Financial Matters
Getting money
Bank Account
Citibank has four or five branches throughout Cairo and one in Alexandria. You can open a dollar account there for a cost of $6 every three months. You can write checks to yourself from your American (or other foreign) account or have money wired in to deposit money in this account. This way you can withdraw dollars and convert them for a better rate than the bank rate. Note: If you have an American Citibank account, this really means nothing in Citibank Egypt. They are completely separate. The only advantage is that you can use your American Citibank ATM card in Egyptian Citibank ATMs without incurring a fee. You can also get a dollar account at some other banks.
Visit the branches and speak to the representative there to get more details.
Exchanging Money
The easiest way to exchange money is either at banks or money exchangers. Money exchangers typically give better rate, but at the time of writing this, all rates (banks, exchangers, other markets) were about the same.
There are many exchangers around Nasr City, and you can always exchange money at big hotels with pretty decent rates. One popular money-exchange is located across from the Nasr City Western Union and is called Gulf Exchange.
ATM
You can also of course just use a bank ATM and get the regular bank rate. This is could also be very useful in situations in which you need money and can’t get to the bank. Make sure you know what fees are involved for using your ATM card in Egyptian ATMs.
Wiring Money
There are is a Western Union branch in Nasr City. Call to ask for rates and details. (see the directory)
Traveler’s Checks
You can exchange these at Thomas Cook or Barclay’s for a 1% charge, $10 charge minimum. Citibank will not exchange traveler’s checks- even Citibank issued checks. These fees are subject to change. You may want to ask around at different places before exchanging. (The closest Thomas Cook branch is in Heliopolis, 7 Baghdad St., 4173511/4140625, http://www.thomascookegypt.com)
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