Cross Border Fee Real World Comparison

A Personal Guide to Cross-Border Fees: A Real-World Comparison

Navigating currency exchange and cross-border transaction fees can be confusing. To shed light on the real costs, I’ve conducted a personal experiment during a trip to Indonesia, spending on a single item worth IDR 64,000 (Indonesian Rupiah) using various payment methods. The results below show a clear comparison of the effective cost and any benefits received.

(A) Cash

Exchanging cash was, by far, the most expensive method. I exchanged Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) to Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) at a rate of RM 265 to IDR 1,000,000 (equivalent to 1 MYR to 3,773.58 IDR).

Effective Cost: The IDR 64,000 item cost RM16.96.
Benefits: No cashback or mileage earned.

(B) Wise Card

The Wise card offers a superior exchange rate but requires reloading via bank transaction. The rates are highly transparent and competitive.

Current Exchange (September 2, 2025): The rate is RM 257.72 for IDR 1,000,000, plus a Wise fee of RM 1.84 (0.714%). This brings the total to RM 259.56 for IDR 1,000,000 (1 MYR to 3,852.67 IDR).
Effective Cost: The IDR 64,000 item cost RM16.61.
Benefits: No cashback or mileage. The only drawback is the need for merchants to accept Visa debit cards.

(C) TNG Visa Debit Card

This card requires a 1% convenience fee for reloading the wallet with a credit card, or you can reload it using DuitNow Transfer, Debit cards, International Options like Panda Remit, Western Union, Wise, Flip-Indonesia and Singtel Dash. It boasts a 0% cross-border fee (at least for now) from TNG.

Effective Cost: The IDR 64,000 item cost RM16.50, with an instant cashback of RM0.08.
Total Cost: RM16.50 – RM0.08 cashback = RM16.42. (Assume that you reload TNG wallet using DuitNow or any alternative without extra convenience fee implied)
Benefits: Instant cashback.

(D) CIMB World Travel Mastercard

This card uses the Mastercard currency conversion rate, with an additional 2% bank fee (1% from Mastercard and 1% from CIMB).

Effective Cost: The IDR 64,000 item cost RM16.90.
Benefits: I earned 135 bonus points (8x rate), which converted to 10.8 Enrich Points, equivalent to RM0.43 in air flight tickets. (Using 1,000 Enrich Points = RM40 worth of air ticket)
Net Cost: RM16.90 – RM0.43 = RM16.47.

(E) Alliance Visa Infinite

This card uses the Visa network charge conversion, with an additional 2% bank fee (1% from Visa and 1% from Alliance Bank).

Effective Cost: The IDR 64,000 item cost RM16.84.
Benefits: I earned 168 timeless bonus points (10x rate), which converted to 11.2 Enrich Points, equivalent to RM0.44 in air flight tickets.
Net Cost: RM16.84 – RM0.44 = RM16.40.

The Final Ranking (Cheapest to Most Expensive)

Based on my personal spending on an IDR 64,000 item, here is the final ranking from most cost-effective to least:

Alliance Visa Infinite: RM16.40 (net cost after rewards)
TNG Visa Debit: RM16.42 (net cost after fees and cashback)
CIMB Travel World: RM16.47 (net cost after rewards)
Wise Debit Card: RM16.61
Cash: RM16.96

This experience shows that a small difference in fees and rewards can add up, with the right credit or debit card often being more cost-effective than using cash or even a specialized travel card.

Cash conversion used is RM 260 to IDR 1,000,000
There is an on-going promotion by Touch N Go. you can find the details HERE.
Wise is charging approximately 0.71% wise fee for this transaction.
The CIMB Travel World’s Bonus Points are converted during “20% bonus Enrich conversion campaign”, which will be held twice per year. Annual fee of this card will be waived with a certain annual spending, which is excluded in this calculation.
The Alliance Bank Visa Infinite’s Timeless Bonus Points are converted during “20% bonus Enrich conversion campaign”, which will be held twice per year.
Conversion rate for Enrich is 1,000 Enrich Points for RM 40.
Mastercard Currency Convertor Calculator’s LINK
Visa Currency Converter online’s LINK