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APAC / Singapore · Updated 11 March 2026

Singapore's neobanks,
by MAS licence class.

The MAS-licensed Digital Full Banks (GXS, MariBank, Trust) sit under the same Banking Act as DBS or OCBC and are SDIC-protected to SGD 100,000. Revolut Singapore — the cross-currency super-app most readers know from elsewhere — is licensed as a Stored Value Facility and is NOT SDIC-protected. The distinction matters at the headline ceiling.

3SDIC-protected DFBs
~2.5%Top tiered APY (GXS)
2020MAS digital-bank framework
Last verified11 March 2026
01 — The licence taxonomy

Four MAS licence classes,
three levels of protection.

Singapore's framework is unusually clean. Read the licence type before you read the marketing — the protection class follows directly.

DFB · Digital Full Bank
GXS, MariBank, TrustSDIC
SGD 100,000 coverPer depositor
Banking ActFull MAS supervision
DWB · Digital Wholesale Bank
Wholesale clients onlyNo retail
Not retail SDICSME / corporate
Banking ActMAS-supervised
SVF · Stored Value Facility
Revolut SingaporePS Act
NOT SDICSegregated trust
Custodian-bank dependencyCitibank / DBS
MPI · Major Payment Institution
Cross-border PSPS Act
NOT SDICNo deposit cover
AML / safeguarding onlySegregation
Deposit protection APAC-SG
Scheme
SDIC
Ceiling
SGD 100,000
Regulator
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC) covers up to SGD 100,000 per depositor per Scheme member. SDIC membership applies only to full banks and finance companies licensed under the Banking Act / Finance Companies Act.

Important. Important: Stored Value Facility (SVF) holders are NOT SDIC-protected. SVF customer funds are typically held in a trust account at a custodian bank (e.g. Citibank, DBS) and are protected only by the segregation arrangement, not by deposit insurance. Verify the licence type with MAS before treating an account as deposit-insured.

Primary source: https://www.sdic.org.sg/

03 — SDIC: who's covered, who isn't

Read the licence,
not the marketing.

The Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation covers up to SGD 100,000 per depositor per Scheme member. Membership is automatic for full banks and finance companies licensed under the Banking Act and Finance Companies Act. The three Digital Full Banks — GXS, MariBank, Trust — are SDIC members; an eligible SGD deposit at any of them sits inside the same statutory cover as a deposit at DBS or OCBC.

Revolut Singapore is not an SDIC member. It operates as a Stored Value Facility under the Payment Services Act, which means customer funds are held in a segregated trust account at a custodian bank (typically Citibank or DBS). Segregation protects funds from the failure of Revolut itself, but it is not deposit insurance — recovery depends on the trust arrangement and the custodian bank, not on a state-backed compensation scheme. For balances at the SGD 100k headline figure the practical safety profile is reasonable, but the protection mechanism is categorically different from a DFB account.

The DWB licence (Green Link, Sea-bank-DWB) is a wholesale-only class — these institutions cannot accept retail deposits, so the SDIC retail-cover question does not arise. Most consumer readers will never need to interact with a DWB account.

See the MAS / Singapore glossary entry for a more detailed walk-through of the four licence classes and how MAS publishes them.

04 — Verdict

If SDIC matters, pick a DFB.

For an SGD-denominated everyday account where statutory protection is load-bearing, choose a Digital Full Bank — GXS, MariBank, or Trust. For multi-currency travel and FX spending where cross-border interbank rates are the headline benefit, Revolut Singapore is a reasonable choice as long as you understand that the SVF licence does not carry SDIC cover. Splitting balances between a DFB (savings) and an SVF (FX spend) is a rational pattern.

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© 2026 Neobanks Guide. All rights reserved.

Edition №07 · Updated 11 March 2026