YouTrip Vs TransferWise: Which is a Better Travel Card?
Review of YouTrip and TransferWise Cards.
Traditionally, we would visit different money changers to check out the various exchange rates before we change the currencies. On top of that, we would activate our credit/debit card for overseas usage. Bank transfer rates are never the best if we were to use our credit/debit card. On top of that, we have to bear the cost of administrative fees as well.
With new technology disrupting the market, we now have multi-currency cards available in the market. It is a new and great way to change money. It is good news for people who loves to travel, like us! Moreover, there are advantages for us to move on and use this new technology. In this post, I would compare YouTrip and TransferWise solely on travel usage.
I had used both cards in Europe. Hence I would compare my experience purely on this 1 trip.
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Is it easy to register for the cards?
Registration for YouTrip is very straight forward and can be done in less than 10 minutes. Just download the app and follow the steps. You would receive your card within 7 to 14 working days.
It's slightly more complicated to register the card for Transfer Wise, as they would ask you more details - such as the purpose of having a TransferWise account. I was able to complete the registration within 15 minutes, but at times, I wondered if some questions were necessary.
It may be useful to know that TransferWise's primary purpose is to allow people to transfer money at a cheaper transfer fee. As for YouTrip, it is to be an online "money changer".
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What are the main differences between the 2 cards?
| YouTrip | TransferWise | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | Allows you to exchange up to 10 currencies, Euro included. | Allows you to exchange up to 40+ currencies; Euro included as well. |
| Payment Method | Debit/Credit Card | PayNow, Bank Transfer, Debit and Credit Card |
| Level of difficult to exchange money | 1/5; Extremely easy to use. | 3/5; There are more steps involved as compared to YouTrip. |
| Transaction Speed | 5/5; It's instantaneous. | 3/5; It takes a few minutes for the transaction to be confirmed. |
Which company offer a better exchange rate?
This is the breakdown of the exchange rate from 151.35 SGD to X Euro, based on 1 Dec 2019.
| YouTrip | TransferWise | |
|---|---|---|
| Euro | 100.17 | 100 |
| Exchange Rate | 1 SGD : 0.6618 Euro | 1 SGD : 0.66 Euro |
As you can observe, YouTrip provided a slightly better rate that day. However, the difference between them is minimal.
How to exchange money on various apps?
YouTrip
TransferWise
As you can see from the above images, there are more steps involved if you use TransferWise. It’s important to key in the reference number as this number would make it easier for TransferWise to track your payment. Then, you would receive your exchange currency. If you key in the wrong reference number, your transaction may be delayed.
How to use the cards?
It's easy to use both cards in Europe. It's the same as per every transaction that you used via credit or debit card. However, I find it slightly more inconvenience to use the TransferWise card. Reason being, as a Singapore cardholder, I can't change my card pin. I can only change the pin in the EEA and UK at some ATMs that accept Mastercard. Transferwise can't change the pin for us as well. It will provide you with the pin, and if you can remember it, you would need your phone. You would need to log into the TransferWise app to view your pin. So far, the only way to resolve this is to remember the pin or simply use contactless payment.
After each transaction, you would receive a notification on your phone. You would be able to view the activity and balance in the app as well.
I did not try to withdraw money from ATM, so I can't provide any comment.
Which card would I recommend?
I prefer YouTrip because it's so easy to use. There are lesser steps involved when I need to change money. However, the only disadvantage is that YouTrip has lesser currencies for us to exchange.
The reasons why I got TransferWise card is because; number 1 - I am curious to find out which company offers a better rate. Secondly, I would like to have more currencies so that I can lock down a good rate when it's available. It's because there are a few currencies that I regularly used, such as Thai Baht, but they aren't available on YouTrip.
Having said that, you can still use YouTrip in other countries, like Thailand, even though it does not have the currencies. The conversion is based on the real-time exchange rate that you see on Google search, XE.com or other financial sites. The system is smart enough to convert SGD and exchange to, for example, Thai Baht based on real-time exchange rate. (I am assuming you have sufficient SGD in the card.)
In simpler terms, if 1 SGD is equal to 25 Thai Baht today, and you want to buy shoes worth of 2500 Thai Baht today too. YouTrip would deduct 100 SGD from your card.
In conclusion, I would recommend YouTrip over TransferWise because it's straight forward to use. Currently, YouTrip is my main travel card. TransferWise is a secondary option. It's good to have TransferWise card, but it's not necessary. However, TransferWise card would be a great option to those who already had an account with them, and are using it to transfer money. Then, for this group of people, there is no need to get YouTrip.
x, Esther
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