Payment methods in Bahrain

I personally try and pay with credit cards where ever I go unless the transaction is less than a couple of BD then I would use cash. I don't think there is a common payment method in Bahrain, majority of places will take credit/debit cards normally without a minimum spend, or you can just as easily pay with cash or more recently electronic wallets seem to be gaining popularity (Viva cash & BWallet).

But in general my groceries, bills and whenever I can I use my credit card. Normally rent and fuel is only accepted as cash.

Saudi Riyals can be used nearly anywhere and is accepted as 10SAR = 1BHD unsure if other gulf currencies can be used as not seen them.

Hope this helps.

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Don't carry cash. Though there are several applications which can be used for paying at the counter but my experience with credit cards has been the best. Ask your bank to give you a credit card (Mastercard preferably) and use that to pay your day to day grocery bills. You might face problem when you shop from smaller shops since they do not have card reader. Credit Cards bring several privileges and discounts with them, keep yourself abreast with such offers. Beware of the the annual minimum expenditure with the card. for example, if you have a credit card of Standard Chartered with 500 BD per month limit, the bank might ask you to spend minimum 2000 BDs per year with this card otherwise they will charge you 30-35 BDs at the end of the year. People living without families and being provided by free accomodatio+food will face problem in spending 2000 per year since they don't need to spend 70 BD per month. Hope that answers your question.