CPF Guide · Bank Loans

Your CPF will not pay your mortgage on its own. You have to switch it on. Here is exactly how.

When you take a bank loan, CPF does not start servicing your monthly instalment automatically. Until you submit this application, the bank deducts the full instalment from your bank account in cash. Every month.

1 minTime to complete the form
5 daysMinimum lead time before your deduction date
2 formsJoint owners each submit their own
Start here

First, check which loan you are on


The two paths are completely different. Get this wrong and you will spend ten minutes filling in a form that does not apply to you.

This guide

Bank loan

Private property, or an HDB flat financed with a bank loan. You apply directly through CPF using the eight steps below.

Not this guide

HDB loan

HDB manages the CPF deduction for you through the HDB Flat Portal. You will see the link to it inside Step 3. Nothing else here applies.

Before you start

Four things to have in front of you


  1. Your Singpass. You will be asked to log in partway through.
  2. The name of your financier, exactly as it appears on your Letter of Offer. Not the branch, not your relationship manager.
  3. Your monthly instalment amount. From your loan repayment schedule.
  4. The month you want CPF to start paying. Work backwards using the table below.
Property typeStart a deductionChange it later
Private property 3 working days 1 working day
HDB flat on a bank loan 5 working days 1 working day

Submit at least 5 working days before your monthly instalment deduction date. That is the floor, not the target.

1

Get to the Forms page

Go to cpf.gov.sg. Both routes below land on the same page.

  • On desktop: click Tools and services in the top menu bar.
  • On mobile: tap the menu icon at the top right, scroll down, tap Forms.
CPF website navigation. Desktop menu with Tools and services highlighted, and the mobile menu with Forms highlighted.
Desktop menu on the left, mobile menu on the right.Tap to enlarge
2

Open the home ownership section

You are now on Forms and e-applications. Scroll past Growing your savings and Retirement income until you reach the Home ownership heading.

Tap Manage CPF usage for your home. The section expands.

3

Choose your loan type, then Apply online

The panel splits into two paths. Read the headings before you click anything.

  • If you are financing with a bank loan. Four actions are listed underneath: make changes to housing instalment payments, make arrears payment, make lump sum payment, repay housing loan fully. Setting up your monthly deduction sits under the first one. Click Apply online.
  • If you are financing with a HDB loan. Click Go to HDB website and manage it through the HDB Flat Portal instead. You can stop reading here.

You will be asked to log in with Singpass.

Forms and e-applications page with Manage CPF usage for your home expanded, showing the Apply online link for bank loans and the Go to HDB website link for HDB loans.
Steps 2 and 3. Bank loan on top, HDB loan underneath.Tap to enlarge
4

Check the property address, then Start

You are now inside Commence Monthly Instalment. Your property address is displayed at the top.

Check it. If you own more than one property, confirm this is the right one before you go any further.

CPF tells you on this screen what it is about to ask for: your monthly instalment, which must not be more than the amount you have agreed to pay your financier each month, and the name of your financier. The same timing rules from the table above are repeated here.

Click Start.

Commence Monthly Instalment page showing property address, information required, processing times and the Start button.
Read the processing times before you pick your start month.Tap to enlarge
5

Select the right application

Four options appear under Online Applications. Select Commence Monthly Instalment, then click Next.

  • Commence Monthly Instalment. This one. Sets up the recurring deduction.
  • Make Lump Sum Payment. A one-off capital repayment.
  • Make Arrears Payment. Clears instalments already missed.
  • Repay Housing Loan Fully. Closes the loan.

The last three are one-off transactions. None of them sets up a recurring deduction.

Use CPF for My Property page with four radio options. Commence Monthly Instalment is selected.
Commence Monthly Instalment is the first option.Tap to enlarge
6

Fill in three fields

Financier. Open the dropdown and select your bank. Match it to the name on your Letter of Offer. The list is long and several names look similar.

Monthly Instalment. Enter the amount you have agreed to pay each month. If you own the property with someone else, enter your share only, not the full instalment. The helper below works it out for you.

Effective From. Select the month you want CPF to start paying. The dropdown only offers the next few months. Work backwards from your first instalment date and add the processing time. If the month you need is already too close, pick the next one and pay that first instalment in cash.

7

Declare and continue

Tick the declaration box confirming the information is true and that you have read the Terms and Conditions. Click Next.

Input page showing the Financier dropdown, the Monthly Instalment field, the Effective From dropdown and the declaration checkbox.
Steps 6 and 7. Financier and instalment on the left, effective month and declaration on the right.Tap to enlarge

The part most people get wrong: every owner applies separately

CPF applications are per person, not per property.

If the property is in two names, each owner logs in with their own Singpass and submits their own application. One person submitting does not cover the other. If only one of you applies, only one Ordinary Account is deducted and the rest of the instalment stays in cash.

Together, the two declared amounts should add up to the monthly instalment. They should not exceed it.

Instalment of $3,200 split evenly: each of you declares $1,600.
Instalment of $3,200 serviced entirely by one person: that person declares $3,200, the other does not apply.
Work out your figure

Two-owner split helper

Enter the full monthly instalment and how you are splitting it. The two figures below are what each of you types into the Monthly Instalment field at Step 6.

$
50 / 50
Owner A declares$0
Owner B declares$0

Enter your monthly instalment to see the split.

Check that each Ordinary Account can actually carry its share every month. Any shortfall on the deduction date is taken from your bank account in cash.

8

Read the three lines back, then Submit

The Confirmation Page shows exactly three things: Financier, Monthly Instalment and Effective From. Read all three again before you submit.

The two errors we see most often:

  • The wrong bank, usually after a refinance. The old instruction does not follow you to the new lender.
  • An Effective From month that does not leave enough working days to process.

Confirm the declaration and click Submit.

Save the acknowledgement. Screenshot the reference number or print the confirmation page. If the deduction does not appear in the month you selected, that reference is what you quote.

Confirmation page showing financier, monthly instalment and effective from date, with the Submit button.
Three lines. Check all three, then submit.Tap to enlarge
After you submit

What happens next


The deduction starts from the month you selected, subject to the processing times above.

Anything CPF does not cover is still taken in cash. If your Ordinary Account balance is short on the deduction date, the shortfall falls back to your bank account. The instalment gets paid either way. The only question is from where.

If your instalment changes, come back and revise it. Rate revision, repricing, refinancing, partial capital repayment. All of these change the number. Revising takes 1 working day. Your original submission does not update itself.

If you refinance to a new bank, submit a fresh application under the new financier. Do not assume the old instruction carries over.

Avoid these

Six mistakes we see every month


  1. Assuming CPF starts automatically. It does not. Until this form is submitted, the full instalment leaves your bank account in cash.
  2. One owner submitting for both. Each owner must apply separately, with their own Singpass.
  3. Both owners declaring the full instalment. The combined declared amounts should equal the instalment, not double it.
  4. Submitting too late. 5 working days before your deduction date is the minimum, not the plan.
  5. Forgetting to revise after a refinance or rate change. The instruction is tied to one financier and one amount. Change either and it needs updating.
  6. Draining the Ordinary Account to the last dollar. Every dollar of CPF used on the property accrues interest at the prevailing Ordinary Account rate, currently 2.5% per annum, and that accrued interest is refunded out of your sale proceeds when you sell. Using CPF is a cashflow decision, not a free one.

If any of the six above apply to you, or you are not sure what your cash outlay looks like once CPF is switched on, work it out with your agent before you submit. The form takes one minute. Reversing a wrong assumption about your monthly cashflow takes a lot longer.