Maybankard's Visa or Mastercard offers the lowest forex rate...

Money changers in Malaysia provide a super uncompetitive exchange rate for TWD, hence using your Maybankard VISA or MasterCard can save you more money. I bought my TWD here before going to Taipei last week for TWD100 = RM10.90 but the final rate give by Maybank is just around TWD100 = RM10.50. This can translate into a huge savings if you spend a lot.

Another way of getting the TWD near market rate is by buying USD here in Malaysia and use your USD to buy TWD at Taipei Taoyuan Airport. However, the final rate (after two conversion losses) is around the rate given by Maybankard VISA/MC. So overall, it's still wiser to your your Maybankard VISA/MC in Taiwan whenever possible because Maybank gives you TP while cash is just cash Cash is still essential though, of course because it's the only accepted form of payment at their famous night markets

How about Maybankard Cherry Visa? Beginning this year at Feb, my sis tried her EON Mastercard swipe at Taiwan, the rate are super cheap. We exchange the moment is TWD 100= RM 10.70.... Her final exchange rate is TWD 100= RM 10.30 and can go downer by TWD 100= RM10.00......

just wondering if paying using CC via paypal is there any other hidden charges to the final forex amount beside the bank admin fee and forex exchange?

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Added on December 11, 2011, 7:34 amUsing Maybank visa
- transaction date : 9 Dec 2011
- amount charged in foreign currency : 51.65 pound
- amount posted on 11/12/11 : RM 258.76
- final exchange rate : RM 5.009

according to http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv....jsp?src=ex_rez

exchange rate + 0% admin: 4.92
exchange rate + 0.5% admin: 4.94

This post has been edited by cenkudu: Dec 11 2011, 07:34 AM

Pound is first converted to USD first then MYR. So you loss in the exchange rate twice.

ic...good lesson after this I will pay directly to the merchant secure website instead of paypal. thanks really appreciate

Makes no difference really because the exchange is done by your credit card issuer bank. So whether you pay directly or via Paypal, you will still be billed the same amount in MYR because for any other foreign currency other than USD, it will first be converted to USD and finally MYR.

By the way, if you pay using VISA or MasterCard via Paypal in foreign currency, you will be given a choice to be billed in that foreign currency and wait for your credit card issuer bank to bill you the amount in MYR or you can follow Paypal's exchange rate and be billed in MYR right away. It is however, not recommended to use Paypal's exchange rate especially if you are using a Maybank VISA or MasterCard because Paypal's own exchange rate is high.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Dec 11 2011, 10:45 AM

i did not realized this option however if the receipt is the foreign currency most likely i'm not using paypal exchange rate right?

You can see the amount in MYR before you submit the payment on your Paypal page. If it wasn't stated in MYR, then it means the payment will be sent its original currency.

Saturday:
m2 amex plat USD864 = RM2777.64 exch rate :
3.214861111111111
USD12.99 = RM41.76 (1 hour apart on same card)
3.214780600461894

Same day, almost same time
CIMB Visa Signature USD42 = RM135.17 exch rate:
3.218333333333333


Conclusion M2 AMEX More WORTH IT!... 5X point + 5% ! and somemore LOWER exchange rate !

Maybank Visa Plat

Transaction date: 2 Dec 2011
Posting date: 15 Dec 2011
Amount charged: GBP615.75
Amount posted: RM3,087.16

Which Forex date (2 or 15 Dec) & rate (Maybank or Visa) should I refer to?

for dates check both. some banks use trx date, some banks use posting date. It just a matter of comparison.

for rates, I usually use Visa or xe.com. Previously was wawasan sentosa but now not an option. Not sure abt the others

Maybank Visa Infinite

Transaction Date: 31 December 2011
Posting Date: 1 January 2012
Online Transaction Amount: USD610.00
Amount Billed by Maybank: RM1959.46
Therefore conversion rate = 1959.46/610 = 3.2122
Visa's Rate on 1st Jan 2012 = 3.1725

Transaction Date: 22 December 2011
Posting Date: 23 December 2012
Face to face Transaction Amount: SGD560
Amount Billed by Maybank: RM1,395.92
Therefore conversion rate = 1395.92/560 = 2.4927
Visa's Rate on 23rd December 2011 = 2.46187

Edited

Both above Admin Fee > 1% and it's a MBB credit card.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Jan 2 2012, 12:20 PM

Amex plat CC

Transaction Date: 30 December 2011
Posting Date: 31 December 2012
Face to face Transaction Amount: SGD1,027
Amount Billed by Maybank: RM2,576.53
Therefore conversion rate = 2,576.53/1,027 = 2.50879

So much on the high side IMO. BNM rate on the 30th is only 2.4427

This post has been edited by b00n: Jan 2 2012, 11:45 AM

I just posted an article on my Maybank Visa Infinite transactions mentioned above.

And based on Visa rate, the MBB's Overseas Admin Fee is like 1.25% Click below link to read more.

http://creditcardsmalaysia.blogspot.com/20...ybank-visa.html

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Jan 4 2012, 08:48 PM

Earlier we have the link to Visa's own exchange rate website. Is this the correct exchange rate website for MasterCard: https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyc...sion/index.html ?

So in doing this calculation for service fee is it best to use the respective credit card websites? If Visa card use Visa website and so on?

Yeah, I was quite surprised by your figures. What happened to the supposed 0.5% service fee?

anyone holding citibank? i called up, their said no service/admin charge

Ok, I have analyzed some of my transactions from Dec 2011 and tabulated it in Excel. The result:

MBB MasterCard Gold, USD to MYR
Note: transaction date is taken from the statement. Actual rate is from dividing USD/MYR from the statement.



My observations:

1. The rates quoted from different sources can vary quite a bit. So when comparing as posted by different forumers here it is important to be consistent with the source quote.

2. The Visa rate is consistently higher than the MasterCard rate. In particular on some days (21, 22 and 23 Dec) it is a lot higher.

3. The MasterCard rate is the lowest, even compared to XE and Yahoo.

4. The surcharge for MasterCard in my case is consistently 1.03%. Again what happened to the 0.5% as mentioned by MBB?

This post has been edited by jchong: Jan 5 2012, 07:51 PM

Thanks for the info. One thing for sure is that Alliance MC rate is lower than Alliance Visa.