I wanted to earn more yield on my savings so I decided to put money in the Singtel Dash PET as my investment warchest. Although I previously said that I wanted liquidity over yield, I decided to shift S$10,000 of my warchest from my savings account to the Dash PET account as the illiquidity risk is relatively minimal plus this can potentially let me make some referral rewards.
It is similar to the SingLife Account, however, it is more of a lifestyle app with more frills as you can use the SingTel Dash App as a mobile wallet plus there are occasional events that we can participate in.
You can get an additional 0.2% yield for the first year if you sign up for their one-year complimentary insurance product. However, there is a catch so make sure you finish reading the article.
Disclaimer: All comments on this blog site are an expression of opinion. You are recommended to consult with a licensed, qualified financial advisor before making any financial decisions. Please check the various official website for the latest terms and interest rates. This is not an endorsement of the platform. Placing and keeping your funds on these platforms has its risks.
This blog entry contains referral links and/or codes. This means that I get a commission if you decide to sign up through my links or using my codes, at no cost to you. This helps pay for my running costs. Please read my affiliate and referral disclosure for more information.
Comparison Between Insurance Saving Plans
We will look at the two existing insurance saving plans, Singlife Account and Dash PET. The two other major plans are Gigantiq and Dash EasyEarn but both of them are not currently accepting new users.
| Product | Singlife Account | Dash PET |
| Minimum Initial Funding | S$500 | S$50 |
| Minimum Top Up | FAST – S$0.01 | PayNow/Dash Wallet – S$1
eNets – S$50 |
| Minimum Earning Balance | S$100 | S$50 |
| Maximum Earning Balance | S$100,000 | S$30,000 |
| Base Interest Rate | First 10k – 1%
Next 90k – 0.5% Above 100k – 0% |
First 10k – 1.3%
Above 10k – 0.3% Above 30k – NA |
| Bonus Interest Rate
(First 10k) |
0.5% – spend >=S$500 on Singlife Card
0.5% – Singlife Grow @ min. S$1,000 |
0.2% – sign up for complimentary one-year protection
0.75% – 0.25% per paid add-on for up to 3 policies |
| Max Potential Interest Rate
(First 10k) |
1% + 0.5% + 0.5% | 1.3% + 0.2% (1st yr) + 0.75% |
| Withdrawal Fees | FAST – Free | Dash Wallet – Free
PayNow – S$0.70 / tx |
| Withdrawal Limits | S$20k daily | S$200k a year |
| Spending Option | Singlife Visa Card | Dash Wallet |
These terms can and will change as market conditions evolve etc. We have seen banks and insurance saving plans slash interest rates these few years.
Also take note that Dash PET, Dash EasyEarn and Gigantiq are all underwritten by Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd. Remember that the PPF limits are for each insurer so the limits for Dash PET, Dash EasyEarn and Gigantiq are all limited to one insurer.
Looking Closer At The Terms For Dash PET
When there is a surge of withdrawals, Etiqa reserves the right to delay the withdrawal by up to 6 months. Although understandable, seeing this makes me worried about my funds if I place them with Dash PET.
As for Singlife, there are no such terms so I asked their support regarding this. They said that during abnormal situations, they will let us know if our withdrawals are affected and attempt to solve them asap.
Both providers seem to be potentially affected in times of mass withdrawals so we should not place our entire war chest in these accounts.
Important – Bonus 0.2% Interest But With A Catch
For the first year, we can get a total of 1.5% (1.3% + 0.2%) on our first S$10,000. We can get the bonus interest of 0.2% the first year on the first S$10,000 by signing up for a complimentary insurance. This “complimentary” insurance is only free for the first year and will automatically be renewed and you will get charged.
We can get S$20 extra per year for the first S$10,000 deposited in Dash PET. It is not very significant but it is still money.
We must remember to set a reminder about 11 months later to write in to cancel the complimentary policy or else it will automatically be renewed with charges. We will potentially be charged S$0.14 every day once the policy is renewed.
Dash Town CNY Promotion
There is currently an event in the Dash Pet app that ends on 21 February 2022 where we can earn free shakes to earn random prizes. The more attractive prizes are as follows
- 1 – 5,000 Dash reward points
- Razer Wireless Earbuds
- Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer
- Nintendo Switch Lite Console
- Nintendo Switch (OLED Model)
- Samsung Galaxy A22 5G 128GB
- Dash PET Plushie
- JBL Go 3 Portable Bluetooth Waterproof Speaker
- Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum Mop
- Random vouchers
How To Earn Free Shakes
Here are some ways that we can earn 7 free shakes without spending or remitting unnecessarily.
- 1 free shake when you join the event
- 5 days of login – 1 free shake
- Sign up for Dash PET by 15 FEB – 2 free shakes
- Verify identity for KYC – 1 free shake
Investment Warchest Priority
| Product | First S$10k (1st Year) | Above S$10k (1st Year) |
| SingLife | 1% | 0.5% |
| Dash PET | 1.3% + 0.2% | 0.3% |
| SSB GX22010S | 0.45% | 0.45% |
The yield of SSB is rising where the latest SSB – GX22010S has the first-year yield of 0.45% and it will increase to 1.27% the next year. SingLife And Dash PET have their first S$10,000 balance at above 1% so SingLife and Dash PET has priority for your first S$20,000.
For SingLife and Dash PET’s balance after the first S$10,000, they pay 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. For me, I will rather place my money after the first S$20,000 into SSB as the interest is comparable, will increase next year, plus there is significantly less chance of default.
Use Of Personal Data For Marketing Purposes
Once you get the app, go under Account > Use of Personal Data and switch off everything so that they cannot contact you for marketing purposes. I remember switching off everything but once I updated the app today, some of the settings got turned on.
Protected By PPF, SDIC
Similar to the SingLife Account, Dash PET is covered by the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme (PPF). The scheme is there to protect policy owners up to a certain limit if an insurance company, which is a member of the PPF Scheme, fails.
The scheme that we are more familiar with is the Deposit Insurance Scheme(DI), or more commonly referred to and known as SDIC. This protects our funds in banks for up to S$75,000 per bank if the bank fails.
We can think of SIDC being the insurance provider of insurance companies and banks.
According to SDIC, the limits for a claim per person per insurer for the PPF Scheme are as follows
- S$100,000 for aggregated guaranteed surrender value
- ELI5 – The cash value of the policy
- S$500,000 for aggregated guaranteed sum assured
- ELI5 – The insurance payout portion of the policy
PPF Is Not Ominpotent
Although our money in these insurance savings plans is protected by the PPF Scheme, we cannot be sure how long the payout will take. There is no precedent of these companies failing that we can refer to. The PPF Scheme kicks in when MAS gives the winding-up order and it can take up to 30 days for the funds to be paid out to holders. A long time can also lapse between withdrawal problems and the company receiving the winding-up order.
If you can afford to do so, don’t place all your eggs in one basket. Spread your funds and assets across different trustworthy providers. Getting the most returns out of your funds should not be your only consideration. The safety of your funds should also be taken into account. The meagre additional interest you get is not worth the risk. You don’t want all your funds to be stuck in one company even if eventually you will get reimbursed by the PPF Scheme.
Referral Code – DASH-3O5QC
If you are looking for a place for your cash to earn some yield without having to jump over multiple hurdles, you might want to take a look at Dash PET.
Get up to S$20 cashback when you sign up for Dash PET (affiliate link), remit or spend in the app.
| What You Need To Do | What You Get | I Get |
| First spend of S$3 or more | One time S$3 cashback | S$3 |
| First remittance of S$100 or more | One time S$3 cashback | S$3 |
| Second remittance of S$100 or more | S$7 cashback | – |
| Sign up for Dash PET | S$1 in Dash credits when you save S$1,000 – S$2,999
S$5 in Dash credits when you save S$3,000 – S$4,999 S$10 in Dash credits when you save S$5,000 or more |
S$1 when your friend
signs up for Dash PET +S$3 when your friend saves S$5,000 |
| Total | Up to S$20 cashback | Up to S$10 referral bonus |
Source: Dash
Please check Dash’s website for the latest rewards.
I personally only use the Dash PET product without spending and remitting any money.
Use my link (affiliate link) or invite code DASH-3O5QC to get rewards when you sign up.
TL, DR
If you are looking for an avenue to earn some yield without jumping through multiple hoops, Dash PET can be one of your considerations. The funds in Dash PET is guaranteed by PPF, SDIC up to certain limits. Although capital is guaranteed, try not to place all your funds in insurance savings accounts as there might be delays in withdrawals in times of high market volatility. We should cultivate the habit of looking at the terms as much as possible before signing up for anything.
Do reach out if you know of any other places to park our investment warchest funds.
Icons made by Freepik from Flaticon
