Use Revolut or just Japanese CC on trip?

[Paddy]

Hello,

I'm heading to Ireland over the holidays. The few thousand Euro I used to have in my Revolut account has now dwindled down to very little …

I am curious if I should exchange some Yen for Euro and use Revolut while there or simply use my Japanese credit card or bank debit card?

The Revolut option is a 2-step thing;
1. MUFJ —> Revolut ¥—>¥, then
2. Revolut ¥—>Euro

Am sure we all get royally rinsed with these transactions, just wondering which might bw the least painful.

Cheers for any tips,

Paddy

[Tony]

Unless you need actual cash (not sure what the state of cashless payments is like in Ireland) I would just go with a credit card, and if the terminal ever asks if you want to pay in yen or euro, choose euro, as the card rate is likely better than the terminal rate. It just makes things easier, instead of having to top up revolut/wise/gaica and exchanging, then paying extra to exchange it back if you don't use it. But you do have to keep an eye on your spending yousrself, especially as it often takes a while for transactions to appear on your credit bill on japanese CC websites.

Edit: You also get points for using your CC.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Unless you need actual cash (not sure what the state of cashless payments is like in Ireland) I would just go with a credit card, and if the terminal ever asks if you want to pay in yen or euro, choose euro, as the card rate is likely better than the terminal rate. It just makes things easier, instead of having to top up revolut/wise/gaica and exchanging, then paying extra to exchange it back if you don't use it. But you do have to keep an eye on your spending yousrself, especially as it often takes a while for transactions to appear on your credit bill on japanese CC websites.

Edit: You also get points for using your CC.

Rakuten charges 2%+ on currency conversions and SMBC cards 3%+ which is a hugely expensive premium to pay. (Making those "points" quite expensive....)

Wise is the way to go.

I prefer to use it to load up my home country's bank account and use my home country's credit card. However, I hear the debit card works well at terminals and ATMs.

[Tony]

Rakuten charges 2%+ on currency conversions and SMBC cards 3%+ which is a hugely expensive premium to pay. (Making those "points" quite expensive....)

Rakuten charges 2% for Amex only, all other cards are 1.63% (or JCB is the cheapest with 1.6%). Let's say you bought something that was 10USD, there would be a 40yen difference. If you instead wanted to withdraw cash from an ATM with wise, you would be paying an additional 1.75% for anything over 30,000yen, and an extra 70 yen per withdrawal from the 3rd withdrawal on. The wise card also costs 1200yen to get, without any added benefit of things like travel insurance, or the protections of a credit card. So if you spent 1000USD on your trip just on the debit card, you would only be ahead by 2,500yen or. But you also have to go through the extra steps of charging the card (which could incur bank transfer fees in Japan), and then transferring any remaining balance back after you end your trip.

So yeah, I'm fine with the convenience of just using my CC, especially as they're registered in my iphone.

[adamu]

Comparing a Rakuten Mastercard with Wise gives me:

For a $1 transaction, Rakuten was ¥75 cheaper.
For a $10 transaction, Rakuten was ¥57 cheaper.
For a $100 transaction, Wise was ¥128 cheaper.
For a $1000 transaction, Wise was ¥1985 cheaper.

It's not possible to compare directly as Mastercard change their rate daily, and Wise fees depend on the amount converted

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Comparing a Rakuten Mastercard with Wise gives me:

For a $1 transaction, Rakuten was ¥75 cheaper.
For a $10 transaction, Rakuten was ¥57 cheaper.
For a $100 transaction, Wise was ¥128 cheaper.
For a $1000 transaction, Wise was ¥1985 cheaper.

It's not possible to compare directly as Mastercard change their rate daily, and Wise fees depend on the amount converted

Good breakdown! I guess anything larger than a coffee on the Wyze then

I would recommend traveling with at least two cards, issued by two different companies. If you travel in the US you probably want one to be a gold card.

(I.E SMBC VISA. Rakuten Mastercard)

Rakuten is pretty famous for freezing cards abroad, so have a backup.

[Paddy]

Thanks for the various tips. In the short term I think I'll just use my Rakuten Mastercard (if I run out of Euro). Have to go easy on the pints!

Cheers
Paddy

[Remus]

Hello,

I'm heading to Ireland over the holidays. The few thousand Euro I used to have in my Revolut account has now dwindled down to very little …

I am curious if I should exchange some Yen for Euro and use Revolut while there or simply use my Japanese credit card or bank debit card?

The Revolut option is a 2-step thing;
1. MUFJ —> Revolut ¥—>¥, then
2. Revolut ¥—>Euro

Am sure we all get royally rinsed with these transactions, just wondering which might bw the least painful.

Cheers for any tips,

Paddy

It seems you haven't fully caught on to the benefits of Revolut. If you want to make payments in Ireland, just transfer some yen from MUFJ to Revolut, and that's it.
When you then use your Revolut card, your yen will be used to pay for purchases in euro (as with any credit card). No need to exchange anything (yen to euro) beforehand. When you get back to Japan, you can transfer any leftover yen back to MUFJ for no fee.

Now, Revolut's usp is that when you use the card directly for payments, the exchange fee is 0%. And the exchange rate is the inter-bank rate (i.e. what you see if you check exchange rates on Google in real time). I can't see any reason NOT to use Revolut for payments when abroad.

[adamu]

Comparing a Rakuten Mastercard with Wise gives me:

For a $1 transaction, Rakuten was ¥75 cheaper.
For a $10 transaction, Rakuten was ¥57 cheaper.
For a $100 transaction, Wise was ¥128 cheaper.
For a $1000 transaction, Wise was ¥1985 cheaper.

It's not possible to compare directly as Mastercard change their rate daily, and Wise fees depend on the amount converted

Rakuten are raising their Mastercard fees from 1.63 to 2.2% from 1 April, so these calculations might favour Wise more after that (I didn't rerun them as the simulator is based on current prices).