An Expat's Guide to Currency and Transfers in Bahrain

If you are moving abroad to live and possibly take up employment in Bahrain then you will want to familiarize your self with their form of currency and restrictions on making international money transfers as you may need to transfer some money back to your home country. You will also want to know how the currency is valued so that if you are taking up employment in the country you will know how far that money will go in your home country once you leave Bahrain and move back to your home country.

In Bahrain the form of currency is called the Bahraini dinar and is abbreviated as 'BD." The Bahraini dinar is actually link to the U.S. dollar which means that as the U.S. dollar experiences up and downs then the Bahraini dinar is also susceptible to those fluctuations of currency. Just like the U.S. dollar is broken down into cents the Bahraini dinar is broken down into fils. The main difference here is that the U.S. dollar is divided into 100 cents and the Bahraini dinar is divided into 1,000 fils. You should familiarize your self with the denominations that are available in the Bahraini dinar as well as the fils coins that are available. You can get bills, or bank notes, of the Bahraini dinar in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 20. There is also a bank note of 500 fils that is available as well. As far as coins go, you can get them in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils.

If you would like to wait to exchange your currency until you actually arrive in Bahrain you can do so immediately upon entering the country at the airport. Most of the major airports in Bahrain have currency exchange booths as well as banking facilities. Most of these places are actually open 24 hours a day. The down side of using one of these places for your currency exchange is that you are likely to get unfavorable exchange rates. You will get much better exchange rates at a financial center in the city. As a last resort you can do a currency exchange at a hotel if you happen to be staying in one until you find a place to rent out. Hotels usually offer the worst exchange rate.

If you plan on transferring money out of Bahrain to your home country or somewhere else you should know that there is no restriction on the import or export of money in or out of Bahrain. If you have a residence visa in Bahrain then you can open a bank account in the country, which you will need to be able to import or export money. There are a large number of expats living in Bahrain so all financial institutions are familiar with the process of sending out money to another country. If you do not want to use your bank to transfer out money you can also opt for an exchange company, which specializes in sending out money overseas. You should check around for the best rate and if you are transferring a large sum of money make sure you ask for the commercial rate.