Currency of Indonesia and Bali

What Money is Used in Indonesia and Bali

The country's monetary unit is the Indonesian Rupiah (Indonesia Rupiah, currency code IDR). On price tags, banknotes, and coins, it's denoted as Rp. All official payments are made in local currency; foreign currency may only be accepted privately by agreement.

• 1 Indonesian Rupiah = 100 sen (no longer in circulation)
• International designation: IDR, within the country - Rp.
• Banknote denominations in circulation: 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 Rupiah.
• Coin denominations in circulation: 500, 100. There are also 50, 25, 10 Rupiah coins, but in practice they are no longer encountered.

Although due to sanctions, tourists and travelers from the Russian Federation are deprived of some convenient ways to exchange rubles for rupiah, there aren't actually major problems with this. We know at least these payment and conversion methods:

• Exchanging cash dollars, euros, yuan, or other internationally convertible currency for cash rupiah.
• Foreign bank card or Unionpay card from Russian banks Rosselkhozbank or ATB - for payments in stores and cash withdrawals at ATMs.
• Local e-wallet (we recommend GoPay) topped up from rubles via a crypto exchange and USDT - for payments in stores, bank transfers, and transfers to other wallets.
• Exchanging USDT from a crypto wallet for cash rupiah through an official exchange or private money changers.
• Exchanging non-cash rubles for cash rupiah through private money changers.

Below we'll tell you in detail about all these methods, their pros and cons, and what's better to choose. But in any case, we advise you to follow a simple wisdom: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." This means you shouldn't rely solely on, for example, a bank card (they can stop working at any moment), and you should have cash as a backup. Or, don't rely solely on cash (it can be lost or stolen); you should back it up with a bank card or GoPay e-wallet. It's even better to use 2-3 methods at once. Our choice is a combination of cash + bank card + GoPay wallet topped up via cryptocurrency.

Current Exchange Rate

The average value of one ruble is approximately 200 rupiah. For quick mental conversion of a sum in rupiah to rubles, simply multiply the number of thousands of rupiah by 5 (more precisely - by 4.8). For example: 10 thousand rupiah * 5 ≈ 50 rubles. Or use our calculator:

Market exchange rate (Indonesian rupiah) for today (07/07/2026)

• 100 000 рупия (IDR) = 426,87 rubles (RUB)
• 1 US dollar (USD) = 18 062,00 IDR
• 100 rubles (RUB) = 23 426,50 IDR
• 1 euro (EUR) = 20 660,60 IDR

Real currency exchange rate *

• 1 US dollar (USD) ≈ 17 700,76 - 18 025,88 IDR
• 1 euro (EUR) ≈ 20 247,39 - 20 619,28 IDR

* - The real exchange rate is calculated taking into account the fees charged by exchange offices and banks for the exchange. It can also be higher than the calculated one, but if you are offered an exchange rate lower than this, it's a reason to think about finding another place to exchange.

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* The calculator converts amounts based on official world currency exchange rates. When exchanging currency at exchange offices, the rate will differ slightly depending on the exchange office's commission.

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Which Currency to Bring to Bali and Indonesia, and What is Better

In tourist areas, you can pay with US dollars, but they'll be accepted at a not very favorable rate, so it's always better to have local currency with you. Preference is given to hundred-dollar and fifty-dollar bills of new series with the blue security stripe, these are the issue years:

• 100-dollar bills series 2009 and 2013
• 50-dollar bills series 2006

Old bills, denominations less than $50, or those showing signs of use have a noticeably lower exchange rate, and sometimes they may even refuse to accept them altogether. It's best if the bills are in perfect condition without wear, folds, writing, or stamps.

In Bali, you can exchange most world currencies. As usual, the best rate is for cash dollars, euros, and yuan. You can exchange other Asian currencies: baht, dong, pesos, and many more. They even accept rubles, but the rate for them is simply terrible. Cryptocurrency USDT gives a very high exchange rate, but more on that below.

Here is a calculation for exchanging 100,000 rubles using different methods based on real rates:

• Direct exchange of rubles at exchange offices in Bali:

  100,000 * 80 = 8,000,000 rupiah

• Exchanging rubles via cash US dollars

  100,000 / 99.3 * 16,155 = 16,268,882 rupiah

• Exchanging rubles via cash euros

  100,000 / 104.5 * 16,629 = 15,912,919 rupiah

• Exchanging rubles via cash yuan

  100,000 / 14.21 * 2,178 = 15,327,234 rupiah

Based on this calculation, at the moment cash dollars are the most profitable, euros are less profitable (-2.188%), and yuan are even less profitable (-5.788%). Moreover, we can definitely say that this difference between rates in different currencies constantly fluctuates, and we got different results at different times, but all roughly similar. So you can bring any of these three currencies if you're willing to sacrifice a few percent on the exchange. But if you want the most profitable outcome, definitely bring dollars; besides, it will be more reliable and easier to exchange at street exchange offices.

Private exchangers in Telegram channels are a separate story. Be very careful! They offer to exchange cash dollars, cryptocurrency, and non-cash rubles at very good rates, and you really can exchange with them. For example, at the time of calculation, for 100,000 rubles via non-cash transfer you could get 14,830,000 rupiah. But the problem is that some Telegram exchangers offer online exchange with prepayment, which smells of outright fraud and deception, and there are plenty of such cases. So never transfer money to an exchanger until you receive the cash from the courier, otherwise there's a high chance of ending up with nothing.

Also, exchangers on Telegram often initially advertise inflated rates, but during correspondence they offer a different rate, sometimes even lower than at exchange offices. And then they might lower it further during the deal, supposedly due to a sudden drop in the rate, so be extra careful.

Are Old-Style Dollars Accepted?

Old-style dollars without the security stripe, which are now predominantly sold in Russian banks, can generally be exchanged in Bali and Indonesia. They're not accepted everywhere; you might have to visit several exchange offices, but overall you'll exchange them if you really need to. Some exchange offices accept them at the advertised rate on par with new bills, others at a discount of around 0.6-1% based on our calculations.

This leads to the answer to the question: what's better to bring, old-style dollars or euros? If you look at the calculation above, you'll see that with euros you end up with about 2.55% less, so even old-style dollars are still slightly more profitable. However, the difference for small amounts of a few hundred dollars is completely insignificant and can be neglected if you want to exchange currency more quickly and reliably, rather than going around exchange offices looking for one that accepts old bills at a good rate.

Can You Exchange Cryptocurrency?

Yes, in Bali you can exchange the stablecoin USDT at a very good rate; it's even more profitable than cash. So if you're a confident user of crypto exchanges, this is an excellent option.

We exchanged cryptocurrency at the official BitExchange Money Changer (PT. Mongol Balindo Valas), here it is on the map. But there might be others; search for them.

For example, here are some exchange rates for USDT from personal experience:

• Official market rate - 16,585.
• USDT at the exchange office for 16,200.
• Cash at street exchange offices - 15,875.

So, based on our experience, USDT turned out to be 2% more profitable than cash dollars, and considering that USDT itself can be bought on a crypto exchange via P2P operations at a more favorable rate than cash dollars in Russian banks, the final difference in favor of USDT could be 3-5%.

However, don't forget about the commission for transferring USDT to another wallet, which you pay. For example, on the ByBit exchange, it's $1.6 regardless of the amount, so exchanging larger sums becomes more profitable.

Moreover, private exchangers in Telegram chats offer an even higher exchange rate, but we haven't had experience exchanging through them. If you decide to exchange through private exchangers, be aware that there's a high chance of being deceived. Use common sense and never transfer money remotely in advance before receiving the cash, no matter what rating or recommendations the exchanger has on Telegram, as all of that is very easy to fake.

Where to Exchange Currency

You won't have problems exchanging cash dollars, euros, and other world currencies in Bali and other tourist places in Indonesia. Banks, official exchange offices, and unofficial exchange counters in various shops offer exchange. However, exchanging money in Bali isn't so simple: there's a risk of being cheated, and there are many nuances in general; we'll tell you everything now:

The most profitable real exchange rate (without fraud) is at banks and chain exchange offices. Banks usually work from 08:00 to 15:00 on weekdays, and this time is considered the most profitable for exchange.

Chain exchange offices in Bali include Central Kuta, Mr & Mrs Butler, MPB, Amandana, BMC. To avoid being cheated (or rather, to minimize the chance), we recommend exchanging money at a bank or official exchange offices operating under or for banks.

The exchange rate also strongly depends on the area. For example, in Bali in Lovina Beach, Amed, Padang Bai, Candidasa, Gilimanuk the rate is lower than in central areas. Usually, it's most profitable to exchange in Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Ubud.

However, in reality, few tourists exchange money at banks; exchanging currency at official or unofficial exchange points, which can be found almost everywhere, is more popular. But in such places, there's always a chance of being cheated, and it's quite high. If you exchange money at a non-official exchange office with a very high rate, they will almost certainly try to cheat you. Usually, the inflated rate includes a commission that can reach 30%, but it's not announced to the tourist until your money is in the hands of the exchanger. After that, canceling the exchange and getting your money back without threats of calling the police is practically impossible. But even if you make sure there are no hidden commissions in the exchange rate, they'll try to cheat you during the actual process of handing over the money. Traditional "money counting tricks" are common here, and sometimes even calculators that calculate incorrectly, of course, in favor of the exchanger.

To minimize the chance of being cheated at exchange offices, follow these rules:

• Always clarify the current rate with the cashier before exchanging, as it may differ from what's shown on the exchange office's display.
• Don't believe stories that the exchange rate is now much lower than the display because it's constantly changing and it just dropped significantly. This is a trick to exchange your money at a lower rate; better go to another exchange office.
• Before exchanging, clarify any commission and ask them to calculate and show you exactly how much you'll really get for your amount. Sometimes the rate on the display or sign is one thing, but they give out a different amount.
• Recalculate the rate yourself on your own calculator (on your phone).
• Try to exchange with two people, so one exchanges while the other watches.
• When handing over currency, if possible, do this: show your currency to be exchanged and ask the exchanger to keep it in front of you until you count the money received. For this, it's convenient to press it down with something like a "paperweight," for example even your phone.
• Always recount the money after receiving it; don't trust your eyes. Slick exchangers may give it to you several times, take it back supposedly to recount again, and return it again (during this moment they try to skim off part of it).
• Carefully and attentively check the denominations of the bills and count the zeros on each.
• Don't rush and double-check everything several times. In some exchange offices, they may deliberately stage a whole concert of queues and bustle to rush you and create stress, and then you can easily make a mistake.
• Don't leave the exchange office until you are absolutely sure you've received everything you should.
• If you discover a shortage, calmly and without aggression tell the exchanger about it immediately. Then they will apologize and give you the missing amount (then recount everything again), or simply refuse the exchange and return your money.
• In theory, every exchange office should issue a receipt. If they don't, ask for one. The receipt will be needed upon departure for reverse exchange or if something goes wrong during the exchange.

Bank Cards

• Plastic cards American Express, Visa, Diners, Visa Electron, Master Card from foreign banks work, Russian ones do not.
• Mir cards also do not work anywhere at all.
• Unionpay cards work only from banks RSHB (Rosselkhozbank) and ATB. All other Unionpay cards issued earlier, including Gazprombank, Russian Standard, Tinkoff, etc., no longer work.

Overall, cards are accepted in many places, payment is made without an additional fee. Cash withdrawals are also possible without problems; there are many ATMs. Unionpay cards work at least in ATMs of two local banks - Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Bank Mandiri. The ATM charges a commission from 15,000 to 100,000 rupiah (0.83-5.54 USD), so it's better to withdraw large sums at once to minimize losses from this one-time commission.

And don't forget about the commission from the Russian bank for cash withdrawals at third-party ATMs. You can find this information only in the detailed tariff description for your specific card, and you also need to consider any connected options.

If you have a Unionpay card in rubles, then with each transaction, two conversions will occur to recalculate the rate from rupiah to yuan, and then from yuan to rubles, and accordingly more losses. Therefore, it's more profitable to open a card in yuan currency and top it up at the bank's internal rate, or even open a brokerage account and buy yuan there with minimal commission, to then withdraw to the card.

For example, currently (2026) for the most popular "Svoia Karta Plus" (My Card Plus) tariff at RSHB, the commission at third-party ATMs will not be charged only if you had card expenses last month exceeding 30,000 rubles. In other cases, the commission will be 3% of the amount and not less than 17 Chinese yuan for cards in yuan, and 1% and not less than 199 for ruble cards. So study the tariffs specifically for your card and before each trip, as they can also be changed unilaterally by banks without personal notification.

Here's a comparison of Unionpay cards as of 2026:

Payment Systems and E-Wallets

Mobile payment systems or e-wallets are very developed in Indonesia. While the state doesn't strictly regulate them yet and foreigners can open them, they are an excellent alternative to both bank cards and cash. But let's warn you right away: if you're not tech-savvy, it's not worth dealing with them for a short trip. But if you know what crypto and crypto exchanges are, know English at least at the level of reading technical terms, then you'll easily figure it all out and will be able to pay advantageously with them.

• How and What You Can Pay with E-Wallets

  You can pay with e-wallets for a lot of things, from purchases in supermarkets to paying for services at travel agencies or renting transport by transferring to the seller's wallet. Of course, this won't completely free you from cash; you can't do without it. But again, even from wallets you can withdraw money via ATMs or at special cash-out points with a small fee. For example, the GoPay wallet offers cash withdrawal at BCA ATMs with a commission of only 5000 rupiah per transaction (0.28 USD). But conditions may change; check everything in the applications and system descriptions, more on that below.

• What E-Wallets are Available

  There are at least these wallets:

  • GoPay – wallet from the taxi company GoJek. According to reviews from travelers and relocants in Bali, this is the most common option, and we agree with that. Many residents have it (you can make transfers to them), you can pay for purchases in stores via the QRIS QR code, make online purchases, and of course, pay for GoJek taxi rides.
  • OVO - wallet from the taxi company Grab. According to statistics from previous years, it's considered the No.1 payment system. But let's note that based on reviews from Bali, GoPay is considered more common there, but we don't have statistics.
  • LinkAja – wallet from the mobile operator Telkomsel. You can create a wallet only if you have a Telkomsel SIM card.
  • ShopeePay – wallet from the local marketplace Shopee. It makes sense to get it only if you often buy something from this store.

  There's also a separate story - QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian). Sometimes it's mistakenly called an e-wallet, but that's not entirely true. It's a payment system via QR codes at retail points, something like our SBP (Fast Payment System). To use QRIS payment, you don't need to set up anything additional; it's already in e-wallet applications.

• Which E-Wallet to Choose

  Ideally, it's worth installing two wallets, GoPay and OVO, and using them depending on the situation. But obviously, in practice, this is difficult to do, as you'll have to top up both. And then also make sure to spend all the money before the end of your trip.

  Therefore, our choice is GoPay. If only because the app interface is in English and you can even create an account with a Russian SIM card number. All other wallets require a local number.

  During our last trip, we paid for almost everything with GoPay, with rare exceptions, using cash only in the rarest cases. Moreover, it's also noticeably more profitable than cash due to the difference in exchange rates when topping up; we'll tell you all about it now:

• How to Start Using the GoPay Wallet

  You can install the GoPay wallet app even before leaving home and connect it to a Russian SIM card. At least, we managed to do it without problems on a Russian Megafon number. If you have problems registering with a Russian number, try specifying Kazakhstan as the country (same country code +7) or try registering first in the GoJek taxi app, and then in GoPay. If nothing works, try a different Russian number or create the wallet on the spot.

  Immediately after registration, the wallet will have minimal functionality; it needs to be upgraded to GoPay Plus. Again, there are no difficulties with this: you take a photo of your passport, a selfie, and provide an address of residence in Indonesia (we simply provided the address of one of the hotels where we planned to stay). Verification takes up to 24 hours, but we received confirmation within a few hours.

• Where You Can Pay with GoPay

  With GoPay Plus status, you can make bank transfers, transfers to other wallets, and pay for online purchases. This is very cool, since almost all services for tourists can be paid for this way, including tours, motorbike rentals, hotels on the spot, SIM card purchases, etc. And with QRIS QR codes, you can pay for almost anything and anywhere, from supermarkets to warungs and cafes.

  The only thing that won't be available to you is cash withdrawal via ATMs. The app allows you to cash out the wallet via BCA ATMs with a commission of only 5000 rupiah, but this requires authorization using a local ID via NFC, which is not available to tourists.

• How to Top Up the GoPay Wallet

  You can top up wallets with cash at special points or via bank cards. But Russian bank cards are not suitable for this, and bringing cash here to exchange for rupiah and then depositing it into the account via top-up points will ultimately be unprofitable and inconvenient, too many steps and losses.

  Therefore, the only convenient and truly profitable way to top them up for Russian tourists that we know of is through crypto exchanges. If you have a USDT, BTD, ETH, or other wallet, you can quickly and profitably top up via P2P exchange. If you know other profitable ways, write in the comments.

  The exchange rate on P2P exchanges, for example on ByBit, is excellent. Often it's even higher than the official market rate, not to mention cash exchange. Here's a specific example from personal experience at one moment:

  • Cash dollar rate at city exchange offices – 16,350
  • Official market rate – 16,910
  • USDT exchange via exchange – 16,992 (see screenshot below).

  As you can see, withdrawing to a GoPay wallet via P2P on a crypto exchange can be done at an even better rate than the official one, and 3.9% higher than cash!!!

  So this is really profitable. You can easily top up your account on the crypto exchange again with a ruble card via P2P exchange. We advise using USDT for exchange, as it's the most stable unit; its value is pegged to the dollar. By the way, if you didn't know, this is exactly how exchangers in Telegram chats make exchanges from rubles to rupiah, but they charge hefty commissions for it.

  If you're not familiar with this topic and don't know what and how to do, there's a lot of information and ready-made instructions online about working with cryptocurrency.

  Here is our honest referral link to Bybit with code MEZZNRE, through which you can register on the exchange and receive a bonus of up to 6,045 USDT. You can register on the exchange directly, not through this link, but then there will be no bonus.

  

Tipping

Officially, there is no tipping in Indonesia, and service charges are almost always included in the bill. But if you liked the service, you can tip the service staff, leave a little extra over the bill in a restaurant or café, or leave a reward for the taxi driver.

Usually in restaurants aimed at tourists, a service charge for service is included in the bill, and this is indicated in the menu in small print, it's 5-10%. In such cases, you shouldn't leave an additional tip. If there is no service charge, then you can leave a tip if you wish, but it's not obligatory. You can give the porter 5000-10,000 rupiah, for room cleaning you can leave 10,000 – 20,000. In a taxi when traveling by meter, you can round up the payment to the nearest tens of thousands.