Tried to use BigPay MasterCard to pay for Austrian Rail OBB train tickets at its official website but was rejected.

It has nothing to do with the ATM brand but rather the banknotes stored inside the machine. All the OKI ATM is perfectly capable of dispensing 40 notes in a single transaction.


Some Hong Leong Bank ATM are NCR ATM and all HLB NCR ATM is capable of dispensing 40 notes in a single transaction too. It will dispense RM4,000 as long as the ATM has and has enough RM100 banknotes stored inside it.

Yes. In the case of Hong Leong Bank, the maximum limit set is RM4,000 provided the ATM has RM100 banknotes stores in it.


I was talking about both the pure ATM and ATM/CDM combo.


No. It doesn’t work such way. It all depends on whether or not Hong Leong Bank loads any RM100 bill to the machine.

It may worked that way when you withdrew the money. It may change again tomorrow, or next week. It all depends on whether or not the said HLB ATM or ATM/CDM combo is loaded with RM100 banknote.

I had attempted using BigPay with MasterPass multiple times at TGV and all failed. I ended up using another MasterCard.

Do note that BigPay MasterCard cannot be used to pay for air ticket on Lufthansa website. Using BigPay MasterCard via Paypal (Lufthansa Germany site accepts payment via Paypal) doesn’t work either. It will however work flawlessly if you use a credit card and in order to avoid any fee, just link your credit card to Paypal and it will work like charm.

Another German website that doesn’t take BigPay MasterCard is the German rail company, Deutsche Bahn. You can however get around it by opting to pay via Paypal and pay for your rail ticket using BigPay MasterCard. The trick sadly, doesn’t work on www.lufthansa.com.

Surprisingly Prague as a whole is a more cashless society compared to Germany and Austria. There are still many smaller shops in Germany and Austria that are still strictly cash only compared to Czech Republic.

May I know if you can buy subway/tram/bus ticket using credit card in Italy ? In smaller Italian cities such as Florence and Bologna in particular.

Thanks a lot for the valuable informations. Would be very useful when I go to Italy later this year

If anyone has any information on whether or not the ticket vending machine in Rome and Milan accept credit card, please reply to this post as I’m thinking of buying the one week unlimited rides pass during our stay in Rome later this year.

Inaccessible from Android phone. No problem on iOS.

South Korea has the highest card usage here in Asia. Card is accepted everywhere except street vendors and some traditional markets such as Gwangjang Market. A very small restaurant accepts credit card too.


Yes and there is nothing wrong with that. I have bought just a small bottle of Coke from 7-11 using card before. I first went to Korea in year 2011 and even back then, locals already use credit card everywhere and for the smallest thing in convenience store.

Only in Malaysia people will give you the “are you serious” look when you want to pay for a RM1.20 can of Coke whereas in many first world countries such as UK, USA, Nordic countries, South Korea etc., that’s something very normal.

Yes. We’re definitely catching up nicely. However, due to the still rather unstable internet here in Malaysia, very often dealing in cash is still much faster and it really shows in fast moving night market where a certain stalls has also started to accept either Boost or TnG.


Agreed. I’ve been in a few incidents that my mobile data either wasn’t working or really slow but I wanted to pay with FavePay or Boost and it held up the line. The most recent incident was last month at Mid-Valley Megamall Watsons store. I wanted to pay with Boost but the line was so slow the app kept loading. Luckily I had another phone with me and the other phone was on a different telco and seemed to be working fine. So I immediately did a hotspot to borrow the data. The whole process still took a while. Cashier did not bother to ask if I can pay with other payment method. She probably knew I was up to something, like I was aiming for extra cash back or something.


No worries and have fun in South Korea. Like I mentioned earlier, if you intend to buy something from traditional market or buy street food in Myeongdong or Namdaemun, you do need some cash. The way to get the next exchange rate is normally to buy USD here in Malaysia and use it to buy KRW in Myeongdong. There are many money exchange booths in Myeongdong and the rate is probably the best in the whole of Korea. So don’t bother to look to exchange your money elsewhere. Just compare the rates in Myeongdong and buy your KRW there.

I can’t really advice you how much USD you should bring. But do note street foods in Myeongdong are geared towards tourists, hence everything is overpriced. Head over to Namdaemeun just right across the street from
Myeongdong (same row as Lotte Young) and almost everything is like 50% cheaper.

Unfortunately local laws permit them to do that. EU and Malaysia’s approach to this is definitely much better than that of Australia.

As many have mentioned, the final exchange rate follows the rate on the settlement date. Hence it is incorrect to compare the final exchange rate with the exchange rate on transaction date, which in your case the transaction date was 6th June 2019.

It is actually the other way around. I was in Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin for 17 days recently and I had no issue using credit card or debit card in most places in Prague even at a very small shop. At the main train station in Prague, Praha hlavní nádraží, you need to pay to use the toilet in the station and you can pay for the entry fee using credit card too.

When it comes to credit card acceptance rate, Prague definitely has the highest acceptance rate follows by Vienna, Budapest and the worst is Berlin. There are many small shops in Berlin that still don’t accept credit card. Went in to a few bakery shops and small convenience store, none accepted credit card. I had no such issue in Prague, Vienna and Budapest. The ice-cream joint of Café de l'Europe in Stephansplatz is strictly cash only too. They do however accept credit card if you opt to dine-in.

During my 17 days in all 4 EU cities, I had used only 11 € cash.

As for getting Czech Koruna or Hungarian Forint, the best way is to bring Euro and change to local currency when you’re in the city. Unless you are going to buy from street vendors, it is unlikely you will need any local currency at all.

And do avoid buying foods from street stalls in Prague and Budapest. The foods are severely overpriced. You don’t see any locals buying foods from there. You can get proper Hungarian foods in a proper Hungarian restaurant for 30% - 50% cheaper. No joke !

And more thing, the ATM cash withdrawal limit in Germany and Austria is only 300 € at most ATM per transaction.

You are spot on. This is actually the very reason why you can use credit card almost anywhere in Korea. The initial reason was actually to counter money laundering and tax evasion. In Italy, almost every Italians joke that many shops don’t accept credit card is because they want to evade tax. Whilst in the UK, even street vendors accept credit card. It is just many of those Chinese family owned restaurants and bakery shops refuse to accept credit card until now. But it’s just a matter of time...

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Jun 14 2019, 10:34 PM

No worries. Prague is like a city straight out from a fairy tale story book. Have fun in Central Europe.

Glad to know about this as I was told Unicredit Austria, Sberbank Austria and Commerzbank Austria can only dispense 300 € in a single transaction.

May I know in which bank did you withdraw the money from ? As I really came across too many shops in Berlin that don’t take credit card. I’ll be going back to Germany again later this year but different cities. This information would come in handy just in case I do need to withdraw Euro from ATM later this year.

I did not face any of the problem he faced. I made sure to confirm with the restaurant that they accept credit card before I take a seat and so far, I came across only one bar that also serves cooked foods that did not accept credit card.



As you guys can see, I had no problem paying with card even for very small amount such as 14.90 Kč (RM2.67). Besides BigPay, I also used Hong Leong Bank WISE VISA extensively in Prague main at restaurant and Billa (supermarket).

I spent 4 nights in Prague and I had no Czech Crown on hands during the entire stay and neither did I use my Euro (cash). I did not buy any street food because Janek Rubeš, a prominent Prague native who’s a TV producer and YouTuber advised against it and said that many so-called Czech traditional foods they sell to tourists by the roadside aren’t Czech and the price is a daylight robbery


I disagree. Prague is better wired than KL and I had no issue with my 6-digit PIN card. The only thing that is old in Prague is the medieval gothic, renaissance and baroque architectures


Just like you, I did not come across any shop that imposes minimum charge for aiment made by credit card. I also did not come across any credit card terminals that did not allow me to key-in my 6-digit PIN.

As far as I remember, I had used PIN & PAY for my BigPay MasterCard and Hong Leong Bank WISE VISA at Prague Castle, a Jewish Synagogue, a UNESCO Heritage Site 1 hour away from Prague, a hotel restaurant and a few more places that I can no longer recall

As for souvenir shop, my friend did go in to a few souvenir shops and bought a few things, only one shop that said minimum charge for credit card is applicable. My friend was already holding the good she wanted to buy at the payment counter when she was informed of that, she was told they accept Euro too but my friend did not budge and told them it was ok she didn’t want it anymore and was ready to leave. At the end they agreed to let her to pay with card

You can check out RHB Foreign Currency VISA debit card and HSBC Everyday Global Currency account that also comes with a debit card.

Yes. Bear in mind that OCBC can be inconsistent in its timing to credit the 0.9% cash back to our account. It happened a few times over the years already that the 0.9% cash back was credited up to one week after the 0.1% cash back. So just sit back, relax and continue to monitor your account

1. KKDay doesn’t not bill in MYR, hence it is advisable to pay with BigPay MasterCard. You can’t pay in RM. You will either be billed in NTD or SGD. The MYR rate you see is just for your reference.

2. For Agoda, always choose to pay in MYR. The currency should be defaulted in MYR too and you can pay with a local credit card as you will be billed in MYR.