CDC vouchers, how do I claim them and where can I actually use them?

Question

My parents are not tech-savvy and keep missing the CDC vouchers. Want to help them claim and understand where to spend, hawkers, supermarkets? Also do they expire? Trying to make sure they dont waste it.

Uncle Tan HDB · Accepted Answer

Helped my elderly parents with this every round. How it works: 1) each household gets a claim link (announced via SMS/news), you claim once via the redeemsg site with Singpass, no app install needed, works in a browser, 2) they're split between participating heartland merchants/hawkers AND supermarkets (the split is set each tranche), 3) to spend, you just show/scan the merchant's CDC QR code and enter the amount, the merchant doesn't touch your Singpass. For non-tech parents: claim it FOR them on your phone using their Singpass (with consent), then they can spend by scanning QR at the wet market, provision shop, or NTUC. Yes they expire, there's a use-by date each tranche, so spend before it lapses. Verify the current expiry date and merchant split on the official CDC/redeemsg site each round.

Data Analyst Wei Ling · Answer

The vouchers DO expire, and that's almost certainly what your parents keep missing, this is the crux of your problem. Each tranche has a use-by date, and anything unclaimed or claimed-but-unspent by that deadline simply disappears, it does not fully roll over to the next round, so 'saving it for later' is exactly how it gets wasted. The fix is dead simple: set a reminder on your own phone for each tranche, claim it for them promptly when announced, then nudge them to actually spend it well before the deadline rather than hoarding it. Older folks tend to 'save it for a special occasion' and then the window closes. Treat it as use-it-or-lose-it money and it stops going to waste.

Uni Undergrad Haziq · Answer

I just claim it on behalf of my mum using her Singpass every round, with her sitting next to me giving consent, then she goes off and spends it at the wet market and NTUC on her own once I've set it up, so she doesn't need to understand the claiming part at all, just the spending. The spending itself is genuinely easy for older folks once you show them physically one time: at the stall you scan the shop's CDC QR code with the phone, key in the amount, done, no card, no password. Participating hawkers and shops display the CDC sticker clearly at the counter so she knows who accepts it. Do the claiming for them, teach them just the QR scan, that division of labour works.

CDC vouchers, how do I claim them and where can I actually use them?

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