UOB Mighty FX versus YouTrip

I started travelling quite frequently to Hong Kong and China for business last year. Wanting to save on FX fees - or should I say, avoid being ripped off by credit card FX surcharges - I went to apply for two solutions, UOB Mighty FX and YouTrip. 

Over the past few months, I have used both and have become quite familiar with them. Here is a side by side comparison of the two.

Signing up - YouTrip > UOB

My experience with YouTrip was quite smooth. I downloaded the app, signed up with my personal particulars and mobile phone - and the card arrived in slightly more than a week. It was easy activating it as well.

For UOB, the experience was nowhere as pleasant. At their website, I was informed that I had to open a UOB One Account (a multi-currency account) first. I was supposedly promised that it will be an easy process as I could retrieve my personal information using MyInfo. As a new UOB customer, applications submitted before the cut-off time of 9pm were supposed to be opened instantly. 

My application was submitted after the cut-off time. It was supposed to be processed the next working day, but I heard nothing from them for two weeks. Here is a timeline of my application process:

19th Aug (Sun) - application sent

2nd Sep (Sun) - chaser email sent

6th Sep (Thu) - second chaser email sent

10th Sep (Mon) - UOB replied, saying that they are still looking into my application

12th Sep (Wed) - I asked what the standard turnaround time for account opening is, since it has been three weeks versus their promised one working day

20th Sep (Thu) - UOB replied, saying that they are still looking into my application

A few days later, UOB called me and asked me to visit the branch personally. I was quite irked, as I detested wasting time walking and waiting in bank branches. I demanded an explanation on why my account opening took so long, and they said during my application, I left one field blank. I retorted that if this field was so important, their system should have made it mandatory in the first place! And it didn't explain why this caused such a huge delay.

UOB, you liar.

Foreign Exchange rates - YouTrip > UOB

This should obviously be the most important consideration for most people. UOB Mighty initially promoted themselves as having zero FX fees. I scoffed at that and went to do a comparison myself. To my surprise, it was true - using 13th Aug rates, they basically had zero spreads (or perhaps just a couple of pips). That was what got me to sign up in the first place. I was even prepared to discard my YouTrip, given that their FX spreads were around 0.31% (that was during September 2018). 

Subsequently, UOB stopped saying that they had zero FX fees, and sneakily added in spreads. By that time, they should already have gotten quite a large customer base, hoping that most will still continue to use them. Their spreads are now slightly higher than YouTrip's, though the significance isn't too great if you are changing a few hundred dollars worth of foreign currencies.

Other fees - YouTrip > UOB

YouTrip's fee structure is quite simple. 0% transaction fees, no minimum account balance, and a S$5 admin fee for cash withdrawals overseas. A dormancy fee of S$5 per month will be charged per month if the card has not been used for 12 consecutive months. 

Similar to YouTrip, UOB also has 0% transaction fees and a $5 admin fee for overseas cash withdrawals. They have an annual fee of $18; this is waived for the first three years and subsequently waivable if a minimum of 12 Mastercard transactions are performed a year. While the fee is lower compared to YouTrip's dormancy fee (which translates to S$60 a year), it is much harder to satisfy. And from 2019, UOB announced that there will be a minimum balance fee charged on account balances below S$1,000. I am not sure how much the account fee is and whether the S$1,000 includes foreign currencies equivalent - I contacted them a few days but haven't received a response yet (unsurprisingly).

I can't say I like the way UOB does things (adding on FX spreads and implementing minimum account balances only after you have signed up). It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

User interface - YouTrip > UOB

I like YouTrip's user interface (which I suspect is modelled after GrabPay). It is clean, simple, and clear. Transactions are displayed in the app immediately, so you can have a very quick view of what you have just spent on. As it is essentially a debit card, your balances and historical transactions are obviously very important.

This is where UOB lags behind. The UOB app is very slow, and has a rather primitive design and user interface. Also, historical transactions take days to be reflected in the app, something which I do not understand. 

Account size - UOB > YouTrip

UOB Mighty FX, being linked to a bank account, has no limit to how much balance you can have. YouTrip, however, is not a bank and they have limits on how much "deposits" they can take in per customer. Currently, it is the equivalent of S$3,000. 

S$3,000 worth of foreign currencies should be sufficient for most trips, unless you plan to stock up on certain currencies when they look attractive. If not, you can always top up and convert on a need-to-use basis.

Number of currencies - YouTrip > UOB

UOB offers 10 foreign currencies = AUD, CAD, CHF, CNH, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, and USD.

I should highlight something important about CNH transactions for UOB. A few months ago, I made a CNH transaction but was charged in SGD instead (with a hefty 3% FX fee). When I emailed to ask, I was told that CNH is unavailable for point-of-sale transactions, online transactions and overseas ATM cash withdrawals. (Doesn't this seem to cover everything?)

So I asked their customer service staff and was given this reply:

"We wish to share with you that CNH currency is offered only for investment purposes (buy/sell CNH)."

I practically rolled my eyes when I saw this reply. So unless you are some FX speculator or trader, just don't touch their CNH. 

YouTrip offers 9 foreign currencies = AUD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SEK, and USD. If you were to ignore UOB's CNH currency, this will make them equal. 

However, these are only the currencies that YouTrip allows you to convert anytime. They also support 140 other currencies. 

That's a lot of currencies.

I haven't tried any of the 140 before, but I assume that they will be converted at roughly the same margins.

I am not too sure about whether UOB will apply their preferential FX rates for unsupported currencies though. From my experience with their CNH, I strongly suspect that they will apply their normal rates (i.e daylight robbery rates). 

Interest - UOB > YouTrip

UOB actually offers some interest on certain currencies. The rates are published here. 

As of 6th Feb 2019, the interest rates for the following currencies are:

• CNH = 0.20%
• USD = 0.05%
• AUD = 0.05%
• NZD = 0.05%
• CAD = 0.05%
• GBP = 0.05%
• JPY = 0%
• EUR = 0%
• CHF = 0%
• HKD = 0%

YouTrip doesn't offer any interest at all. But the rates offered by UOB are not really that attractive anyway, so it doesn't make much of a difference. CNH may be higher but as mentioned in the previous point... there is no point.

Functionality - YouTrip > UOB

The main steps in using either card are 1) topping up your balance in SGD, and then 2) converting it into the foreign currency of your choice. 

YouTrip makes it extremely easy. You can top up your SGD balance via another credit card - once this is saved in the app, topping up can take as little as five seconds. Of course, YouTrip pays dearly for this convenience for customers - they most likely have to absorb the credit card charges for every top-up. My guess is that it is most likely a flat fee plus a percentage, so if people keep topping up small amounts, their transaction costs can balloon.

Because of the ability to top up via another credit card, YouTrip, which is supposed to be a debit card, can function essentially as a credit card. This is assuming you only top-up and convert it when you need to use it. And this is one of the biggest advantages in using YouTrip. Don't expect to get credit card points from the top-up though; YouTrip top-ups should fall under exclusions by most banks.

Converting your SGD (or any other currency) to another foreign currency is also very simple and honestly, dummy-proof. Again, you can probably do it in five seconds.

For UOB, there is a bigger hassle in the whole process, which is hampered further by how slow the app is. If you are using UOB Mighty only for foreign transactions (as I do), then chances are that you wouldn't deposit a lot of money with them. To top up, you will then need to login to your main internet banking account to do a FAST transfer before going back to UOB Mighty to do the conversion. At least the conversion process is also quite simple and straightforward.

Conclusion - get YouTrip

From the points above, it is quite clear that YouTrip is more competitive, more convenient, and more user-friendly compared to UOB. If you do not need to change large amounts of foreign currencies before the trip, YouTrip is definitely my preferred choice.

However, even if you were to use UOB Mighty, you will not be seriously disadvantaged given that their FX rates are only slightly higher than YouTrip. Just make sure that you do not touch their CNH, and do not use them for any foreign currency transactions that fall outside the scope of their supported currencies. Of course, you will need to make sure that you maintain the S$1,000 minimum account balance as well as 12 Mastercard transactions a year.