Large sum of money through immigration

It might depend on the amount of cash you are carrying. Also if you are buying something cheap and nasty like a Suzuki or Daihatsu then you probably don't need to bring that much.

Assuming that you have a KITAS, why don't you open a local bank like BCA or Mandiri in Bali and either transfer the money from Australia to Bali when the rate is good? Or open a multi-currency account in a local bank in Bali and transfer your Aussie dollars to Bali. That way you can make the exchange whenever you feel the rate is good. I've never transferred money from Australia to Indonesia but I have done it from Ambank and the fees were very low indeed. Same with HSBC overseas to HSBC Indonesia, zero international transfer fees and the money arrives as soon as you click the "confirm" button in online banking.

If you don't have a KITAS, then I would consider long term car rental.

Thanks for your advice but I'm just trying to find someone who has brought a large sum of money into Bali and what there customs experience was like but thanks anyway

No problem. I guess you only need to be concerned if you are bringing in more than Rp100 million or equivalent.

Amazing the number of people who are willing to risk the numerous dangers of carrying large sums of cash when they travel, all to save a couple of dollars in banking fees or taxes.

Don't forget that Customs and Immigrations officers worldwide are going to be counting out all that currency in full view of everyone else around you. Anyone with criminal intentions is going to see exactly how much cash you're carrying and exactly where you have put that money and you automatically become a target for robbers.

Most insurance policies will not cover the loss of stolen cash, so if you're held up, you absorb that loss completely. Not to mention that fact that in some countries even a small sum may have much more value to the criminal than your life does. If I were you I'd be far less worried about Customs than that shifty little character with the knife or pistol pressed into the small of your back, demanding you turn over your bankroll.

Now that you've announced here in public on the internet that you will be moving that cash from Australia to Bali, the only information you left out was the amount, date and flight number.   

You do know that once something is out on the internet it's out there forever, don't you?

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

James, please let's not get carried away here....I have carried just below a hundred million many times in the past without problems because you don't need to declare it if it is below Rp100 million. And, the poster hasn't even given his name or date of travel. Any robber lurking around the customs inspection area at Bali Airport is more than likely to get detained. Furthermore, if someone does declare an amount of money in excess of Rp100 million on their customs declaration form then it is unlikely that customs officers will pull it all out and count it in front of all the other tourists. They have rooms specially for this kind of thing and for searching people.

I've brought larger amounts of cash with me on occasion, but I try to avoid it.
It should be noted, if the OP has a KITAS or KITAP, he can buy the car in his own name, but must use a local if he does not, but that leaves potential for problems.

The same applies to an Indonesian bank account - A KITAS/P holder can open a bank account then transfer the cash as required, a far safer way to get cash into Bali.

The 100 million number is correct, and that value counts regardless of the currency the notes are in.
The OP could also consider a bank transfer from his Australian bank to the car dealer.
There would be some fees, but not all that much as a lot less risk.

Hansson wrote:

if you are buying something cheap and nasty like a Suzuki or Daihatsu.

Oi, mush, I've had two Daihatsu cars, and they're both been fine. The salesperson for the first one was rubbish, but she got sacked.
The Luxio does a very nice job for me and has given me absolutely no trouble at all.
Cheap, yes, but not nasty.

My reply is somewhat redundant, but since I already wrote it earlier...

As you probably already know, you only need to make the customs declaration if the amount of cash is IDR 100 million or over, or its equivalent in foreign currency.  There is no tax on those funds, and you shouldn't expect anything from customs except perhaps a curiosity question related to how you plan to use those funds in Bali.  If you answer, “to buy a car” and you're on something other than a KITAS visa, that may raise more questions. 

If you look suspicious, or dressed like you just came out of a bar in OZ after watching a rugby game, then you might expect more questioning, the concern of customs being money laundering and drug related transactions.

As for bank wires…which are far better than carrying lots of cash around…in order to avoid exchange rate issues you could open an account here (assuming you have a KITAS visa) in AUD.  Most banks require a minimum 2,000 AUD to open an AUD account, but try shopping around.  Then, when you have funds wired over to Bali…do it in AUD and avoid the exchange rate issue altogether.

Yeah mate a couple bucks is in fact $2500 Aus I will be saving , I think you are a bit strange but thanks for your opinion anyway.

Excuse me?  You'll be saving AUD 2,500 just by the difference in the currency exchange rate?  If that's the case then don't you think opening an AUD account in say, Mandiri would make a whole lot of sense?   A whole lot more sense than carrying around the heaps of cash that a new Honda will cost here?   

And you think I'm "a bit strange?"   

I never said you were a bit strange it was directed at the post stating that he was amazed at how people bring change to save a few bucks the $2500 I will save is in not using debit card for because I will be charged 3% interest plus what ever my bank charges which they can't tell me . My only question was if you read my post was what can I expect from customs in Bali to which I've had lots of replys but none really answering the question which happens a lot on this site.

“I never said you were a bit strange…” 

OK, fine, but your post with that comment immediately followed my post, so what else to presume?

But back on point, you can avoid the debit card fee by using a direct bank wire.  Banks here normally charge a flat rate of only around 50,000 IDR as a service charge for incoming foreign wires.  Obviously your bank in OZ, executing the bank wire, would be another matter, but even US banks rarely charge over $50.00 to execute international transfers in US cash, so I'm guessing banks in OZ aren't that expensive either.   

The most likely reason you're not hearing from other expats who brought in the amount of cash you must be talking about…(40K or so AUD at least I'm guessing), and declared that sum at both ends (outgoing and incoming) is because of either A)  Some folks don't declare (preferring to stay “off of the radar”), B)  They don't bring in over 100 million IDR equivalent at one time, or C)  They use bank wires. 

Regardless, I don't think anyone using their common sense would suggest that you go ahead and bring that amount over in cash…declared or undeclared. 

In any event, good luck whichever way you decide. 

Cheers!

Ok thank you for advice cheers mate

At $2500 you must be about to carry some serious money, or your bank is rubbish.
You can shop around for better exchange rates, but you'll still have to pay unless the dealers will accept Australian bucks. You can save the credit/debit card fees, but the risk in carrying a sack of cash is quite enough to consider the option of opening a bank account on the island.
If you don't have a KITAS/P, you could have a lot of trouble opening an account, if it's possible at all, but that means the car can't be in your name either, another big risk.
Is this car going to cost in the region of Rp500 million?
If that's the number you're considering, hide it extremely well and make sure not a soul knows about it, even the car dealer until you turn up.
That's easily enough to send you to  shallow grave, with no one interested in finding the body because they'll have been well paid not to find it.

Gadingling wrote:

My only question is what should I expect from customs in Bali ?

Questions.
But if one word of your luggage leaks out, anything from being poor to being dead.
I very strongly suggest you don't do it.

Added.
It's a lot of temptation, and it only takes one customs officer to see cash above his job, and you could end up losing a chunk of it.
That's not to say Indonesian customs are corrupt in general, but that's a lot of cash and could 'bend' an otherwise honest man's perception of right and wrong.
He doesn't even have to touch you, just make a quick call to a friend.

If a dude takes home 6 million per month, that's up to 7 years salary in one swing of a keris.

Up to you, but there's a lot of potential for difficulties.

Hello everyone,

Some posts have been removed from this thread. Please avoid comments likely to start an argument or provoke other members.

Thank you.
Best regards,
Christine

Well, how to put this tactfully... (and not get banned!)

Let us just say that ambitious members of a certain segment of the authorities are perpetually on the lookout for "problems" or "breaking the rules" (whatever they happen to be at the moment), and so it is always preferable to err on the side of caution, particularly when it comes to financial matters. Be aware that banks are ultra-sensitive about anything that might be construed as money laundering as well (because it used to be extremely convenient to move cash through the banking system here - no questions asked).

If the car price is high enough why not ask the seller to go to Australia and close the deal there? Throw in a couple of hundred bucks more. Then he will have to deal with ways to get the money back into Indonesia (or quite possibly stuff it into an offshore account of his own).

That's my advice and I am one of the poorest expats around, so consider the source.

I think I heard from someone that there is no HSBC bank in Bali. If that is the case, the nearest HSBC might be in Surabaya. HSBC Premier requires a Rp500 million balance in order to open an account. You can do it for much less but will be charged Rp250,000 each month should your balance be below the Rp500 million threshold.

After some time when the account becomes active you can then open an HSBC Premier account in Australia (you can do that from any HSBC branch in Indonesia). Since HSBC Indonesia will be your primary Premier account, you will not need to have a large deposit in the Oz branch.

Then make sure that you have internet banking in Indonesia, and also that your HSBC Indonesia Relationship Manager links both accounts together and you are all set to go. You can transfer your funds from HSBC Oz to HSBC Indonesia with zero charges and the transfer is instantaneous.

Obviously this all takes time to set up, and you'd probably need another bank in Bali such as BCA or Mandiri that you could transfer your money to from HSBC by online banking.

Hmmm...there must be an easier way of doing it than that...

Something else is worth a note.
You'd have to change the cash to IDR, either in Australia or when you arrive in Bali as the car MUST be paid for in Rupiah.
Any non Rupiah purchase would be illegal.

Well perhaps, but people do things on the spur of the moment. I do it all the time 

Today I learned that whereby Mandiri and some other banks are currently offering only 6.5% on 3 month FD's, HSBC is offering 7.75% (negotiable) for one year FD's of Rp2 billion or more. If anyone knows of better terms for than that for 1 year FD, I'd be interested to know which bank.

Hansson,
I will pm you on the Fixed Deposit and interest rate.

This is making the use of BPR banks (aka Community Banks) all that more attractive…if one is married to an Indonesian.  12% on one year certificates is near impossible to beat anywhere.

I just had a late lunch yesterday with a long time expat friend who only the day before had moved another 100K US from his bank in California to his Community Bank. 

If one is looking to “park some money” for a year or more, and as long as one qualifies to be a member of a BPR…it's where many wise Indonesians are building their savings.

Since there is mention of BPR Community banks. I would like to add in some comments as well, as there are risks involved.

There has been a history of banks restructuring and banks amalgation since the 1998 and 2007 financial crisis. In fact there is a list by Bank Indonesia Central Bank that shows which banks are under water and restructuring. A long list.
Proper banks are now under law not to provide rates that are significantly higher than BI official rate. In the past, many large banks outcompete each other in high rates and the Central Bank deems it unhealthy practise.

Not all banks are covered and guaranteed by The LPS official government body when banks goes under, the money is safe and insured. Those that doesnt play by the rules are not covered. And it limits as well to the how much a few M that can be insured.

To put money in a 1 year fixed, while breaking it brings all penalty rates, can be considered high risk. The higher the risk, the greater the reward rates. That has always been true in all prospecting.

Readers can accept or disregard Ubudian or mine comments at both ends.
To each is to your own. It is your own money in what to do.

I only PM advises which or where to put money to close friends on forum only. No point arguing to everyone what is best method really.

One point about BPR banks in Bali.  During the financial crisis of the late 1990's, not one of them lost a rupiah of any of their depositor clients.  Why?  One reason is because these community banks are collateralized by one of the finest assets imaginable…Bali real estate. 

If one is discussing and evaluating real financial risk on an objective level, it is of course only logical to rate the financial risk as lowest for those investments which have never failed. 

The reality is, BPR banks in Bali are very low risk and a 12% guaranteed annual return is just about impossible to beat anywhere in the world. 

I cannot speak of BPR banks outside of Bali, thus the risks with those banks could very well be considerably greater.

Probably I will give the BPR Banks a miss but thanks for the introduction Roy. They should certainly be interesting for Balinese and those living in Bali, but who knows how reliable they are in other parts of Indonesia.

Also with corruption being as widespread as it is in this country I would prefer to bank my money in a major bank rather than risk one day finding that some VP had emptied the vaults or "borrowed" the money to buy some land and build a huge mansion.

Personally I look to the nearly total banking collapse in the US of 2008 as a real sign of the risks in dealing with large banks.  The risk of corruption in a small Community Bank here in Bali is almost nil…because it would be suicide, not only for the person involved, but for his or her entire family. 

But, as you say, for other parts of Indonesia?  Who knows?

Yes, that happens. And the executive who "borrows" the money is fully aware of the many contortions and handsprings necessary to get those funds returned.

I met someone a couple of  years ago who claimed that he narrowly missed losing $500,000 from a BRI account - evidently sequestered by someone with signing power.

Be aware that there are a lot of bank accounts that are dormant - either the account holder is dead or has no need for the funds or whatever. I have heard that BNI '46 employees help themselves liberally to such deposits - intending of course to return them from the profits of whatever scam I mean investment that they are planning.

This was a few years ago so the news may be dated. I do know that most Indonesians in the business world are terrified of the KPK getting hold of them so this could be a moderating factor.

I still think the car seller should go to Australia to close the deal. Buy him an airplane ticket.

In regards to bank accounts getting dormant. Different banks have different policies.
If there is no activity or transactions for a period of time - lets say 3 months, 6 months or even 1 year. The account goes dormant. You need to apply again for it to become active.

Many countries have problems of unclaimed money - be it bank or superannuation.

Even now, I need to think of a failsafe way to let family members know what are the affairs of money, documents etc - if one day something to happen and you could not even communicate. Stroke is a common illness nowadays and affects many.

In answer to the OP, I have the following advices:

1) When you convert and transfer the money. It is your home country bank that does the conversion and making money out of you. If you found the rate is bad, find another bank and open an account there. Nothing to do with the Indonesian bank.

2) In transfers outside the country, your bank will charge an administration fee - that could amount to free 0 Usd to 25 USD maximum usually. And your destination bank in Indonesia will charge again around 25 USD for receiving it.

3) If you plan to bring money cash through customs, declare in Australia and then declare in Indonesia. You need to study the laws of maximum currency that can be brought out. There are limits to bring outside and limits to bring inside. Every country posted their limits in their immigration customs guide.
Failing to declare the money will lead to seizure.
Declaring the money, you will have to explain yourself why the large amount. And might be prohibited by approval by Central bank or even up to customs taxes if there is any.

4) My advice for Australian resident. You can open a Commonwealth or HSBC account in your home country. And ask there what are the options, likely costs associated with transferring to an Indonesian account. Both banks have a presence in Indonesia and might be more advantageous in the short term.
However, if you are more adept and planning to stay longer in Indonesia. Open a local bank - major top 5 banks would be fine - and ask the SWIFT code for the bank and open the account. They are all internet based banking available and service is great.

That's why I would never put my money in some kampung cooperative or community bank in the middle of nowhere. Much safer to stick with the big banks.

Hansson,
I have very bad experiences of these Community banks.

They could be likened to "loan sharks". They loaned out at very high interest rates to people who cannot afford it. The penalty rates of missing the monthly deadline of paying is like bank robbery charges. And the collateral are often precious land the borrower owned. They are worse than credit card companies.

I have an ex employee falls to hard times and decided to borrow that method. He ended up frauding several people, and narrowly missed jail because he criminally forged and hide other people money or goods.

Nowadays for employees, we evaluate and provide interest free loans - case to needs basis - where employees can borrow for emergency purposes and pay back in installments that they can afford.

For the OP, I forgot to mention one simpler way.

This is used by some people and Use at your OWN RISK only.

Try and find the biggest available currency for you to convert at in the country. Lets say for example Singaporean dollars SGD 10,000 a single note.
You only need to carry 8 to 10 notes in your wallet. Easy transport and can convert at your destination country.
However you will lose some at the conversion in each instance.

Note though, 10,000 banknote is rarely used. 1000 notes are more used.

I'm happy to put the Community Banks of Bali back in my bag labelled, "secrets of Bali to keep hidden."  And I'm happy to count my 12% interest paid every month.   

Do you remember the old commercials for Eveready batteries with the bunny “that just keeps going and going?”  I'm like that bunny, only for me it “just keeps counting and counting.”  Seventeen years of “counting and counting” so far! 

To each his own!   

Cheers!

Reminds me when I was here in 98-00 when interest rates were in the mid to high 20% range that you could get on any major bank term deposits...it would have been great if I had had the foresight to lock in at these rates. If I remember rightly, some had longer maturities of more than 20 years.

Instead I invested in the stock market...

As to Singapore $10K notes. Too late. They are being withdrawn from circulation as soon as they enter the bank clearing system in Singapore. They are also not too popular with money changers here in Indonesia anyway. Of course if you are reasonably well connected here, they are not too difficult to get rid of   

From all the potential solutions to OP's problem that of opening a HSBC account in AUD in Surabaya and another one in Australia seems the most plausible and at lowest possible risk and cost albeit with a bit of time and effort involved.

Smuggling money into Indonesia is a no no! Importing larger, declared amounts may subject you to too much interest in you at your port of disembarkation.

The OP hasn't revealed if he has a KITAS or KITAP or how much he wants to bring with him so a more targeted response is impossible.

Fred wrote:

But if one word of your luggage leaks out, anything from being poor to being dead.

I did once (in a different time, long ago, when the Rupiah was still worth a lot more and I was young and recless) carry a large sum of foreign cash to Indonesia (for buying a house). But I arranged with my trusted money changer that his armed guard meets me at the ferry terminal, goes with me by taxi to the changer's office and then (with two plastic bags full of bank notes) to the property developer's office to pay.
I did not feel comfortable during this and would not recommend it to anyone!
(I sold the house years later at a huge profit in Rupiah, which was a loss in foreign currency ...)

Edited to add: I have no idea (and neither did I care) whether there was a need to declare to customs at that time. I just had it at the bottom of my normal luggage.

Can someone direct me to some more information about these banks in Bali
(or nationwide in Indo?) that offer 12%+
On savings deposit?

How secure are they?

Does interest get paid monthly?

Are they locked in like a term deposit?

Do you have to be a resident?

Are there many different banks that offer similar to spread the risks?

How can they afford to offer such attractive returns without investing it themselves in questionable activities as they will want a cut on top of the 12%, surely property isn't this lucrative to give such returns as one poster mentioned?

Anything else of note would be great, thanks...

Edit: You can start this in a new thread Mods if you feel like this is being hijacked!!

The highest interest I've seen on a bank Term deposit was with Victoria Bank which was 10 - 12%, not sure if they exist in Bali though. However, the Government seem to be playing around with rates quite a bit recently so you'd need to check with them, perhaps on their website. Usually when the BI sets controls on interest rates, if affects mostly the biggest banks in Indonesia like BCA and Mandiri and some others.

Yes you need to be resident, to have a KITAS or KITAP or the likes to open a bank account in Indonesia.

Normal Savings accounts offer very low interest rates.

Term deposits, usually one month or three month rollovers offer the highest interest rates, strange as it might seem. If you choose 1 or 3 month rollovers then the interest is paid either monthly or at the end of the term. Some banks insist on a deposit of Rp2 miliar to get the better interest rates.

Last time I checked, and the rates might have changed, was 6.5% for the first tier banks and 6.75% for 2nd Tier banks. There may be other banks offering better than this, not sure.

The Victoria Bank is a third tier bank, which means that it is a small bank, and therefore more risky than the bigger and medium sized banks.

Probably others may know better than me, Ubudian for example mentioned Community Banks in Bali which offer 12% interest, although I am not familiar with those.