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  • ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia: bunq Community Travel Tips

โœˆ๏ธ Heading to Indonesia? We've gathered some tips from the bunq community to make sure your trip is the smoothest it can be. ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Check them out below! ๐ŸŒˆ ๐Ÿ‘‡


Using your card

๐Ÿ’ณ Do I need cash in Indonesia, or can I use my card everywhere?

In major tourist areas your card will be accepted, and outside of that you should carry cash.

Take a sizeable amount of rupiah with you if you're going anywhere rural, as ATM coverage gets less reliable the further out of cities you go.

๐Ÿ’ฐ What currency do they use here?

The currency here is Rupiah. The symbol is Rp or IDR

๐Ÿง Which ATMโ€™s can I use for free?

The bunq community has reported free withdrawals at these ATMs.

  • CIMB
  • Bank BNI
  • Maybank
  • Bank BCA
  • Mandiri
  • Danamon
  • Mega

๐Ÿ’ต If I want cash, how much should I take out of an ATM?

2.000.000 IDR should be enough for a few days, but don't worry, that's only about โ‚ฌ130 .

๐Ÿ’ณ Should I choose local currency or Euros when paying?

If you're asked to choose between local currency and Euros, always choose local currency.

That way bunq does the conversion for you, and you get to take advantage of the best rates with bunq ZeroFX.


Staying connected

๐Ÿ“ฑ Can I roam, or should I get a local SIM?

Most EU mobile plans will charge you for roaming in Indonesia.

Wifi is available in a lot of tourist focused restaurants and cafes.

If you want to get a local SIM card, you can learn about your options here.


Useful things to know

๐Ÿ’โ€โ™€๏ธ How does tipping work?

Most restaurants will add a 5-10% service charge, but if they don't you can tip anywhere from 10,000 IDR to 10% of the meal.

๐Ÿบ How much does a 0.5L beer cost?

โ‚ฌ2,00

๐Ÿฝ How much does an average meal cost?

โ‚ฌ1,60

๐Ÿšจ Whatโ€™s the emergency number?

There are different numbers for the different services here.

๐Ÿš“ Police: 110
๐Ÿš‘ Ambulance: 118 or 119
๐Ÿš’ Fire: 112 or 113

๐Ÿ”Œ What type of plug do they use?

This one! Itโ€™s the standard European plug.

๐Ÿš— What side of the road do they drive on?

They drive on the left side of the road here.

๐Ÿ—บ How do I navigate my way around?

Google Maps works quite well in Indonesia.

Otherwise, we recommend Rome2Rio as the best way to find out how to get anywhere. It even tells you the cost of each option. ๐Ÿ™Œ

๐Ÿ‘€ Any other good tips?

  • Make sure you try local Nasi Goreng while you're travelling Indonesia. ๐Ÿฝ
  • Contactless payments aren't always activated so don't rely on Apple Pay or Google Pay and bring that shiny rainbow card.

Travel Perks

๐ŸŽข Visit famous attractions with 10% off

We've partnered with Tiqets to bring you discounts on attraction tickets in Indonesia ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ. To get your discount, simply follow the link here and use our coupon code BUNQTIQETS10 at checkout. That's it! ๐ŸŽŠ


If you've been to Indonesia ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ share your experience! The following would be really useful for other bunqers to know:

  • Which ATMs are free to use?
  • What card should I use and where?
  • Any other info you think may be useful.

Share your experience with us in the comments below! ๐ŸŒˆ ๐Ÿ‘‡

    3 months later

    I just got back from Bali and java and used my travel card abroad for the first time. Good thing about the card is that it makes bookings really easy. Moreover, which is my fav, the conversion rate is really good! And i dont have to deal with the hustle of finding places to change my money. The bad thing about the card is that it kept on giving me errors when withdrawing money at the ATM. When i was in ubud-bali, i had to go to three atm machines to finally find one that allowed me to withdraw money. Not sure is it because of the machine it self or the card. Because one of the machine was from BCA bank. Luckily in tourist area there are mutiple atm machines within walking distance. Moreover there is a 0.99 euro charge for withdrawing with foreign currency.

      @Yoe-Cyan-Unicorn#134366 I've been to Indonesia quite some times. If you find yourself having trouble getting money from ATM's, then it's usually because there's not enough money in it. The message on the machine does not indicate this. Some tips and tricks:

      • Try to go for the ATM's of BCA. These usually work best.
      • On the ATM there's usually a sticker indicating whether it contains 50.000 notes or 100.000 notes.
      • 50k note-ATM's usually have a maximum of around 1.500.000.
      • 100k note-ATM's usually have a maximum of around 2.500.000 (need more? try multiple times).
        2 months later

        @Yoe-Cyan-Unicorn#134366 Hey, Shelly. Iโ€™m from The Netherlands but Iโ€™ve lived in Indonesia for quite some time and if I had to bet on the reason why the ATM denied your withdrawals itโ€™s probably because the machine didnโ€™t have enough cash inside to withdrawal. That happens a lot in the โ€˜non-touristyโ€™ city -where I live too!

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