Money, ATMs & Currency Exchange

Getting Egyptian pounds

ATMs are widely available across Cairo — at the airport, in hotels, malls and on most main streets — and generally offer a better, more transparent exchange rate than exchanging cash at a currency bureau. Withdrawing from ATMs as needed, rather than converting a large sum on arrival, is the most straightforward approach for most visitors. Notify your bank of your travel dates beforehand to avoid a card being flagged for unusual activity, and check what your specific bank charges for foreign ATM withdrawals — some charge a flat fee per withdrawal, which favors fewer, larger withdrawals over many small ones.

Major international banks (HSBC, Citibank and others with a Cairo presence) and large Egyptian banks like CIB and QNB tend to have more reliable, well-maintained ATM networks than smaller local banks; if a machine rejects your card or seems to be malfunctioning, trying a different bank's ATM rather than repeating the attempt on the same machine is usually the quicker fix. It's also worth withdrawing a slightly larger amount per transaction than you might at home, since many Egyptian ATMs charge a flat fee regardless of the amount withdrawn — three smaller withdrawals across a trip can end up costing noticeably more in cumulative fees than one or two larger ones.

Understanding the pound's volatility

The Egyptian pound has a notably volatile recent history worth understanding before you travel, since it affects how you should think about prices you see quoted online. Egypt maintained a fixed or tightly managed exchange rate for years, leading to a persistent gap between the official rate and an unofficial 'black market' rate as foreign currency reserves came under pressure; the government has periodically floated or sharply devalued the pound in response, most significantly in 2016 and again in 2022–2023, each time causing the pound's dollar value to drop substantially and quickly. These devaluations were driven by broader macroeconomic pressures — a persistent trade deficit, a heavy reliance on tourism and Suez Canal revenue that both took hits during periods of regional instability, and large foreign debt obligations — rather than anything specific to the tourism sector.

The practical upshot for visitors is twofold. First, any specific EGP price you read in an older article, blog post or forum thread should be treated with real skepticism, since it may reflect an exchange rate from years ago that no longer applies — this site deliberately avoids quoting fixed EGP-to-dollar conversions for the same reason, and you should check a current rate converter or your bank's app immediately before or during your trip rather than relying on a number that was accurate when written. Second, and more positively, each devaluation has generally made Egypt noticeably cheaper for travelers paying in foreign currency, even as it's made imported goods and international travel more expensive for Egyptians themselves — worth keeping in mind as context for why prices you find can look surprisingly low compared to what an older guidebook or a friend's trip from several years ago described.

Where cards work — and where they don't

International cards are widely accepted at hotels, upscale restaurants, malls and larger shops, but cash is still the default for taxis, street food, small local restaurants, Khan el-Khalili market stalls, and tipping — which is a frequent, expected part of daily transactions in Egypt. Keep a mix of larger notes for planned expenses and smaller notes and coins on hand for these constant small cash moments, since finding change for a large note from a street vendor or taxi driver is a recurring minor friction.

Contactless and tap-to-pay acceptance has expanded significantly in recent years at the larger, more internationally oriented venues, but don't assume it as a given — carrying a physical card with a chip and PIN as backup, and knowing your PIN rather than relying purely on signature or contactless, remains the safer approach for anywhere off the well-trodden tourist path. It's also worth carrying two separate cards from different banks or networks if you have them, purely as a backup in case one is declined, lost, or flagged for suspicious activity mid-trip.

Travel cards and prepaid options

Multi-currency travel cards like Wise, which let you hold and spend Egyptian pounds (when supported) or convert from your home currency at the mid-market rate rather than a marked-up bank rate, are worth setting up before you travel if you already use one for other trips — they typically beat both a standard debit card's foreign transaction fees and an airport currency counter's rate, though ATM withdrawal availability and fees for these cards vary by provider and are worth checking specifically for Egypt before you rely on one exclusively. Treat a travel card as a complement to a normal backup debit or credit card rather than your only option, in case of an app outage, a lost card, or a merchant that simply doesn't support it.

Tipping — an unavoidable daily cost

Tipping, known locally as baksheesh, is woven into daily life in Egypt far more pervasively than in most Western countries, and it's worth budgeting for as a real, recurring expense rather than an occasional courtesy. It applies well beyond restaurants: bathroom attendants, hotel staff who carry bags or clean rooms, parking attendants, and even people who simply point you in a direction or hold a door commonly expect a small tip. This can feel relentless to first-time visitors, but it's a normal and expected part of the local economy rather than a sign of being specifically targeted as a tourist — Egyptians tip each other for the same small services, and wages in many of these roles are structured with the expectation that tips make up a meaningful part of income.

Keep a steady supply of small denomination notes specifically for this purpose, separate from the larger notes you're using for bigger purchases, so you're not breaking a large bill every time a tip comes up. A polite, modest tip offered without being asked tends to go over better than either ignoring the custom entirely or over-tipping dramatically, which can attract more persistent requests. At sit-down restaurants, a service charge is sometimes already included on the bill — check before adding a full separate tip on top, though a small additional amount for good service is still common practice even when a service charge appears.

How much cash to carry

Carry enough small-denomination cash for a day's taxis, tips and casual purchases, topped up as needed from ATMs rather than carrying large amounts at once. Hotel safes are a sensible place to keep the bulk of any cash and cards you're not using that day, and splitting cash between a couple of different bags or pockets rather than one wallet is a reasonable precaution in crowded markets specifically. A rough daily-cash rule of thumb many visitors find works well: enough for taxis, tips and one meal's worth of cash-only spending, topped up every day or two from an ATM rather than carrying several days' worth at once.

Avoiding common money mistakes

The most common visitor mistakes are exchanging a large sum of cash immediately at the airport currency counter (rates there are typically worse than ATMs), accepting a taxi or vendor's quoted price in a foreign currency rather than Egyptian pounds (which almost always favors the seller), and not carrying enough small notes to avoid the 'no change' problem that comes up disproportionately often with taxis and small vendors. None of these are dangerous, just mildly costly — worth avoiding with a little planning rather than learning the hard way on day one.

Another common trap: being offered 'dynamic currency conversion' at a card terminal, where the machine asks whether you'd like to pay in your home currency instead of Egyptian pounds. This almost always applies a worse exchange rate than your own bank would give you converting the EGP charge itself — decline it and choose to be charged in Egyptian pounds whenever the option appears, even though the terminal often defaults to or nudges toward the foreign-currency option.

Frequently Asked Questions