Saturday, February 11, 2012

Conversion of foreign currency


I expect to receive a large sum of Indonesian rupiah on selling my shares. I asked my bank if I should convert the money into Singapore dollars in Jakarta or in Singapore.
They replied, "you can send the money over and we will convert it for you at the best rate. We cannot tell you the rate".

An Indonesian bank quoted to me the buying and selling rate for the two currencies. The spread was 0.2%. I find this spread to be quite fair and decided to convert my money in Jakarta.

The Singapore bank expects me to give them a blank check, so they can charge whatever they like. The last time that I converted Australian dollars to Singapore dollars, they charge a spread of more than 0.6%
The Singapore bank is greedy to make as much profit as they can, at the expense of the customer.

Tan Kin Lian

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You have made the right choice. Never ever convert your money in Singapore Banks. Their rates are not favorable compared to Indonesia Banks.

Blog Archive