Behind Street-Side Money Changers Ahead of Lebaran: Slim Profits, High Risks

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The sky looked overcast as vehicles crawled slowly along Jalan Asemka, West Jakarta, on Thursday (5/3/2026).

On the edge of the sidewalk, several people sat on plastic chairs under a simple tent. In front of them, stacks of fresh banknotes were neatly arranged on a small table or plastic bench, wrapped and bundled like parcels.

Notes of Rp 2,000, Rp 5,000, and Rp 10,000 were conspicuously visible amid the traffic and pedestrians.

Every passerby seemed to recognise the intention of those money stacks as a service for exchanging new money ahead of Lebaran.

This activity is not new in Asemka until Gedung Arsip Nasional Halt; money changers have been popping up since the morning.

Some people stop briefly at the roadside, ask about the denominations available, before finally handing over a sum of money to be exchanged.

The transaction is fast—money is counted, the new-note bundles are handed over, and the buyer continues on their way.

On Jalan Asemka, a woman named Ratna is used to sitting for hours under the simple tent waiting for people who want to exchange money. In front of her, piles of new notes are neatly arranged on a small table. Some motorbike riders stop briefly, while pedestrians occasionally glance at the money arranged like bundles.

Ratna says she has been doing this job for decades.

“Saya udah mulai kaya gini udah dari jamannya mobil yang besar itu yang tukar-menukar koin, jaman dulu kan ada itu mobil itu. Dari awalnya di ajak teman iseng-iseng ikut nukar lalu jual terus sampai sekarang,” she told Kompas.com on Thursday.

“From 1999, BI was still there then, now it’s become a museum (Museum Mandiri),” she said.

According to Ratna, street money exchange in the past was far busier than now.

“If it used to be busy, we could set lower tariffs because we could rely on BI to exchange money. Now it’s hard; we have a boss. We deposit with the boss because getting into BI is difficult; now the exchange is tough,” she explained.

Behind the roadside service, there is a deposit system to the person they call the boss.

Ratna explained that every exchange involves a deduction as a service fee.

“Yes, because we also do this, so we sell as well as we need to make a profit; the deduction is 15 percent,” she said.

She said the deduction relates to the fees that must be deposited with the boss.

“Why 15 percent? because the deposits with the boss are expensive, so the fee is 15 percent; but if there’s a lot of exchange, we give 13 percent,” she explained.

The Rp 5,000 note becomes the most sought after as it is usually used for distribution during Lebaran.

“If you exchange, most people take Rp 5,000 notes because they are for distributing,” Ratna said.

Moreover, it is not uncommon for customers to exchange tens of millions of rupiah.

“There are customers who exchange tens of millions,” she said.

For some members of society, roadside money exchange is more practical than queuing at a bank.

Ratna said many of her customers come from passers-by and office workers.