Bali is a stunning island, by far the most popular destination in Indonesia (and possibly in the entire Southeast Asia region). Their governor is proposing to require travelers to present 3 months of bank statements to enter, in order to block less wealthy tourists! And this could come into effect as early as 2026.
It’s a requirement that startles some less experienced travelers, but it actually exists in many countries. However, it’s true that this one would be a bit peculiar.
Indonesia is so affordable that if you go there, you almost don’t even need our 3 types of Flytrippers content to help you travel for less, which are the flight deals, the travel rewards, and the tips/inspiration/news.
Here are the details of the proposed Bali bank statement requirement (and pro tips to protect your privacy and personal information).
What is the proposed Bali bank statement requirement?
Here are the basics of the proposed Bali bank statement requirement:
- Requirement to show 3 months of bank statements
- As a condition of entry to Bali
- To reduce “low-quality” tourists
- AKA those who have less money
- Indonesia already requires this for some visa categories
- But not for the visa on arrival (which is the most used)
- Many are concerned about this intrusive measure
- For many reasons
- This would be on top of current requirements
- None would be eliminated; it’s an addition
- This is only a proposal (which is likely to be made official)
- But it’s not official yet
Checking each country’s entry rules is literally the only mandatory preparation step for any trip. This proposed requirement shouldn’t be a barrier for most travelers, but still. Some travelers rely on family funds to travel, so there’s an action to take.
On the privacy and data security side, it’s certainly less intrusive than the 5 years of social media history that Trump wants to require of travelers (except for Canadians), but I still prefer not to give my detailed transactions to a government, so I’ll tell you what to do below.
Why would the Bali bank statement requirement be peculiar?
Here’s what would be a bit peculiar about the Bali bank statement requirement:
- The requirement could be poorly defined and very arbitrary
- There would be no clear minimum amount of money
- Usually, there are precise levels disclosed
- This is therefore very bad (risk of random refusal)
- The requirement would be in a very popular destination
- There’s a higher chance of having poorly prepared travelers
- Usually, it’s in less touristy countries
- This is therefore very bad (risk of entry refusal)
- The requirement is quite intrusive
- You would have to provide 3 full months (that’s a lot)
- Usually, the current balance is enough
- This is therefore very bad (privacy risk)
- The requirement would be for Bali only
- There would be rules for just one province
- Usually entry rules are all national
- This is therefore very bad (risk of confusion)
So it could be pretty terrible if the required amount really isn’t defined. If there’s a clear rule that you need to have the equivalent of 2000 USD per month of travel, for example, at least it’s easy to comply (that’s actually the amount required by Indonesian visas).
But the proposal is vague and seems to give discretion to customs officers to determine if the amount is sufficient for the trip… with all due respect, giving them discretion is not a good thing for travelers.
When would the Bali bank statement requirement begin?
The most important thing to know is that this is only a proposal at this stage. As is often the case, several media outlets didn’t quite get it right. Several headlines say there’s a “new rule”, but that’s absolutely false: there’s nothing official!
However, it seems very likely that it will happen, given that the Bali government seems really motivated to reduce tourism (see next section).
It’s hard to find an official source on this subject, but the article from the Antara Indonesian News Agency mentions that the measure could come into effect in 2026.
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In fact, returning to Bali for the 3rd time is one of my preferred options for my trip to Asia this winter (for the Marriott doubled elite nights promotion).
So I might be able to test the new requirement for you.
Why does Bali want to add a bank statement requirement?
It’s not the Bali governor’s 1st controversial proposal about tourism on the island. He makes them often.
Overtourism is indeed starting to be an issue there, as in so many other places. Their governor honestly seems to despise tourists, even though tourism accounts for more than 50% of the island’s economy (and maybe even more).
Anti-tourist measures in wealthy countries with a diversified and strong economy, like those in Western Europe, are one thing…
Anti-tourist measures in a poor country that depends so much on the money tourists inject into the economy, like in Bali, are a bit riskier!
The governor even explicitly said that:
- It was a mistake for Bali to have bet so much on tourism
- It would be better to have fewer low-quality tourists
So he clearly wants to decrease the number of budget travelers with this measure that might not give a precise amount to have in your account.
If the proposal is accepted, it will likely reduce the number of tourists:
- Directly
- By refusing them entry
- If they don’t have enough money
- Indirectly
- By scaring them and discouraging them from coming
- If there’s ambiguity about knowing if they have enough money
It will likely hurt all the locals who make a living from tourism, unfortunately.
The measure will certainly reduce the number of budget travelers. But it won’t eliminate them at all!
I spent only the equivalent of 20 CAD per day when I went in 2024, excluding accommodation. I paid for my beautiful hotels with Marriott points, as little as 4,800 points per night (it’s one of the best places in the world; the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card gives you 53,000 points).
And yet, I can easily show enough funds (by temporarily moving amounts into an account or by editing a PDF; I’ll come back to that in the next section).
So the measure will really only work on the travelers who are less wealthy… AND less prepared travelers.
And as someone whose mission is to democratize travel and encourage as many people as possible to discover the joys of traveling, I certainly find that very unfortunate.
How to comply with the Bali bank statement requirement?
The details of the procedure for proof of bank statements haven’t been disclosed yet, but it seems you’d need to provide 3 monthly statements or even all transactions from 3 months (!!!). It’s not clear if it would be in digital or paper format.
There are essentially 2 ways to comply with the requirement:
- Have the funds in an account
- Edit a PDF to make it look like you have the funds in an account
The 1st is obviously the simplest. I have a few tips about that if you’re worried about your personal data (“I have nothing to hide, all governments should have all my information” is a very very bad philosophy).
The 2nd is certainly less ethical, but finding how to edit a PDF obviously isn’t very difficult online. Many do this in a variety of contexts.
So what I’d personally recommend, if you have the funds, is moving them into a secondary account and using that one as proof.
(As with credit cards, having multiple bank accounts is vital… although you should have a lot fewer than credit cards!)
By the way, there are a few very good bank account welcome bonuses right now to complement credit card welcome bonuses, and we’ve never talked about this aspect. I’m going to do a post on the subject very soon.
In short, if you’re savvy like me and your EQ Bank account is your main one (it’s free, gives up to 2.75% interest on your funds, and gives you free ATM withdrawals abroad), you can open a free Tangerine account ($250 welcome bonus) and park the money there. You’d just need to make a few generic transactions there before the trip to show some activity.
You shouldn’t want a government to have all your detailed transactions, especially if they keep them (which they might): there’s a risk of unauthorized access or even hacking. It’s a security risk for your personal data and identity if anyone has access to all your transactions. Especially when it’s so easy to avoid with a secondary account.
Ideally, it would be possible to show the statements without the government keeping them, but we don’t know yet if that’s how it’s going to work. Hopefully, we’d just need to show it, and they wouldn’t keep it.
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Summary
The government of the Indonesian island of Bali wants to add a requirement to show 3 months of bank statements for travelers. This is only a proposal at this stage, but it will likely come into effect in 2026. It’s not dramatic, but I still prefer not to give my detailed transactions to any government.
What would you like to know about the Bali bank statement requirement? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia (photo credit: Alfiano Sutianto)
