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Credit Card Acceptability in Gambia

Credit & Debit Cards Acceptability:
You can use some of the major credit cards to withdraw money from various bank counters in Gambia. Some hotels, restaurants, airline flights from Banjul Airport to Europe, car rentals companies and ground tour operators  will accept either American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club or Discover if agreed before your departure or at the beginning your stay.

Some local businesses, such as supermarkets, accept electronic payments using Visa debit cards or Mastercard using a POS terminal.

It is strongly advised that you first contact your credit card company in your country before travelling to inform them of your travel plans. Furthermore you should contact your designated hotel and ask them whether they will accept your payment card before travelling. The last thing you want is for your credit or debit card to be automatically blocked while on holiday due to unusual geographical use.

Transaction Charges:
Credit card fees can be as much as 5% in some hotels. You are really better off using your card for emergencies only and use travellers' cheques and your own foreign currency instead. You can then change your money as you need it when you get to The Gambia.

Visa Electron Debit Cards and the Visa Classic Debit Cards are accepted by some banks, such as the Standard Chartered Bank and Access Bank respectively to make ATM cash withdrawals. As long as you have the funds available, you may have to make multiple withdrawals as the maximum single amount dispensed at one time is often limited to D3,000. Transaction charges will often apply per withdrawal making it a costly way to obtain Dalasis.

Visa TravelMoney is a compromise between travellers' cheques and plastic cards. It is a prepaid card which means you can withdraw cash at an ATM. Each time a withdrawal is made the amount is automatically deducted from the card.

MasterCard prepaid, credit and debit cards can be used at GTBank Gambia ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) terminals including hotels, retailers and restaurants located in the Greater Banjul area. This allows you to make electronic payments and cash withdrawals in the local currency, the Dalasi. For travellers there is an ATM that is conveniently located on the Bertil Harding Highway, near the Senegambia Strip junction in Kololi.

American Express (Amex) is accepted by some of the major hotels and some of the more up-market restaurants.

Diners Club has a limited number of establishments that accept them.

Maestro cards cannot be used so far in The Gambia.

Discover card has only a few establishments that accept them.

Solo and Switch cards are not accepted. Do talk to your card company or designated accommodation about acceptability before making any travel plans. Also Look at the back of your card to see if there is a Cirrus or PLUS logo as they have the widest payment network worldwide.
 
 
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