Transferwise's debit/ATM Mastercard, now offered in Singapore, looks quite competitive in Singapore. In simple terms the deal works like this:
1. Deposit Singapore dollar funds into a non-interest bearing Transferwise account using free, domestic FAST, GIRO, or PayNow fund transfers. Funds should credit pretty quickly on weekdays (but not on weekends or on Singapore public holidays, so just bear that in mind if you travel).
2. Spend those funds directly using your debit Mastercard at any merchant that accepts Mastercard, in any currency. The currency conversion is performed automatically, at that instant, for a reasonable fee (compared to Singapore norms). NOTE: This won't be as favorable as ICBC's Global Travel Mastercard for merchant spending, but among Singapore-issued
debit cards it's quite competitive.
3. Withdraw up to S$350 worth of cash from ATMs every 30 days without any Transferwise-imposed fees, and again with a reasonable currency conversion rate. However, you'll still want/need to search for ATMs that have either zero or at least lower local operator fees. Thailand will still be a problem, as an example.
4. Although you can convert currencies within the Transferwise account any time you wish, you don't have to. There's no particular advantage in doing so unless you really feel strongly about locking in a particular conversion rate. I wouldn't bother. The lower cost automatic conversions compare very favorably against UOB's MightyFX, YouTrip, and RHB's TravelFX which are way too complicated (and more expensive).
