“Toman or Rial?” Get used to asking that question, because if you don’t it could end up being a costly mistake.
The currency in Iran is officially known as the Rial, and is valued at roughly 30’000 IRL to USD$1. That’s a lot of zeros, so what the locals have started doing is dropping a zero and calling the new value a Toman.
1 Toman = 10 Rial
When you hear prices quoted in Tomans you need to add a zero on the end and pay the amount in Rials. It sounds confusing, but you’ll pick it up pretty quickly.
That’s why it’s important to always ask Toman or Rial, so you don’t accidentally pay too much on an item. Most vendors quote in Tomans anyway, so chances are if the price seems too good to be true, you need to multiply it by 10.
The current news is that Iran has officially announced Toman as the new currency and it has come into effect but the legal process and changing the bills take at least 2 years.
To be able to exchange money in Iran, first you should know about its currency. Rial (shown with ریال symbol and IRR currency code) is Iran’s official currency. The most common banknotes you will see in Iran are 5000, 10000, 20000, 50000, 100000, 500000, and 1000000 Rials. You also will probably see coins in value of 1000, 2000, and 5000 Rials.
Apart from the many zeros involved in any transaction, foreign visitors need to be aware that prices are always quoted in rials when written, but are quoted in Toman in speech. Toman is an unofficial currency used by Iranian people in daily transactions. It may sound confusing at first, but converting Rial to Toman is so simple. Each Toman equals 10 Rials. So, all you need to do is to put your hand on the last zero of the banknotes to get the value in Toman. The values you see in bank jobs and exchange shops are in Rial, while in public spaces such as hotels, restaurants and markets, people use Toman instead of Rial.
In recent years a useful method also has been adopted which does away with the need to carry bags of money when going shopping. It is called chek-pul (check money) and works like a traveler’s check but doesn’t have a name written on it, so it functions as a large denomination bill.
The most common denominations of chek-puls are 500000 and 1000000 rials, but even higher ones are used in large transactions. They can be bought from any bank and, after the streamlining of the financial system, they are accepted everywhere.
At present, Iranian currency can only be bought in some Middle East countries, so if you are coming from anywhere else, you will need to buy rials after you arrive.
In Iran, you will encounter two different rates. One is the government official rate and the other is the market rate. The market rate is higher than the government rate, so you better choose market exchanging shops instead of those which are a part of banks. In Iran’s central bank’s website, you can see the official rate.
To know about the current market exchange rate, checking out the electronic billboards that every exchange shop has right at its door and some applications such as Bonbast can be helpful.
Besides, watch your money while you are in such places. Carrying money, especially euros and dollars near such places can be dangerous. So, be careful with your money and avoid having so much cash with you.
But there are also some solutions to solve this problem. One of them is using services such as Mahcard. It is an alternative to carrying cash when visiting Iran. MahCard is an Iranian prepaid debit card designed for tourists and temporary visitors. You can instantly add funds to your card, in your preferred currency and convert it to Iranian Rial (IRR).
Also, some Persian banks such as National bank of Iran (or Meli Bank), Pasargad bank and Saman bank provide tourists with Iran tourist card. So, you can easily exchange your cash amount into your Iranian credit card.
Before traveling to Iran, it is essential to know that for visitors, Iran is a purely cash economy. International credit and debit cards cannot be used in Iran since the US trade embargo on the country. Visitors cannot draw cash on credit or bank cards (such as Cirrus or Maestro).
Although you will see many ATMs all around the cities, they can not be used for foreigners’ accounts. The network of ATMs in Iran are for use with locally-issued bank cards such as the Mellat Card, Meli Card issued by local Banks in Iran. So, you can receive money only with a local account or a card like Mahcard or an Iranian tourist card. So, bear in mind that except for some hotels, travel agencies and limited shops, you need to have your money all in cash. Bringing up to 10,000 euros does not need any permission, but for more than that you need to inform the police in the airport.
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