The Arcade at Raffles Place: Singapore's Money Changing Mecca

Updated August 2026

Ask any seasoned Singapore traveller where to change money and you’ll hear the same two words: The Arcade. This unassuming building at 11 Collyer Quay, steps from Raffles Place MRT, houses the densest concentration of licensed money changers in Singapore — and dense competition is exactly why its boards are consistently the sharpest in the country.

Why The Arcade wins on rates

Money changing is a volume business with thin margins, and The Arcade pushes both to the extreme. Counters sit literally side by side, every board is visible from the walkway, and the CBD lunch crowd comparison-shops ruthlessly. A counter that drifts half a percent off the pace watches the queue form at its neighbour instead. The result: spreads on major currencies here are often 0.2–0.5% from mid-market — rates that most of the world’s airport counters wouldn’t recognise.

How to work the cluster

  1. Check the benchmark first. Pull up the live mid-market rate for your currency on your phone before you arrive.
  2. Walk the floor once. Boards are all visible; thirty seconds gives you the day’s spread of quotes.
  3. Queue where the board is best. Obvious, but the best board often has the longest queue at lunchtime — a shorter queue one counter over at a fractionally worse rate can be the rational choice for small amounts.
  4. Ask for better on size. Changing thousands? Most counters will sharpen the quote if you ask.

When to go

Counters largely follow CBD hours — weekday business hours, with some opening Saturday mornings; most are closed Sundays. Peak crush is weekday lunch (roughly 11.30am–2pm). Mid-morning or mid-afternoon on a weekday gets you the same rates with a fraction of the queue.

Getting there

  • MRT: Raffles Place (EW14/NS26), Exit A — The Arcade is directly across the plaza.
  • Address: 11 Collyer Quay, Singapore 049317.

Worth knowing

  • Change Alley and Raffles Place generally host further counters if The Arcade is heaving — see our full Raffles Place guide.
  • Rates move during the day with wholesale markets, so a photo of a morning board isn’t a promise for the afternoon.
  • For niche currencies, availability varies by counter and by day; for big amounts of an unusual currency, come earlier in the day.

Planning a visit? Check the live benchmarks first, and browse all Raffles Place listings.