In the meantime, I’d like to share some observations when it comes to changing money. For the past couple of years, I have not really relied upon money changers but instead relied upon credit cards that allow free withdrawals to get cash upon arrival. Unfortunately my go-to card has recently stopped to reimburse ATM-imposed fees. These can be fairly steep; in Thailand it is usually 200 THB (8 SGD), in the Philippines 200 PHP (6 SGD) or in Vietnam 60’000 VND (4 SGD). So I once again started looking at changing money in Singapore before heading abroad. Also, for my recent trip to Central Asia I knew I’d be better off bringing US Dollars – especially in Uzbekistan.

If I had to change in the past (usually small amounts < 200 SGD), I’d just do it at the airport. But with bigger amounts (I changed around 2’500 USD for Central Asia) I started shopping around. I used an app called Get4X to compare rates, but found it to not always be very accurate as money changers didn’t seem to update rates very frequently. The best bet seems to be (surprise, surprise) Change Alley at Raffles Place. There are several dozen money changers and you can very easily compare their rates.

Recently I changed 500 SGD in Thai Baht. The best rate I got at Change Alley gave me 12’550 Thai Baht.

500 SGD in Thai Baht

Around the corner from my house is a hotel with several hundreds of rooms and tourists checking in/out nearly 24/7. Right next to the hotel is a money changer that advertised “no commission”… as they all do. Sure, he didn’t charge any commission but his rates were so bad that on the above transaction, it would have netted me the equivalent of 22 SGD less in Thai Baht. That’s an over 4% worse price for an identical product. For small amounts it may not be worth to travel down to Change Alley but for bigger amounts do your homework and shop around!

Asia (as well as most other continents) are still very fragmented when it comes to currencies. A frequent headache is exchanging money and being left over with small amounts that add up.

Below is my approach when it comes to foreign currencies:

1. Get a bank account that comes with free withdrawals worldwide: there are bank that give you a credit card that allows for free withdrawals worldwide. Not only do you not have to worry about getting the best exchange rate (well at least that’s how it should be), but you can also start withdrawing smaller amounts as you get closer to the end of your trip in a particular country. When I can I try to avoid exchanging money but instead just rely on ATMs (exceptions are countries like Argentina with a black/grey market exchange rate that is better than the official)
2. Withdraw uneven amounts: if you arrive at the airport and withdraw the equivalent of let’s say $100, chances are you will be getting large notes. And chances will be even higher that your taxi driver, restaurant owner or merchant won’t have change. For this reason, try to withdraw an uneven amount like $90 as this will give you some smaller notes to start out with
3. Check Google for exchange rates: make it a habit before flying off to quickly check Google for the current exchange rate. Typing in “1 EUR in SGD” will give you the current Euro/Singapore Dollar exchange rate and avoid that you have no idea how much to withdraw at the ATM after arriving. Take a screenshot in case you forget and don’t have data connection upon arrival (there are various apps out there do achieve the same, I just find Google the quickest)

While it can be annoying to deal with many foreign currencies, there are also upsides… you get to be a millionaire in some countries (I am looking at you, Vietnam & Indonesia)