Aussie tourists in Bali face big changes as Indonesia announces new cashless system

Australian tourists heading off to Bali and Indonesia are about to face a huge change as the country moves toward a new system for doing just about everything.

Bank Indonesia has just announced they are launching a new digital payment system for tourists travelling to the countries’ destinations as they begin a push toward a cashless society.

The new Indonesia Tourist Travel Pack is being rolled out at Bali’s Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, with travellers able to set up and access Indonesian SIM cards with mobile data and phone numbers, as well as chip-based electronic money through an e-wallet.

This access will also help tourists funnel into the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) system, which enables cashless payments made through QR-code scanning and pre-paid e-wallets, according to the Bali Sun.

The Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, Fillianingsh Hendarta said the new Indonesia Tourist Travel Pack will provide an “ease of transactions” which is an “important part of the tourist experience in Bali.”

“These three initiatives are aimed at strengthening Indonesia’s position as a tourist-friendly country, and increasingly preparing for a cashless and digital tourism system,” Hendarta said.

A Bank Indonesia statement said, “as a world-class tourist destination, ease of transactions is a crucial part of the tourist experience in Bali. To that end, Bank Indonesia, along with other stakeholders, has launched three key initiatives to strengthen the digital payment ecosystem in the tourism sector.

“Bank Indonesia, along with stakeholders, is assisting foreign tourists by establishing a Tourism Information Centre at Ngurah Rai International Airport as a service point for those newly arrived in Bali.

“Through this service, tourists can obtain an Indonesia Tourist Travel Pack for digital transactions and a QRIS Nusantara Tourism Guidebook containing destination information and QRIS usage at various tourist attractions.”

“With the support of various parties, the experience of international tourists in Bali will be more convenient and practical. The hope is that they can easily conduct transactions, from paying for hotels, shopping, relaxing with coffee, to entering tourist destinations.

“Smoother transactions open up opportunities for businesses and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable local economic activity,” the bank statement added.

Although cash is still an essential element of day-to-day life in Bali for locals and visitors, having access to an e-SIM or local SIM card, or even a SIM with roaming capabilities, will also help in accessing apps and services.

Indonesia is in the process of redenominating the rupiah in order to create a simpler numerical system for the currency and while the initial aim was to have this redenomination transition completed by 2027.

The redenomination process would remove three zeros from the rupiah, but the value would remain the same.

For example, the IDR 100,000 note, which is the largest note, would become IDR 100, and the IDR 50,000 would become just IDR 50, and so on.

This would mean that Aussie tourists landing in Bali would no longer walk around feeling like instant millionaires.