Travelling soon and looking for best ATMs in Angola that work well with foreign debit/credit cards and dont charge crazy fees. Any recos will be highly appreciated.
For budget-conscious travelers, Banco de Fomento Angola and Banco BAI are your best ATM options for foreign cards in Angola. ATM fees can be steep if you rely on your home bank, so I recommend travel cards with fee-free international withdrawals like Wise or Monzo. Daily withdrawal limits in most ATMs are about 100,000 AOA, enough for most travelers. Remember to avoid small independent ATMs-they charge excessively and sometimes don’t dispense the right currency.
Angola isn’t the easiest place for fee-free ATM withdrawals. Banco BAI ATMs were the most reliable for my Mastercard, although fees still applied. You can usually withdraw up to 40,000 kwanzas per transaction. If you’re on a budget, Wise’s card or Revolut are your friends here-both offer fee-free ATM withdrawals limiting how much fee you pay. I stayed near Talatona and had no issues at local bank ATMs.
I traveled all over Luanda and found Banco de Fomento Angola ATMs to work best with foreign cards. Withdrawal fees were nearly 3-5% depending on your bank. Daily limits are typically around 100,000 AOA, but ATMs sometimes dispense less if cash runs low. Using Wise to send money to yourself is a popular backup to avoid high ATM fees. Beware of hotel or petrol station ATMs charging crazy fees-they should be last resorts.
In Angola, ATMs from Banco de Fomento Angola and Banco BAI are the most foreign card-friendly. I used my Visa card at Banco BAI ATMs in Luanda with reasonable withdrawal limits around 40,000 AOA per transaction. Fees were moderate, but your home bank might add international charges. Wise Multi-Currency and Revolut cards are popular here for reducing fees and getting better exchange rates. Always carry some extra cash, especially outside Luanda, as ATM access is limited.