Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

I need to open a Bank a/c in Bali - somewhere near Jalan Double Six and have had no luck in finding a bank who will allow me to open an account without a Kitas.

Is there anyone who has had actual experience during the past 12 months in opening a new bank account without a Kitas?

Hi Mr Leslie and welcome to the forum.

See the previous threads below regarding opening a bank account.

http://www.bali-information.com/expat_f ... bank+kitas

http://www.bali-information.com/expat_f ... bank+kitas

I wish you luck.

matsaleh wrote:Hi Mr Leslie and welcome to the forum.

See the previous threads below regarding opening a bank account.

http://www.bali-information.com/expat_f ... bank+kitas

http://www.bali-information.com/expat_f ... bank+kitas

I wish you luck.

Hi Matsaleh - thanks for the threads. However, no -one seems to have managed to open an account yet. The best has been to use someone you trust. Unfortunately, there is no one I trust!
All the best

A poster on BTF claims to have opened an account on a tourist visa with Panin Bank in Bali
http://www.balitravelforum.com/archive200707/46872.html

Personally I have never been able to find a bank in last 3-4 years that will open an account without a kitas. But I think it's like everything else in Indonesia - there just are no set rules. So it may be possible to do - you just need to work out how (contacts, money etc), or get lucky.

The other alternative is to open an account with a bank in your home country that has a branch in Bali, or just wear the ATM withdrawal fees and operate your home account via ATM and internet banking from Bali.

When FreoGirl says:

So it may be possible to do - you just need to work out how (contacts, money etc), or get lucky.

She might be right. I have have just been to Bali with my small family and my wife, who has a KTP from Jember, East Jawa was unable to open a bank account in Bali! How should a foreigner then be able to you might ask.

Well some friends of us who were in Bali at the same time wanted to open a bank account for the danish husband. They had asked someone from the danish consulat if that was possible and had been told they should try.
They went to a couple of banks and asked whether he could open a bank account. They were told no. When they told this to the person that had told them otherwise, she had just laughed and said that they should have asked the bank whether they could help him open a bank account.

With how much this kind help should be repaid I do not know...

The magic words: "Bisa membantu?" will work wonders in almost any situation.

FreoGirl wrote:A poster on BTF claims to have opened an account on a tourist visa with Panin Bank in Bali
http://www.balitravelforum.com/archive200707/46872.html

Personally I have never been able to find a bank in last 3-4 years that will open an account without a kitas. But I think it's like everything else in Indonesia - there just are no set rules. So it may be possible to do - you just need to work out how (contacts, money etc), or get lucky.

The other alternative is to open an account with a bank in your home country that has a branch in Bali, or just wear the ATM withdrawal fees and operate your home account via ATM and internet banking from Bali.

I have seen the BTF posting and, frankly, none of the BTF postings are reliable - they are all heresay. The problem with opening an a/c with a bank that has branches in Indonesia is that the branches still have to abide by the banking laws in Indonesia and ANZ for example still asks for a Kitas.

Allan wrote:The magic words: "Bisa membantu?" will work wonders in almost any situation.

Thank you - I'll try it

I was able to get and IDR account at the Commonwealth Bank in Jl Teuku Umar before I got a Kitas. There was a lot of paperwork and I am not sure exactly what made it possible, but I already had Commonwealth accounts in Australia and I had papers from Bali IDE showing that I intended to get a Kitas several months later.

ronb wrote:I was able to get and IDR account at the Commonwealth Bank in Jl Teuku Umar before I got a Kitas. There was a lot of paperwork and I am not sure exactly what made it possible, but I already had Commonwealth accounts in Australia and I had papers from Bali IDE showing that I intended to get a Kitas several months later.

Hi Ronb - I think you managed to be able to open the a/c because you had the paperwork from the IDE showing that you were going to get a Kitas. I'm sure that if you hadn't had these then you'd be getting the same "No" as me. Thanks for your reply

Try City Bank and ABN Amro in Denpasar, Im Indonesian with Jakarta KTP and both bank have no issue with that, but then i decided to open account with ABN Amro. For Indonesian they only need passport and KTP, not necessarily Bali KTP, for foreigner i'm not sure..

SunFlower wrote:Try City Bank and ABN Amro in Denpasar, Im Indonesian with Jakarta KTP and both bank have no issue with that, but then i decided to open account with ABN Amro. For Indonesian they only need passport and KTP, not necessarily Bali KTP, for foreigner i'm not sure..

Well - you said it in one - you are Indonesian and that makes all the difference. I have tried Citibank in DPS and they needed a Kitas & I can only guess that ABN Amro are the same. But many thanks anyway

LarsDK said

I have have just been to Bali with my small family and my wife, who has a KTP from Jember, East Jawa was unable to open a bank account in Bali! How should a foreigner then be able to you might ask.

forget to add that reply was mean for LarsDK. U r welcome..

Thanks

We'll try them next time we're in Bali.

Indeed, there is another post on that subject that I started a few month back but unfortunately none of the suggestions worked. maybe we should just answer the question with a "No, it is not possible for a foreigner to open an account TODAY without a kitas" until someone can -hopefully- prove us wrong instead of some vague suggestions about try this bank or this one or i knew someone who did it 3 years ago.

I opened an account without a Kitas but only because I have friends who helped me. I can even access it from the internet and transfer funds but as a rule it is no however there may be a way if you can find a friend.

Good luck