Chapter Two
Money
Rupiah, where to change it, and how not to be short-changed
Reviewed August 2026 · Fees, forms and fines change. Ask us to confirm before you fly.
The rupiah runs to a lot of zeros and that is where most visitors come unstuck. Notes are 1,000 up to 100,000, and a 10,000 and a 100,000 look more alike in a dim shop than you would like. Count in thousands and read the notes twice on the first few days.
Changing money
Use only an authorised money changer. A licensed one displays its Bank Indonesia authorisation and a QR code you can check, sits in a proper shopfront rather than a kiosk, and gives you a printed receipt. The rates advertised on a sandwich board in a lane, always a little better than everyone else's, are better for a reason — that difference is the size of the sleight of hand coming. Agree the exact rupiah total before any notes are touched, count the money yourself, and count it again before you leave the counter. Do not let anyone recount it for you.
Cards and cash machines
Use ATMs inside a bank branch or a hotel lobby rather than free-standing machines in the street, and cover the keypad. Cards work at hotels, larger restaurants and beach clubs, but warungs, markets, temples, car parks and drivers are cash. QRIS — the national QR payment — is everywhere and worth setting up if your bank supports it. When any terminal or ATM offers to charge you in your own currency, decline: choose rupiah every time, or you pay a made-up exchange rate for the privilege.
Do
- Change money in a licensed shopfront with a visible authorisation
- Count the notes yourself, slowly, before leaving the counter
- Withdraw from ATMs inside banks, and cover your PIN
- Choose rupiah, never your home currency, when a terminal asks
- Carry small notes for parking, donations, warungs and drivers
Don’t
- Take a rate that is far better than everyone else's
- Change money in a lane kiosk, a shop back room or on the street
- Let a cashier recount the notes once you have counted them
- Rely on cards outside hotels and the bigger restaurants
- Accept torn or heavily marked notes — they may be refused later
Tipping and the bill
Tipping is not obligatory and nobody will chase you for it, but it is warmly received: rounding up, or ten per cent for good service, is normal. Restaurants and hotels above warung level usually add tax and service — often shown as ++ on the menu — so the bill lands a little over the printed prices. Ask us what anything ought to cost before you agree a price; we would rather tell you than watch you overpay.
Asked often
- Where should I change money in Bali?
- Use only an authorised money changer. A licensed one displays its Bank Indonesia authorisation and a QR code you can check, sits in a proper shopfront rather than a kiosk, and gives you a printed receipt. The rates advertised on a sandwich board in a lane, always a little better than everyone else's, are better for a reason — that difference is the size of the sleight of hand coming. Agree the exact rupiah total before any notes are touched, count the money yourself, and count it again before you leave the counter. Do not let anyone recount it for you.
Reviewed August 2026. This chapter carries figures that expire — fees, levies, fines and phone numbers. They were checked against current sources in August 2026, and the hedging in the copy above is deliberate. Message us and we will confirm what is current for your dates.