Money changer app launches in tourist hotspots Pattaya, Phuket, Bali

It’s normal to worry about whether you’re getting the best exchange rate while on a holiday or business trip. Common sense tells you to avoid places like airports and train stations – but what about that outlet in the fancy mall? Does that offer the best deal?

Get4x, a location-based exchange rate aggregator, offers a helping hand. The app, which we profiled in May, wants to help you save up to 20 percent on your hard earned cash.

Through the app, users can search for the best cash exchange rate offered by money changers around them. That’s where Get4x claims to be different. While most other currency conversion apps show prevailing interbank rates generally used by large financial institutions, Get4x displays live rates that users can lock in for a trade.

The Singapore-headquartered startup is now live in four more Southeast Asian cities – Bali, Pattaya, Phuket, and Kuala Lumpur. This follows earlier expansion into Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Mumbai, bringing the total number of cities where users can hunt for the best deals to eight.

“We’ve constantly been getting requests from our users for Get4x to be available in more cities. We see a lot of travel between Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of the region, so it made sense to get Kuala Lumpur on the list sooner rather than later,” explained Julien Labruyere, founder and CEO of 4xLabs.

The startup has also released a heatmap of money changer rates in Singapore (given below) with red signifying the most expensive areas. It says the years it’s spent collecting data in the city helps it provide an accurate picture of the best (and worst) areas to exchange money.

Don’t think about changing money in Sentosa.