Thursday, September 17, 2009

Exchange Me!

I usually have bits and pieces of foreign currency left after my travels, and because I am not careful enough I have misplaced some of them.

Oh well.

Anyway, call me ignorant, I just found out an interesting fact : that you can use Singapore dollars in Brunei, and vice versa!

This was a result of a Currency Interchangibility Agreement signed in 1967. The BND is managed together with the SGD at a 1:1 ratio, by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. If Malaysia hadn't pulled out of this agreement in 1973, our Ringgit would still be pegged at par with these two currencies, so I read.

For travelling, is it better to get the foreign currency sorted out just before you leave, or to do it well in advance? Does that mean we need to monitor exchange rates?

I'll have to start being diligent and do some homework (and legwork) to find out who's the best money changer in town.

2 comments:

  1. I usually have most of my money exchanged in the country itself. However I do it have a very small amount changed while still in Singapore. This will be used for airport transportation, hostel payment, etc.

    I also check XE.COM for me to have an idea of the current exchange rate. From there, I will have a basis of whether I am getting a fair deal or I being screwed. Of course, my so-called FX loss is nothing substantial on a per trip basis but if you add it all up it might be something already...

    Happy weekend!!

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  2. Mr WW : I use XE as well as Yahoo :) Getting a bad deal is frustrating esp if you don't have a choice; must try hard not to be in that situation.

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