Algiers - Post Report Question and Answers
Are credit cards widely accepted and safe to use locally? Are ATMs common and do you recommend using them? Are they safe to use?
Cash economy only. - Dec 2021
Cash only. - Oct 2021
Not at all. Leave your credit card at home. Very few ATMs here will accept your US card either. The country is just not built for tourists or expats to live so your only option is cashing checks at the Embassy. Make sure you bring enough checks to do that. - Aug 2021
Lol, credit cards! I wish! No, Algeria is a cash economy. I've found a few ATMs around town that will sometimes disburse money, but they're not reliable. There's a cashier at the Embassy. - Apr 2021
Cash economy. - Oct 2020
Cash only. There do exist a few unreliable ATMs at hotels and even the French banks which may or may not work or could be out of money. There are two working ATMs located at the office but they only work with locally issued cards so only the local staff can benefit. - Oct 2020
No! This is almost exclusively a cash economy. Almost no ATMs in the country work with international cards. Very few places take credit cards. You have to have wads of cash with you wherever you go. - Sep 2019
Cash only except hotels. - Mar 2019
Haha, no, this is a nearly totally cash-based economy. I've heard of people having problems with the few hotel ATMs. - Sep 2016
CASH-based economy only. Credit cards maybe kind of at a few western hotels. Dinar is the currency and it has no value outside of Algeria and is illegal to take out of the country. It is Monopoly money. You can exchange cash or cash checks at the Embassy cashier at the official exchange rate. The black market exchange rate is about double, but Embassy employees are forbidden to use it. - Jun 2016
Nobody uses them. Everything is cash. - Mar 2014
In this country very few people have credit cards so using one is very hard. ATMs are available. - Oct 2013
Except in the major hotels, credit cards and ATM cards issued outside Algeria do not work in Algeria. - Dec 2011
Don't! Take cash. Either GBPs or Euros. - Sep 2008
There's no credit card/ATM system. Credit cards can only be used at international hotels. Opening a local bank account will allow access to local ATMs but the amount of money one can withdraw would be quite restricted. - May 2008
Do not use them. - Mar 2008
Don't. - Mar 2008
Not used here. - Feb 2008
