Endowus Launches Innovative Cash Management Solution to Meet Singaporean’s Needs

Endowus, one of Singapore’s leading MAS-licensed investment platforms, has announced the launch of their fully-digital cash management offering — Cash Smart.

Endowus Cash Smart, which will be available on Endowus.com from July 2020, will allow Singapore investors to earn a projected return of 1.1% to 2.2% per annum, one of the highest in the industry and at least 10 times higher than typical bank deposit accounts, the firm said in a press release.

The cash solution also does not require clients to meet a list of criteria to enjoy the high interest rates — such as crediting salary or paying bills through the platform — unlike many products in the market today.

Endowus Cash Smart also allows Singaporeans to conveniently grow their cash while still remaining liquid, with no lock-ups, daily accrual on interest, and withdrawals at any time.

Endowus surveyed 325 respondents about their cash management habits including their cash deposits at banks and other cash management options. They found that 85% of Singaporeans are keen to explore cash equivalent options with higher yield, even though most have not explored similar money market products before. The types of products most commonly cited were Fixed/Time deposits (29%), Singapore Savings Bond (27%) and Money Market Funds (21%).

Samuel Rhee, Chief Investment Officer, Endowus, said: “We designed Cash Smart to meet the needs of clients who want their cash to work harder for them. It is difficult to achieve higher yields in this environment of continuously falling interest rates, but by combining the best money market and short term interest products, we have built two great high yielding products for our clients to meet their needs of safety and their desire for higher interest rates. We also removed the need for any conditions for achieving this and no lock-ups, giving complete flexibility to let the cash work for you by accruing that higher interest rate on a daily basis.”

When asked about why they chose their current method of managing their cash, respondents cited the primary motivators of liquidity (62%), higher interest rates (55%), and capital preservation (32%) as their top three motivators. In the same survey, respondents mentioned that the top three factors for choosing a cash management solution such as Endowus Cash Smart would be low fees (76%), no lock-up (73%) and higher yields (63%).

Cash Smart’s portfolios are made of diversified cash, money market, and short duration bond funds managed by Fullerton Fund Management (a subsidiary of Temasek & NTUC), Lion Global Investors (a subsidiary of OCBC Group), and UOB Asset Management (a subsidiary of UOB Group). These funds invest in a combination of institutional fixed deposits, Singapore government bonds, and hold-to-maturity short duration bonds.

Gregory Van, Co-CEO, said: “MAS announced in April that total deposits in Singapore banks hit a record high of SNG743.6 billion, showing the influx of liquidity and flight to cash amidst the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Endowus Cash Smart product allows for easy deposit and withdrawal with no lock-up and all your transactions made easy on a seamless digital platform. The Endowus platform is directly linked to client’s bank accounts so you can withdraw money whenever needed. We built Cash Smart to be the most flexible, transparent, lowest cost and highest yielding cash management solution available.” 

Endowus believes in providing accessibility, flexibility, and security when it comes to growing wealth. Clients can simply transfer and earn returns on any amount of cash they put into Cash Smart, with no minimum or maximum cap. Furthermore, through Endowus’ partnership with UOB Kay Hian, Singapore’s largest broker, client assets and investments are safely held in the client’s own name.

“Through our survey, we found that many Singaporeans were seeking better options to manage their cash; as you have to jump through hoops to get even close to the best interest rates banks are offering. Most of our clients simply don’t have the time to shop around. We don’t think cash management should be complicated, and want to allow our clients to manage all their money, be it their short term cash positions or long term investments through all sources, CPF, SRS, Cash — as easily and quickly as possible. Endowus continues to bring new and innovative products and services, such as Cash Smart, at the lowest cost achievable in the industry,” said Rhee.