Many ATM’s around Kigali claim to accept Visa, but this is a big fat lie. Very few ATMs in town actually accept international cards and you’re stuck with a few choices or having to go into the bank with your passport, which is always a pain.
Your best options are as follows:
Bank of Kigali (In Town)
According to newly put-up posters from Bank of Kigali, their ATM’s are now available for international withdrawal, but they are highly unreliable, and I have yet to hear of someone successfully withdrawing money. However there are rumours that they have an amazing option of choosing which currency you want to withdraw: USD or RWF. I will believe it when I see it, though.
If the ATMs aren’t working you can head upstairs with a Visa or Mastercard with a PIN and your passport where you can withdraw money easily and without much of a wait. But you’ll need to pay a fee for the privilege.
Ecobank ATM (In Town)
This has long been the only ATM in town for international withdrawals and it’s reasonably reliable. At times the connection is bad, in which case the ATM will tell you that your financial institution is unavailable. Most of the time, though, it works like a charm.
Fina Bank ATM (In town past the Gorilla roundabout towards Serena Hotel)
As with Ecobank, the connection can fall out, but in general it works fine.
Access Bank (Inside UTC 2nd Floor)
To withdraw money from your debit or credit card, you have to go to the counter and show your passport.
Hi Kristy-
I’ll be moving to Kigali soon and the topic of how to protect and access my money is at the top of my mind. I’d like to put in a request that you write this one!
I’m really appreciating your sites, and hope to cross paths with you once I get there.
Adam
I’ve successfully withdrawn cash using my UK visa debit card from the ATM’s at the Ecobank and the Bank of Kigali – and yes it does give you the option of RWF and USD. I have come across some people whose cards did not work so I suppose it may vary from UK bank to UK bank. I didn’t realise you could use the ATM at the Fina Bank, I’ll have to give it a go.
There are horror stories of money going missing from your account but I’ve never had a problem.
What are people’s takes on opening a local bank account – I am here for a year with my wife and we are pretty keen not to have to use International Withdrawl mainly because of the extortionate fees that UK banks usually charge. I have been told its pretty simple to open a local account, but then I wonder if anyone has experience of trying to transfer funds from a UK account to a local – I figured KCB, Access or Bank of Kigali would be the most likely?
Cheers
hi James
i have an account with Fina bank and regularly transfer money from England here. My English account is with First Direct which is an internet only account so it is all pretty easy, i just send a message and a few days later the money is here. Looking at the date of your post you have probably found this out already
Tried VISA-withdrawal at the Bank of Kigali ATM today – it didn’t work…
I tried the ATM at the Fina bank – it doesn’t accept international cards. I still regularly use the Econbank and so far (fingers crossed) no problems.
James, a late reply I know and because of that you possibly already know the answer. I opened an account before Christmas and apart from an account number have heard nothing since. I recently heard of somebody waiting 7 months for their cards etc so I only have another two months to wait!!!
The amount I get charged to withdraw cash depends on the bank account I use. One UK bank charges twice as much as the other, guess which one I use?
I have successfully withdrawn RWF money from my US bank account using a Visa debit bank card, from the Ecobank in Remera and the Ecobank at the KBC shops by the Mama Rwanda roundabout. Good luck!
Withdrew 400,000 Rwf last Saturday at the downtown Bank of Kigali. Used my US bank visa debit card. I didn’t notice a US dollar option.
Hi there. I think I read somewhere that there was a limit on how much you can withdraw in one go (UK visa debit card, Natwest if that makes a difference). Obviously, with the charge from my bank I’d like to draw out as much as I anticipate needing for the rest of my trip after the money I’ve changed has run out, so was wondering whether anyone has found this to be the case, and what the limit is? Also, is it usually possible to change RFr back to GBP/Euros in one of the numerous forex places around in the centre of town?
Thanks for your help!
Following on from James’ request above, could you do an article about bank accounts in Rwanda please? It would be really useful to have some comparison on how much they charge for withdrawing dollars, and how much to make transfers abroad and also what the monthly charges are?
I’ve opened a dollar account, but they charge to receive money from abroad and they charge to withdraw dollars…. it doesn’t quite seem worth it so I might close it soon. Does anyone have any experience of this?
Thanks
Sure Hannah, we’ll get on it. Might take us awhile to get all the info though… not the most exciting article topic to write!
If anyone has any information on banks – how to open an account, how much an account costs, international withdrawal fees etc… please let us know at info@livinginkigali.com.
Thanks!
i was able to get money using my VISA card in bank of rwanda,was happy.
Anyone knows of an ATM that accepts Maestro (MasterCard) debit cards? Feel like I’ve tried all banks.
Eventually got money from Access bank at the counter with my MasterCard, but the fee was quite steep.
Murakoze!
Can anyone suggest me, is Indian Mastero or Visa cards will work at Kigali bank ATM’s?
Has anyone opened a local bank account? Like the poster above we’ll be there for at least a year and earning income so putting it through an international bank all the time would be a bit of a pain.
Thanks in advance!
My wife and I have opened three accounts at Bank of Kigali in Butare with no problems. One each in RWF and a joint one in dollars. British Passport ID was all that was necessary. VisaCards took two months and then had to be activated at head office in Kigali which was a bit of a pain. Otherwise, I think the service is better than I get from Lloyds TSB in England. An alert is texted to me with a balance after every withdrawal and deposit.
The Nakumatt at UTC has an ATM now. No idea if it works well though, because it was out of service last time I checked.
I can confirm that as of May 2012, I was able to go into Access Bank at UTC and use my Canadian Mastercard credit card to take out a cash advance in RWF… Was charged 4% fee, pretty standard, and this meant I didn’t run out of money. Very grateful for that as it seems that almost everything here is Visa.
Withdrew 600K Rwf today in 3 consecutive withdrawels of 200K at the Ecobank in Remera on my American Visa debit card! That’s a first- not having to drive all the way downtown.
I’m going to be here for 2 years, so went with the option of opening a bank account with Access Bank. Process took about 30 minutes and all I needed was my passport, passport photo, visa and copy of my contract. That’s for a savings account. If you want to open a current account you have to submit a supporting letter from somebody with a Rwandan bank account. Strange, but OK.
Make sure you ask them for the necessary forms to fill in for a debit card though, as well as internet banking.
I stupidly arrived with a mastercard myself, and the only place that will provide you with a cash advance is Access Bank. And personally I thought 4% quite reasonable.
I tried MTN Mobile Money Online yesterday, it worked really well. I opened up a MTN Mobile Money account first at the MTN service centre and went to mtnmmo dot com to transfer money from my VISA credit card to my mobile money account. The money was delivered within seconds on my phone and I could withdraw the money from my phone at the little supermarket around the corner of my house. The charges were lower than withdrawing the money from the ATM with my VISA card and I did not have to drive all the way to town.