Not sure if I should carry coins for public transport in Timor-Leste or if card payments are common. Advice?
Bring USD cash when you land in Dili. Mikrolets and buses only take coins and small notes. ATMs in the city work best with Visa cards - ANZ and Bank Mandiri are the most reliable. Mastercard is patchy. Forget about using cards for transport, everything is small-cash transactions.
My Revolut Mastercard didn’t work at most ATMs in Dili, including BNU. Had to find an ANZ machine that accepted Visa. Public transport is 100% cash-based. Tried to pay a taxi with a $20 note, and the driver refused because he had no change. Always keep small bills for mikrolets and taxis.
I stayed at Timor Backpackers in Dili and used mikrolets daily, paying 25 cents per trip in cash. My Wise Visa worked fine at ANZ Bank near the waterfront, so getting USD was no problem. Public transport was cheap, reliable, and only cash. Even taxis from the airport wanted cash, so having small notes made life easy.
In Timor-Leste, everything transport-related is cash-only. Dili’s mikrolets (minibuses) cost about $0.25-$0.50 per ride, and long-distance buses charge in US dollars since that’s the official currency. No card payments. ATMs in Dili - ANZ, Bank Mandiri, and BNU - usually work with Visa, though Mastercard can be hit-or-miss.