Exchanging currency in Bali is an intimidating and confusing process.
Many tourists are unfamiliar with conversion rates, what services are available, who they can trust with their hard-earned cash, and how to find the best rates.
GoValuata seeks to change this by offering a simple means of obtaining cash so you can enjoy your trip without worrying about your wallet.
What is GoValuta?
GoValuta is the first and only online platform allowing authorised money changers in Bali, Indonesia, to accept online payments via credit and debit cards.
Additionally, the platform enables currency exchange companies to offer online foreign currency exchange services, enabling customers to view their exchange rate online and reserve currency for later pick-up at designated pick-up locations.
The platform has been developed to reduce complaints from visitors who have had unpleasant experiences exchanging money at unlicensed money changers, which adds unnecessarily to their stress and anxiety while visiting Bali.
In short, GoValuta provides an easy and reliable way of exchanging your local currency for foreign currency.
Why GoValuta?
GoValuta seeks to accomplish two goals:
- Assist travellers by exchanging foreign currency in a safe, more convenient, transparent, cost-effective, and secure manner.
- Support licensed money changers in their efforts to provide better services and more convenient offerings to their more tech-savvy clients.
To accomplish its goals, GoValuta has worked closely with the Central Bank of Indonesia (BI) and a group of licensed money changers under the “Regulatory Sandbox” to provide an online booking service to travellers.
What’s the Regulatory Sandbox?
The Regulatory Sandbox was established in 2017 by Bank Indonesia to test these new online services and the acceptance of debit and credit cards by licensed money changers, as currently, money changers can only support physical money exchange.
In short, the regulatory sandbox was created to test new business models and solutions brought on by developments in financial technology before making them accessible to the general public.
The necessary safeguards accompany the new capabilities to maintain the integrity of financial transactions; ensure ethical business practices, and guarantee fair treatment of customers.
How can GoValuta assist tourists while exchanging currencies in Bali?
There are four benefits to using GoValuta to simplify your currency exchange experience in Bali.
Trust
Finding out whether the money changers they intend to exchange money with are legitimate and authorised to provide currency exchange services in Bali is one of the main concerns of visitors to Bali.
You can rest easy knowing that any money changers who adopt GoValuta’s services are all BI-licensed and monitored.
This authorisation is also known as “PVA Berizin” Any licensed money changer should display the Bank Indonesia hologram and green shield logo in their shop windows.
Transparent rates
The participating money changers’ rates are actively displayed on their GoValuta-powered websites.
So you can quickly check their rates on your mobile phone before visiting their branches or making an online booking.
You can quickly see how much local currency you will receive by using the calculator available on their website.
Convenience
You can reserve your currency ahead of time by visiting the money changers’ websites.
The money changer will then reserve your local currency notes, called Rupiah (currency code IDR) until you come to the store to exchange your foreign currency and pick up your local currency notes.
Cost-effectiveness
Instead of exchanging your foreign currency notes, it is possible to use your debit or credit card to receive local cash at the participating money changers.
As a result, the overall exchange rate and charges are usually significantly less than using your cards at a local Bali ATM.
For your security, a card transaction is conducted at participating money changers’ stores, where you scan a QR code sticker displayed in their store.
You will be guided through each step and notified of the exact charges before paying. So, say goodbye to the unknown and often exorbitant administrative fees ATM operators impose and the Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fees some retailers impose at the point of sale.
While there are still fees associated with using GoValuta’s payment facility at the participating money changers, these fees will be openly disclosed to you BEFORE making a payment, in contrast to using your debit or credit card at ATMs.
However, you can rest easy knowing that your card association (such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc.) determines the rate at which your home currency will be converted to IDR, which is better than the rates provided by local banks.
Final words
The GoValuta services are being overseen by the central bank and are still in their controlled testing phase.
You can rest easy, though, knowing that once the testing is over, there will be enhancements to the services to make it easier for you to exchange money in Bali.
In the meantime, if you encounter any problems, have suggestions for how we can improve our services, or simply want to say hello, don’t hesitate to contact us at hi@govaluta.com.
Image source: www.balispirit.com