In an earlier thread about the
best banks in Bali I figured that I would be better off transferring Aussie $ into Mandiri rather than Commonwelath because their exchange rates are more favourable.
Today Mandiri is buying 1 Aussie $ for Rp9,510 - while the Commonwealth rate is Rp9,450.
But it turns out, the saving is not there because of an extra fee.
I opened a Mandiri account to see if I could get the better rate, and have just done some transfers to compare. Here is what I find.
Commonwealth Australia -> Commonwelath Indonesia. They charge a fee of $22 in Australia, then the arriving dollars are converted using the "buy rate" on the web-site. I transferred $2,000 and received Rp18,926000.
Commonwealth Australia -> Mandiri. The same $22 charge to make another $2,000 transfer, then to my surprise the arriving amount is Rp18,906,000 - even though their rate is 9,510. Asking at the bank it turns out that the arriving amount has been reduced by about $20 which is a fee for some intermediate step in the transfer. The Mandiri person could not help with details of what this intermediate step is and how the fee is calculated. Maybe if I asked Commonwealth Aust - they may know. But I think I have run out of energy.
Conclusion. For transfers of around $2000 - there is nothing in it. You get about the same from both banks. My guess is that you would get the same from Danamon and BRI too because they would use the same intermediate step.
