DBS MCA Account Revamped

lusunshine

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I believe this is the first in Singapore:

Access 12 foreign currencies and the Singapore dollar conveniently with one account and transact at your preferred rates wherever you are. Pay for shopping, dining and leisure with your linked DBS Visa Debit Card in up to 11 foreign currencies* with no foreign exchange fees. Your foreign currency transactions will be debited directly from the respective foreign currency wallet.

https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/deposits/savings-accounts/dbs-multi-currency-autosave
 

chopra

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No interest and still at dbs coversion rate
I guess u can siam the conversion rate if u deposit cold hard foreign currency at the counter.


But not v appealing as exchange fee is 2.5%. Most cc give more %than that
 

BBCWatcher

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I guess u can siam the conversion rate if u deposit cold hard foreign currency at the counter.
No, that doesn't work. Effective January 9, 2017, DBS introduced commission charges for depositing or withdrawing foreign currency notes. The commission ranges from 1.0% to 5.0% depending on the currency and customer status, and the minimum commission is S$10.
 

dreant

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I was going to close my MCA account with the new FCY deposit/withdrawal fees; but with FCY direct debit from the wallet, I'll be keeping it and doing all my USD shopping with it!

I've been trying to get a USD CC for a while now. Looking forward to using this.

(Like the previous MCA account, this is a pretty niche product and probably only useful for people with USD in local banks that they can move around with locally drawn USD cheques...)

This feature could be useful too, if there are no other ATM withdrawal fees:

If your MCA is linked as the primary account to your DBS Visa Debit Card, purchases made in foreign currencies and overseas ATM cash withdrawals will be automatically deducted from your respective foreign currency wallet(s) at no foreign exchange conversion fees.

DBS ATM fees will be waived for:
* DBS Treasures / Treasures Private Client / Private Bank Visa Debit Cards
* Withdrawals made using DBS cards at DBS ATMs overseas and Westpac Group ATMs

Otherwise, there will be fees applied.

DBS: MCA Visa Debit FAQ
 
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BBCWatcher

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I was going to close my MCA account with the new FCY deposit/withdrawal fees; but with FCY direct debit from the wallet, I'll be keeping it and doing all my USD shopping with it!
I wonder if you can also collect the 5% Visa payWave (and Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay) promotional rebate for U.S. dollar spending. I suppose it's worth a try if, for example, you're buying something with Apple Pay online in U.S. dollars, linked to your DBS Visa Debit Card, and with U.S. dollars in your DBS Multi Currency Account. Or if you have a U.S. trip and can use Visa payWave at certain merchants.
 

dreant

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I wonder if you can also collect the 5% Visa payWave (and Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay) promotional rebate for U.S. dollar spending. I suppose it's worth a try if, for example, you're buying something with Apple Pay online in U.S. dollars, linked to your DBS Visa Debit Card, and with U.S. dollars in your DBS Multi Currency Account. Or if you have a U.S. trip and can use Visa payWave at certain merchants.

Paywave is exactly that. It's a card-present at point-of-sale transaction. I'm sure it won't apply if it's an online purchase.

Have to look closer at the promotion's T&C if it applies to foreign paywave transactions. Would be nice if it did.
 

stiwipl

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Wow, very good move, finally. Even Citi debit card linked to FCY account allowed for free ATM FCY withdrawals only but not for retail purchases in FCY. Good move DBS. Bad move that there are FCY cash / deposits fees now.

To sum up:
+ we can now use DBS MCA debit card to pay in retail offline or online shops in foreign currency, which will be automatically debit the respective currency wallet (no need to link the card like in Citi).
+ free FCY ATM withdrawals worldwide (DBS Treasures)
- no more free FCY cash / deposits over the counter
- still FCY to FCY conversion goes through SGD (?)
 

d3athstalk3r

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I guess u can siam the conversion rate if u deposit cold hard foreign currency at the counter.


But not v appealing as exchange fee is 2.5%. Most cc give more %than that

Actually most CC charges 2.5% to 3.5% and gives 5% cashback with some min spend criteria... this one got no min spend...
 

foozgarden

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Wow, very good move, finally. Even Citi debit card linked to FCY account allowed for free ATM FCY withdrawals only but not for retail purchases in FCY. Good move DBS. Bad move that there are FCY cash / deposits fees now.

To sum up:
+ we can now use DBS MCA debit card to pay in retail offline or online shops in foreign currency, which will be automatically debit the respective currency wallet (no need to link the card like in Citi).
+ free FCY ATM withdrawals worldwide (DBS Treasures)
- no more free FCY cash / deposits over the counter
- still FCY to FCY conversion goes through SGD (?)

how does it work ?

say, i pay with dbs visa linked to my mca acct.
and pay it to a us merchant in usd.
does it need to have a usd pre-funded first?
i mean, there are 12x different currencies in this acct.
so how does it know which fcy to deduct from?
 

march90

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I'm also interested to know how it works. I already changed some $ to USD...once my new debit card comes I'll try it out.

how does it work ?

say, i pay with dbs visa linked to my mca acct.
and pay it to a us merchant in usd.
does it need to have a usd pre-funded first?
i mean, there are 12x different currencies in this acct.
so how does it know which fcy to deduct from?
 

Sinkie

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Can I linked my Posb credit card with my mca account and do the same thing also?
 

dreant

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how does it work ?

say, i pay with dbs visa linked to my mca acct.
and pay it to a us merchant in usd.
does it need to have a usd pre-funded first?
i mean, there are 12x different currencies in this acct.
so how does it know which fcy to deduct from?

It's answered in the FAQ.
 

foozgarden

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It's answered in the FAQ.

yea, just saw it..
http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/depo...lti-currency-autosave/mca-visa-debit-faq.page

so , it has to be pre-funded..

and also, i believe, if its not in the class of the 12 FCY.
they will use SGD as the defualt??

Note: If there are insufficient foreign currency funds in your MCA Account, the entire foreign currency transaction will be deducted from your SGD funds. Should you have insufficient SGD funds, the entire transaction will be declined. Partial withdrawal or purchase is not available.
 

lusunshine

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To fund the MCA account FC wallet, you can transfer from SGD balance via iBanking. the fx rate will be based on DBS prevailing selling TT rate which can be found here:

http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/rates-online/foreign-currency-foreign-exchange.page

I have done a quick calculation on the percentage away from mid-rate:

1. US Dollar - 0.63%
2. Euro - 1.1%
3. Sterling Pound - 1.1%
4. Australian Dollar - 1.1%
5. Canadian Dollar - 1.0%
6. New Zealand Dollar - 1.1%
7. Hong Kong Dollar - 1.1%
8. Norwegian Kroner - 1.23%
9. Swedish Kroner - 1.51%
10. Thai Baht - 1.35%
11. Japanese Yen - 0.96%

Looks like the best deal is USD.
 

dreant

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This feature could be useful too, if there are no other ATM withdrawal fees:

If your MCA is linked as the primary account to your DBS Visa Debit Card, purchases made in foreign currencies and overseas ATM cash withdrawals will be automatically deducted from your respective foreign currency wallet(s) at no foreign exchange conversion fees.

DBS ATM fees will be waived for:
* DBS Treasures / Treasures Private Client / Private Bank Visa Debit Cards
* Withdrawals made using DBS cards at DBS ATMs overseas and Westpac Group ATMs

Otherwise, there will be fees applied.

DBS: MCA Visa Debit FAQ

+ free FCY ATM withdrawals worldwide (DBS Treasures)

The DBS UnionPay debit card might be a way to get around the ATM withdrawal fee...

ATM Fee waiver on cash withdrawals overseas(*)
Enjoy greater savings abroad with S$5 ATM fee waivers on your cash withdrawals overseas.

(*) Cash withdrawal charges by acquiring bank of the overseas ATMs may apply.

DBS UnionPay Platinum Debit Card


... Has no annual fees, and probably not as widely accepted as visa/mastercard; but I do believe they're still pretty widely accepted at a number of ATMs worldwide.

Downside is CNY/CNH withdrawals and charges are not taken from the CNH wallet (yet?), so it's still not very useful in China at this time.
 
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