To write a cheque in Singapore, fill in five fields: the date, the payee's name, the amount in words, the amount in figures, and your signature. Cross it and write "or bearer" off if you want it paid only into the named person's account. That is the easy part. The part that actually costs you money is what happens after you hand it over. Banks now charge the payer for every SGD cheque ($0.75 at DBS and OCBC, $3 at Standard Chartered), a cheque is only good for six months, and corporate cheques are being switched off entirely from 1 January 2027. This guide walks through writing one correctly, then the fees, clearing times, and the digital tools meant to replace cheques.
A Singapore cheque has the same layout whether it comes from DBS, OCBC, UOB or a foreign bank. Work top to bottom and fill every field, because a single blank line is what lets someone alter the amount later.
Write in non-erasable ballpoint, not pencil or gel pen, and keep the figures tight against the dollar sign so nothing can be inserted in front of them.
Most printed cheques carry the words "or bearer" after the payee line. Leave it and the cheque can be paid to whoever holds it. Cancel it (draw a line through "or bearer" and initial next to it) and the cheque becomes an "order" cheque, payable only to the named payee.
For anything other than a tiny sum, cross the cheque and write "Account Payee Only" between the crossing lines. That instructs the bank to credit the funds only into the named payee's own account, which is your main protection if the cheque is lost or stolen. A general crossing alone does not do that.
If you make a mistake while writing, do not use correction fluid. Cancel the whole cheque, write "VOID" across it, and start a fresh one. A cheque with Tipp-Ex on it will be rejected. Need to move money without any of this fuss? A bank transfer via PayNow or PayLah settles instantly and free.
Update, 14 October 2026: DBS and OCBC charge $0.75 per SGD cheque, not the $3 this guide gave for the major banks; $3 is Standard Chartered's charge. The senior waiver also covers only people who were 60 or older on 31 December 2025. Cheques used to be free. Since 1 November 2023, banks charge a clearing fee on every SGD and USD cheque, billed to the payer (the person who wrote it). For individuals it is $0.75 per SGD cheque and US$1 per USD cheque at DBS and OCBC, and $3 or US$3 at Standard Chartered, from each bank's own fee guide in October 2026. Corporate and institutional cheques cost more and may be charged to both sides.
There is a real exemption, with a cut-off date. Seven banks (Citibank Singapore, DBS, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC, Standard Chartered and UOB) waive the fee until further notice for customers who were 60 or older on 31 December 2025, according to ABS's FAQ updated in July 2026. Turn 60 in 2026 or later and you pay it. Compare that to a free instant transfer and the maths is one-sided for most people.
| Charge | Amount | Who pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SGD cheque fee | $0.75 (DBS, OCBC) to $3 (Standard Chartered) | Payer | Waived for customers 60+ on 31 Dec 2025 |
| USD cheque fee | US$1 (DBS, OCBC) to US$3 (Standard Chartered) | Payer | Same senior waiver applies |
| Cheque book (individual) | About $10 a book | Account holder | DBS, OCBC and Standard Chartered each list $10 |
| Stop-payment / cancel a cheque | $15 to $40 | Account holder | DBS: $15 by phone, $30 at a counter; Standard Chartered: $40 |
| PayNow / FAST transfer | $0 | Sender | Instant; no clearing wait |
Singapore clears cheques through the Cheque Truncation System (CTS). When you deposit, the bank scans an image of the cheque and sends that through the clearing cycle, so the physical paper never travels. Clearing runs Monday to Friday only, excluding public holidays.
At DBS/POSB the deposit cut-off for same-cycle clearing is 3.30pm for SGD cheques. Deposit before then on a working day and the funds are usually available the next working day after 2pm. Miss the cut-off, or deposit on a Friday, and the money lands the following working day, which can push a Thursday-afternoon deposit into the next week.
Two practical traps. First, "available" funds can still be reversed if the cheque later bounces, so do not spend a freshly cleared cheque on the same day if you are unsure of the payer. Second, a cheque is valid for only six months from its date; deposit a stale-dated cheque and it will be rejected, and you will have to ask the issuer for a fresh one.
MAS and the Association of Banks in Singapore are retiring SGD corporate cheques. Banks stopped issuing SGD corporate cheque books and bulk-cheque services by end-2025, and from 1 January 2027 banks will no longer process SGD corporate cheques at all. After feedback from businesses, MAS extended the final processing date by a year, so the practical deadline for presenting a corporate cheque is 31 December 2026.
Retail cheques are a different story. Individuals can keep issuing and depositing SGD cheques with no announced sunset date, and companies can still receive (deposit) cheques written by individuals. So a person paying a renovation contractor by cheque is fine; a company paying a supplier by cheque needs a new method.
If you run a business, this is the cue to move recurring payments onto GIRO and one-off payments onto PayNow Corporate or FAST. For the post-dated cheque use case (paying on a future date), the banks launched two replacements in mid-2025.
Electronic Deferred Payment (EDP) and EDP+ are bank-app tools built to replace post-dated cheques. Both let you schedule a payment to a payee identified by PayNow, and both stay valid for six months like a cheque.
For individuals there are a handful of cases where a cheque is genuinely convenient: paying someone who refuses to share a bank account or PayNow handle, settling a strata or club fee that asks for a cheque, or handing over a large sum where you want a paper trail and a fixed date. A cashier's order or bank draft is still common for HDB and rental deposits.
For almost everything else, an instant transfer beats a cheque on speed, cost and safety. PayNow and FAST move funds in seconds for free, there is nothing to clear, nothing to bounce on a signature mismatch, and no six-month expiry. If you are parking the money rather than paying it out, route idle cash into one of the best savings accounts or compare yields against the latest fixed deposit rates instead of letting it sit in a current account waiting to be cheque-written away.
Corporate cheques are. Banks stopped issuing SGD corporate cheque books by end-2025 and will stop processing SGD corporate cheques from 1 January 2027, with a final presentation deadline of 31 December 2026. Retail cheques written by individuals continue with no announced end date.
A cheque is generally valid for six months from the date written on it, unless the cheque states otherwise. After that it is stale-dated and the bank will reject it, so you must ask the issuer to write a new one. Post-dated cheques cannot be cashed before the date shown.
Since November 2023 banks charge the payer for each SGD cheque: $0.75 at DBS and OCBC and $3 at Standard Chartered, from their fee guides in October 2026. Seven banks waive it until further notice for customers who were 60 or older on 31 December 2025; anyone turning 60 later pays.
Deposit a cheque before the bank's cut-off (3.30pm for SGD at DBS/POSB) on a working day and funds are usually available the next working day after 2pm via the Cheque Truncation System. Clearing runs Monday to Friday only, so Friday or after-cut-off deposits clear later.
MAS and ABS launched Electronic Deferred Payment (EDP) and EDP+ in mid-2025 to replace post-dated cheques, alongside PayNow, FAST and GIRO. EDP debits funds when the payee presents the payment; EDP+ debits immediately on issuance. Both work inside your digital banking app.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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