Bali is preparing to introduce a law which will require tourists to declare personal bank account information for a period of three months in order to visit the island. This law is intended to filter out less desirable travellers to promote "high quality tourism" in a move to counter the bad behaviour of boorist visitors over the last several decades. This change will come on top of the recently applied tourist levy and tightening of the management for incidents involving tourists.
Would you give your latest three bank statements to the Bali government in order to visit?
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Bali Wants Three Months of Bank Account Statements to Visit
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(Score: 4, Informative) by aafcac on Saturday January 10, @06:28PM (5 children)
So they're filtering out the ones with a lot of money, right?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday January 10, @08:15PM
Or selecting for "high quality" forgers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Gaaark on Saturday January 10, @09:45PM
That's what i thought. If you want quality, don't let rich people in.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 4, Informative) by corey on Saturday January 10, @10:54PM (1 child)
Bali is notorious for being the Aussie cheap holiday destination. The Jetstar flights between Melbourne/Sydney and Denpasar are called the “bogan bus” for a reason. I suppose the Indonesians have caught onto the fact that the Aussies going there are usually lower socioeconomic types who want to pillage the island for entertainment, drinking, drugs and sex.
Since Covid, a lot of people now own property and work remotely there. Cheap lifestyle. Also since then, “schoolies” parties go on there (for non Aussies, this is the end of high school (age 18) parties that used to go on at the Gold Coast in Queensland).
I’ve never been there and never want to, I’d rather Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia etc.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday January 11, @02:52AM
It's sort of like how Estonia is (or was) the pissup destination for Brits, I'm surprised they haven't enacted controls to deal with drunken yobbos trashing the place. Spain is also problematic, although with Estonia it's more go there, get pissed, get the ferry back, while with Spain it's go there for a week and never sober up.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 11, @01:14AM
More likely trying to exclude the begpeckers: https://www.businessinsider.com/southeast-asia-sick-of-begpackers-asking-money-from-locals-2019-7 [businessinsider.com]
My guess is the locals will put up with some boorishness if there's enough money... Give me a million USD and I would put up with some boorishness to, so I can't say I'm that much different.
That said I didn't have a good experience in Bali, got some cash stolen from me, and some people tried to scam us.
Thailand and Malaysia are better.
(Score: 5, Informative) by edinlinux on Saturday January 10, @06:35PM (2 children)
Just got back from Bali. Its shitty and a shadow of what it once was
1)Official Telecom Carrier shops in the airport secure area try to scam you (tell you the smaller sized plans are no longer available / are discontinued, you must buy this 100GB for 2 weeks plan instead (at a high price)
2)Balinese Taxi Mafia intimidates (or beats up) Grab (Uber) drivers in Ubud
3)Balinese Dudes all over the streets at night constantly accosting you to buy "something" (drugs) as you try to walk around anyplace in Kuta
4)Even the high class (legit / non sexy) massage places try to scam you for tips (Balinese masseuse stops the back massage 1/2 way through, " do you like the massage, *big tip* right?!), its annoying.
5)The scam they just had where they take tourists out of the line at immigration at Bali Airport to a room, and "fine" them for minute scratches on their passport cover so it is 'invalid'...fine 400 Euros or get deported..
The govt is right there are big problems in Bali, but tourists without money isn't it, its all the sketch and scams the Balinese are doing to scare all the tourists away.
I won't be going back to Bali anytime soon, places like Phuket or Pattaya are much nicer these days and far more family oriented (yes, Pattaya has changed that much in the last 20 years..).
(Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Saturday January 10, @08:14PM
And thank you for another example of the Streisand effect. Now I have reasons why not to pick Bali as a travel destination, and two others to try instead. I wonder how long it'll be before someone posts details like these on Yelp and the Bali tourism board gets involved.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday January 10, @09:38PM
I hope it was JUST the tip! ;)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday January 10, @06:52PM (7 children)
I wouldn't go anywhere that wants to know all my banking details (name, bank, account number, how much I have, my address and the fact that I will not be at home!) before I can go there.
A earlier post tells of many scams - this sounds like another one.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by gnuman on Saturday January 10, @10:54PM (6 children)
It's "standard" question when you want to get a visa, you know... just FYI
(Score: 2) by atwork on Monday January 12, @02:07AM (2 children)
Bank and account number are standard questions on a visa application these days?
Well I guess I won't be going OS again then.
(Score: 2) by gnuman on Tuesday January 13, @10:31AM (1 child)
from: https://www.beyondborderglobal.com/resources/us-visa-bank-statement-requirements-complete-guide-to-financial-documentation-for-2025 [beyondborderglobal.com]
* Bank statements are mandatory for most US visa applications.
* Tourist visa applicants need 3–6 months of recent bank statements
* Minimum bank balance varies by visa type and duration of stay.
* Additional financial documents may strengthen your application.
* Proper formatting and authenticity are crucial for approval.
Similar as Schengen Visa.
I'm pretty sure it's complete ignorance that people don't know this because they never apply for visas.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday January 13, @11:55AM
I'm not sure it is ignorance. I can travel thousands of miles without having to produce any bank statements. Perhaps I just don't want to go to countries that make this demand.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Monday January 12, @05:07AM (2 children)
It is strange then that I have travelled around the world and never been asked for my bank details? Which of my bank accounts would they want?
It is not a "standard" where I live, nor where I travel to either.
This sounds like one of those "standards" ("we want to know all of your social media accounts", "we want access to your cell phone", etc) that only apply to 1 country.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by gnuman on Tuesday January 13, @10:27AM
https://www.beyondborderglobal.com/resources/us-visa-bank-statement-requirements-complete-guide-to-financial-documentation-for-2025 [beyondborderglobal.com]
(Score: 2) by cereal_burpist on Monday January 19, @05:26AM
One type is like a Schengen visa, which you apply for prior to the trip, and is subject to approval, etc. A more formal process.
Another type is Customs just stamps your passport and off you go, or before that you pay a small fee for a sticker which Customs affixes to your passport and stamps that.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Saturday January 10, @07:09PM
LOL I suspect its more to enable identity theft than anything else.
Let me guess someone closely related to the Bali government coincidentally just started selling identity theft insurance to visitors.
"Real Government People" have access to all our stuff theres no privacy, just like corporations have access to everything, this is to send some ID theft revenue to the lower level officials.
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Saturday January 10, @07:35PM
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday January 10, @07:45PM (1 child)
He sang fondly of the fields of Bali.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 11, @04:39AM
So did Redgum :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZimLO11C74 [youtube.com]
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Saturday January 10, @08:15PM (3 children)
...spot the Brit.
But I imagine other places will look closely at this, and, if possible, make is a standard requirement for entry anywhere.
It is standard (for obvious reasons) to be required to show proof that you have 'sufficient' financial resources to cover your stay if you are looking for a visa to some places. This is not so different.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Saturday January 10, @08:36PM (2 children)
As you point out its an odd duplication of effort. The standard tourism visa requires proof of having $2K at application time. The visa itself costs $90.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/front/faq/dd5c2220-28a7-4024-9a10-82f30a09e0d2 [imigrasi.go.id]
"You are prohibited from attending events as a speaker." but I guess participant is OK? whaaaaaat? Vaguely handwaving most countries want everyone at "business-ish" conferences to buy a business visa which is $120 so Bali is actually kinda generous here, you save $30 if you're just an attendee.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/front/faq/f9e2c9f7-515d-4ee2-892f-87cfc58a7669 [imigrasi.go.id]
The business visa is the one where you already have to provide three months of (oddly) personal bank statements. You'd think they'd be more interested in my business bank statements if thats whats paying me to be there, but whatever.
Conceptually I don't understand why a "tourist destination" would tax people planning to spend money there by charging like $100/person "just because they can". I live in a tourist destination state, and our taxes are adjusted to lure people in not keep them out. Better to have them buy a gallon of gas and a Big Mac in our state at a low rate than scare them away to Vegas or whatever where we don't make a penny (or nickel now, I guess). You'd think they could save a lot of middleman nonsense by taking the international advertising money they spend promoting Bali as a travel destination and just zeroing out all the visa fees. "Pay us money so we can spend it telling other people to come here" its weird.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Unixnut on Saturday January 10, @09:41PM (1 child)
Generally it is done in places where the number of tourists has passed the tolerance threshold for the locals. The government does not want to ban all tourists because of the foreign income they bring, but they can't selectively ban groups of people as that can be seen as discriminatory.
So what they do is increase the amount of money they take by adding "tourist taxes", increasing prices for tourists and generally looking at ways to make it more expensive to visit. The idea is that (a) you reduce the number of tourists, but (b) the tourists that visit are richer, and as a result you earn more per tourist head.
If you can get the balance right then you can reduce the number of tourists visiting while simultaneously keeping actual total income from tourism roughly where it was before.
The third reason was mentioned in TFS:
However the saying "Money can't buy class" springs to mind. There are a lot of very boorish people out there with a lot of money.
Still, Bali is not the first to do this. I know France and Spain have levied all kinds of tourist taxes in order to reduce the number of tourists visiting. Barcelona famously had protests against tourists and foreigners buying property who had priced them out of the market (rents had shot up due to properties being rented out on airbnb), so the government increased tourist taxes and brought restrictions on airbnb's and similar short term lets in order to both drive up the cost for tourists (who have to pay extra taxes and proper hotel room rates) and simultaneously drive down rents for the locals.
Its a delicate balancing act because tourism can very easily bring about a "tragedy of the commons" where a place desired by tourists to visit ends up being ruined by the tourists visiting themselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by namefags_are_jerks on Saturday January 10, @10:25PM
> There are a lot of very boorish people out there with a lot of money.
The Australian expression is "Cashed up Bogan". And certainly, Bali is the premier CUB holiday destination, due to its proximity, relative cost, and reputation of being a WILD PARTY with 'cheap' alcohol and illegal drugs. Every 18yo larvalCUB wants to spend their Schoolies (after high-school wild party tiems) in Bali.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 11, @01:00AM
>Australia was the top source of international visitors to Bali, accounting for 1,544,141 visits.
>India followed with 550,379 visitors. China contributed 448,446 tourists.
>The United Kingdom and South Korea made 295,326 and 294,024 visits, respectively.
Do they hate the aussies? Maybe, I doubt a statement check will weed them out. That leaves chinese toursits and..
Do we have an answer or what?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Captival on Sunday January 11, @07:19AM (1 child)
In addition to checking bank details which of course is incredibly racist, I hear they didn't allow thousands of grifting Somalians and millions of Mexicans to cross their borders and go on welfare. Needless to say Bali is Literally Hitler and should be sanctioned and invaded by the totally neutral fair and honest UN.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 11, @09:53AM
How is that racist? You obviously do not know what the word means. Please do not use it again.