I have a business trip to Europe soon, so I've just gotten my Wise card, paid RM13.70 and looks like it will be delivered to me in 10 working days.

...but I'm still trying to understand how the borderless account works...

Now I also compared several rates, and to my surprise, the cash option is way cheaper, assuming the advertised rates on their websites are true and without surcharge:


Another point to note is that Wise has the shittiest rate if it's a small amount (100 or below). So here are my questions, assuming the same rate holds:
1. What if I deposit into my EUR account at one go, and then I swipe Wise card when in Europe? Please confirm my example:
- load 218 EUR (pay slightly less than RM1000)
- swiped 10 transactions with Wise card, each at 21.48 EUR > my EUR account is now left with 3.2 EUR

2. What if I deposit into my MYR account, and do the same? Please confirm example:
- load RM 1000
- swiped 10 transactions with Wise card, each at 21.48 EUR > my MYR account is deducted RM 100 each, resulting in 0 money left.

If my examples are correct, then I'm planning to load my EUR account before travelling, then I have the freedom to either swipe my card directly, or just ATM to get some cash if I don't have enough.

Now another follow up question: suppose I have excess EUR after the trip - will I be allowed to deposit to my IBKR broker via this EUR account? Note: I also see that it is possible to get IBAN/SWIFT code or something if I deposited some money first... does that give me a proper "bank account number" that the IBKR can flag as an account I own, rather than 3rd party?

Thanks both for the mid valley tips. I'm not going to stay in the city centre and my colleague who's a local remarked that it's still kinda 50/50 with regards to card vs cash... That's why I'm looking into getting some cash too. It's going to be a big group of us so might be able to share the opportunity cost.. let's see!

You're right about changing rates, hence my decision to get Wise card to open up more options. My bigpay physical so ngam is expiring next year after all

Actually the examples were meant to compare EUR and MYR accounts directly and confirm my understanding of which rates would be used, wasn't meant to be realistic haha...

80% correct... I'm extending my stay on weekends for personal travel also, which will not be covered. I am indeed going with convenience for the ones I know my company's paying... E.g. my hotel stay, just gonna swipe CC

I don't think I can cheat my company audit your way... As our claims are itemised, I'm afraid will kena reject if they see the receipt I'm only getting a small amount at that rate, but claim so much more.


Last 2 questions about account opening:
1. It requires me to deposit like RM 101 -- is that a permanent amount to park there, just like how we need to park a minimal amount in our bank accounts to prevent closure?

2. It warned that any amount entering the EUR account needs to be of my own name, to prevent money laundering yadayada, kinda like IBKR. Have you tried using different fintech to transfer into Wise account? (Relevant if Wise offers worse rate)

Thank you all for very detailed answers. I am inclined to proceed with EUR account on Wise as I like that I can channel the excess into IBKR as investment, without another round of forex loss.

Niceee.. borderless account sounds really convenient, also a good way to force users to use Wise transfer (but it's a win win nonetheless if Wise is the best one at the time of transfer).

XD good point about the old notes, thanks

I'm going Netherlands, unfortunately not likely to travel other countries due to time constraint... I also paiseh to extend my stay too long, long story short, don't want to set bad first impression 😅
Fortunately, again thanks to group travel, other colleagues have been here so we have a long list of known good foods/places to go lol.

I asked similar question just a few posts above, already got good replies from others if you care to read...

Short answer for you: bold

Oh yes stroopwafel, it's a staple souvenir from my colleagues back then too! I can't wait to have fresh ones there haha.

I'd like to visit the red light district also... Surely I won't be alone cuz some colleagues also open to visit there again even though they've been there

Good question, unfortunately I am not there yet and haven't received my card. Will find out and let you know late next month

This feels a bit strange to me as I never used overseas ATM before....

So in Malaysia, we get additional charges if you use different bank ATM. E.g. I have CIMB card and use on Maybank ATM, there's a RM 1 fee. Does this kind of fee exist in other countries in similar format? (That Wise doesn't mention since it's not them who charges it)

Thanks guys, Wise card ready to go, delivered from Singapore via air mail! Wise going real green eh

In your options, definitely (a). Sounds to me you plan to use TT via CIMB MY to CIMB SG for (b) and that is actually very expensive -- always check all the fintech/money exchangers you have access to, to compare the money to be received.

One more note, it's generally better to transfer more at one go. E.g.
- Wise has fixed fee on top of % fee, making its low-amount transfer less favourable
- SunwayMoney offers discount when you exceed certain amount
...So with that said, I would recommend you to park the amount into a liquid instrument (MMF or monthly-tenure online FD), then transfer more at one go (bimonthly? Quarterly?). I can't read the future and I haven't done the maths, but I feel securing the little bit of interest + saving a bit of fee is better than betting on MYR to keep bleeding more... I also want MYR to stop bleeding also la 😢

Anyway, not investment advice, this is up to you ya. I also understand 1 month can lose quite a lot in rate :')

I don't have experience with eBay/overseas purchase via wise yet, but I would imagine yes.... Can use Wise in FPX ah?? anyway, note that you would be at Wise's mercy in terms of the transfer rate. By depositing the minimum required amount, you can get IBAN/SWIFT (bank account number) to make it work like your personal bank account, but for anti-money laundering purpose, it will not accept 3rd party money (which, other fintech transfer would count as such)...

--
For brokerage withdrawal, I have only heard that Wise hates crypto sources e.g. Binance, because they're risk averse (crypto is very often associated with money laundering and scam). Don't know about stock brokerage though.......

This post has been edited by Takudan: Oct 6 2022, 01:46 AM

It's not just Malaysia, 5-10 of us also failed to wave in the Netherlands, had to use PIN. Maybe deswai it's a 4 digit PIN to make it easier to input 🌚

perhaps you can check with Wise support instead... I can only guess one of these problems:
- you haven't set your PIN > just set it on app
- keyed in wrong PIN > set it on again app
- you froze your card > unfreeze it on app
- faulty card > get replacement
- 99 speedmart machine doesn't accept Wise >

I'm curious to know... When will we know whether credit card payment becomes a cash advance instead of a normal CC charge?

Does it depend on the merchant, or the FPX gateway?

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.

Thanks for sharing... I also failed for contactless, others please update here after trying this out 🙏🙏 I don't have MYR in my Wise now, malas load to try local transactions 😆

Topping up the card is the same as if you're making any currency conversion via Wise. There will be fee and subject to Wise's conversion rate, but I can say at least it will be better than bank's TT. It may not be the best rate if compared to some other fintechs but it's just a lot of fluctuations daily, you'll just have to compare yourself daily or trade the minor loss in conversion for convenience.

Likewise, transferring out to bank account will also have fee and certain rates.

Ah my bad, I assumed question was to top up in other currencies. Thanks for clarifying

Just returned from Singapore. Ditto on Wise working perfectly fine - tried paywave and worked on bus, MRT, makan, shopping...

Paywave failed once because I was at Irvin's buying over the wave limit LMAO (I'm guessing 60 is the limit.... Among my attempts, 56 SGD was ok but 66.9 failed)

You can ignore the currency, it's just showing your aggregated amount in your default currency. Here's mine - I've used both of those currencies in the respective countries

Ya definitely. It deducts the same currency first, if available. And you don't even have a 2nd currency to worry about that anyway lol 😅

As a general rule of thumb, always compare exchange rates every time you need to convert. Rates differ all the time and what used to be good can eventually change to be the worst.

Different services have different fee structure, it's always better to compare the exact amount you want to exchange.. e.g. Bigpay offers flat fee, while Wise is % based with a minimum.