AR Money Exchange

If it’s not because I am in rush of time and and did not check the reviews, I would have avoid this money changer. Terrible experience. The Indian man at the counter rudely scolded a speech-impaired Chinese staff member, waving his fist and yelling in his language. Completely unprofessional and disrespectful. I was also yelled by him when I wanted to verify the transaction. Such a toxic environment. Felt bad for the staff who is really doing a good job and was pleasant to everyone waiting in the q.

TLDR: don’t come here!!!!!! Update: still waiting at 11.47am. Photo edited to remove people waiting in the queue. Google says opening hours is 11am, but waited till now current time is 1135am but still not open. The male Indian boss (?) and the Malay lady totally no sense of urgency. No wonder the rating so low. Somebody please jio some rich people and open another money exchange in J8!!! Now I rather go to the one in AMK, operated by really nice Chinese bosses.

This was a good place to get foreign currencies as their rates are good. The long queue is gone and I can understand as the way they compute the rate has changed. Example. SGD1 = JPY114.4 is only for JPY10K note. For smaller denominations, the rate is SGD1 = JPY111. So you will see 2 transactions on your receipt when you change whole amount in SGD (eg SGD300). 1st transaction at rate 114.4 for JPY30K and 2nd transaction for the remaining amount in small denominations at rate JPY111. The effective rate will be lower than published rate of JPY114. If you ask for JPY50K, the rate is as published. They just assume you know the math and accept this as there is a note on the window saying “smaller denominations has a different rate”. This is next to cheating. So, be informed and be aware.

More money exchange shops at Bishan area needed! Yesterday my wife went over to check out the rates. The queue was long. She could not find any displays showing the rates. When she approached the counter to enquire on the rates, they did not even speak but gestured her away. Today, I queued up at 10.45am, seeing that their signboard says 11am - 8.30pm. I was second in the queue. Soon after, a long queue formed. However, up to 11.30am, the shop was still not opened. I gave up queueing. I checked with google map and it seems there are no other money exchangers in Bishan. Goodness - this stall can get away with such poor service probably because it is a monopoly here in Bishan! Now I see the postings here and the reviews are mostly 1-star. I'm adding my 1-star here too. Should be easy money for another money exchanger to survive here in Bishan - just offer good service and match the rates at least.

Very rude service. 2nd august 2025. 4pm. Went to change money at the counter with the Indian uncle. Told him I wanted Taiwan dollars and passed him the Singapore dollars. He was busy with his handphone and didn't greet me. Only when I passed him the Singapore dollars then he asked what I wanted to change. Then I told him Taiwan dollars again. Then he gave me a like what the hell look and hand signal. Very rude!

I don’t really give bad reviews. It’s just a waste of time to even construct one. But this particular money exchanger needs some bashing. Firstly, there’s a queue system whereby you gave your local currency and they will issue out a queue number. After which you have to wait for your foreign currency which they gave big denominations. Secondly, when I requested for smaller denominations, the uncle told me off rudely, telling me to give him $5 as a fee for smaller denominations. I’ve always believe customer service is a priority. Will never come back.

I will give zero star if I can. It used to be a decent money changer but now is a scamming one. The listed rate is almost never correct as it will not mention the minimum requirement to get this rate. Small words stated rate change if demonstration is small but will not tell you what is consider small. When you get the money changed, the sale person will not tell you the rate you are getting even you asked. Only after paid and get the receipt, you will realize the rate is far lower than the advertised rate. It is really deceptive and should never be in business. The rate even lower than any money changer I have been. You can go almost any other money changer to get a better rate.

Terrible experience, agree with all the negative reviews. This place is a total scam with rude and unhelpful service. There’s a vague sign saying “smaller notes get a different exchange rate,” but when I asked, no proper explanation was given. I assumed it meant if you exchanged a smaller amount, not literally smaller bills. I exchanged SGD $355 to Korean Won. Without telling me, they applied the advertised rate to $330, and gave a worse rate for the remaining $25, simply because it was in smaller notes. I was not informed of this at the counter, even when I specifically asked about the rate. I honestly don’t even know if this is legal, giving customers a worse, unadvertised rate without disclosure. Avoid at all costs.

Really find this place rude! Slow service because there’s a counter to collect your $$ first, then you have to join another queue to receive the currency you want at a different counter. Thus you queue up twice! And then this man (owner?) is most impatient and rude with you if you do not come up to him fast enough or leave his counter quickly after he hands you the money. He wants you to check somewhere else but not in front of him!

Everybody should avoid this place like a plaque and police should just come to this shop frequently because this shop basically is a scam shop. Offer people of high and good exchange rate but when one handed over the money, they straight away calculate with lower rate and throw it out for you to accept the exchange rate decided by them. This just happened to me yesterday, to my surprise it had indeed happened to many others reviewers too. Let's banned this shop and hope they close soon to serve justice to many wronged customers.

I exchanged SGD 355 at this shop and was supposed to receive SGD 3 in change, but the owner initially refused to give it back. The whole experience felt like a scam shop. When I politely reminded him, he became rude and started shouting at me for no reason. In the end, he only returned the SGD 3—not because of the amount, but because I insisted and stood my ground. This shows a lack of reliability and trustworthiness. I strongly advise others to avoid this place if you want fair and respectful service.

Do not exchange ypur currency here. The queue system is terrible! I was there before many others yet I was told to wait while others collected their currency. The staff attitude is terrible as we owed him money and kept shouting impatiently. You can don't do this job if you dislike dealing with people. Staff attitude is bad! Queue system is bad! I will not patron this exchange anymore!

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 - Deceptive money changer - Inefficient service - Lack of transparency in rates I had money changed in this outlet (SGD to Baht and Dong) and I was so shocked to learn that they cheated me by $15!! My goodness, how can they operate like this. I got confused by the Vietnamese Dong currency since it was in the millions and he took advantage of this by giving me a thousand Dongs less. What an asshole. The queue is also long. I don't know why it needs to take that long. Then when you reach the counter, the staff do not even bother with the niceties and instead just order you to give your money to them. Very rude.

I asked for it. Was a bit lazy to go down to Chinatown and 50 mins queue is what I get, totally enough for a round trip to Chinatown lol. Rate wasn’t transparent, I was short of changes and they had to communicate for a good five minutes before they can round down the number?? Anyways, hope the 1.4/5 rating alerts people who do check reviews before heading down :)

If I hadn't been in a rush and checked the reviews, I would have avoided this money changer. Terrible experience. The Indian man at the counter rudely scolded a speech-impaired Chinese staff member, waving his fist and yelling in his language. Completely unprofessional and disrespectful. I was also yelled at by him when I wanted to verify the transaction. Such a toxic environment. I felt bad for the staff member, who was doing a good job and was pleasant to everyone waiting in the queue.

I asked for it. I was a bit lazy to go down to Chinatown, and a 50-minute queue is what I got — totally enough time for a round trip to Chinatown, lol. The rate wasn't transparent. I was short on change, and they had to communicate for a good five minutes before they could round down the number? Anyway, I hope the 1.4/5 rating alerts people who do check reviews before heading down :)

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 - Deceptive money changer - Inefficient service - Lack of transparency in rates I exchanged money at this outlet (SGD to Baht and Dong), and I was so shocked to learn that they cheated me out of $15! My goodness, how can they operate like this? I was confused by the Vietnamese Dong currency, as it deals in millions, and he took advantage of this by shortchanging me a thousand Dongs. What an asshole. The queue is also long. I don't know why it needs to take that long. Then, when you reach the counter, the staff do not even bother with niceties; instead, they simply order you to hand over your money. Very rude.

Do not exchange your currency here. The queue system is terrible! I was there before many others, yet I was told to wait while others collected their currency. The staff's attitude is terrible; he acted as if we owed him money and kept shouting impatiently. If you dislike dealing with people, you shouldn't be doing this job. The staff's attitude is bad, and the queue system is bad! I will not patronize this exchange anymore!

I exchanged SGD 355 at this shop and was supposed to receive SGD 3 in change, but the owner initially refused to give it back. The whole experience felt like a scam. When I politely reminded him, he became rude and started shouting at me for no reason. In the end, he only returned the SGD 3—not because of the amount, but because I insisted and stood my ground. This shows a lack of reliability and trustworthiness. I strongly advise others to avoid this place if you want fair and respectful service.

Everybody should avoid this place like the plague, and police should frequently visit this shop because this shop is basically a scam shop. They offer people a high and good exchange rate, but when you hand over the money, they immediately calculate at a lower rate and then present it to you, forcing you to accept the exchange rate decided by them. This just happened to me yesterday. To my surprise, it has indeed happened to many other reviewers too. Let's ban this shop and hope they close soon to serve justice to many wronged customers.

Here's the edited review: This place is really rude! Service is slow because there's a counter to collect your payment first. Then, you have to join another queue at a different counter to receive the currency you want. This means you queue up twice! Additionally, this man (owner?) is very impatient and rude if you don't come up to him fast enough or leave his counter quickly after he hands you the money. He wants you to check it somewhere else, but not in front of him!

Terrible experience. I agree with all the negative reviews. This place is a total scam with rude and unhelpful service. There’s a vague sign saying “smaller notes get a different exchange rate,” but when I asked, no proper explanation was given. I assumed it meant if you exchanged a smaller amount, not literally smaller bills. I exchanged SGD $355 to Korean Won. Without telling me, they applied the advertised rate to $330, and gave a worse rate for the remaining $25, simply because it was in smaller notes. I was not informed of this at the counter, even when I specifically asked about the rate. I honestly don’t even know if this is legal, giving customers a worse, unadvertised rate without disclosure. Avoid at all costs.

I would give zero stars if I could. It used to be a decent money changer, but now it's a scam. The listed rate is almost never correct, as it doesn't mention the minimum requirement to get this rate. Small print states the rate changes if the amount is small, but it won't tell you what is considered 'small'. When you exchange money, the salesperson won't tell you the rate you are getting, even if you ask. Only after paying and getting the receipt will you realize the rate is far lower than the advertised rate. It is really deceptive and should never be in business. The rate is even lower than any other money changer I have been to. You can go to almost any other money changer to get a better rate.

I don't usually give bad reviews. It's just a waste of time to even construct one. But this particular money exchanger needs some bashing. Firstly, there's a queue system where you give your local currency and they issue a queue number. After that, you have to wait for your foreign currency, which they give in big denominations. Secondly, when I requested smaller denominations, the uncle told me off rudely, telling me to give him $5 as a fee for them. I've always believed customer service is a priority. I will never come back.

Very rude service. On August 2nd, 2025, at 4 PM, I went to change money at the counter with the Indian uncle. I told him I wanted Taiwan dollars and passed him the Singapore dollars. He was busy with his handphone and didn't greet me. He only asked what I wanted to change after I passed him the Singapore dollars. I told him Taiwan dollars again. He then gave me a "what the hell" look and hand signal. Very rude!

More money exchange shops in Bishan are needed! Yesterday, my wife went over to check out the rates. The queue was long. She could not find any displays showing the rates. When she approached the counter to inquire about the rates, they did not even speak but gestured her away. Today, I queued up at 10:45 AM, since their signboard says 11:00 AM - 8:30 PM. I was second in the queue. Soon after, a long queue formed. However, until 11:30 AM, the shop was still not open. I gave up queuing. I checked with Google Maps, and it seems there are no other money exchangers in Bishan. Goodness – this stall can get away with such poor service probably because it is a monopoly here in Bishan! Now I see the postings here, and the reviews are mostly 1-star. I'm adding my 1-star here too. It should be easy money for another money exchanger to survive here in Bishan – just offer good service and match the rates at least.

This was a good place to get foreign currencies, as their rates are good. The long queue is gone, and I can understand why, as the way they compute the rate has changed. For example: SGD1 = JPY114.4 is only for JPY 10,000 notes. For smaller denominations, the rate is SGD1 = JPY111. So, you will see two transactions on your receipt when you exchange a whole amount in SGD (e.g., SGD300). The first transaction will be at a rate of 114.4 for JPY 30,000; the second transaction will be for the remaining amount in small denominations at a rate of JPY111. The effective rate will therefore be lower than the published rate of JPY114.4. If you ask for JPY 50,000, the rate is as published. They just assume you know the math and will accept this, as there is a note on the window stating, "Smaller denominations have a different rate." This is close to cheating. So, be informed and be aware.

TLDR: don't come here!!!!!! Update: still waiting at 11:47 am. Photo edited to remove people waiting in the queue. Google says opening hours are 11 am. However, I've waited until now (the current time is 11:35 am), and it's still not open. The male Indian boss (?) and the Malay lady showed totally no sense of urgency. No wonder the rating is so low. Somebody please jio some rich people and open another money exchange in J8!!! Now, I'd rather go to the one in AMK, operated by really nice Chinese bosses.