As you have probably heard by now, the latest T-Bills yield only 1.44%.
At 1.44% yield, T-Bills are just not a great deal anymore, considering your cash is locked up and you cannot get the funds back before maturity.
And fixed deposits start looking pretty attractive once again.
In fact, REITs or bonds offering 5.5% yield actually look like a pretty good buy in this interest rate climate.
Couple of points I wanted to discuss:
- What are the Top Fixed Deposit Rates in Singapore today (October 2025)?
- With T-Bills yields plunging to 1.44%, are REITS, Bonds or Fixed Deposits a better buy?
- Where would I put my cash today?
Top Fixed Deposit Rates in Singapore offer 1.60% yield (October 2025)
The full table is further below in the article, but I’ve summarised the best interest rates for the 3-, 6- and 12-month tenures below.
You’re looking at 1.40% for 3 months and 6 months tenure.
And 1.60% for the 12 months tenure.
| Tenure | Best fixed deposit interest rate (October 2025) | Bank |
| 3 months | 1.40% | RHB |
| 6 months | 1.40% | DBS/POSB Bank |
| 12 months | 1.60% | DBS/POSB Bank |
Best Fixed Deposit Rates yield 1.50% if you deposit with Syfe Cash+ (to access institutional fixed deposit rates)
The rates above are assuming that you deposit with the bank directly as a retail customer.
If you park the cash with the bank as an institutional customer via channels like Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed, you stand to get (marginally) higher interest rates.
These are the latest interest rates from Syfe Cash+ below:
- 3 months – 1.50%
- 6 months – 1.40%
- 12 months – 1.40%
But note that Syfe only offers higher interest rates at the 3 months duration.
At 6 and 12 months, you’re probably better off just sticking with the plain vanilla fixed deposit – which has the benefit of being SDIC insured up to $100,000.
6-month T-Bills yields drop to 1.44%
Meanwhile, 6-month T-Bill yields continue to drop, coming in at 1.44% at the latest auction:
You can see this charted below, T-Bills yields have been steadily declining since the peak in late 2022:
Will T-Bills yields continue to drop?
For now at least, it’s hard to see anything that suggests this will change going forward.
Just look at the number of interest rate cuts priced in by markets.
Only if and when this changes, we may see interest rates pick up again.
Comparing interest rates for T-Bills vs Fixed Deposits vs Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed across all tenures (October 2025)
I’ve tabulated the interest rates for the 3 cash options below, as well as with money market funds.
You can see how with the recent drop in T-Bills and institutional fixed deposit yields – actually retail fixed deposits are a pretty attractive option.
| 3 months | 6 months | 12 months | Risk Free | |
| T-Bills yields | NA | 1.44% | 1.35% | Yes |
| Fixed Deposit (direct to bank) | 1.40% | 1.40% | 1.60% | Yes (if below $100,000 SDIC limit) |
| Syfe Cash+ Guaranteed (Institutional Fixed Deposit Rates) | 1.50% | 1.40% | 1.40% | No |
| Money Market Funds | ~1.7% | No | ||
Best Fixed Deposit Rates yield 1.60% – if you deposit directly with the bank (as of October 2025)
The full list of Fixed Deposit rates is set out below (bold being the most attractive for each tenure).
After the table I’ll share my views on:
- With T-Bills yields dropping to 1.44%, are REITS, Bonds or Fixed Deposits a better buy?
- Where would I put my cash today?
| Bank | Interest rate per annum | Tenure | Minimum amount |
| DBS/POSB | 1.60% | 12 months | S$1,000 (max S$19,999) |
| 1.60% | 9 months | S$1,000 (max S$19,999) | |
| 1.40% | 6 months | S$1,000 (max S$19,999) | |
| RHB | 1.40% | 3 months | S$20,000 |
| 1.30% | 6 months | S$20,000 | |
| Bank of China | 1.30% | 3 months | S$500 |
| 1.25% | 6 months | S$500 | |
| 1.15% | 9 months | S$500 | |
| CIMB | 1.30% | 3 months | S$10,000 |
| 1.25% | 6 months | S$10,000 | |
| ICBC | 1.25% | 3 months | S$200,000 above |
| 1.20% | 3 months | S$500 | |
| 1.15% | 6 months | S$500 | |
| 1.10% | 9/12 months | S$500 | |
| UOB | 1.20% | 6 months | S$10,000 (fresh funds) |
| 1.00% | 10 months | S$10,000 (fresh funds) | |
| Hong Leong Finance | 1.20% | 9/12 months | S$20,000 and above |
| 1.15% | 9/12 months | S$5,000 to < S$20,000 | |
| 0.95% | 15 months | S$5,000 and above | |
| Maybank | 1.20% (online banking) | 6 months | S$20,000 |
| 1.10% (online banking) | 9 months | S$20,000 | |
| 1.10% (online banking) | 12 months | S$20,000 | |
| OCBC | 1.15% (mobile placement) | 9 months | S$20,000 |
| 1.15% (mobile placement) | 12 months | S$20,000 | |
| Standard Chartered | 1.00% | 15 months | No minimum |
| 0.60% | 12 months | No minimum | |
| HSBC | 0.80% | 3 month | S$30,000 |
| 0.70% | 6 month | S$30,000 | |
| 0.65% | 12 month | S$30,000 | |
| SBI | 0.80% | 6/9 months | S$5,000 |
| 0.70% | 3/12 months | S$5,000 | |
| Citibank | 0.70% | 3/6/12 months | S$10,000 |
What are the alternatives to T-Bills and Fixed Deposit?
Let me outline the key alternatives to T-Bills and Fixed Deposits below.
High Yield Savings Accounts – UOB One, DBS Multiplier, OCBC 360 etc
Interest rates for high yield savings accounts have been revised down of late.
UOB One has dropped interest rates (2.5% effective interest rate on $150,000)
UOB one has dropped their interest rates.
And these are the effective interest rates – 2.50% on $150,000, if you hit the criteria of $500 credit card spend and salary credit.
| Balance tier | New: spend $500 + salary | Effective Interest Rate (New) | Effective Interest Rate (Old) |
| First $75k | 1.50% | 1.50% | 2.30% |
| Next $50k | 3.00% | 2.10% | 2.86% |
| Next $25k | 4.50% | 2.50% | 3.21% |
| > $150k | 0.05% |
If you can fulfil the criteria without too much trouble.
I still think it’s worth it, as the 2.5% is still higher than other options like fixed deposits or T-Bills – as you can see above.
That said, if you find it too much of a hassle, or don’t want to put the full $150,000 in, then it probably doesn’t make sense.
And you’re better off with the other options on this list.
Money market fund instruments (like MariInvest)
Alternatively there is MariInvest which is a money market fund that pays about 1.7% over the past 30 days for me.
But given T-Bills are yielding 1.44%, I think money market funds are a pretty decent option right now, especially as you can get the money back any time with T+1 liquidity.
There is some investor discretion required here though, as unlike T-Bills, money market funds are not risk free.
Singapore Savings Bonds are an acceptable alternative too
Interest rates on last month’s Singapore Savings Bonds below.
You’re looking at 1.39% for the first year, stepping up to 1.83% over 10 years.
Funnily enough this is actually competitive vs fixed deposits and T-Bills, and being risk free + able to withdraw with 1 months notice, it’s actually well worth checking out.
What about REITS or Bonds?
I wrote an article for FH Premium subscribers recently.
Long story short – I think REITs are a pretty decent buy today, especially with the sharp drop in interest rates.
A blue-chip REIT pays about 5.5% dividend yield.
This was a lot less sexy when you could get 3% on a T-Bill (2.5% yield spread).
But when a T-Bill is sub 1.5%, you’re getting a whopping 4% spread vs a T-Bill.
I added to my REITs positions recently, and I think they’re worth considering if you’re happy to take on some risk.
PIMCO GIS Income Fund via Maribank
Alternatively, if you are comfortable with some risk and duration, but don’t like REITs, you can also consider buying a bond fund.
One example is the PIMCO GIS Income Fund, that you can access via Maribank.
I wrote a detailed review so do check it out if you are keen.
Bottom line is that these bond funds are quite a complex instrument, and not for everyone.
Because if interest rates go up, you can suffer mark to market capital losses.
And there is no way to hold to maturity as the bond fund will automatically reinvest proceeds.
So effectively there is some timing element involved here, in that you want to buy the fund when yields are high, and sell when yields are low, and if you do it the other way around you could see mark to market capital losses.
Best used only if you have a mid to longer term investment horizon.
But that being said.
The thought process here is similar to REITs.
If you are comfortable with some risk of capital loss.
Then you can get a 5%ish yield on something like the PIMCO GIS Income Fund today. That’s worth considering.
Where would I put my cash today?
Personally I haven’t really touched fixed deposits or T-Bills in a while, and after today’s article I don’t really see much that would lead me to change my mind.
Most of the cash that I want in low risk instruments – I’m parking in money market funds, or UOB One (or Singapore Savings Bonds purchased previously at 3%+ yields).
Recently, I’ve actually been adding some REITs as well.
Yes I know that it’s not risk free so not a pure replacement for cash, but the way I see it, as long as I have enough liquid cash set aside, I don’t mind taking on a bit more risk and duration with the rest of the funds, for a higher yield.
But that’s just me – and I would love to hear what you guys think!
Where are you parking your cash for yield today?