Kyrgyzstan Money

Money

Cash The official currency in Kyrgyzstan is the Som (abbreviated 'c' in Cyrillic). It comes in 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 som notes. There are no coins. Changing money is relatively straightforward. Banks will accept a variety of major currencies while the money-changing booths that are ubiquitous in urban areas will typically only deal with US Dollars, Pounds, Euros and the currencies of the neigboring, Central Asian countries. Note, however, that neither banks nor money changers will accept any foreign currency that is torn, marked or defaced in any way, or is excessively crumpled, so be sure to carefully check any notes you intend to bring into the country for defects. Credit Cards & ATMs Like other Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan is overwhelmingly a cash economy. Credit cards are rarely used. It is therefore advisable to enter the country with an adequate supply of cash in a major foreign currency - US Dollars are the most practical choice since they are more widely accepted. There are a growing amount of ATM's connected the major services like Cirrus. Both Kazakkommerz Bank and Halyk Bank have several ATM's throughout the city. You can either withdraw USD or Kyrgyz Som. If withdrawing som, you will receive the interbank exchange rate, which is better than local exchange offices will give you. KazakhKommerz Locations- Sovietskaya & Moskovskaya Panfilova & Chui (across from the White House) Kievskaya & Turizbekov (inside Narodnye Store) TSUM (Western Staircase) and more locations coming Halyk Bank- TSUM (Eastern Staircase) Beta Stores