Using Your Credit Card On Foreign Currency Spends: Should You Pay in Singapore Dollars or Foreign Currencies?

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Besides being a convenient cashless payment solution, credit cards can give us nearly two months of interest-free credit for things we buy and get to instantly enjoy. Increasingly, many of us also have more foreign currency transactions on our credit cards – either when we travel overseas or via online shopping.

When it comes to spending in foreign currencies we may be given an option: should we pay in Singapore Dollars or foreign currencies? Spoiler alert: we should almost always choose to pay in the foreign currency – here’s why.

Why You Should Always Pay In Foreign Currencies On Your Credit Cards

When we’re in an overseas hotel, restaurant or shop, or on the checkout page of an e-commerce website, we may encounter a choice of paying in the foreign currency or Singapore Dollars.

Many of us may not be prepared for this question. I was equally clueless the first time I encountered this question more than a decade ago. Back then, I chose to pay for my hotel room in Malaysia in Singapore Dollars (SGD) instead of Malaysian Ringgit.

At the time, it felt like a value-added service from the branded hotel chain, trying to look out for their customers.

Being charged in SGD also gave me the assurance of knowing what my final bill on the credit card statement would be, rather than be surprised by an unknown conversion rate that I would only realise when I got my credit card statement.

When I eventually saw my bill at the end of the month, I realised that choosing to pay in SGD may have been a poorer deal.

I learned that there are two main types of fees that we may incur when making foreign currency transactions: 1) Foreign Currency Transaction Fees and 2) Currency Conversion Fees.

Typically, we will incur Foreign Currency Transaction Fees on all overseas and online transactions. But, we may not need to incur a Currency Conversion Fee if we pay in the foreign currency rather than choose to convert the transaction into Singapore Dollars.

Whether we choose to pay in the foreign currency or convert the payment to Singapore Dollars, there will be a currency exchange spread. Often, foreign currency transactions will be converted into US Dollars first, before being converted in Singapore Dollars on your credit card statement.

These costs can significantly inflate our overseas trip budget or online spends over time.

Save Money With The Right Credit Card (And Choosing To Pay In Foreign Currencies)

Credit cards meant for international transactions are usually designed to help travellers navigate an often trickier situation of spending in foreign currencies.

So, whether we’re savouring dim sum in Hong Kong or buying the latest pair of Air Jordans online, we can rest assured that we’re minimising costs and accessing a good foreign currency exchange rate.

An example of this is the new Mari Credit Card. Sweetening the deal for holidaymakers and online shoppers alike, the Mari Credit Card offers 3% unlimited cashback on overseas card spend – without any hoops to jump through. We don’t need to hit any minimum spend or have caps on how much overseas spend qualify for the attractive cashback.

However, to be eligible for this 3% Cashback, we need to pay in foreign currencies. This also means we avoid the Currency Conversion Fees on our foreign currency spends.

Furthermore, Mari Credit Card’s 3% cashback can be used to negate the Foreign Currency Transaction Fees. This matches up squarely with the 1% charge on the converted Singapore Dollar amount charged by Mastercard and the 2% prevailing fee on the converted Singapore Dollars amount.

In effect, the Mari Credit Card enables us to enjoy spending on a credit card in foreign currencies without incurring the Foreign Currency Transaction Fee (offsetting it with the 3% cashback) or the Currency Conversion Fee (if we choose to pay in the foreign currency).

We can also be rest assured that when we spend in foreign currencies on our Mari Credit Card, we access exchange rates at the prevailing wholesale interbank rates (or government-mandated rate) determined by Mastercard or other payment network or card association.

Enjoy The Highest Unlimited Cashback Card Rate Of 1.7% On All Transactions In Singapore

The Mari Credit Card also saves us the hassle of having to always worry about optimising the cards we use for local and foreign currency spends. On top of offering a low-cost way to spend in foreign currencies, it also offers the highest unlimited cashback card rate of 1.7% on all local card spends in Singapore.

Again, we don’t have to worry about limits and caps on our Mari Credit Card:

– We don’t have to worry about the eligible spend categories

– We don’t have to worry about hitting any minimum spending limit

– We don’t have to worry about a spending cap that is eligible for the cashback

Earn 5% Shopee Coins On Your Shopee Purchases

If you don’t already know, MariBank is an MAS-licenced digital bank and a wholly-owned subsidiary under Sea Limited. Another brand within Sea Limited’s ecosystem is e-commerce platform Shopee. As expected, using our Mari Credit Card on Shopee spends can provide even better rewards.

For starters, we enjoy a seamless payment experience on Shopee with the Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout feature. This allows us to pay for our Shopee purchases without having to input our card number constantly. All we need to do is perform a one-time linkage with our Shopee account.

Best of all, we can earn unlimited 5% Shopee Coins for our Shopee purchases via the Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout.

Do note that 5% unlimited Shopee Coins is not applicable if we opt to pay via instalments, or with Google Pay, Apple Pay or manually input our card details. In these scenarios, we still enjoy a 1.7% Cashback.

Hassle-free, Safe And Secure Transactions With Your Mari Credit Card

Applications for the Mari Credit Card can be made via the MariBank app – and takes less than 10 minutes via Singpass. Approvals are typically processed within 1 to 2 days, but some may also see instant approvals.

While the default is a digital Mari Credit Card, we can request for a physical card via our MariBank app at no additional cost.

The Mari Credit Card comes with a minimal $30,000 annual income requirement and is eligible to anyone over 21 years old. As the Mari Credit Card does not charge annual fees, we have one less thing to worry about – calling in for the annual credit card fee waiver requests!

We can manage our Mari Credit Card entirely on our MariBank app. Unlike other credit cards, the physical Mari Credit Card is numberless and we can only access this information via our MariBank app. Similarly, we can choose to lock or unlock overseas transactions and/or online payments via our MariBank app.

Of course, for those getting familiar with the MariBank ecosystem, the Mari Credit Card is the latest product. Within the MariBank app, we can also open its savings account (earning 2.7% interest on our cash savings), easily access money market investments (to earn a better return), open a Business Bank account and more.

From now till 30 Nov 2024, don’t miss out on these exclusive sign-up rewards:

– S$10 cash reward* when you sign up with the promo code <MCCSENSE> and make your first purchase on Shopee using your linked Mari Savings Account within the first 14 days of opening your account.

– An S$8 Shopee voucher* with no minimum spend required (just make your first Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout on Shopee to enjoy!)

*Terms and conditions apply

Read Also: Why My Wife And I Decided To Grow Our Savings With Mari Invest