Singapore’s CPF urges foreign contributors to withdraw savings after account closure

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board has called on all foreigners who have previously contributed to the social security scheme to transfer out their savings following their accounts being closed automatically in April.

The board said to date, the majority of 300,000 non-Singapore citizens (non-SCs) and non-permanent residents (non-PRs) whose accounts were closed have yet to come forward to transfer their CPF savings into their personal bank accounts.

Most of them have balances of less than S$5,000 (RM16,600)

“We encourage them to come forward to withdraw their CPF savings as soon as possible,” the board said in a statement on Tuesday.

Before 1987, CPF contributions were mandatory for all employees working in Singapore.

Since then, changes have been progressively introduced to the scheme for non-SCs and non-PRs until they were disallowed from making voluntary contributions from 2023 onwards.

The board said all CPF accounts of non-SCs and non-PRs have been closed automatically in April 2024 and any remaining savings will stop earning the prevailing CPF interest.

Instead, the interest earned will be based on the three-month average of the three Singapore local banks’ savings account interest rate, which is 0.05 per cent per annum.

After March 31, 2027, these savings will no longer earn any interest.

Malaysians can apply to transfer out their CPF savings by submitting their online applications at https://form.gov.sg/63573e845cfdb20012171772 or by posting the completed Form CPF-CA with the required supporting documents via registered mail.

For more information, visit cpf.gov.sg/AccountClosure or call the hotline at +6567766776. – Bernama