Last updated 6 October 2026 — by Adrian Tan, SDM. Marketing guidance, not legal advice. Rates quoted were read from the banks’ own websites on 6 October 2026 and change often; confirm anything campaign-critical with your compliance team before launch.
Here is a fact that surprises most people who work on financial marketing in Singapore: no statute tells a bank how to advertise a credit card or a personal loan. The regulation that governs credit cards is detailed about who may get one, how high the limit may go and what the monthly statement must say. It has nothing on advertising. The rules that decide what your ad can say live elsewhere, in an industry code most marketers have never read.
That code, the Association of Banks in Singapore’s Code of Advertising Practice for Banks, contains the single rule that shapes almost every loan ad you see: the effective interest rate must sit side by side with the advertised rate, with equal prominence and in the same font size. Add the advertising standards code’s rule on the word “free”, and the Buy Now Pay Later industry’s own code, and you have the whole rulebook.
This guide walks through each layer: what the credit card regulations do and do not cover, the ABS advertising rules, BNPL, the “free” problem, and how all of it plays out in a paid social or search campaign. Moneylenders are a different regime with real statutory advertising rules, and we cover them separately.
Who regulates what
| Product | Product rules | Advertising rules | Legal force of the ad rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank credit cards and charge cards | Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2013 | ABS Code of Advertising Practice for Banks; ASAS code | Industry self-regulation |
| Bank personal loans and credit lines | MAS Notice 635 | ABS Code of Advertising Practice for Banks; ASAS code | Industry self-regulation |
| Buy Now Pay Later | None from MAS; SFA BNPL Code of Conduct | BNPL Code paras 4.2.1 to 4.2.6; ASAS code; CPFTA | Industry code, plus consumer protection law |
| Licensed moneylenders | Moneylenders Act and rules | Registrar’s advertising directions | Statutory |
The pattern is unusual. The more established the lender, the less the law says about its advertising. Licensed moneylenders operate under binding statutory channel restrictions. Banks operate under a voluntary code they wrote themselves. Our guide to moneylender advertising rules in Singapore covers the statutory regime; the rest of this guide is about banks and BNPL.
What the credit card regulations actually cover
The Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2013 are worth knowing, because they shape what a card ad can promise, even though they never mention advertising. The main rules, as amended by S 580/2025 from 5 September 2025:
- Income floors (reg 8(2)). For an unsecured card, a Singapore citizen or PR aged 55 or under needs annual income of at least S$30,000, or net financial assets above S$1 million, or net personal assets above S$2 million. Above 55, the income floor is S$15,000, with alternatives based on assets or a guarantor.
- Credit limits (regs 5(3) and 14). The overall unsecured limit is two times monthly income for people earning under S$30,000 a year, and four times monthly income at S$30,000 or above.
- No unsolicited cards (reg 10). A card may not be sent unless the person asked for it in a signed document.
- No unsolicited limit increases (reg 11). The aggregate limit cannot be raised without a signed request from the cardholder.
- The cooling-off on phone upsells (reg 20). If the bank made the call, it cannot act on a request to raise the limit until the customer confirms, either on a separate recorded call at least five business days later or in a signed document.
- The 60-day rule (reg 16(2)). No new charges once any amount is 60 or more consecutive days past due.
Why this matters for marketers
These rules quietly constrain your copy. An ad that says “Get a card with a S$20,000 limit, no income needed” promises something reg 8 and reg 5 may forbid for most of its audience. A telemarketing script that pushes “we can raise your limit right now” runs straight into reg 20. A lead-generation landing page that says “card delivered in 24 hours, no forms” implies the signed request in reg 10 is not required. None of that is an advertising offence as such, but it describes a product the bank cannot lawfully deliver, which is the kind of claim the ASAS code and consumer protection law treat as misleading.
The “WARNING” box is a statement rule, not an ad rule
A common mix-up: the well-known “WARNING: If you do not pay the outstanding balance in full, you will be subject to …% interest” text is not an advertising requirement. For credit cards it comes from reg 18(3) and the Second Schedule of the regulations, and it appears on the statement when the bill is not paid in full, along with how long paying only the minimum will take and the total cost. MAS Notice 635 imposes the same kind of statement disclosure for revolving non-card credit facilities. You do not need to put it in an Instagram ad, although nothing stops a bank from doing so.
The ABS advertising code: the rule that shapes every loan ad
The ABS Code of Advertising Practice for Banks is a sub-code of the Code of Consumer Banking Practice, effective from 15 June 2010. It is short, eight paragraphs in all, and only a few matter day to day.
- Para 3: ads must be legal, clear, fair and not misleading.
- Para 4: ads must not take advantage of people’s inexperience or gullibility.
- Para 5: ads must state eligibility limits, charges, risks and penalties, and must balance the headline benefits.
- Para 6: the effective interest rate rules, below.
- Paras 7 and 8: general legal compliance, and the separate rules for unit trusts and bancassurance.
Para 6: the EIR goes side by side
Where an ad quotes an interest rate, para 6(b)(i) requires the effective interest rate (EIR) to be shown side by side with the applied rate, with equal prominence, in the same font size, and in the main body of the ad. Para 6(b)(ii) says it must not be tucked into a footnote or the terms and conditions. Para 6(c) requires the EIR calculation to include all upfront fees and any mandatory insurance. For revolving credit, the ad must also state that interest is subject to compounding.
The reason is obvious once you look at real numbers. Banks advertise the flat “applied” rate on instalment loans because it is the small number. The EIR, which reflects that you are repaying the principal over the term and paying fees up front, is roughly double.
On 6 October 2026, the DBS Personal Loan page advertised “from 1.48% p.a. (EIR 3.22% p.a.)”. UOB’s personal loan page advertised from 1.00% p.a. (EIR from 1.93% p.a.) up to 8% p.a. (EIR 17.62% p.a.). Both put the two figures together, which is exactly what para 6 requires.
Credit card interest is a different number
Card interest is quoted differently because it is already an annual rate on a revolving balance. DBS lists 27.80% p.a., rising to 30.80% p.a. if the minimum payment is missed. Standard Chartered lists an EIR of 27.90% p.a. and a S$100 late payment charge. For a card ad, the practical point is that “0% interest” offers on instalment plans or balance transfers still need the fees and the EIR shown with the same weight as the zero.
What equal prominence means in a digital ad
The code was written in 2010, before most of today’s formats, so you have to apply its principle to them:
- Static social ads: if the headline graphic says “1.48% p.a.”, the EIR goes on the same graphic, same size, next to it. The caption or the “see more” text is not enough.
- Search ads: if a headline quotes the applied rate and there is room for only one number, quote both or quote neither. A rate in the headline with the EIR left to the landing page puts the EIR in the equivalent of a footnote.
- Video and stories: an on-screen rate needs the EIR on screen at the same time, for the same duration, at the same size. A flash of small text at the end does not meet “equal prominence”.
- Landing pages: the EIR belongs beside the rate in the hero, not in an expandable “terms” accordion.
This is the rule that most often sends rate-led creative back to the designer. A rate ad built around one large number is easy to make; making two numbers share the space is a layout problem, and it is best solved in the first concept rather than in compliance review.
The “free” problem
The ABS code has no paragraph on the word “free” or on promotional rates. That gap is filled by the ASAS Singapore Code of Advertising Practice, which applies to every advertiser. Its clauses 7.1 to 7.4 on the use of the word “free” say incidental costs must be stated, the cost must not be recovered elsewhere, and, in clause 7.4, that apart from a genuine free trial, “free” must not be used where payment is merely deferred. The SCAP general principles also say ads must not mislead about payment terms “such as hire purchase, leasing, instalment sales and credit sales”.
That rule bites in three common credit campaigns:
- “Free annual fee” that is waived only for the first year, or only if you spend a set amount. State the condition next to the claim.
- “Interest-free instalments” that carry a processing fee. If there is a fee, the plan is not free of cost, and the fee must be shown with equal weight.
- “Pay nothing today” or “free until next month” on BNPL or deferred-payment plans. Deferring payment is not giving something away, and clause 7.4 says so directly.
Sign-up gifts
Card acquisition campaigns in Singapore lean heavily on sign-up gifts: luggage, cash credit, gadgets. Nothing bans them in an ad. MAS’s guidelines on marketing and distribution at retailers and public places, effective from 1 April 2017, explicitly cover credit cards and unsecured loans, and say gifts must not influence customers’ purchase decisions. Treat that as a reason to keep the gift subordinate to the product terms in your creative, not the headline it often is. If a gift is awarded by draw rather than to everyone, our guide to lucky draw rules in Singapore applies too.
Roadshows and pop-up booths
In 2003, MAS said it “would not ordinarily approve” temporary booths or roadshows that accept applications for credit cards or unsecured credit; booths that only hand out forms were allowed. MAS cited “non-acceptance of application forms for unsecured credit products and cards at temporary locations” as an existing safeguard in its December 2016 consultation response. If your campaign includes a mall activation for a bank, check with the bank’s compliance team whether applications can be taken on site; we could not confirm whether the policy has been formally updated since.
Buy Now Pay Later
MAS does not regulate BNPL. In a written parliamentary reply on 8 April 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said MAS relies on the industry’s own code and considered that approach “appropriate and proportionate for now”, declining calls for stricter advertising rules. That code is the Singapore FinTech Association’s BNPL Code of Conduct.
| BNPL Code rule | Paragraph | What it means for marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Customers must be 18 or over | 3.1 | Do not target under-18s; check audience age settings |
| Outstanding payments capped at S$2,000 per provider until further checks | 3.2 | Do not imply bigger limits for new users |
| Fees capped and non-compounding | 3.5, 3.6 | Fee claims must match the published fee schedule |
| Website must state BNPL is not regulated by MAS | 4.1.3(h) | A website disclosure, not an ad-copy line, but landing pages must carry it |
| Ads must comply with the CPFTA and ASAS codes, and be clear and not misleading | 4.2.1 to 4.2.6 | The general misleading-ads test applies in full |
| Caution with the word “free”; disclose fees and late charges | 4.2 | “Pay later for free” needs the late fees beside it |
| Do not imply BNPL is risk-free or suitable for everyone | 4.2 | Avoid “no risk”, “for everyone” framings |
| No aggressive in-person solicitation | 4.2 | Affects retail and event activations |
The SFA registry lists four providers accredited under the code from 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2027: Abnk, Atome, Grab (GFin) and SPayLater (Monee). ShopBack and Ablr withdrew. Merchants promoting a BNPL option at checkout are also advertising credit in practice, so the same “free” and “risk-free” cautions apply to a retailer’s own banners. Our guide to dark patterns in Singapore covers the checkout design side, including pre-selected payment options.
Applying the rules to a paid campaign
Worked example: rewriting a personal loan ad
| Draft line | Problem | Compliant version |
|---|---|---|
| “Loans from 1.48%!” (headline), EIR in the small print | EIR not side by side or equally prominent (ABS 6(b)) | “From 1.48% p.a. (EIR 3.22% p.a.)”, both in the headline at the same size |
| “Zero fees” | Untrue if a processing fee applies to some tiers | “Processing fee waived” only if true for every applicant the ad reaches; otherwise state the fee |
| “Approved in minutes, no documents” | Overstates; income verification still applies | “Apply online in minutes. Approval subject to the bank’s assessment” |
| “Free cash for your holiday” | A loan is not free; SCAP 7.4 and general misleading test | “Fund your holiday with a fixed monthly instalment” |
| Rates shown with no example | Hard to understand the real cost | Add a representative example: amount, tenure, monthly instalment, total cost |
Platform rules sit on top
Google and Meta both treat financial services as a restricted category with their own verification and disclosure requirements, and those rules change more often than Singapore’s. The MAS Guidelines on digital advertising by financial institutions also apply to banks and insurers; we cover them in our guide to insurance advertising rules in Singapore. For lenders, the practical stack is: platform policy, MAS and ABS expectations, then SCAP. A campaign that passes the strictest of those usually passes all of them.
Who answers for the ad?
Because the ABS code is self-regulation, it binds member banks, not agencies. In practice the bank’s compliance team approves the creative and the agency builds to its rules. Where an agency, affiliate or comparison site produces its own credit ads, for example a “best credit cards” page earning a fee per application, it is the advertiser for SCAP and consumer protection purposes. It should hold itself to the same EIR and “free” standards, because the bank’s compliance team will not have seen its copy. We found no published ASAS ruling or MAS enforcement action on a bank’s credit card or loan advertising, so these standards are enforced mostly through bank compliance review and platform rejection rather than public cases.
Where credit advertising meets other regimes
- Investment-linked products sold by banks fall under the Securities and Futures Act and Financial Advisers Act rules; see our guide to investment offer advertising in Singapore.
- Crypto cards and digital payment tokens are subject to MAS’s ban on public marketing of DPT services; see our guide to crypto marketing rules in Singapore.
- SMS and phone campaigns for cards and loans must also pass the PDPA’s Do Not Call checks.
Conclusion
Credit advertising in Singapore runs on an unusual split. The statute governs the product, from income floors and limits to the warning on the statement, and is silent about the ad. The ad itself is governed by a short industry code whose central rule is that the EIR sits next to the advertised rate with equal weight, by the advertising code’s ban on calling deferred payment “free”, and, for BNPL, by an industry code that MAS has so far chosen to rely on. None of it is hard to follow once the creative is designed around two numbers instead of one and every “free” or “zero” is checked against the fee schedule.
If you market a financial product and want campaigns built to these rules from the first concept, that is the kind of work our performance marketing team in Singapore does; see our client case studies for results. For the wider picture, start with our complete guide to performance marketing in Singapore.
The same ABS code governs the other side of the balance sheet. Deposit promotions carry their own statutory duty: a deposit insurance statement in SDIC’s prescribed wording, and a criminal offence for anyone who misstates whether a product is insured. Our guide to fixed deposit and savings promotion advertising in Singapore covers the wording, EIR display and the conditions that belong in every ad.
Frequently asked questions
Do bank loan ads in Singapore have to show the effective interest rate?
Yes, under the ABS Code of Advertising Practice for Banks. Para 6 requires the EIR to be shown side by side with the advertised rate, with equal prominence and in the same font size, in the main body of the ad rather than a footnote. The EIR must include upfront fees and any mandatory insurance.
Is there a law on how banks advertise credit cards?
Not directly. The Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2013 govern eligibility, limits, unsolicited cards, limit increases and statements, but contain no advertising provision. Advertising is governed by the ABS industry code, the ASAS Singapore Code of Advertising Practice and general consumer protection law.
Can I say “interest-free” or “free” in a credit or BNPL ad?
Only where it is true. The ASAS code says “free” must not be used where payment is only deferred, and incidental costs must be stated. If an instalment plan carries a processing fee, or BNPL carries late fees, those must be disclosed clearly, and the SFA BNPL Code asks providers to be cautious with the word “free”.
Is BNPL regulated by MAS?
No. MAS relies on the Singapore FinTech Association’s BNPL Code of Conduct, and in April 2025 said that approach was appropriate and proportionate for now. The code caps outstanding payments at S$2,000 per provider until further checks, requires users to be 18 or over, and requires providers’ websites to state that BNPL is not regulated by MAS.
What is the minimum income for a credit card in Singapore?
For an unsecured card, a citizen or PR aged 55 or under needs annual income of at least S$30,000, or net financial assets above S$1 million, or net personal assets above S$2 million. Above 55 the income floor is S$15,000. An ad should not imply cards are available to people below these thresholds.
Are moneylender ads governed by the same rules?
No. Licensed moneylenders are regulated by the Ministry of Law, and their advertising is restricted by statute to directories, their own website and their business premises. Online sponsored search ads, SMS and email advertising to the public are not allowed.
