How do you handle money in Bali?

The currency is the Indonesian rupiah. The notes have a lot of zeros, which makes the first two days confusing and produces a specific class of expensive mistake.

Reading the notes

The common notes are 100,000, 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000. The 100,000 is red, the 50,000 blue, the 20,000 green. The two that catch people out are the 10,000 and the 100,000, which are not similar in colour but are similar in the dark, and the 1,000 versus 100,000, which differ by two zeros.

A quick conversion habit: knock three zeros off and you have thousands of rupiah. At 2026 rates, roughly 16,000 rupiah to a US dollar and 17,000 to a euro, so 100,000 rupiah is about 6 dollars.

ATMs

Use machines attached to bank branches. Bank Mandiri, BCA, BNI and BRI all have them. Free-standing machines inside minimarts and outside shops are where card skimming has historically happened.

Fees. Indonesian banks charge a withdrawal fee, typically 30,000 to 50,000 rupiah, and your home bank adds its own. Withdraw larger amounts less often. Most machines cap a withdrawal at 2,500,000 or 3,000,000 rupiah.

Check the denomination. Some machines dispense 50,000 notes and some 100,000. The 50,000 machines are more useful because breaking a 100,000 in a warung is a small daily friction.

Cover the keypad, take your card back before the cash, and use machines in daylight in a busy spot.

Cards

Hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and larger shops take Visa and Mastercard. Amex is patchy. Warungs, markets, drivers, parking attendants, temple gates and most small spas are cash.

The dynamic currency conversion trap. When a terminal asks whether you want to be charged in your home currency or in rupiah, always choose rupiah. Choosing your home currency hands the exchange rate to the machine's provider, and the markup is typically 3 to 7 per cent. This single habit saves more than all the ATM fees on a normal trip.

Some places add a card surcharge of 2 to 3 per cent. They should tell you. Ask if the bill looks odd.

Changing cash

Money changers give better rates than the airport and than most banks. Use an authorised one with a physical shop, a proper counter and a posted rate. Count your money in front of the teller and do not leave until you have.

The classic short-change routine involves a very good advertised rate, a fast count, and notes slipped back under the counter during the recount. If the rate on offer is far better than everyone else's, that is the reason.

E-wallets

GoPay, OVO and DANA are everywhere and QRIS, the national QR standard, is accepted in an increasing number of small businesses. Setting one up needs an Indonesian number. For a two-week trip, cash plus a card is simpler.

How much cash to carry

Keep 500,000 to 1,000,000 rupiah on you for a normal day: parking, warungs, entries, drivers, tips. Leave the rest in the villa safe. Do not walk around with your entire trip's cash, and do not keep your only card in the same place as it.

A practical routine for a two-week trip

Withdraw once every three or four days from a bank-branch machine, in the largest amount the machine allows, and keep the bulk of it in the villa safe. Carry a day's cash in your pocket and a second card somewhere separate from the first. Tell your bank you are travelling so the first withdrawal does not trigger a block, which is the most common money problem visitors actually have here.

Keep small notes. A 100,000 note is awkward at a warung, at a temple gate and with a parking attendant, and breaking one at a minimart is the standard fix.

Taking money home

Rupiah is difficult to change well outside Indonesia, so spend it or change it back before you fly rather than carrying a brick of notes home. Large amounts of cash crossing the border are subject to declaration rules, which matter far more to people moving money for property than to holidaymakers, but the rule exists either way.