So your In Bali, you have some cash in an account back where ever you came from, and if your like me your really tired of paying international charges every time you go to the ATM. But what else can be done? well if you’ve got a K.I.T.A.S you can legally open an account with any of the major banks here. ( BCA, BII, BNI, Manderi and in Jakarta only HSBC).

But if your on any other kind of visa your kinda stuck! (There are rumors of banks that will open an account under the table, but since 2004 i’ve not heard of it actually happening).

You can transfer money to an Indonesian account, but the banks here dont use sort codes, instead they have a swift code. As you can see from the list swift codes are all letters, which proves to be more than most bank tellers can handle! but a bit of perseverance and the transfer will complete.

All the details you need are the account holders full name, the account number, and the swift code. Now all you need is an account to send the money to! Personally I wouldn’t trust any local with any large amount of money. as Oscar Wilde said the only thing I cant resist is temptation. You can however go into one of the larger banks (I recommend BCA or BII) and have a chat with the manager or asst manager and explain your situation. He or she has access to transfer accounts. Basically you can send money to the bank its self at a much lower rate than western union will charge.

Now that should get you enough cash here to rent a house for a year, or buy a motor bike etc etc. Unfortunately I dont know how to get an account with your name on it without a kitas. Unless you have a maid, or some other local else who you trust to open an account for you! If you do go this path remember that your ’sponsor’ has the ability to close that account at any time, this isn’t too big a problem as long as you ensure you keep a tight reign on whats coming in and how much is in said account at any one time.

Keeping funds in Cyberspace is becoming more and more usual, with sites like paypal and e-gold. But they seem to be a law unto themselves, so beware.

Mr.P