You may consider Merchantrade Money Wallet + Prepaid Visa as well.
Multi-currency wallet, buy Yen when the exchange rate is good.
Give the prepaid card to your son, he can swipe the card in Japan, the transaction in Yen will be deducted from Yen wallet so no extra charge.

Not allowed if deposit in RM.

It is a CASH ADVANCE transaction, similar to the purchase of cash-like assets eg Casino.

A one-time cash advance fee will be charged for the amount of cash advance or a minimum of RM20.00, whichever is higher. In addition, Finance Charge will be computed on each cash advance calculated from the date the cash is advanced until the date it is settled in full.

Finance Charge for Cash Advance: 18% per annum, finance charge will be computed on each cash advance calculated from the date the cash is advanced until the date it is settled in full.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: May 28 2022, 06:05 AM

It is a finance charge.so burnt already.

If you predict Euro vs RM will go down, don't buy Euro.
If you predict Euro vs RM will go up, buy Euro now.

The difference should be less than 1%.
But for peace of mind, it is better convert a small portion to Euro, not very sure it will block the merchant use "Dynamic Currency Conversion" which settle in RM instead of local currency.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Sep 19 2022, 11:55 AM

Unwise to do it as the cost is >5% if your credit card is issued in Malaysia.
Cash Advance Fee, CC interest (15-18% p.a.), Forex charge by Wise and CC issuer etc.
Some users got RM25 minimum cash advance fee from bank when they use CC to pay for the Wise card.

Use FPX (from CASA) to top up to minimise cost.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Nov 5 2022, 09:21 AM

2% on quasi-cash transactions only.
Still good for normal transactions.

You will know it when it is "statement"-ed. Normally you need to pay 5% cash advance fee (minimum charge apply) + CC interest.

Your card issuer will get a lot of info from a credit card transaction, not only the merchant name, amount, date and time but also category and nature of transaction.

Here.

Visa card widely accepted?
If want to use card, go to Bank of China (Malaysia) to get a Greatwall Unionpay card

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Oct 1 2023, 02:13 PM

Should be, with UK Sort Code and Bank Account number.
I transferred to Barclays UK and Santander UK accounts successfully, fund received in less than 1 minute.

When you reach UK, open a student account at Natwest/Barclays/Lloyds/HSBC/Santander and you will have a UK debit card. (Just like you also need a UK phone line instead of using roaming, can ask giffgaff.com to send a SIM card to you FOC so you already have a UK phone number before leaving Malaysia).

Your parents / you can go to wise.com (no need Wise App or Wise Card), use FPX to transfer money to your Natwest/Barclays/Lloyds/HSBC/Santander UK account (Bank Sort Code and account number), the fund will be credited to your UK account in less than 10 seconds.

Use your UK bank account (online banking to pay landlord/school etc) and debit card to spend! Can get cash at supermarkets FOC (so no need to find a ATM or post office to withdraw cash) if you are using a UK debit card (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card_cashback).

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: May 20 2024, 12:46 PM

RM or Euro?

Some places don't accept cash.
Most of the places do not accept foreign card. They prefer Unionpay only, not Visa/Mastercard/Amex.
Use roaming to bypass firewall.
You can use Maybank MAE App to scan their Alipay QR and pay.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Oct 3 2024, 01:00 PM

You still need cash for public transport, some of them accept Alipay which you may use TNG Wallet to scan & pay.

Some merchants accept local Unionpay card only, not foreign Unionpay. Try to open a Savings account at Bank of China (Malaysia) or ICBC Bank Malaysia and ask for Unionpay debit card, it may be accepted in China.

Agoda is not a China company, you pay to Agoda Singapore in RM with Visa. However the hotel may ask you to pay deposit when you check in, then you need to pay in cash (refundable when check out) if international card is not accepted.

Starbucks and Disneyland accept Visa/Mastercard. But don't expect McD and KFC accept Visa/Mastercard.

Now Beijing's urban transit accept Visa/Mastercard, not other cities yet. Just enabled a few weeks ago.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Oct 3 2024, 05:09 PM

You pay to Agoda just for accomodation, not consumable items. All the while hotel require a deposit, normally we just let the cashier swipe Visa/Mastercard and cancel it when we check out.
But nowadays some hotels stop asking for deposit.

This post has been edited by ClarenceT: Oct 4 2024, 08:38 AM

Haha you didn't try SarawakPay (Unionpay QR) to pay merchants.

6%
Are you sure?