Opening a bank account with a tourist visa

Hey guys,

I am not sure if this topic has been already treated,

I am planning to move to Jakarta soon, I am wondering if I could open a bank account while in there with just a tourist visa, it will be useful to have a bank account for money transfer and I am not used to deal with cash,

I am hearing a lot of contradicting news, can anyone share his experience ? any insight about the recent  move to tighten security on the banking sectors ?

Thanks in advance

The Bali section has a thread on this that mentions a non Rupiah account could be possible.
For a normal bank account, no.
If you are long term you'll get a KITAS immigration document that will allow you to open one.

All debit and credit cards with the usual logos will work here but you're likely to be charged by your bank for foreign transactions. They'll also work in local ATMs.

Thanks Fred,
Any suggestion for the banks who could accept to open the non rupiah account ? that would be still very useful.

You should try the local banks starting with the bigger ones like BCA, Mandiri BNI, Permata, CIMB Niaga, Mega etc.

Thanks Abdulkhalil, it does make sense

You could spend days of your 30 day visa looking for an account and get nowhere.
Your chip and pin cards will work perfectly happily in hotels, shops and ATMs so there's little point opening an account of any sort.
Apart from that, what bank would want to open an account for 30 days unless there was serious money in it?
Unless there's special reason, it's pointless.

You need a work visa to get a Kitas that will allow you to open a bank account. I have heard that in Bali you can buy a Kitas for about $200. Not sure how that is done or the legality of it though.

WanderingTravels wrote:

You need a work visa to get a Kitas that will allow you to open a bank account. I have heard that in Bali you can buy a Kitas for about $200. Not sure how that is done or the legality of it though.


A KITAS can be obtained legally without a work permit, a common one being spouse sponsored visas but you aren't allowed to work without a work permit.
You can't buy a KITAS, you have to apply in the proper manner and pay a fee of around Rp1 million (74 USD).
There have been claims about corruption in Bali's immigration service but no one has backed that up with evidence and it would be extremely dangerous to engage in graft as you could well find yourself in prison before being deported.

Hi Fred, do you have any suggest how I can obtain Kitas

My only purpose is to open a bank account in Indonesia when I travel there

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