Cash or card in Mongolia? Tögrög, ATMs, countryside cash and tipping

The tögrög: notes, coins and the rate

Mongolia's currency is the tögrög (MNT), which the Bank of Mongolia spells togrog in English and the German Foreign Office calls the tugrik. The Bank of Mongolia lists banknotes of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 tögrög in circulation, and coins of 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 tögrög. The portraits help you sort the notes: Chinggis Khaan appears on the notes from 500 to 20,000 tögrög, and Sükhbaatar on the small notes from 5 to 100.

On 8 November 2026 the Bank of Mongolia's rate was USD 1 = MNT 3,600.44, so a 10,000 note is worth a little under USD 2.80 and a 20,000 note about USD 5.55. The central bank publishes this official rate as valid for the next day for accounting purposes, so the rate at a bank counter or exchange office can differ.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

What things cost, and how much cash to carry

A few everyday prices in Ulaanbaatar give a sense of scale. At the Metro Mall branch of Modern Nomads, a Mongolian restaurant chain, a portion of buuz (meat dumplings) costs MNT 30,900 (about USD 8.58), khuushuur (fried meat pastries) MNT 28,900, a Mongolian milk tea MNT 3,500 and a half-litre of still water MNT 5,500; the chain says prices may differ by branch. A city bus ride costs MNT 1,000. An adult ticket to the Chinggis Khaan National Museum costs MNT 30,000 for the permanent exhibition or MNT 45,000 with the Hall of the Great Khaan. Unitel's 10-day tourist SIM with 15 GB costs MNT 25,000 plus MNT 5,000 for the SIM card, MNT 30,000 in all.

In the city, where the larger places take cards, cash for the day is enough. For a countryside tour, the tips for your guide and driver are the largest cash item, followed by whatever you plan to spend on drinks, laundry and phone calls, which View Mongolia's eight-day tour, for one, leaves out.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Pay in tögrög: which notes to bring and where to change them

By law, all payments in Mongolia must be made in tögrög, so plan to change your dollars or euros, or to withdraw tögrög from an ATM, rather than to pay with foreign notes.

US dollars and euros can be changed at all banks and exchange offices. Leave 200 and 500 euro notes at home, as they can be refused because of increasing cases of fraud, and bring clean, undamaged notes, because in some cases damaged notes get a worse exchange rate.

Your first chance is on arrival: the airport has a bank, ATMs and currency exchange. In the city, mind bank hours. On Trade and Development Bank's (TDB) branch list, most branches open Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00 and close at weekends; some branches in shopping malls keep longer hours, such as the one in the E-Mart Tenger mall on Enkhtaivan street, open 09:30-20:00 on weekdays and 11:00-20:00 on Saturday and Sunday. If you land on a Friday evening or plan to leave for the countryside on a Monday morning, change money or use an ATM before the weekend closes the counters.

Cards, QR codes and the home-currency offer

All larger hotels, restaurants and shops that foreigners often use accept common credit cards. In the city, paying by card where you can is also the safer habit: the German Foreign Office's crime advice asks visitors to prefer cashless payment.

QR-code payment is growing markedly, above all in the cities, but the providers are mostly local and as a rule need a Mongolian bank account or a local app, so foreign travellers can use QR payment only to a limited extent or not at all. Where a counter shows only a QR code, pay by card or in cash, and carry the physical card rather than relying on a phone.

If a card terminal or an ATM offers to charge you in your home currency, decline and pay in tögrög. Visa explains that this offer, dynamic currency conversion, includes an exchange rate and additional fees, and that merchants and ATMs should give you the choice to accept or decline and must not choose on your behalf. If the details are missing or you feel pressured, Visa recommends declining the offer and reporting the incident to your card issuer.

ATMs: card networks and withdrawal limits

Ulaanbaatar has more and more ATMs where common credit and debit cards work. Trade and Development Bank (TDB), for example, runs about 240 ATMs and accepts Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover, and Pulse cards at them, so a TDB machine is a good first try if your card is on one of the less common networks.

At TDB's ATMs, a foreign card can draw at most MNT 700,000 (about USD 194) per transaction, and the total you can take out is also limited by your own card's limit. That is TDB's rule rather than a national one, but it means a larger sum takes several withdrawals. Your own bank may also charge a fee for each cash withdrawal abroad, and such a fee adds up when each withdrawal is capped.

You can also withdraw cash with a credit card at larger banks, and at some banks, Khan Bank among them, with a debit card.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Cash for a countryside tour and for a hospital bill

Outside Ulaanbaatar, getting cash with a card is only rarely possible, and money can be changed only in the aimag centres, the provincial towns. Before a longer trip, change or withdraw enough tögrög in Ulaanbaatar.

How much is enough depends on what your tour leaves out. The tour itself is the biggest payment of the trip, settled with the operator. View Mongolia's eight-day Gobi and Orkhon Valley tour, for example, costs USD 1,373 per person on a group tour or USD 2,150 per person on a private tour for two, and the operator invoices a deposit of 25% of the tour price on booking, payable by bank transfer (you pay the transfer fee) or by credit card. It includes the hotel night, the ger camps, the van, an English-speaking guide, bottled water, horse and camel rides, park and museum entry and the meals listed in its itinerary, but not bar bills, laundry, phone calls, the departure airport transfer or tips. The tips are the largest of the extras: at the suggested USD 10-20 per person per day for the guide and driver of a group tour, eight days come to USD 80-160 each, about MNT 288,000-576,000 at the 8 November 2026 rate, not counting drinks and laundry. Our first-trip guide explains what a tour usually covers, and the trip-cost guide prices the whole trip.

Keep a way to pay for medical care as well. At hospitals you will have to pay 80% of the treatment cost in advance, so make sure you have access to funds and insurance cover: a working card, some reserve cash and travel insurance matter most on a trip far from the capital.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Arriving and getting around: the X:19 bus, city buses and taxis

Chinggis Khaan International Airport lists a bank, ATMs and currency exchange among its passenger services, so you can get your first tögrög before you leave the terminal.

The X:19 bus between the airport and Sükhbaatar Square costs MNT 15,000 for an adult and MNT 7,000 for a child, and you can pay with any type of card; seats can also be booked up to three days ahead in the UBCARD app. The official taxi counter on the terminal's first floor charges a fixed MNT 120,000 for a standard car (a Hyundai Sonata) to the city centre, or MNT 170,000 for a VIP car booked no later than two hours ahead. Our transport guide covers both rides in detail.

City buses in Ulaanbaatar cost MNT 1,000 a ride, paid in cash or with any bank card that supports contactless (NFC) payment; a bank card pays each ride separately. If you will ride often, a UBcard, sold for MNT 3,600 at the city's ticket kiosks, gives four rides a day for MNT 1,000 on every route except the airport, Baganuur and Bagakhangai lines; tap it when you get off as well as when you get on, or the next ride is not counted as a transfer.

In town, ask the fare before you get into a taxi, and use mainly registered taxi firms booked by app or hotline, such as UBCab, VIP-Taxi or 19001950.

Prices and times checked 8 November 2026

Tipping guides, drivers and restaurants

Tipping is not a traditional practice in Mongolia, and no official body sets a tipping norm. Guru Travel Mongolia, a tour operator, says most hotels and restaurants already include a service charge and that a small tip of around 5-10% of the bill is appreciated for exceptional service but not required.

On tours, tipping the guide and the driver is customary. For a group tour, the same operator suggests USD 10-20 per person per day for the guide and the driver; on a private tour, some travellers tip 10-20% of the tour price, shared between the two, and the operator recommends tipping drivers as much as guides. Both tögrög and US dollars are commonly accepted for tips, handed over at the end of the tour in an envelope or as a folded note.

Keeping money safe, and what to declare

In Ulaanbaatar, expect big-city crime such as pickpocketing, robbery and trick fraud, with pickpocketing and bag snatching especially in tourist areas such as Narantuul Market, shopping centres and department stores, and near well-known restaurants, pubs and sights. Pickpockets may also operate in markets and crowded places, and the risk increases during Tsagaan Sar (the New Year, celebrated between December and February) and Naadam (July).

Occasionally, large groups, including children and teenagers, harass pedestrians for money as they get into vehicles or walk into pubs or restaurants. Keep your phone, passport and money in a secured bag on you, carry only the cash you need for the day and no eye-catching jewellery, leave other valuables in a hotel safe if possible, and do not keep all your papers and money in one bag.

Tögrög and foreign currency can be brought in without limit, but you must declare in writing cash from MNT 15 million (about USD 4,166), or the same value in foreign currency, financial instruments or e-money. Foreign currency can be taken out up to the amount declared, and the UK Foreign Office warns that without a certified declaration your money could be seized when you leave. Our Mongolia entry guide covers the rest of the customs rules.