Here, I detail the withdrawal fees I encountered at 3 ATMs in the Dominican Republic:
- Banreservas
- Banco Popular
- Scotiabank
All transactions were with a UK-issued Chase Visa Debit Card.
Do you need cash in the Dominican Republic
If you are staying at a posh resort and are only eating at nice restaurants, you could get away without cash, but for us mere mortals, yep, you will definitely need cash. In fact, the only time I paid with my bank card, was at the Nacional Supermarket
Not even my hotels accepted card payment, all were ‘Pay Cash on Arrival’.
What is the Currency in the Dominican Republic?
The currency in the Dominican Republic is the Dominican peso, with the international currency code DOP. Prices are written as $, or RD$ to avoid the confusion with US Dollars.
Currency Denominations in the Dominican Republic:
- Notes: 2000, 1000, 500, 200, 100 and 50 pesos
- Coins: 25, 10, 5 and 1 pesos
ATMs in the Dominican Republic
Banreservas
I attempted to withdraw cash from the Banreservas Santo Domingo airport ATM. I tried 10,000 pesos. The transaction fee would be 300 pesos, and then my transaction was aborted. No reason was given!
I find out later that the Banreservas ATM withdrawal limit is 2000 pesos, which is just 32 USD.
Banco Popular
I immediately tried the Banco Popular ATM, once again, the screen told me that the fee would be 300 pesos, but at least I got my money.
Scotiabank
I used the Scotiabank ATM near the Joaquin Balaguer Metro. Some forums mentioned that the Scotiabank withdrawal limit was 20,000 pesos, with the fee, just 150 pesos. I tried for 15,000 pesos, and the withdrawal fee would be anything up to 300 pesos.
BHD Bank
The BHD Bank is quite popular. The security guard told me that the withdrawal limit was 10,000 pesos. There were two ATMs. One was a new machine, the other slightly less modern. I tried to take out 5,000 pesos. However, I experienced the same issue at both of them. The machines whirled and then I got the Blue Screen of Death and a timeout message. So unfortunately, there is no fee to report from the BHD ATM in the Dominican Republic.