Issue #82: What's Happening This Week? FairPrice's $6 National Day Vouchers, Amex Shop Small's 7th Year Return, and More

This week: FairPrice hands out $6 vouchers for every $61 you spend this National Day weekend, while fresh SingStat data shows middle-income households facing their sharpest cost squeeze yet. Car buyers get a small break as COE premiums for smaller cars dip below $124,000, and Aidha marks 20 years with a new financial literacy push for migrant domestic workers. Elsewhere, 1,000 motorists trial paying for parking through their car's OBU, SMRT posts a near-doubling in profit, and Amex brings back Shop Small for its 7th year. Here's your round-up.

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

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FairPrice hands out $6 vouchers for every $61 spent this National Day weekend

FairPrice Group is marking Singapore's 61st birthday with a National Day Return Voucher promotion, giving shoppers a $6 voucher for every $61 spent in a single receipt at FairPrice, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra and Unity stores from 6 to 16 August. Customers can earn up to 3 vouchers per transaction, redeemable on future purchases until 31 August.

Group CEO Vipul Chawla said the initiative responds directly to concerns over rising food and grocery costs, positioning it as meaningful, everyday savings for families feeling the pinch.

The vouchers stack with other discounts, including CDC Vouchers, CHAS cardholder rebates and Senior Citizen discounts, so shoppers juggling multiple support schemes can combine savings on one receipt.

• $6 voucher for every $61 spent, capped at 3 per transaction
• Valid at FairPrice, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra and Unity stores
• Redeemable from the day after issuance until 31 August

The promotion builds on FairPrice's ongoing price freezes on over 500 daily essentials, running until the end of August. If you're planning your National Day weekend spending anyway, check out our round-up of the best NDP 2026 deals and discounts to stack even more savings.

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Amex Shop Small returns for 7th year with $3 back per $10 spent

American Express is bringing back its Shop Small campaign for a seventh year in Singapore, running from 4 to 31 August.

Eligible Card Members who enrol via the Amex app or website get $3 back for every $10 spent, up to 5 times, at around 3,600 participating local businesses.

• Cashback: $3 per $10 spent, up to 5 times per Card Member
• Enrolment required through the Amex app or website
• About 3,600 participating merchants across Singapore

Sharon Chew, VP and GM of Global Merchant Services Asia at American Express, said the campaign aims to help Card Members discover new local favourites while continuing to support the businesses they already know. Third-generation mooncake bakery owner Ham Weng Seng, whose Tai Chong Kok has operated since 1935, credited initiatives like Shop Small with helping the business reach new customers while staying true to its traditional recipes.

Middle-income households feel the biggest inflation squeeze in H1 2026

Middle-income households in Singapore felt the sharpest cost-of-living squeeze in the first half of 2026, with their overall inflation rate almost doubling to 1.8 per cent from 0.9 per cent a year earlier, according to SingStat data. Excluding rents, the rate climbed even higher, to 2.2 per cent, the highest across all income brackets.

F&B business owner Jason Chua, 34, said his family's grocery and ingredient costs have surged as the Iran war disrupted supply chains, pushing petrol prices from around $140 to $180 per tank. The expenses have become so high that his income is not catching up, he said.

Experts point to food, pricier cars, health insurance and petrol as the main drivers, with the Government topping up support by $900 million on 29 July, on top of an earlier $1 billion package.

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ALSO READ: Singapore Government Payouts 2026: What's Left to Collect This Year

Category A COE premiums dip below $124,000 as other categories hold firm

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed mixed in the 5 August bidding exercise, offering smaller-car buyers a bit of relief even as other categories held steady or rose.

Category A premiums, for cars 1,600cc and below with up to 130bhp, fell 1.7 per cent to $123,890 from $126,000 in the previous round. Category B nudged up marginally, while commercial vehicle COEs dropped 2.5 per cent and motorcycle premiums rose 3 per cent.

A total of 4,337 bids came in against a quota of 3,242 COEs. Quotas for August to October rise slightly to 19,085, with Category B growing 6.2 per cent while Category A shrinks 4 per cent.

Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow added that removing car-leasing and private-hire bids would barely move premiums, since more than three-quarters of registrations are individually owned private cars.

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ALSO READ: COE Guide in Singapore (2026): What It Means, Bidding Process & Price Trends

Aidha launches free course and helpdesk for migrant domestic workers' finances

Local charity Aidha marked its 20th anniversary on 2 August with a new campaign to boost financial literacy among migrant domestic workers and lower-income women in Singapore.

The Financial Literacy ACCESS Campaign will run for 3 years, expanding Aidha's existing programmes and rolling out a free half-day MoneyStart course for newly arrived domestic workers starting this August. Domestic workers already in Singapore can also sign up.

Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau said domestic workers who completed Aidha's programmes since 2006 saw their monthly savings rise by 46 per cent.

• MoneyStart course: free, half-day, monthly in 2026, twice-monthly from 2027
• In-person helpdesk: launching October, 2 Sundays a month, 11am to 2pm
• Fund-raising target: $1 million over 3 years, $200,000 already raised

Aidha also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Employment Agencies to spread awareness of its programmes among employers and workers through member agencies.

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Roadside parking payment via OBU now live for 1,000 trial motorists

A trial letting 1,000 motorists pay for roadside parking through their vehicles' on-board units (OBU) began on 3 August, covering 644 carparks with about 19,000 spaces islandwide.

The pilot is part of LTA's roll-out ahead of the satellite-based ERP 2 system. Motorists tap the P icon on their OBU touchscreen, or get a prompt when the engine turns off, to start a session. There is no manual end button; sessions close automatically once the car leaves the carpark.

• Payment via CEPAS card, AXS Drive, EZ-Link Motoring Service or Nets Virtual CashCard
• Display stays lit for about 2 minutes before the OBU shuts down
• Parking.SG app remains usable and covers 812 carparks as of 4 July

The feature runs alongside ERP Ahead notifications and new road markings, part of LTA gathering feedback before ERP 2 fully replaces gantries from 1 January, when the gantry-based system, in use since 1998, is progressively phased out.

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ALSO READ: Cheap Parking in Orchard 2025—Where to Park for Free, Tips to Save More

SMRT Trains profit nearly doubles to $12.8 million as ridership climbs

SMRT Trains' profit after tax nearly doubled to $12.8 million in the latest financial year, as revenue grew 5.6 per cent on higher ridership and fare income, the operator said on 5 August.

Profit rose from $6.9 million a year earlier, while earnings before interest and tax climbed to $16.2 million from $4.9 million. The increase was partly offset by higher repair and maintenance spending as SMRT invests in its rail assets.

• Profit margin: 1.3%, up from 0.75%
• Train maintenance cost: $245 million; energy cost: $125 million
• Reliability: about 2 million mean kilometres between failure, double the 1 million benchmark for top-performing metros

SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming said discussions on renewing rail licences for the North-South, East-West, Circle Line and Bukit Panjang LRT, which expire in 2031, are timely given how far ahead such negotiations must be planned. SMRT is also partnering Guangzhou Metro on predictive crowd management systems and a bid to operate the future Cross-Island Line.

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Looking to earn more from your daily rides? Check out the underrated Citi SMRT Card, which offers up to 5% cashback on SimplyGo, groceries and online shopping.

That's it for this week! Stay tuned for next week's What's Happening This Week to keep up with the latest in finance, business, and beyond.

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