Bank notes and changing money

[vocalneal]

My new company recommends changing $1000 or $2000 at the airport.

Given that the largest note is 100,000 that is going to be 140 + notes so I'm thinking just change $1000 or I won't be able to sit up straight?

How thick is 140 notes?

 

[Davita]

My new company recommends changing $1000 or $2000 at the airport.

Given that the largest note is 100,000 that is going to be 140 + notes so I'm thinking just change $1000 or I won't be able to sit up straight?

How thick is 140 notes?

I just measured 5 X Rp100,000 used notes on a ruler and it appears to be approx. 1 mm thick. All the money in my wallet.
Therefore, by my careful math calculation, it would seem 140 notes would be +/- 28mms thick or just over 1 inch...give or take old and/or new notes.

 

[vocalneal]

OK I'll just change $1000

I'll keep the other $1000 in reserve or use it to open my bank account.

Ah Just realized that some guys coming may have to wait a month or 6 weeks for salary and come with family so... maybe I'll change 1/3 of 2000 or $600 which will be a bit thinner. There is after all a bank on the ground floor of the office if i can't survive on $40 a day.

Sorry just getting rattled as leaving one place I have lived for 12+ years and coming to another ...

 

[dafluff]

(picture taken from http://batamnews.co.id/berita-7362-.html)

Each stack there is Rp 10 million or about USD 700. Typically won't fit in a bill fold type wallet. Even 5 million is pushing it.

Also exchanging USD 1000 at the airport seems high. Are you going where there are no other banks/money changer? Why so much? First of all airport rates are probably 10% worse than at any bank, nevermind at a moneychanger.

 

[Vanhelsing]

Changing $1000 is very doable and I find doesn't take too much space in the money belt. I choose to bring quantities of cash as my bank is ruthless with international withdrawal charges.

On arriving in Medan a week ago with the official exchange rate for $AUS at $IDR 10 700, the airport rate was $IDR 9000!!! Four hours away in the jungle it was $IDR 10 300 to the Aussie.

 

[vocalneal]

OK so less at the airport and more in the "jungle".

 

[Anglian]

I wonder why your company recommends changing your money at the airport when generally money changes away from the airport give a better rate

 

[Jaime C]

I’ve changed money and gotten over 200 million at once. That’s just more cash than I prefer to carry on my person, as I’m not trying to imitate Pablo Escobar.

Even worse is when they run out of 100k bills!

These days we change less, and just wire the funds from the exchange house to our IDR account.

 

[Gratilla]

How thick is 140 notes?

Almost as thick as someone considering changing money at the A/P.

Unless things have changed radically, you'll get much better rates (as noted above) "offbase".

And if your US notes are in pristine nick (ie no folds etc), you can nego an even better rate.

 

[Vanhelsing]

You are also able to negotiate a rate if changing large amounts. I bought a boat in Lombok once and improved my exchange by 2%. Money changers are also just businesses and negotiations are willingly entered into if you're cashing large.

 

[snpark]

Agreed - change as little as possible at the airport

Change the rest at a money changer - I would personally recommend mine in Ambassador ITC mall Kuningan, 2nd floor (or from ground floor, go up the escalator once) and then at the back the one on the left side (ITC Mall) is called Valuta Arta Mas or something

Make sure your USD$ notes are pristine
You will get an excellent rate, sometimes better even than the one on xe.com

They are honest and will not cheat you on rates or notes
If you have a local bank account they will even transfer the rupiah directly into your account if you don't feel safe carrying hundreds of millions around (I mean if you were changing $20,000 at a time)

But $1,000 is not a huge amount "thickness" wise - it will not fit in a wallet but as a portable brick it will not break your back - imagine 4 iphones stacked together

Also strange your company suggests that? And surprising I always thought you already lived and worked here!

 

[snpark]

My first ever trip to Indoland, back in the 90's, the rupiah was 4000 to $1 or something when I left UK
By the time I landed it was 16,000+
I became a millionaire overnight on the plane

Changing $100 was crazy, and I went to Bali and no bugger had 100s so I was constantly getting bricks of 50's and making it rain, just handing out 50's for tips all the time (I was on holiday then)
I even had barstaff quit their jobs and stand next to me to act as my personal waiter to get my bintang because I kept tipping him 50 for each one hahaha
Even my taxi guy waited for me outside all night

Good old days
Now I still tip a 50 but it doesn't get the same reaction 25 years later

 

[vocalneal]

Ok a few hundred at the airport to get me going then find a money changer in Serpong

 

[harryopal1]

Apart from bringing cash with you, once you settle in, don't use your bank to transfer funds in rupiah as the banks offer almost criminally low rates of exchange compared with market rates. As you may already have seen the recommended alternative is to use Transfer Wise. Simple to use, efficient and good exchange rates. Westpac bank in Australia helped themselves to hundreds of dollars with several transfer before I picked up the advice about Transfer Wise.

On the subject of banks, a continuing Royal Commission into bank practices in Australia has revealed banks charging clients for services not provided, continuing to charge fees to client accounts after the clients were deceased and in the latest revelation about the NAB bank in Australia it has been shown that when clients were to be reimbursed the reimbursement was not drawn from the bank coffers but from client reserves that had been set aside. And in other cases it was shown that having confessed to cheating, the banks did not advise their clients they were entitled to refunds. The bank executives decided it was up to clients to ask for repayments otherwise they would not get paid.

 

[Jaime C]

My first ever trip to Indoland, back in the 90's, the rupiah was 4000 to $1 or something when I left UK
By the time I landed it was 16,000+
I became a millionaire overnight on the plane

Must have been 97 or 98, financial crisis times.

 

[vocalneal]

Yep. When guys from the site were buying new Kijangs and four of us almost bought a resort!

 

[Ruserious]

I remember during one of the currency crashes when the most you could get from an ATM was 20,000 notes and about 200k in total....the bank charges were almost as much as the amount you could withdraw.
I still occasionally withdraw on an ATM here from a foreign account. The charges are around $4 on withdrawals of $250 but the exchange rates i get are pretty competitive. When i do actual bank transfers i phone them up and negotiate and the rates are the same or better than over the counter exchanges.

 

[jukung11]

Based on your conversion rate in idr, I assume you are dealing in U.S. dollars. If you are American, I recommend looking into an online capital one account. They have no foreign ATM fee, no foreign transaction fee, and no conversion fee. The conversion rate is usually 100 to 200 idr better than the google posted rate. It is better than any airport money changer and you don't have to go out of your way or carry a big stack of cash. (Well at least not more than 30 - 100,000 notes). Pretty close to transfer wise, but capital one usually beats it by a few $. No one is expecting the IDR to appreciate in value anytime soon. It may be safer to convert only as much as you think you will need. Personally, I don't enjoy negotiating with money changers over phantom creases or bill quality. The ATM always gives me a better rate than I care to run around and negotiate.

 

[Asun]

Another vote for using regular ATM for withdrawing Rupiah. The exchange rate is definitely very competitive and the ATM fee varies from bank to bank. The last time I used Citi's ATM, the ATM fee is around $2.50 if I were not mistaken.

 

[Jamu]

One other advice and that's to avoid changing money on weekends or when the markets are closed (if you can). Money changers tend to pull back their rates at bit when markets are closed in order to protect themselves from potential adverse movements when the markets next open.