u can spend TWD in wise, but you cannot hold TWD cash balance in wise. that page is to show what currencies u can hold as immediate cash in your wise acct

i also can recommend you GX bank debit card, there's 1% rebate for international purchases

This post has been edited by Medufsaid: Jan 17 2025, 11:00 AM

Yes. Rates are comparable plus cash back. Best to bring both because for some unknown reason, it can stop working suddenly and then work again.

Competitive? Not always. There were times cash exchange at certain shops win Wise rates. I guess it's more of an easy win if compared to local credit cards, which charge like 2%(?) for every overseas transaction, on top of shitty exchange rate, so there I'd say Wise is a decent replacement.

Old fashioned way is always a good alternative because cash is king:
- some places may not support digital/card payment
- you may not have (stable) internet access
- you may lose access to your account (connection/theft, touch wood)
But of course, too much cash on hand also induces anxiety so best is to diversify and put your money in several "pockets".

Never been to Taiwan yet but I make it my personal rule of thumb to have both when travelling to any country, and try not to have too much cash. As Medufsaid , excess in Wise is easily convertible/transferrable for reuse, but cash would mean going back to the shop.

Like others has suggested. For overseas, bring both Wise and GX, Generally speaking, both beat normal credit cards hands down.

I do bring cash but minimal amount as backup, just in case. Normally USD because is the most convenient anywhere around the world. It is amazing how widely accepted are USD in South America.

If you have apple pay or google pay working (NFC phone needed, I think), you can add Wise debit card to them. I did just that in Nov 2024 in TW and had no issue paying wherever that ApplePay/Google Pay was accepted.

If you are visiting Taiwan, and intend to eat at the night markets, then you do need to have some NTD in your physical wallet as the adoption of electronic payment in TW is not as advanced as in Malaysia.

This post has been edited by plantcloner: Jan 19 2025, 12:17 PM

Honestly, I don't have both cards...That's the reason why I'd like to explore which is better and more convenient.

So i guess if I apply for these 2 cards, I don't have to bring my CC anymore right? Hmm... which one is actually better? GX debit card works the same as Wise cars too?

Alright, that was what I thought too but somehow get used to cashless, wish to bring lesser cash during oversea travel..

So was it worth it spending via Wise card? Since we can't hold NTD in Wise, how does the conversion work? I don't even have this wise card yet, hope my question doesn't sound too dumb.

if my memory serves me correctly, withdrawing cash from the local ATM (國泰世華) in convenient stores has no ATM withdrawal fee and there was only exchange rate + fee from Wise if you are withdrawing under RM1000 / month. And convenient stores is so many that you can find one in almost everywhere in the city.

Using google/apple pay or credit card is widely acceptable in urban cities in Taiwan. Night markets, quite a number will accept the local ewallet such as LinePay or JieKou (街口支付). In such cases, cash is still easier.

Personally, I don't like to keep small change from travelling, most of the time, money changer from Malaysia would not accept small change. Therefore keep cash to minimal is preferred. If you are travelling with friends, pool the cash together and spend, lesser change scattered around.

before you leave the country, gather up all the small coins and try to exchange for paper money with the money changers in the airport. easier to convert back back in malaysia

GX is a Debit Card. Wise is a Credit Card. Both works fine paying for stuff oversea. Rates are both quite similar. But GX has 1% cash back so that is my 1st choice.

Wise will auto-convert which ever account having money and offering better foreign currency rate.

GX still offer about 2% daily interest on your balance.

Wise is also debit card

Yes, I forgot.

Recently I have unauthorized transaction on my Wise online virtual card. Reported it immediately and in a couple of hours, money refunded back into my account. That was fast.

Wanna share my recent exp at Shanghai. Entire trip used Alipay linked with Wise card. Everything was smooth and I was so surprised being totally cashless.

Sounds like I need to explore these 2 cards, may be consider them for other overseas trip instead of Taiwan's.

Wow sounds so convinient!

Just curious did you compare the rate paying via Alipay linked to Wise card vs exchanging $$$ locally?

I didn't compare thou. But really no 1 uses cash at least at Shanghai. So it's either compare wise, big etc among the digital multi currency players.

It cost RM 10 to get a physical WISE card. And I normally keep it in my draw unused. But when going overseas, I put money into it for use overseas.

There is another use. Supposedly I want to to to Japan in June but the Japanese Yen is super cheap now in Jan. And I fear that by June the Japanese Yen will go up. So what I can do is, I can put my money in WISE in Jan, convert it right away to Yen for use in June.

If you don't want to pay the RM10 then there is another way to use it. You can keep it in your Google Wallet and use wave on overseas terminals.

Recently my digital WISE got hacked somewhere in some part of the world, made a complain on their apps and money back into my account exactly an hour later. That is comforting.

Cash is still legal tender in China and I think there is a directive from government saying merchant can not refuse receiving cash. So cash can still be used. But the potential problem is, the hawker merchants may not have the exact change for you. I guess they would be happy if you say, keep the change?

I supposed yeah we can do that. Just that in China or specifically Shanghai, Alipay or Wechat is used extensively for other purposes which makes cash extremely inconvenient.

1) Menu ordering for food - majority of shops practices this for dine in or take away
2) Paying for metro
3) E-halling
4) Renting bicycle

Some additional info as someone like who doesn't own a Wise card yet. Just to clarify, I can just top up some MYR in wise card and then use when I am in Taiwan? And without have to worry much about the rate as I've been reading the exchange rate is good/competitive?

Wise's system will just take the fund from your wallet with the most fund and convert the amount required for the payment using the card. I did not use the physical card when I was in Taiwan but I did add the card to my Google Wallet and paid many times using Google Pay (choosing the Wise card--- as I have my credit card tied to Google Pay too). What Wise did was to take the equivalent sum (to the NTD I was paying) from the wallet that I had the most money and paid the merchant. If you have your Wise MYR wallet topped up (and it is the largest sum amount all your wallets) , Wise will use the money in your MYR wallet first. I think the exchange rate from Wise was reasonable.