Quick answer: uSMART Securities Singapore is an online broker that lets you trade SGX, US and HK stocks, and it markets an interest-on-idle-cash feature on top. Whether it is worth using comes down to two things: which fee tier you land in, and whether the cash interest rate on the day you sign up still beats the alternatives. Both move, so this guide shows you how to check rather than asking you to trust a number that may be stale.

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link to uSMART. If you open an account through it, InvestKaki may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing here is financial advice. Do your own homework.

Our 25 September review of uSMART already covered the custody and CDP question. This time I want to look at the two things most readers actually ask me about: what happens to cash sitting in the account, and what each fee tier costs in real dollars.

uSMART promotes interest on uninvested cash balances, with some pages quoting figures such as 4.6% p.a. on account balances. The catch is that I could not find a current, official page that states the rate, the balance cap, or the conditions. The older figure came from a third-party comparison page, so treat it as a lead, not a fact.

The useful way to judge it is against what other Singapore platforms were showing in spring 2026 for SGD cash:

If uSMART's rate holds above these on a meaningful balance, the feature is a reasonable parking spot between trades. If it is a short promo rate that falls away, it is just a nice welcome gift.

Ask three things before you move money: is the rate promotional or ongoing, is there a cap, and can I withdraw any time without losing the rate?

uSMART uses account tiers (Trader, Standard and Intel) with different commission and platform fee structures. Intel needs at least S$3,000 in assets, and one third-party review notes you cannot move back down to Trader once you are in Intel. The table below is from Beansprout's review, dated 8 July 2025, so it may already have changed.

Other sources list different figures. MoneySmart shows a S$0 minimum on SG stocks and a 0.03% platform fee for Trader, while SingSaver describes SGX commission "from 0.02%". That mismatch is exactly why I would confirm in the app before you commit.

On a S$10,000 SGX trade, the Trader rate in the table above works out to about S$5 before GST and exchange fees, versus about S$10 at the Intel rate. For a small account placing a few trades a year, the difference is pocket change. For someone trading often, it adds up, so the tier you are placed in matters more than the headline commission. Singapore GST of 9% applies to broker fees.

I could not find an official uSMART announcement of a fee change between 25 September and today. One help page references an "Adjustment of US Stock Fees" but gives no details or effective date.

The practical takeaway: re-check the US fee schedule before placing your first US trade.

Based on the above, uSMART may suit investors who want one account for SGX, US and HK stocks and who plan to keep some cash in the account, as long as the interest rate holds up. It may suit less well anyone who mostly trades SGX blue chips in small sizes and wants the simplest fee schedule, or who wants their SGX holdings under their own CDP account.

Compare it with the other platforms in our best online broker guide before deciding.

Is uSMART regulated in Singapore? It operates in Singapore as a licensed capital markets services holder.

Does uSMART pay interest on idle cash? It markets this feature. Confirm the current rate, cap and conditions in the app, since they are not clearly published on a single official page.

What are uSMART's fees? They vary by tier (Trader, Standard, Intel) and market. See the table above and verify against the live schedule.

Is there a minimum deposit? Sources conflict (S$1,000 on one page, none on another).

Is uSMART good for beginners? It offers fractional US shares and a regular savings plan, which some beginners like. Whether it fits you depends on the fees and cash rate you actually get.

If you want to see the current rates and fee tier for yourself, you can open an account here.

If you are still choosing between platforms and tools, our ebook Your Ultimate Guide to Investing Tools walks through the main options side by side.