I'm not as concerned about Bali as Sorong.
Question Best way to get Indonesian rupiah cash?
- Thread starter SaltyWombat
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I'm not as concerned about Bali as Sorong.
Money changers at the airport would be my last choice, with those in tourist areas a close second.
The best way I've found is to use a fee free travel debit card - in the UK there are Starling, Monzo and Revolut among others, I'm pretty sure there are equivalents in the US. Transfer money from your usual bank account to these cards as needed, then withdraw from any ATM but (and this is critical) select the option for your own bank to make the currency conversion, not the local bank. There is a very significant difference in fees and charges, I've had as much as a 20% difference from what a normal ATM withdrawal would give me.
There's also a safety aspect - if your card gets skimmed or stolen your losses are limited to what you've loaded into your travel account.
The best way I've found is to use a fee free travel debit card - in the UK there are Starling, Monzo and Revolut among others, I'm pretty sure there are equivalents in the US. Transfer money from your usual bank account to these cards as needed, then withdraw from any ATM but (and this is critical) select the option for your own bank to make the currency conversion, not the local bank. There is a very significant difference in fees and charges, I've had as much as a 20% difference from what a normal ATM withdrawal would give me.
There's also a safety aspect - if your card gets skimmed or stolen your losses are limited to what you've loaded into your travel account.
I've used Indonesian ATMs 100s of times. Yes some combinations of ATMs/cards might not work, but I try next card and/or different bank ATM until I find a combination that works (most do, some don't) and I keep using that combination. Never been charged without receiving money.
The problem is that usually these ATMs have a relatively low limit per transaction (2-300US$ or so if I remember correctly and several $ transaction fee) so if you need a lot of money it can be a pain. In that case you will need to use cash exchanges.
Shopping malls (I haven't been to Bali for some years now but I guess the mall plague should have hit there too), usually have decent money exchangers at the basement or lower floor somewhere.
I would avoid small street ventors because quite often they are masters in cheating (search youtube for Bali money change scam and you should be able to find several caught on camera).
The problem is that usually these ATMs have a relatively low limit per transaction (2-300US$ or so if I remember correctly and several $ transaction fee) so if you need a lot of money it can be a pain. In that case you will need to use cash exchanges.
Shopping malls (I haven't been to Bali for some years now but I guess the mall plague should have hit there too), usually have decent money exchangers at the basement or lower floor somewhere.
I would avoid small street ventors because quite often they are masters in cheating (search youtube for Bali money change scam and you should be able to find several caught on camera).
Blackcrusader
Contributor
Withdraw from atm at Jakarta airport before flying to sorong.
I would exchange before you go. Jakarta does have money exchange at the airport but depending on what time your flight arrives they maybe closed. We arrived on Sunday night and they were all closed and ATM's at the airport were easy to use but the five we tried did not work with our ATM or credit cards. The Sorong airport good luck finding cash. We arranged with our liveaboard to exchange money for our baggage fees on the trip home as Batik Air could not take credit cards at the ticket counter and we needed local cash to pay the fees. Our debit cards worked fine anywhere that took them other than ATM's.
runsongas
Contributor
ATM is best exchange rate if you get ATM fees waived by your bank, else the fee can be significant due to withdrawal limits.
the official bank exchange office at CGK and DPS are fine (bank mandiri/bank BNI), about 1.5% spread from interbank. You can get slightly better down to 1% at a money exchange office, but then you have the headache of dealing with money exchangers.
the official bank exchange office at CGK and DPS are fine (bank mandiri/bank BNI), about 1.5% spread from interbank. You can get slightly better down to 1% at a money exchange office, but then you have the headache of dealing with money exchangers.
cozcharlie
Contributor
FYI: Getting Rupiah before leaving the US may prove more difficult than you would expect. I bank at a very large bank and while they could provide me with around 100 physical currencies —the rupiah wasn’t one of them. Don’t really know what was up with that.
I found the ATMs fairly easy to navigate, but don’t remember if they had an English option or if I figured it out some other way (I certainly don’t speak the language ). There were two ATMs that I was forced to walk by as I left customs. One worked and the other one didn’t —maximum amount was very low (maybe $2.5 million ). Got some money there and also got some money in from the ATMs in the airport terminal the next day. Think the ones in the terminal (before ticketing/bag check ) had a higher limit—maybe $5 million. Sometimes you just have to do multiple transactions to get the money you need. Please note that in addition to ATM’s individual transaction limits, the Indonesian bank may have a daily maximum across all transactions, and your US bank likely also has a daily ATM withdrawal limit. I think the default for a lot of US banks is $500 per day but at least with my bank you can ask for a higher daily limit (probably needs to be done in a branch ).
I just brought a fair amount of US dollars with me to Indonesia and then thankfully was able to use the ATMs so I never had to bother with converting money. Also please remember that your visa on arrival needs to be paid in cash. They took US dollars. It wasn’t that much but obviously don’t travel across the world with only $20 cash in your pocket. I know some people in the US that are so used to credit cards that they repeatedly have had to borrow money from me to tip the car valet $5.
I found the ATMs fairly easy to navigate, but don’t remember if they had an English option or if I figured it out some other way (I certainly don’t speak the language ). There were two ATMs that I was forced to walk by as I left customs. One worked and the other one didn’t —maximum amount was very low (maybe $2.5 million ). Got some money there and also got some money in from the ATMs in the airport terminal the next day. Think the ones in the terminal (before ticketing/bag check ) had a higher limit—maybe $5 million. Sometimes you just have to do multiple transactions to get the money you need. Please note that in addition to ATM’s individual transaction limits, the Indonesian bank may have a daily maximum across all transactions, and your US bank likely also has a daily ATM withdrawal limit. I think the default for a lot of US banks is $500 per day but at least with my bank you can ask for a higher daily limit (probably needs to be done in a branch ).
I just brought a fair amount of US dollars with me to Indonesia and then thankfully was able to use the ATMs so I never had to bother with converting money. Also please remember that your visa on arrival needs to be paid in cash. They took US dollars. It wasn’t that much but obviously don’t travel across the world with only $20 cash in your pocket. I know some people in the US that are so used to credit cards that they repeatedly have had to borrow money from me to tip the car valet $5.
I'm in Sorong at the moment, waiting for a pickup tomorrow to travel to Raja Ampat
I had no difficulty withdrawing Rp in either Jakarta or Sorong. The ATMs prompt in English. My only complaint is that sometimes only 50 k Rp (about US$3) notes are available so you end up with a big wad of bills
Cert1967
Contributor
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