YouTrip – Your New Traveling Wallet

In today’s day and age, many have taken to e-payment rather than conventional cash. If you travel often enough, you may have realised by now that while it is convenient, using the credit card for overseas payment often results in an additional one- to three-percent transaction fee, and that’s on top of the less than favourable currency conversion rates. A tip a friend shared on her trip to the US earlier this year was to use YouTrip instead.

YouTrip is a multi-currency travel wallet that comes in a form of a physical card and is managed through an app. This partnership between Mastercard and Ezlink helps travellers to save by allowing us to:

1. Convert currencies and store them within the e-wallet (up to 10 specific currencies)
2. Use it for e-payment and cash withdrawal overseas

Let me share a scenario on how this app works.

Before a trip to Australia, I topped up S$200 to my e-wallet via the app. As I saw that the conversion rate was in my favour (i.e. S$1 = A$1.055), I chose to convert half the amount. So now, I have S$100 and A$105.50.

In Australia, I saw a bag which I liked that cost A$150. When I went to the cashier, I took out my card and paid for the item. A$105.50 was deducted from the A$ stored value, and the remaining A$44.50 is converted to SGD and drawn down from my S$ stored value.

So what’s so fascinating about the above scenario?

Firstly, I did not incur any transaction fees. In-app conversion of currencies are free, and using of my card overseas does not charge any bank fees.

Secondly, I knew that I had locked down a favourable rate earlier and even though an amount was deducted from my S$ stored currency, I knew that I was getting the best available rate at the point of transaction (very close to what you see when you Google it real-time).  Also, the transaction was recorded in my app for my reference.

The YouTrip card can be used to withdraw cash at all overseas Mastercard, Maestro or Cirrus ATMs. There is only a small withdrawal fee of S$5 (or equivalent) which will be charged so do not worry about carrying large amounts of cash with you as you can withdraw the cash at your destination. In addition, the YouTrip card can be used for online overseas purchases such as Amazon (US), Taobao, Uber, and Grab (non-Singapore).

Final thoughts

I have personally used the YouTrip card in four countries, and thoroughly enjoyed using it knowing that I’ve gotten the best bang for the buck. I also have peace of mind that this card can be easily deactivated through the app should I misplace my card.

You can read through more of YouTrip’s FAQs here.

PS: New card users can get $10 when using this referral link: https://youtrip.app.link/INEZ%20JIE130144.