Hi all, looking to travel in the 29/10/24 for about 2 weeks. Should I change some money here in Australia and then change the bulk of it there in Singapore? What’s the best option to change here in Sydney? Any suggested money changers? Also what’s the best credit card for travelling to Singapore. Thank you!
Exchange Australian Money for Upcoming Travel to Singapore
Mini eye on 13/10/2024 - 15:23
Last edited 13/10/2024 - 15:24
Last edited 13/10/2024 - 15:24
Comments
OK thank you! Seems pretty good- Wise. Better than ANZ
Load a Wise card, withdraw cash as needed from ATM, otherwise, use the card for payments in local currency, at very good rates.
Is it better to load the wise card with AUD or in the other country's currency?
If in AUD, I understamd its only two free ATM withdrawals.
If in country's local currency, there is a fee for initially converting the funds but the card can be used freely in stores etc like Visa(?). Is there a limitation on the number of ATM withdrawals in this scenario?
I tried looking but the wise info was not clear.
@Porker: 2 fee free ATM withdrawals per month capped at $AU350/transaction, if I recall correctly.
I load $AU. The exchange rate were very good. Much better than I could do in the UK, and in Indonesia on recent trips. Wise's rate in Indonesia was significantly higher than the going local rate.
The card could be used just like a Visa card, you can tap & go, but there is a cap on the number of times, I think as a security measure. Chip and pin was my usual use. There was no conversion fee in the UK. There was in Indonesia, but it was tiny and given the great exchange rate, I was still well ahead of exchanging cash locally or using my usual Visa card.
Genuinely curious, what is the advantage of Wise for this use case? Is it just that you can buy the currency in advance if you think the exchange rate is good?
I use the Ubank debit card, no foreign transaction fees, and just take money out from ATMs as needed. Wise seems like an unnecessary extra step.
Whenever anyone on Ozbargain post this type of question, the most common answer is the Wise card but I can not understand the hype.
There are fees and limitations of a Wise card that fee free banks eliminate altogether - like you suggested - Ubank has no foreign transaction fees, no account fees, no overseas ATM fees. So much better than the Wise card.
The original use of Wise is to transfer money across the world - some people received money in other currency - I think Wise has becoming more like a product of HSBC or OCBC where multiple currencies can be held, with extra feature to just use whatever currencies in the 'wallet' without converting. Wise also can authentic transaction with their app in your phone rather than receiving text message from bank/credit card.
Yes I can pay for a lot of things in local country with my Ubank debit card.
I am curious too. Are there any advantages of using wise if you already got like the Macquarie card or the nab card which migrated over the now defunct citibank transaction plus card? Both have no fee for foreign transaction. Nab has no atm withdrawal fee. Not sure about ubank, I don't have a ubank account yet. Might get one soon though.
@Jared17: For me, Wise is a backup card in case Macquarie blocks my card while im overseas or if i need a lot of cash and the local atm has a limit so i can use both cards in one go.
Does Ubank have a digital option since I might be out of time applying for one now
Or UP bank.
Recently used their debit card overseas and it's awesome.
Maybe for food markets/ stalls etc? Or would they accept card?
They mostly accept card but yeah keep some cash on you
I’m lazy and just use ATMs because I hate carrying wads of cash. I’d just do the change of cash there. The o Lu time you’re likely to use it is at a food court when you need it but for the most part they accept card
Download Grab (it’s their Uber).
I was in transit in Singapore and many of the hawker food stalls only do cash or specific local card Iam not familiar, thus yes keep some cash with you. I converted in UOB just near the exit of arrival and lose out about 2%, I guess not that bad. I use my Ubank or Wise (same card same day) for mrt. Don't know if still exist, checkout unlimited ride with mrt.
You can’t top up your EZ link card with a foreign credit card or debit card. So you do need cash.
https://www.transitlink.com.sg/stored-value-travel-cards-non…
And while some hawker stalls take card, many still do not.
Wise is just a debit card, you can use any number of fee free FX debit cards that do not have the ATM withdrawal limits of Wise.
Others or just get an FX fee free CC; Bankwest seems to be the popular one or Macquarie
It looks like you can use Apple/AndroidPay though to top up transit cards? It doesn’t seem (at first glance) to say anything about those payment methods not being able to be linked to foreign cards.
Edit: and someone else says you can just tap to pay for public transport with credit card anyway - EZ link card not required? Also here.that works if you have a different credit card per person and happy with the additional fee for using cards issued outside Singapore (only 60c per day per card but that can add up if you have a bunch of people). Have a kid without a CC and you need an EZ link for them.
Ah thanks. So for single traveller this works for me.
I travel back once or twice a year but not somuch after covid. Didn't realize ezy link top up can't be done by foreign cards. Thnks for the heads up
I don't know how much value I have left in my ezy link cards. I think I have a couple cards but they probably expired by now lol.I was told my nab card which migrated over from Citibank still have the same benefits with no fee foreign transaction and currency conversion. So that's another option for people with the nab account that came over from the old Citibank account not that Citibank closed Aus cards.
Take some cash for emergency - AU is as good as any. But get local cash from airport ATM.
Check this site for no additional fee from ATM withdrawal
https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/international_atms
Namely: HSBC, UOB and potentially DBS (if you are with westpac). Other bank atms may charge you fee.
i didn't realise it was 100 years ago and people needed to exchange currency before they visited a 1st world country
Take $50 or $100 Aussie banknotes and use a money changer in Singapore's change Alley. You will get the interbank FX rate
You need cash to pay for the Grab (Uber) from the airport to the hotel. Otherwise you need to go through the verification palaver prior to booking to use credit/debit card. So that’s one good reason to have some cash on you…
Yes I’ll definitely plan to take some cash with me
We travelled one trip to Singapore without using cash at all. You do not need a travel card for the public transport. All you do is tap your credit card at the entrance to public transport and it will charge accordingly. We were in Singapore in June and August. We used to taxi from the airport. The driver wanted cash but did accept card. The other times we caught the train to the airport. We would only do that in future.
Local money changer will give you the best rates by far.we did this is Malaysia. Download the grab app and get a guide to the taxi cost. They were so cheap in Malaysia compared to rank or metered taxis. You may get better deals for tours etc if using cash.
Local money changer? Surely you are joking.
Unless Singapore is different. Registered money changer in hotel lobby in Malaysia had a brilliant rate. Way better than here at home or airport.
I travelled from Italy to Singapore and I was very unprepared with the money side of things but didn't need to withdraw any cash whilst I was there (likewise in Italy).
Like someone else said the train payments are tap and go with your cc (I have a 28 degrees) and my partner used his normal visa debit. We paid pretty much everything by card but the little stalls would prefer cash.
P.S We found Singapore expensive AF! Love the city but just kinda killed our bank account 🤪
It’s actually hard to use paper money in Singapore, unless you are going to the casino :-) . Some places will not even accept paper money now. Wise is definitely the best and just say “PayWave” when paying for anything . I use Wise
Did you ever need to withdraw cash at the ATM? And did you get a physical card/ digital one with Wise?
It’s actually hard to use paper money in Singapore
Even at hawker centres?
You need some cash but use your credit card. Hotel is prepaid from Austrlaia?
so it's transport and food.. yeah some cash but just use your credit card in reputable places.
Yes hotel is prepaid. What would be the best option to get money exchanged here for some Singapore dollars? Money changer?
I would exchange it in Australia. You will not need that much cash. Only street vendors want cash. The rest use credit
Singapore is very expensive.Also check when you are going places and tapping if it's SGD or AUD
What would be the best option to get money exchanged here for some Singapore dollars? Money changer?
Either at Singapore airport or money exchange kiosks at shopping malls. The kiosks are usually give best rates.
My preference is withdraw from ATM with my debit card. There are plenty cards that offer no fx fee - just need to look for ATM from banks there that offer fee free - there’s a wiki somewhere at Whirlpool.
Never change in Australia.
I made a few calls and I agree, the rates are terrible here in Australia!
I have an Anz platinum card and their fix fees aren’t great
I used Travel Money Oz and asked for their internet rate at the counter. But you only need a little bit to get through the first day. e.g. buying EZ pass at the airport.
Tap and Pay using a credit card without fees, the exchange rate is generally pretty good.
Bring AUD cash and exchange locally for better rates but only for what you need. Most shops will accept Visa or Master cards.
And link the same no fee credit card to Grab.
Buy tickets from Klok and etc via Shopback.
Is this Better than Wise?
I like the idea of bringing cash and exchanging there in Singapore kiosk
I have not done a comparision with Wise. Our no fee credit cards from HSBC and Bendigo both had pretty good exchange rates.
The local cash exchange rate is always better then what you will get in Australia. As is the case for Malyasia and Vietnam.
We went to the hawker centres a lot and cash was much easier.
I have found it better to transact the currency exchange in the country you are going to.
Last time in Singapore I did the conversion at Changi and the difference to the currency converters here was about 5 cents. That adds up on a couple of grand and cheaper than credit cards as well
Is there any specific reason you need to have some cash in Singapore? I would suggest to use Wise instead.