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 Wise (Transferwise) Malaysia Discussion, v1.0

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JLJQ
post Dec 8 2022, 06:29 PM

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Hi guys, between BigPay & Wise Card, which offers the better exchange rates for MYR to USD payments?

Specifically within the RM2k to RM9k range if that helps.

Does anyone have any experience/findings between the two?
JLJQ
post Dec 8 2022, 07:19 PM

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QUOTE(gooroojee @ Dec 8 2022, 07:01 PM)
You can check this online or via app.

Unless you have USD preloaded into your Wise card, both cards apply the Visa exchange rate when you swipe overseas as it works as a Visa debit card. Both cards will also charge additional fees. Check their site for details.
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Thanks!

Wise card is pretty straightforward as they have an estimator tool online to show you the real-time transparent rate & fees (https://wise.com/my/pricing/card-fees?targetAmount=910&sourceCcy=MYR&targetCcy=USD).

BigPay on the other hand has no such tool, so can only find out the final charged amount after the transaction has been done.

Wanted to see if anyone has reached a conclusion on which is the better option (MYR to USD rate-wise) after using them, any findings would be appreciated!! biggrin.gif
JLJQ
post Dec 9 2022, 11:18 AM

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QUOTE(gooroojee @ Dec 8 2022, 08:33 PM)
Bigpay states they charge a 1% fee, so you can calculate yourself from that..
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Yes, am aware of that.

Only problem is, from the past few times I transacted using BigPay, that won't be the precise final reflected charges, so it is only indicative & can't be used to compare directly to Wise real-time transparent rate & fees.

Oh well no worries, thanks for the help.
JLJQ
post Dec 9 2022, 04:12 PM

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QUOTE(Takudan @ Dec 9 2022, 11:58 AM)
I just realised in BigPay > International transfer > it doesn't support a lot of currencies... Including USD, JPY. So I can't check their rate. But before the pandemic in 2020, I was able to use it in Japan and got spot rate conversions every transaction I made. I don't remember if, at that time, JPY was in the list of international transfers...

I can tell you at that time way back then for JPY, the rate was pretty good la. But please don't take my word for your case as it's been years + different currency... Even for SGD, I find BigPay to be sorely behind other fintech rates since 2022, even though it used to be my main method in 2020-early 2021 ish? It was better than TransferWise, old name at that time lol.

Anyway, all that aside... refer to this page: https://wise.com/my/blog/bigpay-card-malays...pay-card-limits
BigPay spot rate conversion is calculated based on the payment network processor rates, and some additional network charges which has no transparency to us:
https://www.visa.com.au/support/consumer/tr...calculator.html
https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/person...t-currency.html
I tried for both 100 USD, 1% bank rate yesterday, I saw
Visa RM 466.21
MasterCard RM 466.18 (slightly better, also as advised by my colleagues that MasterCard has better rates for more currencies).
BigPay uses MasterCard while Wise uses Visa.

Lastly, if you're good at reading market trend then
If USD is strengthening / MYR weakening: exchange asap lump sum so you lock in the rates.
Otherwise, spot rate better.
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Appreciate the sharing man!

Yes, their transfers are very lacking in supported currencies, but for my use case, it would just be directly on the card. For transfers like that, I would just use Wise.

Yeah, 2 years is light years in the fintech space, I won't be surprised if BP has lost its edge.

Yup, I've also tested out all the network charges calculators for V/MC, their rates do fluctuate & sometimes Visa might be ahead instead, but as u mentioned there are probably some fees that might not be immediately apparent too. (Btw, BP has now switched to Visa as well)

I think spot rate is more appropriate for my usage, guess I'll just have to test both out with actual transactions to get a better reading.

 

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