Hello all. I'm back in Perth after 8 weeks in Sanur. First week home was depressing, but hey I have to earn the money to spend when I go back to Bali !! I went to the Commonwealth Bank in Denpasar and they informed me all you need is a letter from your bank in Oz to say you have an account and you can open one in Bali. I'll be doing that for my three month trip next year. Plus they have ATM's in quite a few locations. Only costs $1.50 to withdraw, and you can withdraw more than most ATM's.
Bank accounts
- Thread starter Claire Quinn
- Start date
Sorry, is it me? Does this make sense to anyone else? The 3 last posts all seem to contradict each other...
Don't misunderstand me - I don't blame the posters but isn't there any way to get a definitive answer on this?
Maybe from some official source - I know, "don't ask and we won't have to lie to you" but there must be a way around this bureaucratic BS?
There are thousands of expats that live and bank daily in Bali - be brave, go for it and tell us wannabes what's up - Jesus, we aint the IRS and they got better things to do than hang around on Bali expat forums. :x
Sooze - what bank where you at and does the letter need to be from its associated bank in OZ? - more info would be good. :?
Don't misunderstand me - I don't blame the posters but isn't there any way to get a definitive answer on this?
Maybe from some official source - I know, "don't ask and we won't have to lie to you" but there must be a way around this bureaucratic BS?
There are thousands of expats that live and bank daily in Bali - be brave, go for it and tell us wannabes what's up - Jesus, we aint the IRS and they got better things to do than hang around on Bali expat forums. :x
Sooze - what bank where you at and does the letter need to be from its associated bank in OZ? - more info would be good. :?
Re: RE: Bank accounts
Markit, throw away you're western ideas of "having to know everything up front" or you will go crazy. When you get to Bali, talk to local people, ask lots of questions. Eventually, it will all fall into place. :wink:
Experience has taught me that there are no "definitive answers" for any bureaucratic actions in Indonesia. Everything depends on who you speak to at the time, who you know in the right places (or someone who knows someone, etc) and how much you're willing to pay.Markit said:
Markit, throw away you're western ideas of "having to know everything up front" or you will go crazy. When you get to Bali, talk to local people, ask lots of questions. Eventually, it will all fall into place. :wink:
Matsaleh what a week to give up cocaine snorting (in the immortal words of Lloyd Bridges in Airplane).
If what you said were true then no ones money or land or house or car or motorbike or dog..... would be safe in any bank or other institution because your personal ownership of these things could be disputed by anyone with more money to bribe or "encourage" with than you had at that time.
These things do work in SE Asia just differently - and it's that difference I'm trying to get at.
I'll be that you have a bank account when you are in Bali - how? where? what did you have to do to get it? You know people that have them - what can you say about that?
If this is more than you feel you can tell then OK, but please don't cut the discussion off with the "wait until you get to Bali" - I thought that one of the reasons that this forum exists was to enable the free exchange of information between expats, natives and those who want to be.
Let the exchange begin!
If what you said were true then no ones money or land or house or car or motorbike or dog..... would be safe in any bank or other institution because your personal ownership of these things could be disputed by anyone with more money to bribe or "encourage" with than you had at that time.
These things do work in SE Asia just differently - and it's that difference I'm trying to get at.
I'll be that you have a bank account when you are in Bali - how? where? what did you have to do to get it? You know people that have them - what can you say about that?
If this is more than you feel you can tell then OK, but please don't cut the discussion off with the "wait until you get to Bali" - I thought that one of the reasons that this forum exists was to enable the free exchange of information between expats, natives and those who want to be.
Let the exchange begin!
I tend to agree with Mats
A friend opened an account with a bank in Ubud with just a passport Two days later I walked in and tried to do the same.
Sorry not allowed. After much explaining that my friend did this very thing two days ago I got nowhere.
"We know nothing and a shrug of the shoulders, and a polite smile, but no I did not get my account.
Unfortunately I did not speak Bahasa Indonesian at that stage so got nowhere.
A friend opened an account with a bank in Ubud with just a passport Two days later I walked in and tried to do the same.
Sorry not allowed. After much explaining that my friend did this very thing two days ago I got nowhere.
"We know nothing and a shrug of the shoulders, and a polite smile, but no I did not get my account.
Unfortunately I did not speak Bahasa Indonesian at that stage so got nowhere.
Markit you want it straight so here goes.
1. If you have a kitas you CAN open a bank account for sure
2. No Kitas no bank account at a local level
3. Your bank may be able to help you open a dollar account
4. Your friends in Bali may be able to help you open a bank account.
The main reason folks here hedge there bets is because they are not experts and can only go on experience which is why you get so many conflicting sources. We all try and help where we can but this is not just a forum to answer questions. If you do not like the answers kindly do your own research and then you can answer the next person who asks this question.
1. If you have a kitas you CAN open a bank account for sure
2. No Kitas no bank account at a local level
3. Your bank may be able to help you open a dollar account
4. Your friends in Bali may be able to help you open a bank account.
The main reason folks here hedge there bets is because they are not experts and can only go on experience which is why you get so many conflicting sources. We all try and help where we can but this is not just a forum to answer questions. If you do not like the answers kindly do your own research and then you can answer the next person who asks this question.
Re: RE: Bank accounts
Now this made me laugh.Markit said:
Markit, I don't have a bank account in Bali as I haven't found a bank that will give me an account without KITAS. What I do is transfer funds to my Visa card before I go and then withdraw over the counter. As most ATMs will only allow withdrawals of Rp1.5M or Rp2M per transaction, it's far more economical to withdraw say, Rp10 or Rp20M at a time over the counter. Only one transaction fee and my bank charges 1 percent currency uplift. So far, I've found the rate (including the 1 percent) to be comparable with street rate.Markit said:
I can assure you I wasn't trying to "cut the discussion off", only offering a suggestion from my own experience. I learned so much from this forum before arriving in Bali, BUT I learned a WHOLE LOT MORE from talking to locals.Markit said:
Hear hear!
I couldn't have said it better, Jimbo!Jimbo said:
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Welcome to the forum psheppo!
Apparently the rules have changed since you opened your account. It seems that Indonesian banks are prohibited from opening IDR accounts for foreigners. According to another forum member working in banking in Indonesia, Laj, the regulations are designed to limit currency speculation.
In any case Panin has a partnership with ANZ bank which allows foreigners to open IDR accounts. I'm not sure how that fits in with the restrictions that Laj talked about. Panin has also been mentioned a couple of times by another forum member, Marcel, who said he opened an account recently without a kitas. I'm not sure if that was through ANZ-Panin or Panin.
Anyone interested in ANZ-Panin can see their fees and charges here: http://www.anz.com/Indonesia/english/feesandcharges.asp
Apparently the rules have changed since you opened your account. It seems that Indonesian banks are prohibited from opening IDR accounts for foreigners. According to another forum member working in banking in Indonesia, Laj, the regulations are designed to limit currency speculation.
In any case Panin has a partnership with ANZ bank which allows foreigners to open IDR accounts. I'm not sure how that fits in with the restrictions that Laj talked about. Panin has also been mentioned a couple of times by another forum member, Marcel, who said he opened an account recently without a kitas. I'm not sure if that was through ANZ-Panin or Panin.
Anyone interested in ANZ-Panin can see their fees and charges here: http://www.anz.com/Indonesia/english/feesandcharges.asp