I couldn’t find any concrete information on the web, especially in the Singapore context, so I decided to do my own research instead. And the answer is? It depends on which credit card you are using.
My total amount payable was US$311.04.
Paypal’s conversion
Credit/Debit Card : MasterCard XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-5230 $448.50 SGD
PayPal Conversion Rate as of Aug. 20, 2008: 1 Singapore Dollar = 0.688701 U.S. Dollars
Citibank
According to prevailing exchange rate, indicative exchange rate at $1 USD = $1.427 SGD or $1 SGD = $0.701 USD; $443.85 SGD.
UOB
Mastercard
Bank charge 1.5% + 0.8% on top of prevailing Visa exchange rate. Assuming the bank charges are not compounded (cos I forgot to ask):
Currencies fluctuate every day. The rate shown is effective for
transactions submitted to Visa on August 20, 2008, with a bank foreign transaction fee of 2.30%.
1 Singapore Dollar = 0.69 US Dollars
Total: $461.16 SGD
Visa
Bank charge 1.5% on top of prevailing Visa exchange rate.
Currencies fluctuate every day. The rate shown is effective for
transactions submitted to Visa on August 20, 2008, with a bank foreign transaction fee of 1.50%.
1 Singapore Dollar = 0.70 US Dollars
Total: $451.01 SGD
I’m going to pay with my Citibank credit card!
thanks for the info, i almost hit the submit button and let paypal convert to SGD for me.
after reading your post, i clicked on the conversion option and let citibank do the conversion to save a few dollars :p
btw, any idea where can i check out the currency exchange rate for citibank?
Hi kwchan, you can check Citi’s FX rates via internet banking if you have their credit card or you can call their 24-Hour Corporate CitiPhone Banking at 62388833 to inquire about the rates. ;) Glad to be of help!
thanks for the much needed info!!
i went with my card rates and saved 20$ (: