vegavega25
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2016
- Messages
- 1,165
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Dude, I have neither the time nor the inclination to get into a lengthy debate on this but given that my view and advice to the original message was so different, I am compelled to add a couple of rejoinders, my final bit on this. I leave it to the original chap to do what is best for him/her, even though I'd be interested in knowing what he/she eventually did.
Your view that the main advantage of the DBS MCA is to be able to buy forex when cheap is baffling. The main advantage is not that at all. The MAIN advantage is converting SGD to forex without any explicit fees, and then spending the forex using a debit card without further administrative charges and fees typically associated with credit card forex transactions, bureau de change conversions, and ATM withdrawals. If it happens that SGD appreciated against the foreign currency **by the time that you wanted to convert the leftover foreign currency back into SGD** then you got lucky and my congratulations. At relatively small amounts, the effect of fluctuations is not significant enough that it should become a key consideration in using the DBS MCA for it main strengths.
So forex rate trends and timing the purchase is altogether irrelevant when the fact of the matter is that the chap is going to have to spend in GBP and Euros and for that forex needs to be bought. Thinking about whether now, later, in batches, etc. is not what this person needs to be thinking about. I concede that most people buy forex a few days in advance or worse, at airport counters, so if the person really wants to "time it" and wait for rates to fluctuate (which they don't by much in any case, unless a Brexit like event happens) until he/she has no choice whatsoever then he/she can convert the SGD to GBP and Euros the day before leaving. But after that do it in batches, averaging costs over time, etc? Goodness gracious, no. Unless talking about tens of thousands, what is the point. Buy it at a point in time, have the forex available in a debit card, and concentrate instead on the study. That is what the person is going for, and should be focused on.
You're asking the person to track exchange rates, keep a tab on how much money is left and then convert when (i) needed AND (ii) the price is right, to go to the bank here and ask for an ATM non-debit card - all really really bad advice. Debit cards in both England and Euro use chip-and-pin, so I don't see how a debit card is any worse than an ATM card.
Also, you say as a student day-to-day expenses can't be put on a debit card. What?? You say that based on what? Milk, fruit, vegetables from Tesco or Sainsbury, condoms, shampoo, soap and chewing gum from Boot's, sandwiches at Pret a Manger, Octopus for the tube, heck even library fees and movie tickets - ALL OF THESE THINGS can be bought using a debit card. Of course one should have some cash handy, but to carry it around and use it as a primary mode of payment - sheesh.
Citi requires a primary currency to be designated as you rightly point out, which immediately makes it an inferior product to DBS's, where the default currency wallet that is debited is the one in which the transaction happens subject to money being available in that specific currency. Fewer hassles, more actual work.
Which is what I need to get back to.
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