Cambodia, currency confusion.
 

I understand USD is the preferred currency in Cambodia. I have a question about using credit cards in Cambodia, are the transactions processed in USD or Riel?

Thanks.

The transactions may be processed either way, but in any case your credit card will consider it a foreign transaction and charge you a premium accordingly.

Hi - yes, as Kathie said, your credit card will most likely have a foreign transaction fee. My husband and I are on an 8.5 month trip around the world and got a B of A Travel Rewards Visa because it doesn't charge the foreign transaction fee, so that may be worthwhile depending on your travel plans. https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit...credit-card.go

I can tell you the answer is USD. As far as overseas hotel chains in Siem Reap is concerned.

I have a card from HK denominated in USD (this is exceptional - most HK cards are denominated in HKD), does not have foreign transaction fee (but has foreign currency fee). The real motivation for using this card is that I can earn 3 Asia Miles per USD spent.

My own hotel (Sofitel) stated consistently they will charge me in USD for my meals there. And this proved to be the case in checkout (the slip was in usd, no riels displayed or dynamic currency conversion applied).

We also had two dinners in the park Hyatt siem reap. When it came to pay the first night, I asked the waitress what currency I will be charged if I used credit card and was told Cambodian Riel.

There was a Cambodian riel amount on my bill underneath the usd in brackets, I assumed that's the amount that will be charged. The Cambodian riel amount was the usd amount translated at 4200.

I quickly obtained Oanda and Yahoo rates which showed the riel should be around 4065 or so. Charging in riels will result in a double translation loss of 3.3% plus foreign currency fee of 1.95%.

I confirmed again with the waitress the usd is payable in cash only and the Cambodian riel in credit card and when she confirmed I paid cash. I was eating with my mother who is a typical impatient Hongkie and wont take kindly to any attempts to void a riel slip. Besides I'm worried the staff won't know how.

My mother liked the food so much we went there a second time (skipping FCC). When I paid I asked the waiter the same question about the credit card, and to my horror the waiter that night said usd, and produced a usd slip with my card!

Whilst we managed to charge usd300 of our total 400 spending to usd, I'm a bit sore after having forgone 300 miles!

Oh ps. My mother just walked out of the airport bookshop with a biography of pol pot and a card slip. Also in usd

The US dollar is king. You'll only use riel for small transactions (less than one dollar) Also the 'street' conversion rate has been $1 = 4000 riel for years unless its changed in the few months. I normally pay cash for everything but stay at a $20 guesthouse and eat at local restaurants not at the Sofitel!

Many places that have cash registers now use the bank rate (over 4000) instead of the much easier 4000 Riel to the dollar. It works out to their advantage.

And with the 10,00 and 20,000 notes, it has become a lot easier to do business in Riel.