harryopal
I understand that with Kitas I may be able to open a bank account. If that is so what bank would you recommend here in Bali that has on line banking facility and offers the best array of services. I need to be able to do internet transfers, and perhaps from time to time use the bank in other parts of Indonesia and use ATMs.
sakumabali
BNI or BCA do both fine, however if you need to make international ONLINE transfers there's just Citibank. And they have shitty rates...I meant in case you are not in Indonesia and you need to get Rupiah out of there
davita
HSBC also have online transfers but I use TransferWise which has a much better rate than the bank.....except they do not exchange Rupiah into another currency.
harryopal
Thanks for the responses. I intend to use Transferwise next time I send funds to Indonesia or anywhere. I will keep my Australian account so the Indonesian bank would be to deposit funds and withdraw as needed. I guess each time I use my Mastercard here I am then having the relevant payment drawn against my Australian, Westpac account at the dreadful exchange rate the Australian bank offers. I presume it would make sense to get a Debit card on a local account having used Transferwise to move funds at the much better exchange rate.
Any thoughts about local debit cards or credit cards once an account has been opened with BNI or BCA?
tel522
Personally I would recommend Mandiri , after a phishing fraud at bca some years ago with absolutely no interest from bca customer services , there were many victims during that period with no recompense , mandiri also have notifications by sms at withdrawls over 1 million, international transfer comes in the next day with a decent exchange rate.
davita
Before you open an account with your chosen bank in RI establish if they will provide a credit card and under what conditions. That way you use the credit card for transactions, in Rupiah, which you have already had exchanged at the best rate. Also, many local bank credit cards offer substantial discounts which your overseas issued credit card probably doesn't.
I only deal with HSBC Premium so cannot help but my wife (on a Kitap) has an account with Mandiri for easy local transfer to pay bills (no credit card), and she just opened an account in BankSinermas and is expecting her credit card in the mail soon.
ronb
My partner and I have Mandiri, BCA, BNI, Maybank, and Commonwealth accounts. Account costs are low. For online transactions the major banks like Mandiri, BNI, and BCA are better. You can purchase credit for prepaid phones, pay postpaid phone accounts, pay for electricity or pay TV. For e-commerce the BCA offering is called klikpay. To buy an airline ticket you proceed through to the payment bit and select klikpay say, it asks Your klikpay ID. Then you go to BCA and under e-commerce you find your airline and your booking is shown. You complete the payment. Immediate with no credit card fees.
Faris Fals
BCA :)
Mandiri :)
BNI :)
BCA is my fav
Fred2
My wife uses BCA and I use Mandiri, they give a very good rate with my Australian atm card, and you can go on line open new acc and shift money around (in English). If you want to send small amount of money from Australia to your Indo banck acc I use Kangaroo servicers. 2 weeks ago I exchanged Aud to Rp, Mandiri gave my 10540Rp which was better then the street rate in Bali.
samsiam
Cimb is very good... their internet banking is great ... no need kitas, just someone that has account already to introduce
Juggler
I know this thread is a bit dated but does any one use Permatu? Apparently you can easily open up an account without a Kitas so makes it appealing to me
spicyayam
Juggler wroteI know this thread is a bit dated but does any one use Permatu? Apparently you can easily open up an account without a Kitas so makes it appealing to me
I don't but it seems like an option if you don't have a Kitas.
JackStraw
spicyayam wrote
I don't but it seems like an option if you don't have a Kitas.
Bringing this thread back to light because I heard from a longtime expat that you don't need a Kitas to open a bank account at many of these second-tier banks in Bali.
Unfortunately, he left the bar before I could get more information out of him but maybe someone on here has some insight on somesecond-tierr banks that have great interest rates?
Thanks in advance!
tel522
As I said previosly in this thread ,I was a phishing victim at a "so called" first tier bank BCA some years ago ,never got 1 rup in compensation ,god knows how security is at 2nd tier.
mugwump
JackStraw wrote
Bringing this thread back to light because I heard from a longtime expat that you don't need a Kitas to open a bank account at many of these second-tier banks in Bali.
Unfortunately, he left the bar before I could get more information out of him but maybe someone on here has some insight on somesecond-tierr banks that have great interest rates?
Thanks in advance!
Before having a Kitas I tried to open an account at Permata in Sanur and was declined, but understand that it is possible with another account holder endorsing you.
JackStraw
mugwump wrote
Before having a Kitas I tried to open an account at Permata in Sanur and was declined, but understand that it is possible with another account holder endorsing you.
Ah I see. So it's just a matter of getting a sponsor. Thank you for the input my friend! What bank do you have now if I may ask?
SamD
mugwump wrote
Before having a Kitas I tried to open an account at Permata in Sanur and was declined, but understand that it is possible with another account holder endorsing you.
I opened a Permata account in Legian without a kitas or a sponsor. Just needed my passport. I can transfer funds from my Oz account using transferwise and use the atm card everywhere.
JackStraw
SamD wrote
I opened a Permata account in Legian without a kitas or a sponsor. Just needed my passport. I can transfer funds from my Oz account using transferwise and use the atm card everywhere.
That's cool man. What's the interest rate on that?
Juggler
Same here, permata was great. I just bring money across as I need it via transfer wise. Reason being , it’s been mentioned here before that the account could be confiscated if no kitas. Not sure how accurate it is but I’m prepared to risk $1k for the ease of banking
Juggler
Should mention that all I had to do to qualify was get a local phone number
