Wise launches multi currency account and card in Malaysia, will help Malaysians to save billions

• The first account in Malaysia to hold and spend 50+ foreign currencies at the real exchange rate.

• Card will help Malaysians to save — Malaysians paid RM1.5 billion in hidden fees yearly when shopping overseas

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8 December 2021: Wise has today announced the launch of its multi-currency account and card in Malaysia, which will allow personal customers in the country to spend in 200 countries and territories and save them millions that would otherwise have been lost to unnecessary fees and exchange rate markups. 

Independent research commissioned by Wise found that Malaysians had spent RM 10.5 billion in total card fees when shopping overseas from 2015 to 2020. That averages out to RM 1.75 billion each year of which around RM 1.5 billion were hidden in transaction fees and hidden exchange rate markups yearly. 

An extension of Wise’s current money transfer offering in Malaysia, the launch of the Wise account and card gives Malaysians a truly cost-saving, international account to hold and spend money in more than 50 currencies.

This makes it the first account to do so at the real exchange rate with zero markups, and no foreign transaction fees. 

The Wise account and complementing card comes with additional features which are not typically found within the standard Malaysian multi currency account: 

• Hold and convert between 50+ currencies instantly and spend in 200 countries and territories wherever Visa is accepted online and in-store

• Built-in auto-conversion technology chooses the cheapest possible currency to convert money from when using the card 

• Get local account details in MYR and 9 other currencies (GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, NZD, CAD, HUF, SGD and TRY) within minutes so you can send and receive money like a local

• Easy-to-use app to add and convert money, get instant spend notifications, and freeze or unfreeze your card anytime. Get card details instantly upon successful card order and spend online immediately

It is built for a range of people: 

• International online shoppers - Use the card when shopping overseas or at foreign online stores without foreign transaction fees, and send, receive, convert and hold foreign currency with the account, all at the mid-exchange rate with zero markups.

• Malaysians relocating abroad for work or study/expats - open a local account easily within minutes to spend, receive and send money in a new country.

• Traveling abroad - free withdrawals up to 2x a month and safer than carrying a lot of cash

This offering also eliminates the need for Malaysians to visit physical branches to process transactions which can be inconvenient and time consuming. All transactions can be done right on your mobile devices through the app or browser enabling unrivalled mobility when managing money across borders, whether you’re based locally or moving in between international borders.

Lim Paik Wan, Malaysia Country Manager and APAC Expansion Lead at Wise, said: “We are very excited to bring our multi-currency account and card solution to Malaysians. We believe the Wise card is the best way to spend internationally because, as the research shows, Malaysians are losing billions to hidden fees and exchange rate markups. This will now be a thing of the past. With more travel lanes gradually opening, it will provide even more value to Malaysians as they look to spend money across borders, when traveling or online.”

More than 2 million cards have been issued to date with £3.7 billion in current deposits with Wise.

Don’t Kena Con!

As part of its continuous effort to shine a light on the issue of Malaysians unknowingly losing more than a billion ringgit to unnecessary card fees and marked up exchange rates every year, Wise has also launched a How Wise Are You About Money? Quiz. It is a fun “money personality” quiz that aims to help illustrate common pitfalls that could cause Malaysians to unknowingly choose a more expensive payment method when spending or sending money. Players can also find out what their “money personality” is at the end of the quiz to share with friends.

The Wise multi currency account and card is now available to all personal users in Malaysia. To mark the introduction of this new offering, the sign-up fee for the card will be waived until 1 Jan 2022.

To sign up for their own multi-currency account and card, they can visit here for more information.