Money, cards and ATMs in Zimbabwe

Two currencies, and the government writes in the foreign one

• Zimbabwe has a multi-currency system and you can use US dollars for most transactions. The FCDO says so plainly, and adds that most suppliers prefer US dollars in cash.
• Zimbabwe Gold, ZiG, was introduced in April 2024 to replace the Zimbabwean dollar. The US dollar remains legal tender alongside it.
• The two-currency reality shows up in ordinary price lists. Econet publishes the same data bundles twice, one list in US dollars and one in ZWG. Expect to be quoted in whichever the seller prefers, and to be able to ask for the other.
• ZIMRA denominates the traveller's duty-free allowance as USD200. When the revenue authority writes its own allowance in dollars, that tells you which currency the arrival hall runs on.

The shortage is of notes, not of dollars

• There is a shortage of physical US dollar cash, and it is not always possible to withdraw with an international debit or credit card. Do not land planning to get your first cash out of an ATM.
• Change is rarely available. Carry small denomination notes and expect to be handed a sweet, a voucher or nothing at all in place of coins.
• Do not accept torn or damaged notes in change. Shops and restaurants are likely to refuse them afterwards, and by then it is your problem.
• Check what a hotel, restaurant or tour operator accepts before you commit. Some businesses, including some medical providers, do not take cards at all.
• International money transfers into Zimbabwe are not always successful. A wire is not a plan B.

Where you may legally change money

• Only at officially licensed dealers, which means banks and bureaux de change. Exchanging foreign currency anywhere else is illegal in Zimbabwe, and bureaux will change foreign currency, particularly US dollars.
• At the airports, ACZ lists exactly one bureau de change: Kwikforex at Harare.
• It lists banks at Harare and Bulawayo only, four of them in the international terminal at Harare.
• It lists neither a bank nor a bureau de change at Victoria Falls. Arrive there with the dollars you need, including the visa fee in small notes.

The rules on carrying cash across the border

• Declare cash or travellers cheques worth 10,000 US dollars or more on arrival. You get a certified declaration; keep it, because it is the proof you brought the money in.
• It is illegal to leave Zimbabwe with cash worth more than 2,000 US dollars. That is a hard limit on the way out, and it is much lower than the declaration threshold on the way in.

And the caveat that covers all of it

• Zimbabwe's economy is unpredictable and monetary policy can change at short notice. The FCDO says exactly that. Everything above was checked on 10 September 2026, and money rules are the part of this page most likely to move first.