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Indonesia: mid-July. Which cards to carry to get accepted everywhere? What about a debit card to withdraw cash from ATM?

Makes sense. Even 50k is not a huge amount to have peace of mind with zero fee on Forex. I will try to get this Debit card and make it primary.
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U can try online e visa also, if u want to avoid cash.

But from what I have read, carrying minimal cash is a must, as even for many attraction entry tickets, cards are not accepted. For a 4-5 day trip, u can consider withdrawal of around 5000 INR (10L IDR) to be safe.

Below are some cards good for ATM withdrawal. Use BCA bank for free withdrawal.

Niyo global debit card - 499.14 INR
IDFC Wealth - 234.82INR + 1.77% (No Advance payment needed)
Burgundy Debit card - 4.13%
Magnus Burgundy - 2.36% (Advance payment needed to avoid interest)
HDFC Infinia - 2.36% (Advance paym
ent needed to avoid interest)
Can you explain what do you mean by advance payment to avoid interest? Can we really avoid the markup fee by clearing dues before bill generation? If yes, then this will not work now that all CC bills will be done via BBPS?
 
I visited Indonesia about 2 years ago and spent a month there. Mostly in Jakarta. Don't know about visa fee as fortunately I didn't need a visa. The hotel was prepaid Ibis Manga Dua (no longer there) at a very good rate of just $ 20 or 30 per day. Probably due to the longer stay. Mostly used cash. Decided to take Singapore $ as the exchange rate seemed better than US $ or buying Indonesian Rupiah in India.
 
Can you explain what do you mean by advance payment to avoid interest? Can we really avoid the markup fee by clearing dues before bill generation? If yes, then this will not work now that all CC bills will be done via BBPS?
Markup fees are separate and not reversed.

There is interest fee, which is about 3-4% per month for cash withdrawal transactions. This is charges on total outstanding from day of withdrawal. So, pay before withdrawal to keep outstanding Zero to avoid that interest.

Regarding bbps, none knows future.
 
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
I guess DCB should always be tried first everywhere to check whether it works. Given that you could extract 3.33% return from it, it will still become a positive return considering markup fee of 2% + GST.
 
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
Had recently searched for the same thing and got myself IndusInd Exclusive account with its debit cards (Both Visa Signature Exclusive and World Exclusive MC). Both these DCs have 0% forex and unlimited free ATM withdrawals in India and Internationally.

More details here if interested: https://www.indusind.com/content/da...es/savings-account/SOB-SA-Indus-Exclusive.pdf
 
Do you have a contact here? I'd like to open an account ASAP.
No personal contact as such. I opened it online with initial funding of 90k. The process was pretty seamless and the debit card and cheque book were delivered in a week.

You can apply from their website here: https://www.indusind.com/in/en/personal/accounts/saving-account/indus-exclusive.html

You can also try to visit their nearest branch and check if they can provide an insta kit with exclusive DC.
 
U can try online e visa also, if u want to avoid cash.

But from what I have read, carrying minimal cash is a must, as even for many attraction entry tickets, cards are not accepted. For a 4-5 day trip, u can consider withdrawal of around 5000 INR (10L IDR) to be safe.

Below are some cards good for ATM withdrawal. Use BCA bank for free withdrawal.

Niyo global debit card - 499.14 INR
IDFC Wealth - 234.82INR + 1.77% (No Advance payment needed)
Burgundy Debit card - 4.13%
Magnus Burgundy - 2.36% (Advance payment needed to avoid interest)
HDFC Infinia - 2.36% (Advance paym
ent needed to avoid interest)
@Harry1 this sounds like a neat trick, my AU zenith+ has 0.99% markup and 0 cash withdrawal fee, but it has 2.5% per month (I think) interest charges on the whole unpaid transaction if I withdraw cash.

So if I credit money to cc in advance, I can skip away from paying the high interest ?

Any particular things to keep in mind ?

PS: I learnt something new today 😅
 
@Harry1 this sounds like a neat trick, my AU zenith+ has 0.99% markup and 0 cash withdrawal fee, but it has 2.5% per month (I think) interest charges on the whole unpaid transaction if I withdraw cash.

So if I credit money to cc in advance, I can skip away from paying the high interest ?

Any particular things to keep in mind ?

PS: I learnt something new today 😅
Yes, that should work. So far what I have seen, all cards work like that (interest calculation from day of withdrawal till day of payment) except few cards, where interest is waived off.

But if it is large amount, better to do a trial with 100 rs withdrawal in India itself. U won't lose anything anyway. Deposit 100 first, then withdraw 100 from ATM and then wait till statement generation.
 
I went in may 24,
Used fi debit card for atm withdrawal on bali airport 25L IDR in one go with just 100 rs charges.. fi debit card card was working fine everywhere else as well in POS machines..
Also used rbl world safari/scapia/indie card with no issues…
 
Need help with cards to carry on my trip to Indonesia starting mid-July.

I have these CC that might work - RBL World Safari Visa, HDFC Diners Black, BoB Eterna Visa, ICICI Sapphiro AMEX/MC, ICICI Coral Rupay, Federal Celesta,
DC - Niyo global, ICICI Wealth, HDFC Plat

Now, I understand that RBL World Safari has 0% forex, but many islands/cities might not be accepting it because of MDR. I might need to use cash from local ATM.

Which DC/Forex card would you recommend to get cash from ATM?
Niyo ATM withdrawal charges are ~430. I can get ICICI/HDFC Forex issued, if that helps.
First of all download the "ATM Fee Saver" android app, it shows ATM nearby and withdrawal charges if any.
Very usefull app to save withdrawal charges anywhere across the globe
I use it extensively these days.

Indonesia in generally is a cash friendly country, so try to keep cash with you.
Opt for some forex card to withdraw cash from bank ATM ( mostly BNI bank atms don't charge any withdrawal fees ) , ATM will show you if there are any withdrawal charges.

Remember some atms have withdrawal limits on transaction at 10 mil, 25 mil or 30 mil so transact accordingly.

Use RBL world safari at mini marts , alpha marts & indomarts , they don't charge any surcharge
Good restaurants & renowned shops like Krishna ole ole also don't charge any surcharge
For activities it's better to book through klook to avoid 3% CC surcharge or you can pay via cash too ( make sure to bargain )

Small shops , restaurants might charge 3% surcharge for using CC, better to pay with cash.

DCB would work only at renowned hotels, fancy shops and restaurants.
 
U can try online e visa also, if u want to avoid cash.

But from what I have read, carrying minimal cash is a must, as even for many attraction entry tickets, cards are not accepted. For a 4-5 day trip, u can consider withdrawal of around 5000 INR (10L IDR) to be safe.

Below are some cards good for ATM withdrawal. Use BCA bank for free withdrawal.

Niyo global debit card - 499.14 INR
IDFC Wealth - 234.82INR + 1.77% (No Advance payment needed)
Burgundy Debit card - 4.13%
Magnus Burgundy - 2.36% (Advance payment needed to avoid interest)
HDFC Infinia - 2.36% (Advance paym
ent needed to avoid interest)
IDFC wealth only allows withdrawals upto 10,000 INR equivalent on each transaction. Important point to note
 
IDFC wealth only allows withdrawals upto 10,000 INR equivalent on each transaction. Important point to note
Incorrect info. Please check below post

Writing this post to share personal experience of withdrawing cash abroad with IDFC wealth card.

The interest free period on cash withdrawal is a very handy tool and particularly useful when you withdraw money outside. For the past few trips, I didn't carry any forex cash/ card. Just had debit cards and IDFC wealth. Most of the debit cards charge 3.5%+GST as forex markup. The below is an illustration of charges (assuming €/ ₹ rate of 90.0) on IDFC wealth, and why you can consider using it for forex cash than carrying money from India or using forex cards:

Withdrawal- €250 (= ₹ 22,500)
Markup = 22500*0.015*1.18 = ₹398
Advance charges = ₹199
Net markup = ₹597 ~ 2.65%

I prefer to do all transactions in card directly wherever they are accepted and only keep such small amount of cash handy, paying an extra 400-600 rupees only towards forex markup expenses.

PS- DCC is NOT applicable when you choose to transact in local currency at the ATM. Some ATMs do give you the option where they will show you the INR rate and EUR rate. Always choose the latter. In the absence of this option, it has picked up the latter in my experience.
 
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