A quick foreword: This is not financial advise. I am not a financial advisor, Cryptocurrency is a very volatile asset class.
Basically you will need to provide some details about yourself (e.g NRIC, etc). This is the standard KYC - Know Your Customer process for most financial services.
If you have done this step, then please proceed...
Congratulations if you have made it so far, you have just successfully initiated a transfer of fiat into your Binance.com account.
Step 2) Deposit fiat (USD or SGD) into my account
There is a few options that Binance provides for us Singaporeans to convert our fiat to BUSD (Token form of USD) - used for our purchases.
- P2P Trading
- Credit/Debit Card
- SWIFT Transfer (USD)
In my experience using the SWIFT (Telegraphic Transfer) is the most economical option to deposit your fiat.
A quick explanation on the cons of the other 2.
P2P Trading basically involves you and another entity exchanging a digital currency (e.g USDT,BUSD, BTC) for fiat.
Depending on the rates the seller offers, you would then agree and transact outside of Binance. It is generally safe (if you transact with reputable sellers). But once again, the spread is not exactly great.
Credit/Debit Card is by far the worse option to use, as it incurs a 3% cross border charge and in some cases (as it is considered as a form of cash advance, you will see a 6% fee).
Verdict: Skip these two options.
So lets move on to SWIFT Transfer:
If you have a DBS (or any local bank) account, you will have the option to remit cash. DBS has 0 remittance fees and offer decent USD->SGD exchange rates - hence it will be my choice for the TT.
1) Access the 'Wallet'->'Fiat and Spot' hamburger menu
3) Populate the deposit details and desired amount
- Select "USD"
- Use (SWIFT)
- Enter the Amount (in USD)
4) Click "Confirm"
You will be prompted with a message similar to the mock-up below. It basically informs you that your account name (from the bank you are sending the swift) has to be the same as the NRIC (Remember the KYC process you completed during the account opening)
Click Confirm - You will see the details of the swift transfer we are required to make. We are half-way there.
Take note of your "Reference Code"; we will need this later when we do the payment instructions.
Select Transfer -> "DBS Remit and Overseas Transfer"
6) Click 'New Recipient'
1. Select Country: "United States"
2. Recipient's full name (Refer to the Binance swift instruction - Beneficiary Account Name)
3. Select "Other Banks" - Copy and paste the SWIFT code click 'Find SWIFT Code'
4. Copy the address lines 1,2 and Account numbers from the Binance payment page into our recipient details.
7) <Important> Fill the Payment Details for Recipient with your Binance Reference Code.
Congratulations if you have made it so far, you have just successfully initiated a transfer of fiat into your Binance.com account.
If you had done this on a working day, it typically (based on experience) takes less than 8-10 hours for the funds to show up in your Binance account. However do not worry if it doesn't show up within the same day. As Binance states that it may take between 2-4 business days to clear from Silvergate bank.
The amount transferred in USD, will appear as BUSD on Binance. This is the stable coin version of the USD and has a 1:1 exchange with the Fiat USD.
FAQ:
How long does the transfer take?
The transfer typically takes 1 working day to clear. First time transfers may take longer. But based on experience it usually clears within 8-12 hours.
Do note that the transfer will be sent by DBS in Singapore working hours and processed by Silvergate Bank during US working hours.
What happens if I forget to include my reference code?
Do not worry, remittances have a tracking number and DBS will contact you to resolve the error. Note that this might take some time as Silvergate has to manually trace the origin and would likely contact DBS. There may also but certain charges involved but your monies are safe. Alternatively, you could also raise an appeal in Binance for them to investigate.