Best Cards For Overseas Spending
I recently went for 2 trips and managed to test a few popular cards for travel. Read on to see which gives us the best value for overseas spend!
Fuss-free Cards
For fuss-free cards that don’t require much hassle and give you the best rates possible, consider the cards below. Every single card was charged 5.90 MYR on 29th September 2024.
| Card | Apply | Exchange Rate | Paid | Reward | Effective | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Cashback Card | ApplyJP8171J5 | 1 SGD = 3.188 MYR | S$1.85 | 1% | S$1.83 | 1 |
| Amaze | Apply | 1 SGD = 3.224 MYR | S$1.83 | 0.50% | S$1.83 | 1 |
| YouTrip | Apply | 1 SGD = 3.189 MYR | S$1.85 | None | S$1.85 | 2 |
| iChange | Apply WEE113 | 1 SGD = 3.189 MYR | S$1.85 | 0 | S$1.85 | 2 |
| Revolut | Apply | 1 SGD = 3.216 MYR | S$1.83 | None | S$1.86* | 3 |
| Mari Credit Card | Apply 5HCT18VM | 1 SGD = 3.089MYR | S$1.91 | 3% | S$1.86 | 3 |
| BigPay | ApplyMCMVZQCHF7 | 1 SGD = 3.155 MYR | S$1.87 | 0 | S$1.87 | 4 |
*Revolut charged a fee as it was a weekend
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More work, more rewards
If you are willing to meet the requirements of these cards, you can get higher rewards:
| Card | Apply | Exchange Rate | Paid | Reward | Effective | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maybank Family and Friends | Apply | 1SGD = 3.089 MYR | S$1.91 | 8% | S$1.76 | 1 |
| UOB Lady’s¹ | Apply | 1 SGD = 3.089 MYR | S$1.91 | 6 miles per dollar² | S$1.77 | 2 |
| Amaze + Citi Rewards | Apply | 1 SGD = 3.1217 MYR | S$1.89 | 4 miles per dollar³ | S$1.80* | 3 |
| UOB Preferred Platinum Visa | 1 SGD = 3.089 MYR | S$1.91 | 4 miles per dollar³ | S$1.81* | 4 |
- I did not personally test UOB Lady’s. It should have a similar exchange rate as UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
- Assumes criteria for UOB Lady’s 6 miles per dollar met and each mile is valued at 1.25 cents
- Assumes each mile is valued at 1.25 cents
Maybank Family & Friends was used as it gives 8% cashback on MYR and IDR transactions. Even in other countries, you can also use Maybank Family & Friends overseas for categories like dining and get 8% cashback as well. As a bonus, you can also use Amaze to get a lower foreign currency fee. If you can meet the requirements of Maybank Family & Friends, it should be one of the best cards to use for overseas spend unless you prefer miles.
Manual conversion may lead to better rates
If your multi-currency app allows you to convert currencies within the app, you may end up with better rates doing so.
I charged transactions to iChange, Trust Cashback and YouTrip on 13th November 2024 in Bangkok. Out of curiosity, I also tried to look up rates for converting SGD to THB under iChange:
| Card | Exchange Rate |
|---|---|
| iChange (with manual conversion) | 1 SGD = 25.911 THB |
| Trust Cashback Card | 1 SGD = 25.707 THB |
| YouTrip | 1 SGD = 25.69 THB |
| iChange | 1 SGD = 25.685 THB |
While charging transactions directly to all 3 cards gave pretty similar rates, manually converting SGD to THB within iChange gave better rates. Nonetheless, Trust Cashback still came out ahead after 1% cashback was factored in.
A recent discussion in the chat group also shows YouTrip getting significantly better rates for EUR when converted in-app. EUR is one of 10 currencies that YouTrip supports with wholesale exchange rates, so personally if I were to spend in one of these currencies, I’d check out YouTrip’s conversion rates first:
- US Dollar (USD)
- Euro (EUR)
- British Pound (GBP)
- Japanese Yen (JPY)
- Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
- Swiss Franc (CHF)
- Swedish Krona (SEK)
Conclusion
For overseas spend, using high-earn cashback or miles card still makes sense since the higher rewards can offset the foreign currency fee plus some net savings. This is provided you are able to meet the various requirements those cards impose.
Those who want something more fuss-free probably won’t go wrong with one of the no-fee travel cards listed in the table above. For absolute lowest rates, it might be worth it to check out whether the conversion rates in your app like iChange or YouTrip makes sense.
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Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.
He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.
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