Issue #13: What’s Happening This Week?—Budget 2025, YouTrip’s New Thai Baht Wallet, and More

It’s been an eventful week. First off, we saw Budget 2025 introduce new vouchers, rebates, and perks, including something special for large families and culture lovers.

YouTrip just made travel easier with a Thai Baht wallet, while Skyscanner just DROPped a new DROPS feature (see what we did there?) that helps you track price drops of at least 20% daily—great news for travel lovers. But on the flip side, one popular budget airline has just reinstated card fees after 6 years. Drats.

If investing is on your mind, 2 digital banks just launched low-cost, beginner-friendly investment services to help you put your money to work. One of these banks has another milestone to celebrate too—reaching 1 million customers, in just over 2 years too.

From Budget 2025 boosts to travel hacks and investing made easy, here’s everything you need to know in What’s Happening This Week?, our weekly series rounding up the latest finance news and updates that matter to you.

TLDR Budget 2025 Highlights: From SG60 vouchers to the new Large Families Scheme, this year’s budget brings more rebates, grants, and even a $100 Culture Pass for Singaporeans. YouTrip launches Thai Baht wallet: You can now pre-convert SGD to THB in the YouTrip app, with a Malaysian Ringgit wallet coming soon and Travel Wednesdays perks back in action. Skyscanner DROPS a new feature: This new tool, DROPS, tracks flight prices that drop by at least 20% daily, with Bangkok topping the list of discounted destinations. Scoot brings back card fees: Credit and debit card payments for Scoot flights now come with a 1.40% to 2.26% processing fee, though PayNow, Scoot vouchers, and KrisFlyer miles remain fee-free. Trust Bank launches TrustInvest: A new investment service within the Trust App, offering low-cost, easy access to five curated funds with a minimum investment of $100. MariBank introduces Mari Invest Income: A low-cost investment account with zero transaction fees and a minimum investment of $1, offering access to a global bond fund.

Want more details? Let’s dive in.

 

Psst, missed last week’s issue? View all past editions of What’s Happening This Week? to catch up.

 

Budget 2025 happened—do you know what you’re getting?

 

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Titled “Onward Together For A Better Tomorrow”, the Budget 2025 statement was delivered earlier this week on 18 Feb 2025. There were the usual CDC Vouchers and U-Save rebates that everyone loves, but also some new enhancements and initiatives:

• Climate Vouchers: These are now available for private property owners too—everyone gets $400 worth of vouchers to spend on energy-efficient appliances.
• New SG60 Vouchers: All Singaporeans aged 21 or older will get $600 in SG60 vouchers, while seniors (60+ years old) are set to receive $800. These work just like CDC vouchers, and you can expect them in Jul 2025.
• Large Families Scheme: Under this new scheme, parents with 3 or more children will get a $5,000 CDA top-up, $5,000 MediSave grant, and $1,000 yearly LifeSG credits.
• SG Culture Pass: Singaporeans aged 18 or older will receive $100 to spend at museums, art exhibitions, and the like. All in the name of championing arts, culture and heritage.

Get all the highlights in our Budget 2025 summary.

 

Sawadeeka! YouTrip just launched a new Thai Baht wallet.

If the only thing you mildly dislike about Thailand is that you can’t use your favourite YouTrip card there, today is the day your woes vanish. YouTrip has just launched a new Thai Baht (THB) wallet that will help you lock in good exchange rates when you pre-convert Singapore Dollars to THB via the YouTrip app. Our friends over at YouTrip tell us that 1 in 5 Singaporeans travelled to Thailand last year, so we’re guessing a lot of you are as happy as a shopaholic at the Chatuchak Weekend Market right now.

That’s not all. YouTrip is also adding a Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) wallet soon, and has just announced the return of Travel Wednesdays—midweek savings you can enjoy via YouTrip Perks.

From now until 2 Apr 2025, you can snag up to 17% cashback on hotels and 11% on flights, plus vouchers worth up to $100 off. Deals are available on Trip.com, Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, and Klook, so whether you’re planning for the March or June holidays, there’s plenty to save on. To unlock these exclusive perks, just head to the ‘Perks’ tab in your YouTrip app.

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ALSO READ: Digital Multi-Currency Accounts & Cards For Travel Spending: YouTrip, Revolut, Amaze and More

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Speaking of travel, look what SkyScanner just DROPped.

Skyscanner has just launched a new app-exclusive feature, DROPS. This useful tool finds flights from nearby airports that have dropped in price by at least 20% in the last 24 hours. If you’re chronically checking flight prices for a good bargain anyway, let these guys do the legwork for you instead.

Interestingly, according to Skyscanner’s data, Wednesdays are the best days for DROPS. They also found that it pays to be up early—the early birds get the deals, with 38% of price drops happening before 9am. Bangkok was the most frequently discounted destination, while Tokyo offered the biggest savings, with travellers saving an average of $397 per flight. These are just some of the intriguing insights from the Skyscanner DROPS data in Jan 2025.

Read more about Skyscanner’s DROPS.

 

Uh-oh. Scoot’s card processing fees are back.

If you’re booking a Scoot flight out of Singapore, heads up—you’ll now be charged a processing fee if you pay with a credit card or debit card. After 6 glorious years without them, Scoot has reinstated these fees, which will range from 1.40% to 2.26%, depending on your card.

This change doesn’t just apply to Singapore; flights departing from Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand will also have similar charges. Scoot says the fee helps cover transaction costs imposed by banks and payment providers.

Want to dodge the extra charges? PayNow, Scoot vouchers, and KrisFlyer miles remain fee-free options. If you’re splitting your payment between a card and vouchers/miles, the fee only applies to the card portion.

Scoot has said it will review these fees regularly, but for now, it’s something to keep in mind when booking your next trip. 

 

Trust Bank has 2 reasons to celebrate.

Trust launches TrustInvest

Trust Bank has introduced TrustInvest, a new investment service developed in partnership with global investment firm abrdn.

TrustInvest offers a seamless, self-contained experience within the Trust App, allowing users to start investing in just a few taps. With a low minimum investment of $100, you can choose from 5 different funds tailored to different risk levels and financial goals. These include a/an:

• Money market fund for cash management
• Income fund for regular payouts
• 3 core investment funds with varying levels of risk.

You’ll also be happy to know that there are no platform or sales fees, only a transparent fund management fee.

To mark the launch, Trust Bank is offering a scratch card reward of up to $1,000 cashback for customers who invest at least $10,000. Ready to start? TrustInvest is currently only available to Trust savings account holders, so you need to download the Trust app if you haven’t already and sign up for a savings account first.

Trust reaches 1 million customers—and is giving back

Trust Bank has reached a major milestone—1 million customers in just over 2 years, making it Singapore’s fourth largest retail bank by customer numbers.

To celebrate the occasion, Trust is giving back to the community with a $100,000 donation to support 1,000 families-in-need through the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s ComLink+ initiative and FairPrice Group.

Beyond financial aid, Trust Bank will also help families build digital and financial literacy, reinforcing its commitment to making a meaningful impact.

More details on Trust Bank’s give-back programme to come in the months ahead. In the meantime, congratulations to them!

 

MariBank launches a new investment account

MariBank has just launched Mari Invest Income, a new investment account that offers a low minimum investment of $1 and zero transaction fees.

Offering access to the global bond market, it’s open to both beginners and experienced investors. Investors can invest in the PIMCO GIS Income Fund Admin SGD Hedged – Inc, a well-established fund with over $100 billion in assets.

Unlike many investment platforms, Mari Invest does not charge account fees, upfront fees, sales charges, or withdrawal fees, ensuring that the full investment amount goes towards the fund. However, the fund itself does have a 1.05% annual management fee, factored into the unit price.

Ready to start? Currently, Mari Invest Income is available by invitation only. Go to MariInvest on your MariBank app to check if it’s been opened to you—otherwise, you may need to wait for broader access. 

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ALSO READ: How to Start Investing With $1,000 in Singapore for Beginners

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