Cash or Card? Countries where you still need cash.

[luxury-lizard]

@RooFlyer - yes to my surprise there seem to be CBA branches and ATMs in Bali - the one we used is in Seminyak and on the drive from the airport to our hotel I noticed a HUGE CommBank neon sign. And yes we wanted some Indonesian cash - modes amount 2,000.000 IDR (about $200 AUD).

 

[SYD]

Currently in the US (Montana) and two bars had 3.5% CC surcharge! Used cash instead - from previous visit earlier this year (fortunately withdrew a shedload at a much more favourable exchange rate!).

Went to a restaurant in Chicago - sign up saying CC only. Bill turns up with a 4% CC surcharge!….

 

[Flyfrequently]

Summary of our experience in the past 3/52 with card v cash

Lisbon : used Q money, no issues, tapped mostly, pin occasionally. Only had to use cash for Hop on Hop off bus, can tap at first stop, attendant with machine, other stops only take cash on board.
Worked out could buy online which is what we did for Porto.
Nazare : all cash apart from Surf Museum, accepted card.
 Porto : Qcash apart from one restaurant near the River insisting on cash despite website and The Fork stating cards accepted.
Other restaurants all good.
Cash at Vila Nova de Gaia souvenir stalls though some had machines.
Haarlem NL: all card, taxi - card
Hong Kong : Cash is king!
Cafes, Taxis, only used card for airport duty free and Uber.
Happy travels

 

[Lizzi]

Was in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur last week, so a couple more data points:
Singapore the only places I needed cash was in the hawker centres and a French cafe. Everywhere else was card (tapped phone).
Kuala Lumpur most places accepted card but a foot massage place in a mall was cash only and some food stalls along Jalan Alor wanted cash. A couple of places in the Central Market crafts area were keen to go with card too.

 

[tdimdad]

NZ, card only. Except for a private access road to a lookout which was a honesty box for cash ($5). Wasn't prepared for that so had to leave that visit until the next trip to the region.

 

[dajop]

Another country where you probably will still need cash, surprisingly, Singapore.

As a resident, I barely touch cash these days, other than being more convenient in some situations. But my brother visited and there were quite a few places they were caught out needing cash which they didn't have on them initially (such as nearby bakery). As a resident, I have e-wallets, apps for payment linked to my CC, and if they don't accept those apps, often will pay by scanning QR code on my banking app and then making direct transfer. But these are difficult or impossible for non-residents to use.

 

[tdimdad]

If anyone knows a way for an Australian to get Grab Money (or similar) in SG, I'd love that. Would make many of the smaller purchases (e.g. hawker centres) easier in case you don't have cash at hand.

 

[SYD]

If anyone knows a way for an Australian to get Grab Money (or similar) in SG, I'd love that. Would make many of the smaller purchases (e.g. hawker centres) easier in case you don't have cash at hand.

Or just get some cash? There’s a bunch of fee free ATMs (mentioned earlier).

The usual suspect cards all work for cash withdrawal. Citi, ING, UBank, BW, MacBank. etc

 

[tdimdad]

Or just get some cash? There’s a bunch of fee free ATMs (mentioned earlier).

The usual suspect cards all work for cash withdrawal. Citi, ING, UBank, BW, MacBank. etc

That's what I've done but it's hard to get it pre-planned right and I don't want to have much leftovers (even when I know I'll be back to spend more). I like to convenience & trackability of the digital payments.

 

[RealtimeY]

If anyone knows a way for an Australian to get Grab Money (or similar) in SG

I thought Grab money was actually the one that foreigners can load using just an Australian debit card. It's just not accepted in a lot of places, even if they accept other digital wallets.

 

[SYD]

I thought Grab money was actually the one that foreigners can load using just an Australian debit card. It's just not accepted in a lot of places, even if they accept other digital wallets.

Yep, that’s what the app says. Nice!

 

[tdimdad]

I thought Grab money was actually the one that foreigners can load using just an Australian debit card. It's just not accepted in a lot of places, even if they accept other digital wallets.

That's great! I had an older impression that it needed an SG account or card behind it but if it's available to others, too, I need to have another look.

 

[Warks]

My two bobs' worth, a little late and already covered... Went to Singapore, Denmark and Iceland in May and never used anything but credit cards. The only oddity was the MRT in Singapore which wouldn't accept my QF Woolies Visa but would accept my bank Visa (which I hardly ever use). Not a cash card although I do use it to access ATMs once a year or so here. But the charge was against the credit card.
Heading to Vietnam and Cambodia early next year so will have to be prepared to get cash over there. Hotels and flights all covered by card but I would assume a lot of the food we buy will be cash only. I'd assume most tours can be paid for by card though.

 

[anyonebutqantas]

South of France I found in smaller towns many places were cash only.

 

[SYD]

Heading to Vietnam and Cambodia early next year so will have to be prepared to get cash over there. Hotels and flights all covered by card but I would assume a lot of the food we buy will be cash only. I'd assume most tours can be paid for by card though.

About to do a cruise around SE Asia. Apparently Vietnam and Cambodia take USD. Preferably small denominations - because the change will be local currency. Fortunately I have a wad of $1 bills…

 

[Flashback]

About to do a cruise around SE Asia. Apparently Vietnam and Cambodia take USD. Preferably small denominations - because the change will be local currency. Fortunately I have a wad of $1 bills…

Cambodia definitely does, it's more widely used than the local currency. Vietnam not so much, it's the VND there.

 

[flyingfan]

About to do a cruise around SE Asia. Apparently Vietnam and Cambodia take USD. Preferably small denominations - because the change will be local currency. Fortunately I have a wad of $1 bills…

In Cambodia they're very particular about getting nice clean USD notes without any creases and have a tendency to reject those not meeting their standards.

 

[Flashback]

In Cambodia they're very particular about getting nice clean USD notes without any creases and have a tendency to reject those not meeting their standards.

The same is true of any country that is not the US, that wants USD.....

 

[burmans]

The same is true of any country that is not the US, that wants USD.....

True unfortunately. In Uzbekistan they took my older notes but charged a 5% ‘fee’.

 

[SYD]

True unfortunately. In Uzbekistan they took my older notes but charged a 5% ‘fee’.

Was that to change into local currency?

In Zimbabwe (Vic Falls), they weren’t fussy when buying stuff. But we did receive back some of the grottiest USD bills I’ve ever seen however. Made sure they stayed in country…