taking money out of Indonesia

sakumabali

I would change a huge amount of rupiah at once (better quotes/ negotiable just did) to € / $ and transfer the sh%t. Sorry I'm in a bad mood :-( Any chance to talk to you soon Jaffa when you'll coming? I'm leaving for europe on the 13th Dec (3 weeks)

jaffa

Just about to email you Sakumabali. Arrive 20th Nov for 4 weeks. I haven't been in a bad mood myself since July 20th (day I left Bali) ;-0

sakumabali wroteI would change a huge amount of rupiah at once (better quotes/ negotiable just did) to € / $ and transfer the sh%t. Sorry I'm in a bad mood :-( Any chance to talk to you soon Jaffa when you'll coming? I'm leaving for europe on the 13th Dec (3 weeks)

sunnycoast

Exchange and take it out in cash seems the best option to me. As long as you report it at customs, there is no problem. Also report when entering your final destination. I also hate the excessive charges western banks deduct from our money. That's why at my last visit to Bali, I had a big amount of money with in cash, reported when leaving my homecountry and also at DPS customs when arriving; and that's all. No problems and no extra costs.

jaffa

I am looking to take some money out of Indonesia (all totally legitimate I might add!) The usual routes for sending money to Indonesia - XE.com and other currency trading houses - don't have Rupiah accounts for bringing money out. What is the general consensus on how to do this. Will Indonesian banks offer reasonable exchange rates? I would never in a million years consider using a normal Western bank to trade currency (given the 3-8% they shave off the true market rate) but I'm thinking that Indonesian banks are not as greedy as Western banks, and therefore they might offer Rupiah to AUD or GBP with only 1-2% shaved off. Any advice/experience would be appreciated (a Bali bank contact who can offer me some rates would be even better as I can have the money sent to a variety of Bali banks)

hinakos

taking it out in cash is a piece of cake. i just took nearly 10k cash, no need to report it if under this amount. if doing multiple trips in and out carry 10k each time. if you travelling with your partner you can carry 10K each. bank rates are garbage. i withdrew 20k rupiah from the bank, then went to BMC and negotiated a rate with them, far better than i could get with the bank, then carried that money through customs and home. there is a thread in the members forum on this also.

crosskeyscottage

We are needing to get quite a bit of money to Thailand. Best options? If we go through the bank, we have to change from IDR to US$ and then to THB. Expensive. The limit of taking money out is only 100,000,000 each I believe and US$20,000 into Thailand. We have a contract for what the money will be used for and also paper trail here. Can't afford any hiccups.

Markit

Personally I would never run around with that amount of dosh in my trousers. Have a good look at TransferWise. I've had nothing but great experience using them to move money around, it goes straight out of your account into theirs and who knows how much or where it lands? Possibly in an account in Thailand? You may need to be creative with transferring dosh to your mate's accounts here and having them send it to you in TL if you need more than the daily limit is...

crosskeyscottage

They are very expensive, much cheaper to go through the Indo/Thai bank from IDR/US/THB, but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Markit

Be careful that you don't do a "cheap" option that gives a "cack" rate of exchange. Just remember "a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking about real money".

BestofBali

Risky taking that much cash with you. You can bring in as much as you want into Bali as long as you [B]declare it[/B], maybe you can do the same in Thialand. Maybe much safer transferring it via the banks and claiming the fees back at tax time.