cashback or reward points in the past six months. Only 37 per cent checked the interest rate on their spare cash. CPF balances, vouchers and promo codes all got more attention than savings rates.
The explanation is mostly about visibility. A discount shows up at checkout; points appear in an app with a satisfying ping. Interest builds up quietly in the background and rarely makes anyone feel clever. So a few dollars saved on a purchase gets more scrutiny than the return on a much larger pile of idle cash.
“People move their money around for an attractive welcome offer, but once that offer ends, the money often just sits there, earning very little,” de Oude said.
Spread too thin to see
Choice may be part of the problem. Singaporeans use an average of 3.7 banks and financial platforms, including incumbent banks, digital banks and wealth or cash management apps. Every new account promises a better rate. Together, they make it harder to know what any single pot is actually earning.
That is an awkward finding for an industry that has spent five years telling consumers they deserve more options. Singapore’s digital banks and wealth apps have fragmented the average saver’s money, but they have not made it any easier to understand.
Money without a job
The survey’s second theme is purpose. Some 72 per cent of spare cash holders describe their money as being for “one day, eventually”, or do not think about timing at all. Only 29 per cent sort all their money into clear categories.
When asked how they would behave if they could split spare cash into goal-based categories, 59 per cent said they would be more likely to leave the money untouched and let it grow. This is a statement of intent, not observed behaviour, and survey respondents are famously more disciplined in theory than in practice. Behavioural economists have long argued, though, that labelling money changes how people treat it, a habit known as mental accounting.
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That is the thinking behind Jars, which Chocolate Finance will launch in November 2026. Customers will be able to divide their balance into pots for an emergency fund, a holiday or a home, each with its own purpose and timeframe.
The irony in the welcome offer
There is an irony in the pitch, and Chocolate Finance knows it better than anyone. The behaviour de Oude describes, money chasing visible perks, is exactly what nearly sank his company.
In March 2025, Chocolate Finance ended a popular feature that let users pay bills through payment services provider AXS, which many customers used to collect rewards. Within two weeks, about US$374 million was withdrawn, cutting its assets under management by some 40 per cent. Customers who had arrived for a perk left when the perk ended.
The company has rebuilt since then. It closed a US$15 million Series A+ round led by Nikko Asset Management and won a Hong Kong licence. By August 2026 it managed roughly US$1.3 billion for more than 150,000 customers, and it had expanded into business accounts with Chocolate Business. De Oude has also been open about that episode, telling the Echelon Singapore 2025 audience how the crisis reshaped the company.
Seen this way, Jars is as much a retention tool as a savings feature. Money that has been given a job is less likely to leave when a rival dangles a better welcome rate. That is good for savers who want discipline, and very good for a platform that once lost two-fifths of its assets in a fortnight.
A crowded jar shelf
Goal-based savings are not a new idea. Digital banks such as GXS have offered savings pockets since they launched. Wealth platforms, including Syfe, StashAway and Endowus, run cash management products that compete directly for the same idle money. StashAway is also widening its offer to keep customers for life, recently adding digital wills.
Chocolate Finance’s argument has never been about the headline rate alone. It points to its lack of lock-ins and fees, and to its top-up programme. There is also a structural difference consumers need to understand. Chocolate Finance is a licensed fund manager, not a bank. Customer money is invested in money market and short-duration bond funds held with third-party custodians, and it is not covered by Singapore’s deposit insurance scheme, which protects bank deposits. For the 89 per cent who are not fully sure what their accounts pay, that distinction is probably even less clear.
The question cuts both ways
The release ends by urging Singaporeans to ask whether their spare cash is “doing the job I need it to do”. That is a fair question, and the data suggests too few people ask it.
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It applies to platforms too. If savers are rarely checking their rates, then fintechs competing for that money owe them more transparency, not just more features. That means clear explanations of how returns are generated, what happens when markets wobble, and how quickly money comes back when it is needed. A jar is only useful if you can see what is inside it.
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