Money in Bali — ATMs, cards, and how to actually pay
Withdrawal limits, the small charges that compound, and the cash habit you'll fall into.
Cash and card both work. Knowing when to use which saves real money.
Bali runs on cash for small purchases and cards for big ones. The rough rule is anything under IDR 200K (roughly USD 12) is paid in cash; anything above splits between cards, QRIS, and cash by venue.
ATMs
Use ATMs at banks during banking hours. The reason isn''t safety so much as fraud — the standalone ATMs you find in convenience stores have the highest skimmer rate. Inside-the-bank ATMs are reliably clean.
Withdrawal limits are punishing. Most ATMs cap a single withdrawal at IDR 1.25M or IDR 2.5M. Per-transaction fees from your home bank stack on top — IDR 25–35K per pull plus your bank''s foreign fee.
The compounding result: if you''re withdrawing IDR 5M of spending money, you''ll pay roughly IDR 100K in machine + bank fees. Worth thinking about.
Banks with the highest single-withdrawal cap (IDR 3M+):
- CIMB Niaga — IDR 3M, generally clean, blue and red branding.
- BCA — IDR 2.5–3M depending on terminal, the most common bank, blue.
- Permata Bank — IDR 3M, less common, fewer terminals.
Avoid: standalone ATMs in 24-hour minimarts (Indomaret, Alfamart) for anything large. They work but are a top skimmer target.
Cards
Visa and Mastercard work in most decent restaurants, hotels, and shops. American Express is rare and accepted at maybe one in twenty places.
The card fee dynamics:
- Surcharge. Many places add a 3% card fee at the till. Always ask. If you''re paying in cash, "tunai" works.