Overseas spending: What option should you choose?

Should you pick a miles credit card, a no foreign currency transaction fee card, or multi-currency debit card? Here’s my analysis of each option.

If you’re heading overseas for work, studies or a well-earned holiday, you might be wondering what’s the best option for foreign currency (FCY) spending.

Assuming you don’t want to carry around a significant amount of cash for safety reasons, then your main options would be to:

1. Use a traditional credit card
2. Use a card with zero FCY fees
3. Use a multi-currency debit card

Traditional credit cards

Earn rewards on FCY spend

The biggest advantage of traditional credit cards is the ability to earn rewards on your FCY spending.

Some cards even offer upsized earn rates for FCY spend, such as:

• Maybank Horizon Visa Signature: Earn 2.8 mpd on FCY spend, with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month, without any cap
• Maybank World Mastercard: Earn 3.2 mpd on FCY spend, with a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month, or 2.8 mpd with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month, without any cap
• Maybank Visa Infinite: Earn 3.2 mpd on FCY spend, with a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month, without any cap
• StanChart Beyond Card: Earn 4 mpd (Priority Private), 3.5 mpd (Priority Banking) or 3 mpd (Regular) on FCY spend, without any cap
• UOB Visa Signature: Earn 4 mpd on FCY spend, with a minimum spend of S$1,000 in FCY per statement month, capped at S$2,000 per statement month

FCY transaction fees

Of course, the big downside of traditional credit cards is that you have to pay a foreign currency (FCY) transaction fee every time you spend. Most banks charge 3.25% (Standard Chartered is the outlier at 3.5%), and this fee is imposed on top of the implicit spread in the card association’s rate (usually 0.5% compared to mid-market).

Is it worth it? It all boils down to how much you value a mile. Most people would value miles at between 1.5-2 cents each, so assuming you could earn 4 mpd on FCY spend, that’s like a rebate of 6-8%. Once we adjust for a 3.25% fee (and 0.5% currency spread), you’re still coming out ahead between 2.25-4.25%.

Mind you, this is contingent on using the right cards. If you’re using cards with lower FCY earn rates, like the Citi Prestige or Standard Chartered Journey (both 2 mpd), then the equation becomes much more marginal.

Zero FCY fee card

Zero FCY transaction fees

As the name suggests, zero FCY fee cards do not charge any fees for foreign currency transactions. All transactions are converted into Singapore dollars based on the prevailing card association rates for the day. As I mentioned under the previous section, these rates may be slightly higher than what you’d pay at a moneychanger, but not excessively.

Rewards are usually lower

The flip side of zero FCY fee cards is that the rewards they offer are usually mediocre.

With the Trust Cashback Card, for example, you’ll earn just 1% cashback on your spending in general. The Mari Credit Card puts you in a net neutral position, though it occasionally upsizes its FCY cashback rate to 4-4.5%, as is the case from March to June 2025. This is less than what you’d earn with traditional credit cards.

However, the Chocolate Visa Debit Card is the exception to the rule, offering 2 Max Miles per S$1 spent on the first S$1,000 per month, and 0.4 Max Miles per S$1 subsequently. This might very well be the best of both worlds

Multi-currency debit card

No FCY transaction fees

Multi-currency debit cards do not incur any FCY transaction fees. Funds are either deducted from the relevant currency wallet, or converted at the prevailing card association rate at the time of transaction.

Lock in rates for future spending

Multi-currency debit cards enable users to lock in rates for supported currencies, for spending in the future. 

For example, if I believe the current SGD/JPY rate is favourable, I can proceed to exchange SGD into JPY and keep the JPY for use during a future trip.It’s conceptually similar to visiting a moneychanger and exchanging physical cash, only these funds reside digitally in your multi-currency wallet.

If I were to use a regular debit or credit card, I would be subject to the prevailing card association rates at the time of transaction.

Of course, it should be said that this is only a benefit if you’re good at predicting currency movements! If the currency moves in the opposite direction, then you might have been better off not locking in a rate in the first place.

Can withdraw cash from ATMs

• While cashless payments offer greater convenience, there will be situations where you need cold hard cash. 
  
  Multi-currency debit cards allow you to withdraw cash from overseas ATMs, some with no fee charged (the ATM itself may levy a fee).
  
  Amaze: 2% fee for all withdrawals
  Revolut: First S$350 or five withdrawals per month is free, 2% fee (min. S$1.49) after
  YouTrip: First S$400 withdrawn each month is free, 2% fee after
  
  It should be noted that Trust also allows cardholders to withdraw cash from ATMs without any fees, and without any monthly limit. You will need to switch the card to the “debit card” mode before you do this; withdrawing in the credit card mode will incur hefty cash advance fees.

Not ideal for authorisation holds

If you’ve ever checked into a hotel or rented a car, you might be familiar with the concept of an “authorisation hold”. This is when the hotel or car rental agency requests for a credit or debit card, in order to charge a security deposit should there be any damage to the room or car. 

You should not provide your multi-currency debit card in such a scenario, because debit cards do not support authorisation holds. Instead, funds will be deducted directly from your balance. For example, if you have US$1,000 on your YouTrip card, and the hotel charges a US$400 security deposit, you will only have US$600 left to spend.

It is better to provide a credit card instead, because the authorisation hold only earmarks funds from your credit limit; there is no actual deduction from your bank account.

Lower fraud protection

With multi-currency debit cards, any transactions charged are immediately deducted from your account, whether legitimate or fraudulent (I should emphasise that this is the case with all debit cards, not just multi-currency ones).

In contrast, if your credit card gets hit by a fraudulent transaction, there is no immediate deduction of funds. You have time to spot the fraudulent transaction and open a dispute with the bank. In the vast majority of cases, you should receive a temporary credit to offset the disputed amount while investigations are carried out, removing the need to pay it immediately.

There are ways of protecting yourself, however, such as locking your multi-currency card whenever it's not in use. If you're only taking that trip a few months down the line, there's no reason to leave your card unlocked in the interim.

Wallet and annual transaction limits

It used to be that multi-currency debit cards had a wallet limit of S$5,000, and an annual transaction limit of S$30,000. This was a big handicap compared to credit cards and even traditional debit cards, which had no such constraints.

But more recently, the MAS eased the restrictions on these products, increasing wallet limits to S$20,000 and annual transaction limits to S$100,000 (S$15,000 and S$75,000 respectively for the Amaze wallet).

While this is a big improvement from before, it’s still a limit. In the unlikely event that you needed to make a transaction larger than S$20,000, or spend more than S$100,000 a year, you wouldn’t be able to use a multi-currency debit card.

Conclusion

When it comes to foreign currency spending, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Traditional credit cards offer the best rewards but come with FCY fees, while zero-FCY fee cards minimize costs but often provide lower rewards. Multi-currency debit cards give the flexibility to lock in exchange rates and withdraw cash but come with spending limits and lower fraud protection. Ultimately, the best option depends on your spending habits, travel frequency, and risk tolerance.

A combination of these tools— the right credit card for rewards, a zero-FCY fee card for cost savings, and a multi-currency debit card for cash withdrawals—can help you optimize your overseas spending while keeping fees in check.