Gold storage in Singapore comes down to three choices: keep it at home, rent a safe deposit box, or pay a dealer to hold it in a vault. Dealer vault fees we found range from about 0.16% to 0.39% a year as at November 2026, plus minimum charges and withdrawal fees. Home storage costs nothing upfront but carries theft and loss risk that is often uninsured.
Storage is a cost you pay every year whether the gold price rises or falls. Gold prices can fall as well as rise; past performance is not a guide; gold pays no interest. This guide sets out the options and the fees, taken from each provider’s own page.
Three Ways to Store Gold
| Option | Who holds it | Ongoing cost | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| At home | You | None, unless you add a safe or insurance | Theft, fire, loss, and family not knowing where it is |
| Safe deposit box | A bank or private vault | Yearly rental | Contents may not be insured by the provider |
| Dealer vault (allocated) | A dealer, at a vault facility | A % a year of value, often with a minimum | Dealer and vault operator risk, withdrawal fees |
| Bank gold savings account | The bank, as a balance in grams | UOB: 0.25% a year plus GST | No metal in your hands; not an insured deposit |
The short version: storage costs look small as a percentage but they repeat every year and come off a holding that earns no interest. Know who holds your gold, in whose name, and who pays if it goes missing.
Keeping Gold at Home
Home storage costs nothing to start, and you can reach your gold at any time. The risks are real, though: burglary, fire, mislaying it, and heirs who do not know it exists. Home insurance policies often cap the cover for jewellery and valuables, so read your policy’s limits. Our home insurance comparison explains what to look for.
Scammers also target people who keep gold at home. Police have warned of impersonation scams in which victims were told to buy gold bars and hand them to couriers; see gold scams and fake gold.
Safe Deposit Boxes
A safe deposit box gives you a locked box in a vault. You keep the key; the provider does not record what is inside. That privacy has a downside: the provider may not insure the contents, so ask what the rental covers before you sign.
One example from a dealer’s own page, as at November 2026: Silver Bullion’s boxes cost S$1,600 a year (Class I, including US$50,000 of liability cover) or $1,280 a year (Class II, including US$200,000), with fees including 9% GST. Extra cover costs $25 a year per US$10,000, and only declared investment-grade bullion is insurable.
Gold Storage Fees at Dealer Vaults
Dealer vaults store your bars and coins for a yearly fee. Fees from each provider’s own page, as at November 2026:
| Provider | Gold storage fee | Minimums and extras | Insurance stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| BullionStar | 0.39% a year | Minimum S$0.19 a day; withdrawal $129 each time | Lloyd’s syndicates via Marsh, “all risks at full replacement value” |
| Silver Bullion | 0.35%, 0.30% or 0.25% a year by tier | Withdrawal $100 per parcel; delivery $400 per trip | Lloyd’s, covering theft and “mysterious disappearances” |
| GoldSilver Central | 0.30% a year in the fee details, but 0.24% in the page header | Minimum $10 a month; one-time $85 handling fee; plus GST | “Full insurance coverage”; insurer not named |
| Indigo Precious Metals | 0.37% a year under US$100,000, down to 0.16% above US$10 million | No minimum; billed quarterly in arrears | The vault operator’s Lloyd’s all-risk policy |
| UOB Gold Savings Account | 0.25% a year from 1 April 2026, plus GST, taken in grams | Part of UOB’s page still shows an older minimum charge | Not an insured deposit |
GoldSilver Central’s page shows two different gold rates, and UOB’s page shows two versions of its charge. Ask each provider to confirm the rate in writing before you rely on it.
On a $20,000 holding, 0.39% is $78 a year and 0.25% is $50 a year, before GST where it applies. Use the gold investment return calculator to see what a storage fee does over ten years.
Allocated, Segregated and Pooled
- Allocated: specific bars or coins are recorded as yours. BullionStar and Indigo describe their storage as allocated and segregated, kept apart from the dealer’s own stock. Silver Bullion says clients hold legal title to identified bars and are owners, not creditors.
- Pooled or unallocated: you own a quantity of metal in a shared pool, or hold a claim on the provider. Gram-based accounts are closer to this.
- Audits: BullionStar says Bureau Veritas audits its vault twice a year; Silver Bullion cites quarterly external audits.
Read the storage agreement: what happens to your metal if the dealer closes, how you take it out, and what it costs. Our checklist for choosing a gold dealer and the true cost of holding gold go further.
What To Do Next
- Decide whether you need the metal in your hands, or whether a vault or a gold ETF suits you better; our guide to how to buy gold in Singapore compares the routes.
- For home storage, check your insurance limit and tell someone you trust where the gold is.
- For a vault, confirm the fee, minimum, GST, withdrawal charge and insurer in writing.
- Do your own due diligence. This is general information, not a recommendation of any provider.
