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Forum: Allow online withdrawals from SRS account

I refer to the Ministry of Finance’s reply, “

I refer to the Ministry of Finance’s reply, “ ” (Dec 4). The letter highlights the need for Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) members to turn up in person for withdrawals to ensure they are aware of certain tax implications and penalties. According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore’s website, to open an SRS account a person “must be capable of managing yourself and your affairs”. Therefore, one would safely assume an SRS member would have a certain level of intelligence and financial acuity to understand the implications of such fund withdrawals from their SRS account. As one can go online to open an SRS account, why should the withdrawal of such funds be any different? Having to physically go to a bank, especially for retirees, seems unreasonable when technology can provide more convenient and efficient ways to do such transactions. Online withdrawals from an SRS account could be done by making a transfer from it to a savings account, in the same name. It would also make withdrawing smaller amounts from the account easier without having to make multiple trips to the bank.