Not everyone decides to open a local bank account when they move to Cambodia. Should you? We help you break down the cost of taking money out of ATMs, so you can decide for yourself.
Which one will you choose?
Luckily, there are plenty of ATMs to choose from in Phnom Penh, so you can access your foreign bank accounts and buy all of the cheap beers you can drink.
ATM fees have, unfortunately, been going up and up in the past few years. Canadia Bank ATMs used to be free, now it charges $5 per withdrawal. Mekong Bank also used to have no fees and now has joined the $5 per transaction crowd. Unfortunately it sounds like Maybank no longer offers free ATM withdrawals, either.
The rest of us will generally have to pay fees of $4 to 6 per transaction. At the time of writing, of the banks that charge fees, ABA, ACLEDA, and Vattanak have the lowest, at $4, at Cathay United has the highest, at $6. (Additionally, Cathay United’s notification appears to be an advertisement and does not require consent, much to the chagrin of many unsuspecting cardholders.)
These fees add up — withdrawing just four times per month (which, if you have a typical daily withdrawal maximum of $500, means you have a fairly average $2000/month Phnom Penh lifestyle) and you’ll pay $240 per year in fees (plus any fees your own bank can add!).
Are you one of the unfortunate souls with a MasterCard Debit/ATM card in Phnom Penh? There are a few Visa-only ATMs in Phnom Penh, but it’s not that bad. ABA, ACLEDA, ANZ, Canadia, and Mekong all take both Visa and MasterCard and are the most ubiquitous.
Keeping it riel: there are a few ATMs that dispense Cambodian riel.
Most ATMs dispense US Dollars if you use a foreign card. This is really helpful if you are staying in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (and the main parts of Battambang, Kampot, and Kep) where most prices are in USD, but not so much if you are headed to any of the other provinces and lovely towns villages outside of these urban centers. If you prefer to take out riel rather than go to a money changer, ABA Bank and Mekong Bank ATMs dispense riel.
ABA on Street 57 (next to Sunshine Mart, between St 278 and St 282)
Mekong Bank in Phnom Penh Tower (#445, Monivong Blvd, at the corner with St. 232)
(If you use a card from a local bank, you can always withdraw riel.)
Warning: most Phnom Penh ATMs spit out the largest bills possible, and it can be hard to get change (unless you want to be the one in charge of making sure everyone pays their share of food and drink at your next big group dinner). We recommend withdrawing an amount in USD that is not a multiple of $50– taking out $380, for example, will give you four $20s and three $100s rather than the four awkward $100 notes you would generally be saddled with if you withdrew $400.
(NB: Our favorite places to break $100 bills are: Lucky Supermarket, Brown Coffee, and Supercheap. I’m pretty sure they all know this, but they never give us a hard time.)
There are new banks popping up all the time, let us know in the comments if you discover any no-fee ATMs in Phnom Penh.
Hello everyone.
I am heading to Phnom Penh and will have to withdraw usd dollars from the ATM. Does anyone have up to date info if there is any free ATM for European Mastercard debit card?
I’m going to withdraw maybe $60 from Canadia ATM machine using my Payoneer prepaid card.
How much do you think the withdraw fee will be?
Probably $5, but I am not sure how Payoneer works. It will tell you on the screen how much the withdrawal fee will be, before you take the money out. Maybank may be less expensive.
It’s a fixed fee around $5 no matter the amount you withdraw
They take me 5 dollars and 1 dollar fees for check my account with receipt- for send money payoneer charges fees also ,,,
Following the advice of this column scrupulously, I first logged in to live chat with a very helpful customer service representative from ABA Bank, who assured me that the fee for withdrawing $380 USD would only be $5. The ATM on Street 57 in northern BKK1, Phnom Penh seemed to confirm this.
As predicted in this column I received three $100 bills (USD) and four $20 bills.
I took one of the $100 bills straight to Brown Coffee and Bakery at 57 and 294, where the cashier behind the counter didn’t so much as blink before happily making change. Thanks for all the great advice: it made all the difference in helping this go so smoothly.
I was just charged 15USD for a withdrawal at Canadia Bank Kampot. It said that it would be 5USD on the ATM.
Most banks charge a fee for withdrawing money abroad, so it’s entirely possible the other $10 is from your bank back home. You should be able to figure it out by looking at your bank statement.
I have the debit Mastercard issued from Russia. Ussualy I have no problem with withdrowing cash from any atm in asia. But today my request for 420$ from Maybank in Phnom Penn was rejected. Are there anyone who had sucessful withdrowal from Mastercard from Maybank? What was an amount (maybe they have any limitation for mastercard)? What else can be a problem in my case?
Changing large notes is not hard.
Around any market are money changers easily spotted by the red sign showing their buy and sell rates.
Give them your big note and ask for some riel e.g. $20 in 10,000 riel (“moy murn, m’pie dollar”). You will get your riel (at 4000 per dollar plus an extra few hundred usually) and the balance in small US notes.
I will go and get $10 in 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 at different changers, I have broken four big notes and have six weeks change.
Just go to western union, no need to use the black market. Last time wu have me a better rate than the official one so I basically earned money on the transfer.
Go to Western Union if you’re keen on wasting your time.
Maybe you should explain your statement, I think my point why going there is obvious
Give it a try. You’ll find out.
Sorry but I must say it’s not the most clever reply, I kinda said I gave it a try… and it works.
I find WU to be unprofessional. Waste of time.
Hotel staff in PP is going to steal your stash anyway. Probably while you’re sleeping.
It doesn’t make any sense to use WU.
Get Schwab, and extract only what you need. Get all ATM fees and currency exchange fees reimbursed.
If want more information, to quote the site owners, buy my book.
I have lived in Phnom Penh and visited it countless of times. I have left for day trips and I can’t recall any of your claims. Of course some cheap guesthouses around 136 or 172 might be complicated, but that’s a general rule for all cities in the world. Some people are more professional than others and sometimes Cambodia requires more patience because the mindset is different or the person hate his job, but the salary doesn’t really make up for a boring job. If you think the city and its people are so rude and bad, why do you bother go there? I have amazing friends among exists and locals, if that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t probably be spending more time there than any other place I go to as tourist, there might be places you would find more appealing, just wondering.
I dunno, man. I said hotel staff. I didn’t say everyone in Phnom Penh. Then again, maybe all your friends are hotel staff.
You’re reading a lot into what I’m writing. Settle down. Have a beer. Watch tv all night. Sleep all day.
Dream it off.
They are not, just not sure the hate against wu.. I agree in some countries they are ridiculous expensive, but not in Phnom Penh. Anyway.. I hope you find better hotels, a lot great ones in all price ranges. The city is nice and country lovely, but I agree sometimes it has it’s challenges.
Nothing but bad experiences with WU. That’s all I’m saying. Never a good one in Cambodia.
Cambodians are nice, but trust anywhere in Asia spends the same as hope in a casino.
I think we’ve done enough to raise MoveToCambodia’s site rankings.
I’m signing off.
Get a Charles Schwab account. They refund all of your ATM fees. Like, all of them.
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account
“Pay no ATM fees worldwide with our popular online checking account.1 There are no monthly service fees, you’ll earn interest on your balance, and your account is FDIC-insured.”
I suggest avoiding ANZ ATMs after a bad experience. In addition to the $5 charge, their exchange rate was around 8% worse than other banks. They actually have two different rates, which I didn’t realise, but it isn’t clear when you’re pressing buttons on the display that “local currency” means the terrible “local” rate and “foreign currency” means the regular rate.
The other two banks I used had only one rate, which was a good rate. I will never use ANZ ATMs again because that cost me an additional $25 for one transaction compared to other banks! If you do use an ANZ ATM, the “foreign” rate appears to be the one to use, but the rate may differ depending on which currency your bank account uses.
Mekong Bank i the Phnom Penh Tower (near the central market) only charged $3 for my USA Visa debit card.
The government of Cambodia are trying to enforce people to use riels more than dollars, probably to stabilize their economy. You might want to cash out at ATM that has riels (I think ANZ do) as its getting harder to break down large usd notes.
Sorry no sources for the this, but rumors I have heard from rich locals. The USD will be in the big cities so not sure how much will change.