Visitors are not allowed to bring more than MYR 1,000.00 in cash per person into Malaysia.

Money Changers
There are numbers of authorised money changers in the city, especially at the ground floor in the shopping centers, such as at the Centre Point, Warisan Square and Wisma Merdeka.

Money changers in the Kota Kinabalu accepts all major currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, HKD, AUD, SGD…

Money changers, Banks Forex Kiosks or Hotels Forex Booths all offer pretty similar rates, you might gain a few cents here and there, but on the whole it won’t be much. Hotels will normally tend to charge more commission. Forex booths in the airport normally offer the worst rates.

ATM, Debit Cards & Credit Cards
There are a lot ATM (Maestro/Cirrus card) machines in the city that you can use your ATM card to withdraw MYR. You can easily find international banks (HSBC, CitiBank, Standard Chartered) or local banks (Maybank, Public Bank) ATM machines to get out cash as needed without problems.

A lot of credit cards are widely accepted in most established shops and restaurants. Remember to inform you banks that you are traveling so that your cards won’t be blocked. Do practice basic security rules to protect your cards.

ATM/Credit Cards will usually give good exchange rates.