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Money in Indonesia, sorted.
Most US trips to Indonesia mean Bali, so this guide leads there, with notes for Jakarta and beyond. A calm, current plan for what to pay with, how much cash to carry, and the one-time fee that catches first-timers at the airport.
The three things people ask
Will my card work? Do I need cash? Are ATMs easy?
The quick read for a first trip.
Your card
Works in tourist areas, with a catch
Visa and Mastercard are accepted at hotels, resorts and bigger restaurants in South Bali and Jakarta. Many add a 3% card surcharge, and some set a minimum spend. Smaller shops, local warungs and most of Indonesia outside the main tourist hubs are cash only.
Check yours →Cash
Still the main way to pay
Cash covers warungs, markets, parking, boats, tipping and most of daily life outside resorts. Carry more rupiah than you would for a card-friendly country, and top up before heading to a smaller island.
How much to bring →ATMs
Easy in Bali and Jakarta, scarcer beyond
Bank-branch ATMs (BCA, Mandiri, BNI, Permata) are common in South Bali's tourist areas and major cities, with fees for foreign cards typically 25,000 to 100,000 IDR per withdrawal. ATMs thin out fast outside the main hubs and on smaller islands, where they can also run dry.
See ATMs in Indonesia →(opens in a new tab)Cash or card
Cash still does most of the work, even in Bali's tourist strip.
A rough feel for everyday spending. Hotels, larger restaurants and shops in South Bali and Jakarta take cards, but cash still covers most transactions islandwide, around 80% by some estimates. Outside the main tourist corridor, on smaller islands, and at local warungs, cash is close to the only option.
See what the trip really costs →Your money plan
Four steps and you're set.
Before you go
- Bring a no-foreign-fee debit card for ATM cash and a no-fee credit card as backup.
- If you are heading to Bali, pay the one-time IDR 150,000 entry levy at lovebali.baliprov.go.id before you fly. Avoid lookalike sites that overcharge.
- Set up Grab or Gojek with your international card before you land, both are the easiest way to get around and order food.
- Set a travel notice with your bank so a first-day ATM pull or card swipe does not get blocked.
At the airport
- Skip the airport money changers for anything beyond pocket change, the rates are weak.
- Pull rupiah from a bank-branch ATM (BCA, Mandiri, BNI), not a standalone machine, and decline "convert to USD."
- Withdraw a larger amount at once. ATM fees are often a flat charge per withdrawal, so fewer trips cost less overall.
Day to day
- Card for hotels and bigger restaurants in tourist areas, watch for the 3% surcharge.
- Cash for warungs, markets, parking, temple donations, boats and most things outside the main resort strip.
- QRIS, Indonesia's QR payment system, is everywhere, but most US cards and apps cannot scan it without a local SIM and e-wallet, so do not count on it.
- Always choose rupiah, never dollars, on every card terminal and ATM screen.
A golden rule
- Always pay in rupiah, never in dollars. Choosing your home currency (dynamic currency conversion) quietly adds 3 to 8%.
- The Bali entry levy and any hotel tax are two separate charges. Paying one does not cover the other.
Staying connected
Will my phone work here? And what will it cost?
Mostly, with real gaps once you leave the tourist strip. Telkomsel has by far the widest reach, including smaller islands, rural Bali and remote dive areas, while XL Axiata and Indosat cover South Bali's resort belt and Jakarta well but thin out fast beyond it. 4G is the everyday standard; 5G is limited to parts of Jakarta and Denpasar. Coverage drops hard on Nusa Penida's clifftop viewpoints, in the Gili Islands away from the main villages, and on boats and remote trekking routes, so download offline maps and pick a Telkomsel-backed eSIM if your trip goes beyond South Bali. The cost is where people get caught out, and on most US plans it lands in one of two buckets.
Your plan may already include it
Often, do nothing
Some US plans include slow data abroad at no extra cost. If that is you, the honest move is to leave it alone.
we earn nothing
Or it charges quietly, after the fact
The bill lands later
On pay-per-use plans the cost runs in the background while you travel, and the charge can show up weeks after you are home. Forgetting to switch off data roaming is the classic one. For a week or more, an eSIM is usually cheaper and keeps you in control.
Check what your own carrier charges before the trip, not after.
If an eSIM is the cheaper call, Nomad covers Indonesia.
Get your Nomad eSIM for Indonesia→(opens in a new tab)we may earn a commissionMedical cover
The one cost with no price tag.
Every other number on this page has a price you can look up. This one does not, and it can be the largest of them all. Most US health plans cover little or nothing once you leave the country, and Medicare covers essentially none of it abroad. A serious illness or injury is paid up front, and a medical evacuation runs from tens of thousands of dollars to past $100,000 if you are remote or an ocean from home.
First, you may not need to buy anything.
A cheap, refundable trip close to home does not need this. And if you are healthy, headed somewhere with good care, and one of the premium cards on the shortlist above already includes emergency medical and evacuation, you may be covered already. Check your card's benefits guide before you buy. Saying that costs us the commission, and it is still the right call.
How much cover matters here
Strong care can sit a long way from where you are traveling and an evacuation is a genuine possibility, so this is one to weigh seriously for a trip here.
If you do want cover, this is what it is for: the evacuation and the up-front hospital bill, the part no card limit is meant to absorb.
Enough for most trips
Faye, or a comparable whole-trip policy
Bundles trip protection with emergency medical, which is enough cover for most travelers on a typical trip.
The deeper end
A dedicated travel-medical plan built for serious care and evacuation abroad
Stronger on medical care and evacuation, for a remote or higher-risk trip where that is the real exposure.
If it happens
Call it first, then call your insurer's 24/7 assistance line, which is what confirms payment and arranges an evacuation. 119 is the medical line, and 112 works as a general emergency number in the cities. Outside them, ambulance cover is thin and a taxi is often faster.
TrueTripCosts explains the gap and points to options. It does not set your coverage amounts or act as your insurance advisor, and every policy carries its own exclusions, so read them before you buy. Emergency number checked Jul 2026. Confirm the current number before you travel, as local lines can change.
Currency basics
The rupiah, in plain terms.
Quick conversion
About 17,900 rupiah to the dollar in mid-2026. A 100,000 IDR meal is roughly $5.60, and 1,000,000 IDR is about $56. The long strings of zeros take getting used to, so double-check the number before paying.
Notes and coins
Notes run 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 rupiah. Coins (50 to 1,000 rupiah) are nearly worthless and rarely used. Carry a stack of 20,000s and 50,000s for everyday spending.
Keep small notes handy
Warungs, parking attendants, Gojek and Grab drivers, and temple donation boxes all want small cash. Crisp, undamaged notes matter too, both for spending and if you ever exchange cash, since worn or torn bills are often refused.
QRIS is not really for you
QRIS, Indonesia's QR payment standard, is everywhere, but scanning it usually requires an Indonesian SIM card and a local e-wallet (GoPay, OVO) linked to your card. A few countries have direct QRIS links for their banking apps; the US is not one of them, so stick to your card or cash.
Real exchange rate
What your money is really worth here.
This is the mid-market rate, the one the banks trade at and the yardstick every other rate is measured against. Your card lands a little below it, and if a screen ever offers to bill you in dollars, that is worse again. So this is the number to expect, and how you spot a bad one.
1 US dollar is about 18,080 IDR
Fees and taxes
The entry levy and the hotel tax are not the same thing.
Two separate charges trip up first-time visitors to Bali. The Foreign Tourist Levy is IDR 150,000 per person, paid once per trip (not per night) through the official Love Bali portal, lovebali.baliprov.go.id, or at a counter on arrival. It funds cultural and environmental programs and applies to every foreign visitor, including children, with limited exemptions for long-stay visa holders. Separately, most hotels add a 21% tax and service charge to the nightly room rate if it was quoted "++" rather than "nett." Paying one does not cover the other, and neither shows up reliably in a Booking.com or Airbnb total, so budget for both.
Fees and taxes to double-check
The numbers most likely to change.
These are the fees and taxes that move on political timelines, so we track each one on its own. Every line shows the amount, whether it is in effect yet, the date we last checked it, and a primary source where a clean one exists.
Indonesia visa on arrival (30-day, US citizens)
IDR 500,000 (about 35 dollars), as an e-VOA on the official portal or on arrival, extendable once
In a hurry? A private service can prepare and file this visa for a fee on top of the official cost above, which stays the cheaper route.
File it faster with RushMyTravelVisa→(opens in a new tab)we may earn a commissionBefore you book: passports, the six-month rule and whether you need a visa. Not a US citizen, or connecting through Europe? The rules can differ, and even a layover can need its own visa. See our passports and visas guide →
Watch out for
The small traps that catch first-timers.
Tipping
Not traditional, but increasingly expected in tourist Bali.
Indonesia does not have a deep-rooted tipping culture, but tourism has shifted norms in Bali's resort areas. Check your bill first: many hotels, restaurants and spas in tourist zones already add a 5 to 10% service charge, and if so, an extra tip is a kind gesture rather than an expectation. Where no service charge is added, 10% at a sit-down restaurant is generous. Local warungs and small family eateries do not expect tips, though rounding up is appreciated. For a private driver or guide, IDR 50,000 to 150,000 for a full day is a strong tip; for Grab or Gojek rides, IDR 5,000 to 10,000 in the app is a nice bonus. Spa and massage staff typically see IDR 20,000 to 50,000. Tip in rupiah and in cash where you can, since card tips often get pooled, and hand it over with your right hand, which is the polite custom.
Common questions
Quick answers.
Do I need cash in Indonesia?
Yes, more than in most card-friendly destinations. Cash covers around 80% of everyday spending in Bali, and even more outside the main tourist areas. Cards work at hotels and bigger restaurants in South Bali and Jakarta, often with a 3% surcharge, but warungs, markets, parking and boats are usually cash only.
What is the best ATM to use in Bali or Indonesia?
Use a machine inside a bank branch or shopping mall, BCA, Mandiri, BNI or Permata are the most common. Expect a foreign-card fee of roughly 25,000 to 100,000 IDR per withdrawal, and always decline the "convert to USD" prompt. ATMs get scarce outside South Bali and the major cities, so plan ahead.
What is the Bali entry levy, and is it different from the hotel tax?
Yes, they are two unrelated charges. The Bali entry levy is a one-time IDR 150,000 (about $10) fee per visitor, paid once per trip via the official Love Bali portal or at the airport. It is separate from the roughly 21% hotel tax and service charge added to most room rates, and paying one does not cover the other.
Do you tip in Bali or Indonesia?
It is not traditional, but it is appreciated and increasingly common in Bali's tourist areas. Check your bill for a service charge first; if there isn't one, 10% at a restaurant is generous, and IDR 50,000 to 150,000 for a full-day driver or guide is a strong tip. Local warungs do not expect tips.
How much cash should I bring for a week in Bali?
For two travelers on a mid-range trip, very roughly 2 to 3 million IDR (about $110 to $170) in day-to-day cash across a week, on top of cards for hotels and bigger restaurants. Carry more if you are island-hopping to Nusa Penida or the Gilis, where ATMs are limited.
What it really costs
What you'll really spend in Indonesia.
Your flights if you want them counted, your room, your on-the-ground spending, the two fees most US cards add without telling you, and Indonesia's tourist tax. One number, nothing waiting on the statement. No bank to pick, no sign-up, nothing saved.
Optional. Enter your round trip fare per traveler to fold flights into the total.
In Indonesia, plan for about $0.
Realistically somewhere between $0 and $0.
Whether at an ATM or a card terminal in a shop or restaurant, always choose to be charged in the local currency, not dollars. Paying in dollars (called dynamic currency conversion) lets the machine set its own, worse, exchange rate on top of any fee.
Rough guide, not a quote. The percentage here is a blended stand-in for a typical US card's foreign fee, not your exact rate. The real number moves with the card you carry: one no-foreign-fee card can cover both sides, while a plain rewards credit card only removes the fee on what you buy, and cash still costs a little unless that card also waives ATM and foreign-cash fees. A debit card, or accepting the "pay in dollars" (dynamic currency conversion) offer at a till or ATM, can push it higher. Rates checked Jun 2026 and rounded.
How this estimate is built
These are the assumptions behind the number. Change the room price, nights, travelers, or travel style above, and every line here moves with them.
- Hotel
- Daily spending
- Flights
- Cash vs card
- ATM withdrawals
- Foreign fee
- The range
- Tourist tax
Not sure which card to bring? See my pick for Indonesia.
Already carry a card with no foreign transaction fee? Then you are set for Indonesia, and can skip this. There is nothing to buy.
Indonesia leans on cash more than its reputation suggests, so the card that earns its place is a fee-free ATM debit card, with a no-foreign-fee credit card for hotels and bigger spots. If you are getting one, this is the pairing I would pick. We earn nothing on these today. Always confirm the current fee with the issuer before you apply. Checked Jun 2026.
Schwab refunds worldwide ATM fees with no cap, the standout for pulling cash abroad. Opening it also opens a linked Schwab brokerage account, though you never have to fund or invest it.
No foreign transaction fee
No foreign transaction fee
Want one account that holds and spends in the local currency? A different job from the three above, and the one I reach for abroad. It is free to open; you can create a virtual card in the app and add it to your phone wallet in minutes, without waiting for the physical card; and you can convert US dollars into the local currency inside the account before you travel, then spend from that balance. Wise uses the mid-market rate plus a small conversion fee (around 0.4% and up), with no flat foreign fee.
The three picks above pay us nothing, and their tags say so. Wise is the only option here that can earn us a commission, and its tag says that too. Paid or not, the pick is still the pick.
Travelers, not touristsA little Indonesian goes a long way
A little Indonesian goes a long way
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, thousands of islands and hundreds of languages, with Bahasa Indonesia the shared tongue. A Terima kasih for thank you and a story or two mark you as a guest rather than a tourist.
Say a few words
Tip: Indonesia spans more than 17,000 islands, and its motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, means Unity in Diversity, one nation drawn from many peoples and faiths. Dress modestly at temples and mosques, and use your right hand to give and receive. A little courtesy is warmly returned.
Know a story
The greatest Buddhist temple on Earth
On the island of Java stands Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, raised more than 1,200 years ago and later left to slumber under volcanic ash and jungle for centuries before it was uncovered. Its nine stacked terraces are lined with hundreds of stone Buddhas. At dawn, wreathed in mist, it is unforgettable.
Good to know: the world's largest Buddhist temple
Shadows that tell the old stories
Wayang kulit is Indonesia's shadow-puppet theatre, among the oldest storytelling on Earth. A single master, the dalang, works dozens of intricate leather puppets behind a lamplit screen, voicing every character through the night to the shimmer of a gamelan orchestra. The tales are ancient epics of gods and heroes.
Say it: wayang kulit (WAH-yang KOO-lit)
Where the island dances for the gods
On Bali, dance is a living art and an act of devotion, performed at temples among the emerald rice terraces. In the Legong, dancers in gilded headdresses move with darting eyes and flickering fingers to tell stories older than memory. Every gesture carries meaning.
Good to know: Balinese dance is UNESCO listedIndonesians are gentle, gracious and quick to smile, and they hold together an astonishing variety of islands, languages and faiths under one flag. They are proud of that unity in diversity, of ancient temples and living arts, and of a warmth that greets every guest.
No links here, nothing to buy. This part is just to help you travel well.
Sources, and how this guide was checked
Last checkedJul 2026
Changed since last checkRe-checked July 2026. Indonesia's VAT is an effective 11% on most goods and services, confirmed unchanged. Bali still charges a separate 150,000 rupiah foreign-tourist levy, paid once per entry, and the rate has not moved. Enforcement tightened through 2026, with spot checks of the payment QR code at some tourist sites and airports, so pay it at the official Love Bali site before you fly.
- Bali Provincial Government (Love Bali)the 150,000 rupiah foreign-tourist levy, paid once per entry to Bali
- PwC Worldwide Tax SummariesIndonesia's effective 11% VAT on most goods and services
Our own judgmentMost hotels quote rates nett (tax and service included) or ++ (added at checkout), so the estimate here assumes a ++ rate. The daily cash share, tipping norms and likely ATM behavior are our own estimate from experience, not an official figure.
More money guides in Asia
If you are also weighing up nearby destinations, each guide covers cards, cash, ATMs and the fees to expect.
Going deeper on Indonesia
The money questions people ask on the ground.
Short, focused answers to the specific things that catch first-timers out in Indonesia.
- Do I need cash in Indonesia, or can I use cards?Short answer: cards in tourist hubs like Bali and Jakarta, and rupiah cash for daily life. Watch the big numbers and the ATM withdrawal caps. Here is how to handle it.
- Tipping in IndonesiaIndonesia has a light tipping culture, and the main thing to know is the plus plus (++) service charge at hotels and restaurants. Where it is added you need not tip; where it is not, a small tip is appreciated. Here is what you actually owe.
- Staying connected in IndonesiaCoverage in Indonesia is not one thing, it is a carrier question. If your trip stays in South Bali almost any plan is fine, but the moment you head to Nusa Penida, the Gili Islands or a remote dive site, the network behind your eSIM decides whether you have signal.
- Taxi apps in Bali, and the pickup zones to knowBali has no trains and barely any public transport, so the apps matter, but a local taxi mafia complicates them in a few tourist spots. Here is which app to install, how to spot a fake Bluebird, and where the apps quietly stop working.
This is how Indonesia stands today.
Money rules move. We can let you know for free if that changes.