What Is The Preferred Way to Transfer Money to Singapore?

borntospeed on 14/10/2016 - 18:59

Hi everyone,

currently i use citibank to transfer money to a singaporean citibank account because there's no transfer fees. However, the exchange rate is not really the best, also, there's a $10 monthly account fee for accounts less than $5000.

Is there a better way to transfer money across?

Are there any fee free (singaporean bank) transaction accounts you can recommend?

Financial

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 14/10/2016 - 19:12
    +1

    I normally post it over … costs about $1 in stamps.

    • blitz on 14/10/2016 - 20:03
      +2

      You post over cash????

    • borntospeed on 14/10/2016 - 21:19

      Thanks for that link. I had previously look at it, but that seems more like a one off. I normally transfer once a month, so was looking for something long term.

      • [Deactivated] on 14/10/2016 - 21:29
        +1

        bitcoin?

        • peterpeterpumpkin on 15/10/2016 - 11:02

          I haven't checked if there are recent innovators in the field but from my past experience Bitcoin is a risky waste of time for currency exchange.

          If you can't find a local former drug dealer to make a large p2p exchange at a rate worth your time you'll probably resort to an on-line service that already takes more than transferwise as a percentage.

          Then don't be surprised if your transaction takes a day due to bad luck (yep, happened to me, even with an above-average transaction fee). Your money is basically stuck (all services can take a day or more but at least the deal is done and in safe, regulated hands).

          Since Bitcoin is very volatile it can go extremely in your favour or extremely against it by the time you convert it into hard currency.

          And of course you'll lose a margin converting it into that currency.

          Even for micropayments - in which transferwise is useless since they charge $2 minimum - I'd save the headache and simply use PayPal.

          Bitcoin currency exchange is a lot more useful in a troubled country (e.g. Venuzuela) . Or for illegitimate businesses.

      • inherentchoice on 14/10/2016 - 21:36

        Probably worth talking to one of those companies anyway as they will have better rates than the banks.

  • captobvious on 14/10/2016 - 21:47
    +1

    I strap it to my body

    • [Deactivated] on 14/10/2016 - 23:36
      +2

      Boogie board bag mine.

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 15/10/2016 - 00:11
    +1

    Must be transferwise. You can lose more money in a day based on fluctuations than what transferwise takes (0.5%, min $2).

    You can even get the first transfer free using a referral off the internet (e.g. http://www.couponsuck.com/transferwise-promo-code/).

    Lebara Money isn't available yet in Australia or Singapore but might be some competition in the future.

  • dcuksuop on 15/10/2016 - 01:47
    +1

    I also recommend transferwise. There's a fee, but they exchange using the mid-market rate, so better than any bank's fee-free exchange rates.

  • scotty on 15/10/2016 - 08:09
    +1

    OFX, CurrencyFair or TransferWise. If going with OFX, check out the fee-free promotion

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/232099

    • borntospeed on 15/10/2016 - 12:46

      Thanks scotty, i'll definitely check these options out. is OFX's fee free transfer still valid? That deal was posted in Jan.

      • scotty on 15/10/2016 - 20:15

        Yes it is.

  • lovetravellinginbiz on 16/10/2016 - 19:55

    on a similar note..

    i've got a bill to pay in singapore, about $3500. but they don't accept non-singapore issued credit cards. was wondering if anyone knew how i could make a credit card payment using my australian card to a singapore merchant. is there a third party type that does this sort of thing?

    thanks!

    • peterpeterpumpkin on 17/10/2016 - 20:35

      I would ask the company for bank details and then use the aforementioned services.

      Otherwise you could try a post office virtual card registered with a fake Singaporean address (though not sure if they still associate the address - apparently Entropay doesn't).

      • lovetravellinginbiz on 17/10/2016 - 20:42

        Can I use my Australian credit card for ofx, currencyfair or transferwise?

        • scotty on 17/10/2016 - 20:55

          No. You have to transfer funds in with BPay or EFT.

        • peterpeterpumpkin on 17/10/2016 - 20:55

          At least I know you can for transferwise, but it may (probably will) be treated as a cash withdrawal so your bank may screw you over (the extra fee is only 0.6% = 1.1%, plus say around 2% extra for a Commonwealth Bank CC cash advance = 3.1% total).

          https://transferwise.com/help/article/2340345/paying-by-card…

        • lovetravellinginbiz on 18/10/2016 - 09:40

          @peterpeterpumpkin: anyway to pay a bill in singapore using my australian westpac mastercard? its quite a sizeable amount and the points earned are definitely a bonus, if I'm able to do it.

        • peterpeterpumpkin on 18/10/2016 - 10:39

          @bkx3virgin: I don't know unfortunately. But if you have the cash wouldn't you be better off doing one of those promotional fee-free (http://www.couponsuck.com/transferwise-promo-code/) cash transfers with transferwise?

          Westpac will charge you 3% for a foreign transaction. They will even charge you 3% for AUD charged from a foreign merchant (so you'd probably be screwed paying UK-based transferwise with your card even if it wasn't considered a cash advance). I don't know how rewarding your points program is but the rewards are generally subsidised by the merchant fees (and annual fees if applicable), so I can't imagine their equivalent cash value would exceed 3%.

        • lovetravellinginbiz on 18/10/2016 - 18:12

          @peterpeterpumpkin: yes that is a very good point. will try transfer wise. thank you!

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