{"id":1321,"date":"2018-06-12T17:44:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T21:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/?p=1321"},"modified":"2018-06-23T11:50:36","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T15:50:36","slug":"money-tips-traveling-bolivia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/money-tips-traveling-bolivia","title":{"rendered":"Money Tips &#8211;  For Traveling In Bolivia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re planning a trip to Bolivia you will no doubt at some point think about your travel money, what to bring (or not bring) or what methods or currencies can be used when your there.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivia is not as advanced as most countries in the areas of banking, payments and currency exchange and many people get caught out or frustrated because of this.<\/p>\n<p>Read through the following advice to make sure you know what to expect and you are prepared correctly.<\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Basic_Info\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> Basic Info<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#What_About_These_Pesos_I_Keep_being_Asked_For\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> What About These Pesos I Keep being Asked For?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Common_Questions\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> Common Questions<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#ATMs_Cash_Machines\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> ATMs \/ Cash Machines<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Money_Exchange_8211_Casa_de_Cambio_8211_Bureau_de_Change\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> Money Exchange &#8211; Casa de Cambio &#8211; Bureau de Change<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Paying_with_Credit_Cards\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">6<\/span> Paying with Credit Cards<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Travelers_Cheques\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">7<\/span> Travelers Cheques<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Fake_Money\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">8<\/span> Fake Money<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#A_Few_Safety_Tips_Suggestions\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">9<\/span> A Few Safety Tips &amp; Suggestions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<h2><span id=\"Basic_Info\"><strong>Basic Info<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The official currency of Bolivia is the Boliviano and the symbol used is usually <strong>Bs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The exchange rate of the Boliviano to US dollar has remained quite stable for a number of years and at the time of writing 1 USD was worth around 6.9 bolivianos (mid market rate).<\/p>\n<p>You can check the current USD to BOB rate today on <a href=\"https:\/\/xe.com\/currencyconverter\/convert\/?Amount=1&amp;From=USD&amp;To=BOB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">xe.com\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The international ISO currency code is <strong>BOB<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1 Boliviano is made up of 100 centavos (cents)<\/p>\n<p>Currently issued coins and notes are as follows :<\/p>\n<p>Coins \u2013 \u00a0centavos 10, 20, 50\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bolivianos 1, 2, 5<\/p>\n<p>Notes \u2013 bolivianos 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200<\/p>\n<p>In 2018 the government started to release new notes to release the old versions and at the time of writing the 10bs note had just been released.<\/p>\n<p>These new notes will have \u201cEstado Plurinacional de Boliva\u201d (Plurinational State of Bolivia), which is the official name of the country since the new constitution in 2009, \u00a0printed on them as opposed to just referring to the country as Bolivia.<\/p>\n<p>The new notes at first glance seem to be a bit more durable and will hopefully mean we will soon see the end of the filthy notes in circulation currently which, in particular the 10bs note, are nothing short of a health hazard.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1324\" style=\"width: 680px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1324\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1324 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/10-boliviano-note-2018.jpg\" alt=\"New 10 Boliviano Note 2018\" width=\"670\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/10-boliviano-note-2018.jpg 670w, https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/10-boliviano-note-2018-585x391.jpg 585w, https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/10-boliviano-note-2018-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1324\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New 10 Boliviano Note 2018<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"What_About_These_Pesos_I_Keep_being_Asked_For\"><strong>What About These Pesos I Keep being Asked For?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It should be noted that when in Bolivia it is not uncommon for people to give you prices in \u201cpesos\u201d or \u201cpesitos\u201d which you should simply take to mean bolivianos.<\/p>\n<p>This is a throwback to when the \u00a0currency was called peso boliviano and it has stuck in common language throughout the years, probably because its easier to say!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Common_Questions\"><strong>Common Questions<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How can I get Bolivianos before coming to Bolivia?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is extremely difficult to get Bolivianos in advance before travelling and is only usually possible in neighboring countries such as Peru or Argentina and even then on usually in the areas close to the border and at bad rates.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do I need to Get Bolivianos Before Coming to Bolivia?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Luckily no. If your arriving by air into La Paz or Santa Cruz airports there are currency exchange facilities and ATMs in the airport, so you can simply exchange or withdraw some BOB upon arrival.<\/p>\n<p>If you are coming into Bolivia across the land border from Peru or Argentina then you can easily exchange USD to BOB in the border towns once you have crossed (Desaguadero, Copacabana, Villazon all have plenty of money changed).<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t change much though as rates won\u2019t be the best and you will get better when you get to major towns or cities.<\/p>\n<p>TIP \u2013<em> do bring plenty of small denomination US Dollar notes with you from home to give you maximum flexibility in changing but also because many places will accept payment in USD smaller notes albeit not always at great rates.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What type of currency should I bring to exchange?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Easy answer and that is bring US dollars to exchange. It is the only foreign currency that is widely accepted and easily exchanged.<\/p>\n<p>Canadian dollars, Australian Dollars, UK Pounds will be extremely difficult (next to impossible) to exchange and if you find away it will be a terrible rate.<\/p>\n<p>Even Euros, which you might have a bit more luck with, are going to be problematic.<\/p>\n<p>Exchange or use all your Peruvian Soles, Argentinian or Chilean Pesos before crossing the border as you will only get bad rates in Bolivia when exchanging unless you manage to change with a fellow traveler going in the other direction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>IMPORTANT<\/strong> \u2013 <em>Make sure all your US Dollar notes are pristine and in good condition as you will find any badly conditioned notes or any with rips in, even surprisingly small rips, will often not be accepted.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This might seem strangely fussy, especially when you see the state of some of Boliviano notes, but its simply due to the fact the banks will not accept them.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivians know this so obviously can\u2019t take notes that will be of no use to them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"ATMs_Cash_Machines\"><strong>ATMs \/ Cash Machines<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In major cities there are plenty of ATMs as to be expected but in smaller towns there are often not \u2013 don\u2019t presume there will be and travel without cash.<\/p>\n<p>Also, even in some places like Uyuni or Tupiza, where there are ATMs , it is not uncommon for them to run out of cash or not be working.<\/p>\n<p>Many a traveler gets caught out arriving in Uyuni for a <a href=\"\/bolivia\/salt-flats-salar-de-uyuni\">Salt Flats Tour<\/a> and has trouble getting money out for the entrance fees for the tour &#8211; always try to plan ahead when in the bigger cities.<\/p>\n<p>Although little by little ATMs are beginning to arrive in smaller places they are often not from the major bank networks and foreign cards are often rejected by them.<\/p>\n<p>Even worse is that there are plenty of stories of cards being retained by these ATMs leaving travelers in a sticky situation.<\/p>\n<p>There is a limit to the amount of money you can take out from a Bolivian ATM and the amount changes depending on the bank.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the smaller ones limit you to about 1500bs whilst the larger ones can allow up to about 6500 (around 950usd) per transaction.It can depend on your own bank aswell so you will have to experiment but if refused a larger amount you might want to try a lower amount.<\/p>\n<p>The best banks to try are\u00a0 BCP , BNB, and Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz. Then probably Banco Union is best option after those.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1330\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/boliviano-notes-2017.jpg\" alt=\"Boliviano Money Notes 2017\" width=\"670\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/boliviano-notes-2017.jpg 670w, https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/boliviano-notes-2017-585x391.jpg 585w, https:\/\/cdn.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/boliviano-notes-2017-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span id=\"Money_Exchange_8211_Casa_de_Cambio_8211_Bureau_de_Change\"><strong>Money Exchange &#8211; Casa de Cambio &#8211; Bureau de Change<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You will find money exchange services in every city and most towns. These can often give better rates than the banks so it is worth checking them out.<\/p>\n<p>It is best to stick with the ones that look reputable when ever possible and have professional looking offices. You will also find street exchangers that will try to hawk their services as you pass but these should be used with caution as some are untrustworthy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Paying_with_Credit_Cards\"><strong>Paying with Credit Cards<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whilst paying by card is the norm in many western countries it is far less common in Bolivia especially outside of the cities.<\/p>\n<p>Many midrange and higher hotels, restaurants and stores will accept cards but will usually charge a service fee for doing so. This is because merchant service fees are high, often the payment is taken in USD and there is an additional banking charge for all USD transactions plus, and this is the less admitted to reason, all credit card transactions pass through the tax system so merchants will have to declare them and pay tax (you will find very few travel agencies accept credit cards for this reason! Kanoo Tours does though.).<\/p>\n<p>Whilst support for Mastercard is getting better Visa is far more reliable. Maestro is accepted but can be problematic.\u00a0 Ideally you should bring multiple cards if you can from different issuers to cover yourself.<\/p>\n<p>American Express is not accepted at all \u2013 even the American Express Travel office in La Paz doesn\u2019t accept it!<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span id=\"Travelers_Cheques\"><strong>Travelers Cheques<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whilst it is possible to change travelers cheques it is not something that has ever really been popular in Bolivia.<\/p>\n<p>It can be more trouble than its worth, meaning long queues in banks, copies of passports and changing requirements usually leaving tourists wishing they hadn\u2019t bothered and just stuck with ATMs<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span id=\"Fake_Money\"><strong>Fake Money<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whilst issues with fake money in Bolivia have been decreasingly over the years it is still something to be vigilant about.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it is harder for a visitor to Bolivia, being unfamiliar with the currency, to spot fakes and additionally there have been some very high quality fakes produced making it even more challenging.<\/p>\n<p>Thigs to look out for are :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Watermarks &#8211; on the front side, check to see if the watermark on the left is a good likeness to the picture on the right.<\/li>\n<li>Type of paper \u2013 the paper on the fake notes often feels different, maybe rougher and cheaper than the real notes. Compare suspect notes with others.<\/li>\n<li>Silver strip \u2013 on fake notes the silver strips that is woven through the paper can often be scraped away with a finger nail as it is just painted on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span id=\"A_Few_Safety_Tips_Suggestions\"><strong>A Few Safety Tips &amp; Suggestions<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In general Bolivia is not a dangerous place to travel and usual street smarts will serve you well.<\/p>\n<p>Its always good to have a few tips and reminders though! Hope they help \u2026..<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t walk round with all your money, cards etc on you and only bring what you need when exploring. I.e. if you have two cards, only bring one out so if you do lose it you still have your backup.<\/li>\n<li>Try to use cash machines during the day and in busier places. Beware of your surroundings and make sure you stash you cash in hard to get places for pickpockets.<\/li>\n<li>Before leaving home arrange to have 2 banks accounts with the same bank. Keep the bulk of your money in one that doesn\u2019t have a card attached to it and use internet banking to transfer money across to the other that had a card as you need it. Should you card get stolen or compromised the bulk of your funds are protected.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your eye on notes when paying if you can, or even better for bigger notes take a quick photo of the serial number before passing it over. Some Taxi drivers have been known to take a real note, swap it with a fake and pass it back telling you it\u2019s a fake note.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We think we have covered most of the common questions and concerns but if you can think of any more let us know in the comments and we can answer\u00a0 or update the article with the info.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re planning a trip to Bolivia you will no doubt at some point think about your travel money, what to bring (or not bring) or what methods or currencies&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[470],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1359,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions\/1359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kanootours.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}