What else is exciting other than welcoming a newborn into a family? Of course, it brings a lot of cheers and smiles. What’s more, the arrival of a new life should be celebrated. How about celebrating it by starting a CDA account? You can have a unique way of enjoying the arrival of a newborn with a Smiley Child Development Account.

What is Smiley CDA?

It is a special savings account for a newborn child opened with certain banks like DBS/POSB Bank in Singapore. For every dollar you deposit in the CDA, the government will match it with a dollar up to the dollar-for-dollar matching cap.

Prime benefits of Smiley CDA

With a POSB Smiley CDA account, you get to enjoy some key benefits like:

• Competitive interest

You gain interest up to 2 percent per annum for SGD 50,000 and below.

• Get CDA First Step Grant

On opening a POSB Smiley CDA, you will receive the First Step grant of up to 3000 SGD. It applies to babies born on or after 24th March 2016. Parents will receive a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution from the government if they continue saving in the CDA. Generally, you will have the CDA credited within two weeks.

• Dollar-for-dollar contribution by the government

Any savings made by the parents of the child to the CDA account will receive a dollar-for-dollar contribution by the government capped at the following:

• First child: Receive up to 3,000 SGD per child, with a total CDA benefit of up to 6,000 SGD, including the CDA First Step Grant 
• Second child: Here the dollar-for-dollar matching is capped at 6,000 SGD per child, with a total CDA benefit of up to 9,000 SGD, including the CDA First Step Grant. Nevertheless, you should note that it is applicable only for those children born or expected to deliver at an estimated date on or after January 1, 2021.
• Third and Fourth child: Receive up to 9,000 SGD per child, with a total CDA benefit of up to 12,000 SGD, including the CDA First Step Grant 
• Fifth child onwards: The dollar-for-dollar matching is capped at 15,000 SGD per child, with a total CDA benefit of up to 18,000 SGD, including the CDA First Step Grant.

• Enjoy exclusive merchant deals

You can avail of a POSB Baby Bonus NETS Card, which offers great perks and deals for the family at various merchants. You can find exciting discounts on children’s books and toys, free registration fees to join pre-schools, and baby health products.

How to apply for a CDA?

You need to log on to the Baby Bonus website of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to apply for CDA. You can do it two months before the child is due. To apply: 

Step 1: Log on to the website with Singpass.

Step 2: You will be initiated to fill out an online form, wherein you can provide your details and click “Submit”.

Step 3: Wait until your application is processed and approved. You will receive the details of your new account and the NETS card.

Parents who join the Baby Bonus Scheme will have to nominate a person, who can be either of the parents or a third party, to:

• Receive the gifts like the CDA First Step grant and dollar-for-dollar contribution as a nominated account holder
• Manage the CDA as a trustee

The nominated person who receives the cash gifts can be a CDA trustee. However, you can have a different person over 18 years of age and solvent as a trustee.

If either of the parents is a CDA trustee, all you need to do is to accept the selected CDA bank’s terms and conditions. A third-party trustee can open a CDA account with DBS/POSB upon receiving an authorization letter. For this purpose, the trustee should submit:

• The authorization letter (original)
• The NRIC or passport 
• A copy of the Singapore citizenship certificate or the child’s birth certificate, whichever is applicable

Considering the above points, you can open a CDA account with DBS/POSB Bank.

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