SINGAPORE : It will soon be easier for parents to join the Baby Bonus scheme when a one-stop service at nine hospitals and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) kicks in on December 5.
This is when parents can join the scheme when they register the birth of their newborn baby at birth registration counters at ICA or the hospitals.
The nine hospitals are East Shore Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, National University Hospital, Raffles Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Thomson Medical Centre.
Previously, parents have to make two visits to the bank and the process takes slightly more than a month.
With the new service in collaboration with the Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry, a Children Development Account will be opened automatically by DBS bank if the parent is a POSB or DBS account holder.
The Baby Bonus kits with the necessary forms may be distributed to parents as early as during pre-admission when they register to deliver their babies at the hospitals. - CNA/de