WEBVTT - Is it time to ditch cash for multi-currency apps when travelling? 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.340 This is a C N A podcast, 0:00:04.450 --> 0:00:10.020 multi currency card, credit card or cold hard cash. When 0:00:10.020 --> 0:00:10.780 traveling 0:00:10.789 --> 0:00:12.260 multi currency cards, 0:00:12.270 --> 0:00:17.270 Top three things to consider when choosing a multi currency app. 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.989 What are you gonna use your money for charges? And 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.650 how many currencies you have access to? Will 0:00:23.650 --> 0:00:27.479 you ever travel without cash ever again? 0:00:27.490 --> 0:00:30.060 I'll bring my cash along some of it. At least 0:00:45.610 --> 0:00:49.570 it's the Money Talks podcast with me Andrea Hing. Now, 0:00:49.570 --> 0:00:53.390 when planning for a holiday, do you find yourself bringing 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.710 less cash to the money changer or perhaps you're not 0:00:56.710 --> 0:01:00.490 even going to the money changer at all? That's because 0:01:00.500 --> 0:01:05.350 multi currency cards and their accompanying mobile apps have made 0:01:05.350 --> 0:01:08.170 it so convenient to buy things overseas. 0:01:08.194 --> 0:01:12.335 Now, for the uninitiated, a multi currency account, lets you 0:01:12.334 --> 0:01:18.134 transact in multiple currencies using competitive exchange rates and it 0:01:18.135 --> 0:01:22.215 promises low transaction fees. They're easy to set up and 0:01:22.215 --> 0:01:26.045 are even more attractive. Now due to a stronger saying dollar, 0:01:26.045 --> 0:01:29.185 everyone's traveling now, right? So you can use it even 0:01:29.194 --> 0:01:30.780 for online shopping. 0:01:31.020 --> 0:01:34.660 But how much are we really saving by using a 0:01:34.660 --> 0:01:38.350 multi currency app? How is it different from using your 0:01:38.350 --> 0:01:39.660 good old credit card. 0:01:39.890 --> 0:01:43.390 Let's get some answers from someone who's tried and tested 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:48.520 various multi currency apps for us. He's co founder of 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.320 Financial website, Dollars and Cents. Hey, Dinesh, welcome to the 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:52.750 Money Talks 0:01:52.750 --> 0:01:55.570 podcast. Hey, thanks for having me on your show. Glad 0:01:55.580 --> 0:01:56.900 to be here. Now, 0:01:56.910 --> 0:02:01.250 when did you start using multi currency apps? Did you 0:02:01.250 --> 0:02:01.880 start out by 0:02:01.905 --> 0:02:04.725 holding a bit of standby cash in the wallet and 0:02:04.725 --> 0:02:07.615 then also having the app on standby or was it 0:02:07.615 --> 0:02:09.905 full on multi currency at all the 0:02:09.905 --> 0:02:12.864 way, like many I eased into it. So at the start, 0:02:12.865 --> 0:02:15.195 I also applied for a card and then I used 0:02:15.195 --> 0:02:17.125 it on my first trip just to see how it went. 0:02:17.135 --> 0:02:19.065 So I didn't go full on, I carry a lot 0:02:19.065 --> 0:02:21.725 of cash in that instance. But over the years, I 0:02:21.735 --> 0:02:23.920 find myself trusting it a little more 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:26.120 And also having a little bit more options. I think 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.120 there are about 10 or so kind of multi currency 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.870 accounts and wallets in Singapore. So I have a couple 0:02:31.870 --> 0:02:32.320 of them. 0:02:32.730 --> 0:02:36.620 So I do find myself bringing less cash on my 0:02:36.630 --> 0:02:38.679 overseas trips nowadays. So, 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.720 how many multi currency apps have you tried 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.060 a little bit different? I think they're multi currency wallets 0:02:44.060 --> 0:02:46.829 and then they're also accounts, right. So I think at 0:02:46.830 --> 0:02:49.280 least half of them that's out there and even the 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.540 others that I haven't tried, I've done a bit of 0:02:51.540 --> 0:02:52.610 research on them. What 0:02:52.610 --> 0:02:54.739 stood out for you when trying out all these multi 0:02:54.740 --> 0:02:55.790 currency for 0:02:55.790 --> 0:02:58.160 me. The biggest one was how do we want to 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.410 use multi currency? How do we want to use our 0:03:00.410 --> 0:03:01.260 foreign currencies 0:03:01.310 --> 0:03:05.170 if you're traveling? We primarily just want to maybe exchange 0:03:05.180 --> 0:03:07.680 a little bit earlier than our travel dates. I've heard 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.530 a lot of people, especially those going Japan this year, 0:03:10.540 --> 0:03:13.370 they've seen the foreign currency or Japan exchange rates to 0:03:13.370 --> 0:03:16.460 Singapore being very attractive. So they wanted to change early on. 0:03:16.470 --> 0:03:18.590 So I think that's one use case, you just want 0:03:18.590 --> 0:03:21.980 to keep the multi currency exchange at a good time 0:03:21.990 --> 0:03:24.960 and then use it when you travel. That's one use case. 0:03:24.970 --> 0:03:27.210 The other one is also you want to send either 0:03:27.210 --> 0:03:29.889 local or foreign currencies to a foreign bank account. 0:03:30.100 --> 0:03:31.780 So you want to send it to like an account 0:03:31.780 --> 0:03:35.339 in Australia or Indonesia even that's another use case and 0:03:35.340 --> 0:03:37.620 not all of them can do all the functions. So 0:03:37.620 --> 0:03:39.800 you need to know what you want to use the 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:44.050 multi currency for either spending traveling, transferring what is 0:03:44.050 --> 0:03:46.510 it? Right? So there isn't like a one size fits 0:03:46.535 --> 0:03:49.585 all type of multi currency application out there. I think 0:03:49.585 --> 0:03:52.295 possibly there are a few but depending on your needs, 0:03:52.295 --> 0:03:54.165 you may want to hold one or two to serve 0:03:54.175 --> 0:03:55.385 different functions as well. 0:03:55.395 --> 0:03:59.465 So are the exchange rates on those multi currency cards 0:03:59.465 --> 0:04:03.815 or apps or accounts really much better than say, exchanging 0:04:03.815 --> 0:04:06.715 money at the arcade old school, which is probably the 0:04:06.715 --> 0:04:08.865 best place to do so in Singapore, right? That's where 0:04:08.865 --> 0:04:11.255 everyone flocks to and you want to change money, 0:04:11.265 --> 0:04:11.855 correct? 0:04:12.060 --> 0:04:15.160 So we did an interesting article, we literally wanted to 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.230 see whether the arcade exchange rate was superior to the 0:04:18.230 --> 0:04:21.610 multi currency account exchange rate. So we did the experiment, 0:04:21.620 --> 0:04:24.310 someone was at the arcade, someone was on their phone 0:04:24.310 --> 0:04:27.940 seeing the exchange rate, I believe the exchange rate at 0:04:27.950 --> 0:04:31.180 that point was just marginally more attractive if you went 0:04:31.180 --> 0:04:33.900 down to the arcade. But then you have to consider, 0:04:33.900 --> 0:04:36.810 if you're not working around the area, to consider traveling down, 0:04:36.820 --> 0:04:39.100 that would be costly on its own already have to 0:04:39.110 --> 0:04:40.950 make the time to do it. And 0:04:40.968 --> 0:04:42.508 the difference might not even make up for like a 0:04:42.508 --> 0:04:45.078 cap right there. Honestly, it's so marginal. 0:04:45.077 --> 0:04:46.818 So not that big of a 0:04:46.818 --> 0:04:50.288 difference unless you're changing a lot of money. I don't 0:04:50.288 --> 0:04:51.838 think it would make a big dent. 0:04:51.848 --> 0:04:57.738 What about if we compare multi currency cards to credit cards? 0:04:57.748 --> 0:05:02.457 Are they equally accepted overseas? Like those credit card ads 0:05:02.458 --> 0:05:06.198 that we see all the time or convenience and security? 0:05:06.208 --> 0:05:09.698 Would the multi currency cards have the same 0:05:09.986 --> 0:05:11.866 have the same function? I'm 0:05:11.866 --> 0:05:14.976 not an expert on the foreign spending cards, but how 0:05:14.976 --> 0:05:17.776 I think about it is that you certainly have to 0:05:17.776 --> 0:05:21.056 game the system to be able to benefit. So unless 0:05:21.056 --> 0:05:22.946 you're willing to put in that time and effort to 0:05:22.946 --> 0:05:25.956 know which exact cards to spend, how to spend it. 0:05:25.956 --> 0:05:29.496 Which kinds of expenses or brackets of expenses you need 0:05:29.496 --> 0:05:32.126 to spend it on. You're probably better off not using 0:05:32.126 --> 0:05:34.006 your credit cards. So that's how I do it. I 0:05:34.005 --> 0:05:36.516 don't really want to spend all that time energy effort 0:05:36.516 --> 0:05:38.766 to do that just to benefit from 0:05:38.784 --> 0:05:40.844 maybe getting the extra cash back or points. 0:05:40.854 --> 0:05:43.563 Okay. But how much are we really saving in terms 0:05:43.564 --> 0:05:45.904 of transaction fees then? So 0:05:45.904 --> 0:05:47.684 I think if you are able to game it, you 0:05:47.684 --> 0:05:50.664 might see yourself ahead because you're collecting miles or something 0:05:50.664 --> 0:05:53.604 like that. But let's say those are not in consideration, right? 0:05:53.613 --> 0:05:56.814 Let's just say you're thinking of spending foreign currencies in 0:05:56.814 --> 0:06:00.164 maybe cash or your mobile wallets versus a credit card. 0:06:00.174 --> 0:06:02.324 You are definitely a lot better of spending in your 0:06:02.324 --> 0:06:05.514 mobile wallets, cash because like you mentioned, there's going to 0:06:05.514 --> 0:06:07.674 be foreign currency transaction fees, 0:06:07.692 --> 0:06:10.251 there's going to be conversion fees as well. If you 0:06:10.252 --> 0:06:12.562 do spend in a foreign currency, there tends to be 0:06:12.562 --> 0:06:16.231 at least one if not even to foreign currency conversions. 0:06:16.242 --> 0:06:20.202 So one for your conversion into USD and then back 0:06:20.202 --> 0:06:22.481 into S G D. Right. Right. So you want to 0:06:22.482 --> 0:06:25.032 actually pay in at the end of the day, but 0:06:25.032 --> 0:06:27.632 they would make that foreign currency into U S D 0:06:27.642 --> 0:06:30.952 and then into STD to calculate the amount. So that's 0:06:30.952 --> 0:06:34.671 one way then there's the foreign currency transaction cost anyway. 0:06:34.682 --> 0:06:36.582 And then I know there's always this function 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.109 and when you go on the counter and then you're 0:06:38.110 --> 0:06:40.410 hit with, do you want to pay in your local 0:06:40.410 --> 0:06:43.539 currency or do you want to stay in your Singapore dollars? Right. Yes. 0:06:43.540 --> 0:06:45.600 And I never know which one to choose. 0:06:45.610 --> 0:06:48.190 Yeah. In the same position when it first came out, 0:06:48.190 --> 0:06:50.340 you know, when they first asked me, I remember this 0:06:50.339 --> 0:06:51.810 was a long time ago when they first asked me, 0:06:51.810 --> 0:06:54.289 I didn't have an answer instinctively. I thought if I 0:06:54.290 --> 0:06:56.950 pay in Singapore dollars, that would be better off. But 0:06:56.950 --> 0:06:59.680 having done the research, no, actually you always have to 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.240 pay in the foreign currency. So if you're ever in 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.510 that situation, just paying the foreign currency, 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:07.710 okay. I'm going to keep that in mind for my 0:07:07.710 --> 0:07:10.790 next trip. So when you were using all those multi 0:07:10.790 --> 0:07:14.070 currency cards and you were traveling, did you run into 0:07:14.070 --> 0:07:16.650 any problems in some places when using 0:07:16.650 --> 0:07:19.880 it? I think the biggest problems you might face is 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.970 one connection to the internet. I was in the U 0:07:22.970 --> 0:07:24.940 S and I wanted to fill up the gas in 0:07:24.940 --> 0:07:27.820 the car. So I was at the petrol station and 0:07:27.830 --> 0:07:30.040 I needed to exchange a certain amount of money. So 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:30.270 I think 0:07:30.287 --> 0:07:32.907 pay and I had already probably expanded everything in my 0:07:32.907 --> 0:07:35.467 account by the time or maybe I didn't have enough. Right? 0:07:35.467 --> 0:07:38.007 So if I didn't have internet connection or if it 0:07:38.007 --> 0:07:41.897 wasn't very stable, then I couldn't make that instantaneous transfer 0:07:41.897 --> 0:07:45.657 from my Singapore dollar account into my, I was using 0:07:45.657 --> 0:07:48.567 you trip at that point into my youtube account and 0:07:48.567 --> 0:07:51.227 then make that conversion on the youtube app and then 0:07:51.227 --> 0:07:54.087 use my card to pay. Right. So there's a way 0:07:54.087 --> 0:07:54.840 you can do it very 0:07:54.854 --> 0:07:58.204 seamlessly and not have to keep additional foreign currency then 0:07:58.204 --> 0:08:01.464 you absolutely need. So internet connection is one of them. 0:08:01.474 --> 0:08:04.424 The other one is certain places might not accept cards. 0:08:04.424 --> 0:08:06.864 You know, if you go to a market, you go 0:08:06.864 --> 0:08:09.374 to certain countries where you can't really find a widespread 0:08:09.384 --> 0:08:11.854 availability of card acceptance. 0:08:11.864 --> 0:08:13.984 The digital infrastructure is not quite there. 0:08:13.994 --> 0:08:15.794 Yeah. So that might be an issue 0:08:15.794 --> 0:08:18.544 as well. I think it really depends on where you're going. 0:08:18.544 --> 0:08:19.304 You need to be really 0:08:19.421 --> 0:08:21.961 at the end of it all. It doesn't hurt to 0:08:21.961 --> 0:08:24.381 have that standby cash in your pocket. 0:08:24.391 --> 0:08:27.681 Yeah, I mean, I would advocate everyone brings standby cash 0:08:27.681 --> 0:08:31.231 for sure. The cash kind of supplements the cards you 0:08:31.231 --> 0:08:33.641 spend primarily on the cards and then your cash is 0:08:33.641 --> 0:08:36.461 just back up emergency, whatever you call it. Was it 0:08:36.461 --> 0:08:39.521 strange to have to whip out cash to pay for 0:08:39.521 --> 0:08:42.001 stuff when you are traveling? Do you think you'll ever 0:08:42.001 --> 0:08:43.990 travel without cash ever again? 0:08:44.150 --> 0:08:46.340 It was a recent trip. I went to Langkawi. It 0:08:46.340 --> 0:08:48.559 was a very last minute trip for me. Actually, I 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.750 booked on the day itself. My wife was actually supposed 0:08:51.750 --> 0:08:54.179 to go and one of her friends backed out on 0:08:54.179 --> 0:08:56.960 the day. Itself. And then my wife was distraught and 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:58.850 just looked at me saying she can't travel. I was like, 0:08:59.350 --> 0:09:02.810 yeah, sure, I'll go booked on the day itself. I 0:09:02.929 --> 0:09:05.770 didn't have any Malaysian ringgit with me and I went 0:09:05.770 --> 0:09:07.840 there at the airport. I didn't have any money to 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.350 take local cab back to the hotel, but I could 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:12.890 book it on, grab link my card and just pay 0:09:12.890 --> 0:09:14.430 for it in foreign currency. 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.280 So this is what you mean about gaming the system, right? 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.050 This is another way of doing it without actually having 0:09:20.050 --> 0:09:21.400 cash available. 0:09:21.410 --> 0:09:22.240 So you wouldn't 0:09:22.260 --> 0:09:24.920 to be able to pay for cap right in your car, right? 0:09:24.929 --> 0:09:27.490 But since I had no other choice and grab is 0:09:27.490 --> 0:09:30.030 available there, I could have linked it to any other. 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.530 Let's say I was in the U S. I linked 0:09:31.530 --> 0:09:33.970 it to the lift at at the airport itself. So 0:09:33.970 --> 0:09:36.230 that was fine. So in the digital age that we 0:09:36.230 --> 0:09:38.339 live in today, I don't think it's a big barrier anymore. 0:09:38.350 --> 0:09:40.910 On that note, you said you have to at the 0:09:40.910 --> 0:09:43.520 current moment and you've tried about half of what's out 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:45.170 there in the market already. 0:09:45.380 --> 0:09:49.470 Should we be getting more than one multi currency card 0:09:49.470 --> 0:09:52.439 or account? The same way some of us have multiple 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.450 credit cards and multiple bank accounts 0:09:55.460 --> 0:09:58.150 for me. I say why not? So I do use 0:09:58.150 --> 0:10:01.439 to predominantly but you could even want something that's linked 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.709 to your local bank account. So even DBS and you'll be, 0:10:04.710 --> 0:10:04.990 they have, 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:08.929 there are multi currency accounts and mobile apps as well. 0:10:08.940 --> 0:10:11.860 So if you use, you'll be bank and you want 0:10:11.870 --> 0:10:14.530 your multi currency to be quite seamless, then I think 0:10:14.530 --> 0:10:16.450 it makes sense. So you don't need a separate app 0:10:16.450 --> 0:10:19.010 as well. But if you already comfortable using an app, 0:10:19.010 --> 0:10:21.520 there's no reason that you need to immediately change. I 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.110 think it's based on how comfortable, how convenient it is 0:10:24.110 --> 0:10:24.620 for you. 0:10:28.470 --> 0:10:29.550 Hello, my name is Steve 0:10:29.550 --> 0:10:32.020 Lie and I'm Teresa Tang. And we are the hosts 0:10:32.020 --> 0:10:35.090 of Sienna correspondent, a podcast that takes you to the 0:10:35.090 --> 0:10:38.650 heart of the work our correspondents do across the globe 0:10:38.660 --> 0:10:42.370 from China's COVID response to the Childcare Center massacre in 0:10:42.370 --> 0:10:43.930 Thailand from the fall of now 0:10:44.530 --> 0:10:48.110 to the rise of Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia's Prime Minister, 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.450 we speak to the people at the reporting front lines. 0:10:51.460 --> 0:10:54.130 So if you want to know how the biggest global 0:10:54.130 --> 0:10:57.530 stories unfold, make sure you follow or subscribe to us 0:10:57.630 --> 0:10:59.480 wherever you get your podcasts. 0:11:04.850 --> 0:11:08.820 So I read that I can also use a multi 0:11:08.820 --> 0:11:12.980 currency card to shop online. So right now when I 0:11:12.980 --> 0:11:17.240 shop overseas website, so any foreign website where I'm looking 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:18.550 to buy something 0:11:18.770 --> 0:11:23.140 right now, I'm just paying the converted sing dollar price 0:11:23.150 --> 0:11:26.360 on the website because it detects where I'm located, which 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.500 is Singapore. So it shows me the sing dollar denomination. 0:11:29.510 --> 0:11:32.329 That's the converted price I'm paying when I'm buying a 0:11:32.330 --> 0:11:36.290 bag or clothes from my favorite brands overseas. Am I 0:11:36.300 --> 0:11:37.510 losing money 0:11:37.525 --> 0:11:42.355 doing that? Should I have used my multi currency card? Instead? 0:11:42.365 --> 0:11:42.575 We 0:11:42.575 --> 0:11:45.275 did do this experiment a few years ago now where 0:11:45.275 --> 0:11:47.855 we tried to buy the same pair of shoes three 0:11:47.855 --> 0:11:50.605 different ways. So we did it with like credit card, 0:11:50.615 --> 0:11:53.954 we did it with a multi currency account and we 0:11:53.955 --> 0:11:56.275 bought it in a local versus foreign currency. 0:11:56.450 --> 0:11:58.660 And we did find like one of the most cost 0:11:58.660 --> 0:12:01.430 effective ways is to use your multi currency account to 0:12:01.429 --> 0:12:03.580 pay for it in that foreign currency. 0:12:03.590 --> 0:12:05.480 How was it more effective? Okay. You 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:09.309 don't save a huge amount. I personally believe you should 0:12:09.309 --> 0:12:12.079 always choose the foreign currency because you might get a 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:13.970 little bit of a better deal. But in any case, 0:12:13.970 --> 0:12:16.030 I think if you use the website often enough, you 0:12:16.030 --> 0:12:17.280 can flip between the 0:12:17.296 --> 0:12:19.756 to rates and then actually check on your phone whether 0:12:19.756 --> 0:12:21.866 you're getting a better rate. You can literally do that 0:12:21.876 --> 0:12:24.746 within a few seconds nowadays. So you can actually negate 0:12:24.746 --> 0:12:26.736 the effect of that when paying with a foreign or 0:12:26.736 --> 0:12:29.476 multi currency account. The part about credit card, I think 0:12:29.476 --> 0:12:32.036 you definitely worse off if you pay through credit card 0:12:32.046 --> 0:12:34.175 again because of the same charges that we think it 0:12:34.176 --> 0:12:37.186 still counts as a foreign currency transaction and then their 0:12:37.196 --> 0:12:38.130 conversion fees 0:12:38.142 --> 0:12:38.972 involved as well. 0:12:38.982 --> 0:12:42.881 Have you ever encountered paying for something online using the 0:12:42.881 --> 0:12:47.212 multi currency card and it gets rejected because I know 0:12:47.222 --> 0:12:49.662 that there are some U S websites that don't even 0:12:49.662 --> 0:12:53.521 accept our Singapore credit cards. So, have you heard of 0:12:53.522 --> 0:12:57.502 any stories or experiences where the multi currency card gets 0:12:57.502 --> 0:12:58.990 rejected for the same reason? 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.980 Yeah, I'm just reaching out for my multi currency car. 0:13:01.990 --> 0:13:04.540 It states Mastercard on it. So it should be on 0:13:04.540 --> 0:13:08.010 the Mastercard Network. I haven't encountered it to be honest 0:13:08.020 --> 0:13:10.100 and I think it shouldn't be a big problem because 0:13:10.100 --> 0:13:13.160 it's on either the Visa Mastercard Network as well, which 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:15.380 is globally accepted or available. 0:13:15.390 --> 0:13:19.370 So then would you say that multi currency apps or 0:13:19.370 --> 0:13:22.320 accounts take all the boxes as the top choice to 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.700 pay for things when traveling or are there certain things 0:13:26.710 --> 0:13:27.110 that 0:13:27.127 --> 0:13:29.256 people need to keep in mind, 0:13:29.256 --> 0:13:31.117 you need to know what you're using the card or 0:13:31.117 --> 0:13:33.897 account for? So once you know, using it from my travels, 0:13:33.897 --> 0:13:36.547 then it's a good way to like exchange money without 0:13:36.547 --> 0:13:38.467 having to keep stacks of it. Maybe you're going to 0:13:38.467 --> 0:13:40.747 Japan this year. You see a good exchange rate today. 0:13:40.756 --> 0:13:42.907 Sometimes we get very caught up in the situation. We 0:13:42.907 --> 0:13:44.877 just want to change our money as soon as possible 0:13:44.886 --> 0:13:46.916 or other times like me, I just don't know when 0:13:46.927 --> 0:13:48.447 is the best time to change it? I don't think 0:13:48.447 --> 0:13:51.407 anyone would know because it's hard to guess. Right. So 0:13:51.407 --> 0:13:53.707 what you can do is you can dollar cost average 0:13:53.717 --> 0:13:54.959 into the foreign currency, 0:13:54.974 --> 0:13:56.534 right on your phone itself. So you don't have to 0:13:56.534 --> 0:13:59.384 continuously go down to the money changer, whether it's arcade 0:13:59.384 --> 0:14:01.154 or somewhere closer to your place. You don't have to 0:14:01.154 --> 0:14:03.753 worry about that because you're never going down anyway, just 0:14:03.764 --> 0:14:06.494 logging into the app and then just exchange it periodically 0:14:06.494 --> 0:14:08.384 until you actually travel. So then you don't have to 0:14:08.384 --> 0:14:10.704 worry about. Are you getting the best exchange rate? You 0:14:10.703 --> 0:14:13.414 just averaging out the exchange rate that you get? It 0:14:13.414 --> 0:14:16.364 gives me more comfort knowing I'm doing that. Then secondly, 0:14:16.364 --> 0:14:18.603 if you want to send it to a bank account overseas, 0:14:18.604 --> 0:14:21.784 so I actually helped my helper in Singapore send money 0:14:21.784 --> 0:14:22.810 back home. I think it's 0:14:22.821 --> 0:14:26.221 much cheaper or more convenient way for her to do it. 0:14:26.231 --> 0:14:28.431 I think she gets a better deal as well and 0:14:28.431 --> 0:14:31.601 she doesn't have to queue up foreign currency transfer or 0:14:31.611 --> 0:14:34.591 use some other methods at home. Sometimes that's costly. 0:14:34.601 --> 0:14:37.960 Um I mean, I've heard of digital remittances. It's a 0:14:37.961 --> 0:14:41.811 very well developed infrastructure now so they can send money 0:14:41.811 --> 0:14:45.681 across and have it converted at more competitive rates. So 0:14:45.691 --> 0:14:48.411 we've talked about using it for traveling. We've talked about 0:14:48.411 --> 0:14:50.661 using it for online shopping. 0:14:50.810 --> 0:14:55.070 What are the other various use cases of multi currency apps? 0:14:55.070 --> 0:14:58.220 What are the transactions? Can we use a multi currency 0:14:58.220 --> 0:14:58.590 account 0:14:58.590 --> 0:15:00.400 for? I think we can think of it to other 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.630 ways if we just want to hold a foreign currency. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.340 My wife is from Hong Kong. So actually just holding 0:15:06.350 --> 0:15:09.290 or being able to transfer between Singapore and Hong Kong 0:15:09.290 --> 0:15:11.390 dollars as and when we need so that we can 0:15:11.390 --> 0:15:15.140 transfer it to her local account of her parents context 0:15:15.140 --> 0:15:17.990 in Hong Kong or do it similarly in Singapore, except 0:15:17.990 --> 0:15:19.580 the Hong Kong dollars quite easily. 0:15:19.595 --> 0:15:23.455 I think that's important if you are maybe an expert 0:15:23.465 --> 0:15:27.785 or if you have a very deep connection to another country. 0:15:27.795 --> 0:15:30.705 So I find that that's a useful account to have 0:15:30.715 --> 0:15:32.984 other use case scenarios is maybe you just want to 0:15:32.985 --> 0:15:35.905 hold the currency. So if we have a strong conviction 0:15:35.915 --> 0:15:39.025 that another currency will appreciate or will perform much better 0:15:39.025 --> 0:15:42.285 than Singapore dollars, that's an option. Another scenario that I 0:15:42.285 --> 0:15:45.495 can see as benefiting is if we just want to 0:15:45.505 --> 0:15:48.365 fund our investments with foreign currencies 0:15:48.580 --> 0:15:51.370 because we're getting a poor rate with our brokerage is 0:15:51.380 --> 0:15:53.180 when we make investments. So we want to fund our 0:15:53.180 --> 0:15:55.950 brokerage account with us D rather than funded with S 0:15:55.950 --> 0:15:58.350 G D and then transfer it, make the foreign exchange 0:15:58.350 --> 0:16:02.030 transfer within the brokerage itself. Okay, tell me more about that. Okay. 0:16:02.030 --> 0:16:04.750 So in the past, what was common is you just 0:16:04.750 --> 0:16:08.970 fund your account or pay for your investments in Singapore dollars, right? 0:16:08.970 --> 0:16:11.540 By your investments could be a US dollar or Us 0:16:11.550 --> 0:16:12.610 stock or 0:16:12.635 --> 0:16:14.715 GBP or Hong Kong dollars could be any of these 0:16:14.715 --> 0:16:16.695 foreign currencies, but you have to pay for it or 0:16:16.695 --> 0:16:20.155 you typically pay for it. So the price obviously is 0:16:20.165 --> 0:16:23.425 charged to you after the foreign currency exchange has been applied. 0:16:23.435 --> 0:16:25.585 So if you feel like I'm not getting a good 0:16:25.585 --> 0:16:29.575 deal on this foreign currency exchange that my broker is charging, 0:16:29.585 --> 0:16:32.075 you could opt for other brokers that accept you to 0:16:32.075 --> 0:16:34.775 fund account in USD itself. So 0:16:34.775 --> 0:16:36.665 that means you are sort of 0:16:36.690 --> 0:16:39.750 cutting out the middleman in a way or you're just 0:16:39.750 --> 0:16:45.040 choosing, cutting out the uncertainty of different exchange transfer, maybe 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.160 sometimes you don't really know what the amount is going 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:48.790 to be. But when you do it yourself, you know 0:16:48.790 --> 0:16:49.520 exactly what the 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:54.290 amount is okay. That's good advice. Any final parting thoughts 0:16:54.300 --> 0:16:58.700 as to how listeners can think about using multi currency apps, 0:16:58.710 --> 0:17:00.729 things like safety risks. For 0:17:00.740 --> 0:17:03.390 example, I mean, if you're using a smartphone app to 0:17:03.390 --> 0:17:07.730 transact a lot of stuff, obviously, cybersecurity comes to mind 0:17:07.740 --> 0:17:10.320 your money is in there, your card details are in there, 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.460 your personal info is in there. Is that a risk 0:17:13.460 --> 0:17:15.790 we should look at as well? Yeah, 0:17:15.790 --> 0:17:17.770 I think that you hit the nail on the head. 0:17:17.780 --> 0:17:21.800 You have to take cybersecurity very importantly because there's always 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.800 a case where you get scanned or there's a fraudulent transaction, 0:17:24.980 --> 0:17:27.640 which is also why multi currency is great actually because 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:29.890 you can think of it as you can only lose 0:17:29.900 --> 0:17:32.480 how much you already have in your multi currency account. 0:17:32.490 --> 0:17:34.750 It's not like a credit card where someone's going to 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.180 charge you up to your limit. You can only lose 0:17:37.180 --> 0:17:39.470 what you have inside. Whereas credit card, there might be 0:17:39.470 --> 0:17:41.660 some ways to get back your funds, you know, to 0:17:41.660 --> 0:17:45.139 report the transaction that's fraudulent, you can get it back. 0:17:45.150 --> 0:17:48.190 Whereas in multi currency accounts, you may lose that funds 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:48.520 and then 0:17:48.530 --> 0:17:50.880 take it up with the provider and then see what 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:52.500 they can do about it. Right. So there's two ways 0:17:52.500 --> 0:17:55.250 to think about it passing ports. I think once when 0:17:55.250 --> 0:17:58.070 I use my multi currency account, there were some like 0:17:58.070 --> 0:18:01.280 suspicious transactions going on. But as soon as I reported it, 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.459 I think they got to it fairly quickly and they 0:18:03.470 --> 0:18:06.369 reversed the transaction fairly quickly. So I think the ones 0:18:06.369 --> 0:18:10.240 that in Singapore regulated by Singapore authorities, you can trust 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:12.000 them a little bit. They also don't hold your 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.330 funds, those that aren't banks, they also don't hold your 0:18:14.330 --> 0:18:16.859 funds as part of their operating cash flow. So they 0:18:16.859 --> 0:18:19.840 hold it separately. So they're not using your funds. So 0:18:19.850 --> 0:18:22.280 in case you're worried that company ever goes back to 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.480