Chocolate Finance halts instant withdrawals due to 'high demand'

SINGAPORE: Chocolate Finance has temporarily suspended instant fund withdrawals due to "high demand", it said in a notice to customers on Monday (Mar 10).

The financial services platform said that withdrawals will now take three to 10 working days before they are reflected in users' bank accounts. Such withdrawal requests also cannot be cancelled once confirmed.

The suspension comes after personal finance influencer Seth Wee, better known as Sethisfy, uploaded a YouTube video on Sunday explaining his decision to withdraw all his money from Chocolate Finance. One reason he gave was the company's removal of support for AXS payments. 

The founder of travel website The MileLion, Aaron Wong, had also flagged the removal on Mar 5, with both posts making the rounds on Reddit and HardwareZone forum.

Chocolate Finance started working with AXS on Feb 11 and removed its card from the payment platform on Mar 5. 

Finance blogger Dawn Cher, also known as SG Budget Babe, also shared in an Instagram story post that she had received a separate letter from Chocolate Finance, which attributed the increase in withdrawals to being "partly driven by social media". 

On Monday afternoon, the company said in a statement that Chocolate Finance remains a "strong and stable place for your spare cash" and that it is "here for the long run".

It said transparency and customer service are its "top priorities".

In their website FAQs, Chocolate Finance previously allowed up to S$20,000 in instant withdrawals per day due to its "Chocolate Liquidity Programme".

It said that any money that is deposited into its account is invested in a portfolio of fixed-income funds designed to optimise returns.

But as the platform recognises the importance of liquidity, it added that the programme is an "awesome incentive", giving its customers instant access to their money.

The company said on Monday that fund managers typically do not offer instant withdrawals, and Chocolate is returning to the "standard fund redemption process" due to the temporary surge in withdrawals.

"This pause is not a liquidity issue but a matter of managing our increased transaction volume," said Chocolate Finance, adding that card transactions are also temporarily paused.

Chocolate Finance said it is actively implementing measures to manage increased transaction volume and to expedite the return to normal service.

WHAT IS CHOCOLATE FINANCE?

Chocolate Finance was founded last year by Walter de Oude, the founder of insurer Singlife. It is a brand under Chocfin, a capital market services licence holder regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

According to its website, funds with Chocolate Finance are held separately by custodians, including HSBC, and are not covered by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation as it is not a bank. It also offers a Visa debit card which has zero foreign exchange (FX) market fees. 

When it launched, its higher than average cash returns - 3.3 per cent per annum on the first S$20,000 deposited, 3 per cent per annum on the next S$30,000 and a target of 3 per cent per annum above that - created some buzz among investors.

"We take no fee and make no money until we deliver the target returns," Chocolate Finance said.

It also promised to offer even better cash returns for those parking United States dollars - a future offering promised 4.6 per cent per annum on the first US$20,000 deposited.

These targets are, however, subjected to change based on market conditions, according to Chocolate Finance.

CNA has contacted Chocolate Finance for more information on its decision to temporarily suspend instant withdrawals.