Trust Bank (2GG9T8K3) vs GXS vs MariBank (8ZUU96EA) Referral Codes (2026) — Which One to Open First

Singapore's got five MAS-licensed digital banks now, but for most people asking "which one should I actually open," it comes down to these three, since GXS, MariBank and Trust are the ones that actually serve individuals with savings accounts and cards. Wrote this because most comparison threads either only cover one bank or go stale within a couple of months as rates and promos shift.

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Quick backing and structure differences:

1. Trust Bank operates under Standard Chartered's full bank licence, backed by Standard Chartered and FairPrice Group (NTUC). This matters slightly because it means Trust isn't capped the same way as GXS and MariBank, which hold separate Digital Full Bank licences with their own deposit caps.
2. GXS Bank is backed by Grab and Singtel, savings account capped around S$95,000, best known for a flat unconditional interest rate with no hoops.
3. MariBank is backed by Sea Group (Shopee, SeaMoney, Garena), capped around S$100,000, most useful if you're already deep in the Shopee ecosystem or need its overseas remittance feature.
4. Trust's savings cap sits much higher, at S$1,200,000, but only pays its best rate if you meet the bonus conditions (salary crediting, card spend, etc.) — the base uncondiitonal rate is much lower.

Where the referral codes actually differ:

1. Trust: enter a referral code (2GG9T8K3) before you start signup, and depending on the product you land a sure-win scratch card — S$50 to S$8,000 for a credit card, S$8 to S$1,888 for the savings account.
2. GXS: also runs referral codes for sign-up bonuses, generally smaller flat cash amounts, and GXS currently only offers a debit card, not a credit card, so there's no card-tier reward to chase.
3. MariBank referral code (8ZUU96EA): referral bonuses tend to be structured as instant cash credited to the Mari Savings Account, with a higher amount if you go for the credit card bundle over the savings-only path.

My honest read on which to open first: if you can only pick one and want the highest single referral ceiling, Trust's credit card path currently has the largest headline number of the three. If you want the least conditional ongoing interest rate with zero hoops, GXS tends to win on that specific point. If you're a heavy Shopee user, MariBank's ecosystem integration makes it worth having regardless of the referral bonus size.

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Realistically, most people in the Singapore personal finance space just open all three eventually since there's no cost to holding multiple digital bank accounts — but if you're prioritising based on the sign-up bonus alone, Trust is where I'd start given the S$8,000 ceiling on the credit card tier.

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For the Trust side specifically, I've laid out the referral code and the current reward tiers next to the September infographic here: https://dlcuration.com/trust-bank-referral-code...

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Disclosure: that's my referral link for Trust specifically, I get a small benefit if you sign up through it, doesn't affect your own reward.

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Curious what everyone's actual holding split looks like across the three — trying to gauge whether people are treating these as "pick one" or "open everything" accounts.