CDE and Merchant Partners come together to offer Membership Programme to benefit foreign domestic workers

CENTRE FOR DOMESTIC EMPLOYEES AND MERCHANT PARTNERS

COME TOGETHER TO OFFER MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMME TO BENEFIT FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS

- CDE Membership and POSB Payroll account can be applied conveniently online by their employers during the workpass issuance process -

1. On 7 October 2018, the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) launched its membership programme and unveiled its integrated membership card at a carnival held in Heartbeat@Bedok for some 500 foreign domestic workers (FDWs).  Mr Ng Chee Meng, Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress, was the Guest-of-Honour while Ms Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower was the special guest at the event. Also present were key representatives from POSB, DBS, Singtel and various merchant partners.

2. The CDE Membership programme brings together like-minded organisations who believe in creating an inclusive society where FDWs have easy access to everyday essential services in Singapore.

Salary e-Payment Milestone: CDE-POSB Partnership

3. Since 2016, CDE has been advocating electronic salary payments for FDWs, mainly to minimise salary-related disputes between FDWs and their employers. It also allows FDWs to own a safe and regulated avenue for cash deposits which mitigates other issues such as late payment, as well as allow them to manage their funds independently.

4. In December 2017, CDE and selected employment agencies embarked on a pilot project with POSB to assist FDWs in Singapore to open POSB Payroll Accounts at CDE’s satellite offices and/or selected employment agencies’ offices without having to make any initial deposit or maintain a minimum monthly balance[1]. Till today, POSB is the only local bank that offers this free service to FDWs in Singapore to help them better manage their monthly salaries, as well as make cashless payments and remittances easily. The pilot project was well-received by FDWs and their employers with over 5,400 accounts[2] opened since then. CDE will continue to help existing FDWs to submit applications for the POSB Payroll Account. 

5. A new milestone is reached today whereby employers of newly arrived and/or transferring FDWs who do not already have a POSB account, now have the option of helping their foreign helpers apply for a POSB Payroll account and CDE membership as part of the work pass issuance process, all to be done online. Upon successful application, a CDE-POSB ATM card will be mailed to the FDWs at their employers’ residential address within seven working days without them having to visit POSB branches or CDE offices to complete the transaction. This makes it convenient for both the employers and FDWs.

6. The CDE-POSB ATM card will enable FDWs to receive their salary via electronic transfer from their employers. They will also have access to key internet banking services via the POSB jolly mobile app, such as checking of account balances and remitting of funds to their families back home. This way, employers can also easily transfer monthly salaries to the FDWs with these transactions instantly recorded for their future reference.

7. To provide a holistic e-payment experience for FDWs and ensure that they are not left behind in Singapore’s push towards a cashless society, POSB has provisioned the NETS 2.0 function on the CDE-POSB card which enables them to make contactless payments. In the coming year, FDWs with the CDE-POSB card may look forward to a hassle-free public transport ticketing experience via account-based ticketing (ABT).

Integrated features of CDE-POSB card

8. In addition to the above, the CDE-POSB card also comes with the following benefits. These benefits are also extended to existing FDWs. More details of the benefits can be found in the Annex.

1. Connectivity

 will be provided to newly-arrived FDWsSingtelA Welcome Prepaid SIM card by 

2. Remittance Services

Singtel DashAttractive and affordable remittance service options by 

3. Courier Services

Savings on courier cost when they send items home from special deals from K. C. Dat Balikbayan Express and Indobox.

4. Medical and Dental Services

Members’ rates at Healthway Medical Group, Raffles Medical Group  for medical and dental consultation.Unity Denticareand 

5. Lifestyle Products and Services

Discounts on products and services such as haircutting services and training courses from Nelia’s Hair & Beauty Academy, Aisah Salon Grace Hair Studioand  NTUC Linkincluding free registration fee when they sign up for Plus! Card via Plus! App from 

9. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Chairman of CDE said, “The CDE integrated membership card, in the form of the CDE-POSB card, embodies how CDE, as part of the Labour Movement, looks after the ‘work, live and play’ aspects of our domestic employees who play an important role in helping to care for our families. It also exemplifies the strong collaboration that CDE has with various partners such as POSB and Singtel who share our beliefs in improving the lives of our foreign domestic workers. We will continue to build on this collaboration, to strengthen our offerings and relevance to the changing needs of domestic employees.”

10. Mr Jeremy Soo, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), DBS Bank said, “As the people’s bank, POSB is committed to providing banking services to serve all communities in Singapore, and we understand the importance of building an infrastructure that enables financial inclusion especially in today’s increasingly digitalised world. We are heartened to be able to better support our foreign domestic employees by providing them easy access not only to digital banking services but many other services that will help them greatly in their daily lives. This is made possible through this complete ecosystem of players from public to private, and we look forward to enhancing POSB Payroll and POSB jolly to better cater to the foreign domestic employee community.”

11.  “We are pleased to be CDE’s strategic partner in the joint onboarding program for foreign domestic workers, providing them with integrated support services,” said Ms Gan Siok Hoon, Vice President for Mobile Marketing and Sales at Singtel. “Through our affordable prepaid mobile plans and the Singtel network, we are making it convenient for domestic employees to stay connected to their friends and families back home. Singtel Dash also enables them to remit money back home on their mobile phone in a secure, cost effective and timely manner.”