Your guide to digital multi-currency accounts in Singapore: Amaze vs Revolut vs YouTrip vs Wise

When Amaze launched in 2021, it was a top-tier card with excellent exchange rates, 1% cashback on almost everything, and regular rewards. However, things have changed since then.

Amaze Cardholders used to be able to redeem 2,000 InstaPoints (IPs) for $20 cashback, and earn up to 500 IPs per transaction

As of now, you can only redeem 1,000 IPs for $5 cashback, which reduces your value by 50%. You can also only earn up to 500 IPs per month, equivalent to $5.

The fees for wallet top-up has also increased — there used to be a 1.5% fee for wallet top-ups using Visa, with no fee for Mastercard. 

For now, users will have to pay a 2.1% fee for Visa and a 1% fee for Mastercard top-ups. 

As the card’s main purpose is for overseas expenditure, Amaze has also introduced a $1,000 spending cap for all local, Singapore spend. If you exceed that cap, you’ll have to pay a 1% fee. 

Despite these changes, the card still offers several benefits. Here are the pros and cons if you’re considering signing up:

Pros:

- No foreign currency conversion fees

- Overseas transactions are converted into SGD and charged to your underlying credit/debit card

- Transaction MCC stays the same, and offline transactions become online transactions for your underlying card

- No annual, processing, or application fees

- Earn 0.5 InstaPoints (linked card) or 1 InstaPoint (wallet) per S$1 spent on FCY transactions of at least S$10 (excluding certain categories), capped at 500 InstaPoints per transaction

- Link up to five Mastercard credit/debit cards

- Compatible with Google Pay for Android users and Apple Pay for Apple users

Find out more about Amaze here

Cons:

- You can only link Mastercard credit/debit cards

- 2.1% fee for wallet top-ups using Visa, and a 1% fee for Mastercard

- 1% domestic fee on SGD transactions: When amaze is linked to a card, a 1% fee will be applied on all monthly domestic spending in excess of S$1,000.

Launched in 2015, this London-based fintech company has more than 40 million retail customers worldwide. Revolut terms itself as a “financial superapp”, and aims to be an all-encompassing platform for personal finance management from your phone or other smart device. It offers a diverse array of services, including remittances, exchanging and holding multiple currencies in your account, and cryptocurrency trading.

Revolut has been operating in Singapore since 2019, and is registered and regulated by MAS. As a global service provider, it’s also overseen by a range of other regulatory bodies around the world.

Pros
- Supports over 150 currencies worldwide

- Store 34 currencies in-app (most recently launched Indonesian Rupiah)

- Virtual card and first Revolut

- Users can now hold up to S$20,000 in their wallets at any point in time and enjoy an annual spending limit of S$100,000, compared to the previous caps at S$5,000 and S$30,000 respectively

Find out more about Revolut here

Cons
- Revolut has tiered plans; the Standard account is free and has a pretty expansive range of features, but you can pay either S$9.99/month for Premium or S$19.99/month for Metal to unlock more benefits. The full breakdown of the different plans can be found here

- Currency exchanges for certain countries made outside of the foreign exchange market hours, such as weekends, will be subjected to a flat-rate surcharge (1%)

- For those who are exchanging more than S$5,000 per month on the Standard plan, you will incur a flat 1% fee. For those on the Premium Plan, it will be S$15,000 per month, with a fair usage fee of 0.5% on any additional exchange. For those on Metal Plan, there are no exchange limits.

- Limited to five ATM withdrawals per month (for Standard account holders only)

- No ATM withdrawals in Singapore

Touted as “the first digital multi-currency account in Singapore”, YouTrip is a mobile-only platform available on both iOS and Android operating systems. The multi-currency mobile wallet is linked directly to a prepaid Mastercard, which is available for free upon sign-up with no registration or annual fees.

Available to residents of Singapore and Malaysia, YouTrip is fully licensed and regulated by MAS as a major payment institution.

From 23 July 2024, YouTrip has announced that customers can withdraw their wallet balance to their bank account, with no fees charged for up to 10 withdrawals per month.

Should you need to make more than 10 withdrawals, you will need to send an e-mail to YouTrip and pay a $10 admin fee.

According to The Milelion, the following balances can be withdrawn:

Top-ups from PayNow and linked bank accounts (eGIRO)
Reversals from transactions using PayNow or Linked Bank Account top-ups
Dispute Credit or Dispute Resolution
Merchant refunds
Insurance Cashback
YouTrip Surprise Cashback
YouTrip Perks Cashback

Any balances not listed above, including card top-ups via debit and credit cards, cannot be withdrawn. 

Users may now also link their bank account to YouTrip and top up seamlessly for free without leaving the app. 

You can link your account to the following banks: 

DBS/POSB
UOB
OCBC
Standard Chartered 
HSBC

Pros
- Allows you to pay in over 150 currencies when you’re travelling or making transactions such as shopping online, without incurring extra currency conversion fees or markups – currency exchange is carried out using Mastercard’s wholesale exchange rate

- Of the 150, 10 supported currencies can be exchanged and stored in the mobile wallet, allowing you to quickly exchange your selected currencies when you spot a good rate via the real-time wholesale exchange rates in the app

- User can now hold up to S$20,000 in their wallets at any point in time and enjoy an annual spending limit of S$100,000, compared to the previous caps at S$5,000 and S$30,000 respectively

- You can withdraw up to S$5,000/day from overseas ATMs

- Lock and unlock your card in the YouTrip app for additional security

- You can use your YouTrip card for contactless fare payments on public buses and trains

- No service fee for top-ups made via PayNow, Visa debit cards, and Mastercard debit or credit cards

- No overseas transaction fee or additional fees to maintain a minimum balance to keep your YouTrip account

- No sign-up fees

- Apple & Google Pay support

Find out more about YouTrip here

Cons:
- Only 10 currencies can be exchanged in your digital wallet

- You’ll have to pay for a 1.5% service fee charge for top-ups to your account made with Visa credit cards

- Withdrawing cash through overseas ATMs costs S$5 per transaction

- No ATM withdrawals in Singapore

- No Apple Pay and Google Pay support.

Formerly known as TransferWise, the British-based fintech firm offers a wide range of features through its platform. Available in 175 countries, Wise not only allows you to convert currencies, but also to send money overseas, pay international bills, and even receive payments like a local with your own UK account number, Euro IBAN, US routing number, and more.

Wise always uses the mid-market exchange rate – the rate the market naturally sets, and is tyypically quoted as the “fairest” market rate – from Reuters, which is updated in real time while the trading market is open.

Pros
- Wise allows you to convert and hold more than 50 currencies in your account – which is currently the most number of currencies out of all the digital multi currency account providers on the market

- You can transact in more than 175 countries with the Wise card

- Rates are based on the mid-market exchange rate, and there are no additional markups

- You can withdraw cash from overseas ATMs for free twice a month and up to S$350 (Note that you will be charged S$1.50 per withdrawal if you exceed the withdrawal limits)

- No ongoing account fees or additional fees to maintain a minimum balance

- Free to top-up your account through bank transfer or PayNow

- You can use your Wise card with Google Pay and Apple Pay

- Users can now hold up to S$20,000 in their wallets at any point in time and enjoy an annual spending limit of S$100,000, compared to the previous caps at S$5,000 and S$30,000 respectively

Find out more about Wise here

Cons
- Every currency conversion has a minimum 0.41% fee charge (which varies based on the currency)

- No ATM withdrawals in Singapore

- Not all services are available in all locations

- You’ll have to pay for a 2.5% service fee charge for top-ups to your account made with credit cards, and 2.7% service fee charge for those made via debit cards

- A physical card from Wise has to be requested and will cost you S$10