Money in Uruguay: Currency, Cards, ATMs, and Tipping

Money in Uruguay works differently from its neighbors.

Our first lesson came at the ATM: the Abitab machine we tried wouldn’t accept our foreign card at all, and every other bank ATM that did charged us 100 pesos per withdrawal.

This money in Uruguay guide covers the four decisions you actually need to make before you go: currency, cards, ATMs, and tipping, which we noticed during our three weeks in the country.

It also covers the one thing most travelers miss: paying with a foreign card can take the VAT off your restaurant bill.

Currency: the Uruguayan peso

The official currency is the Uruguayan peso (UYU), written as $ or $U.

Prices in shops just show “$”, so if you see a dollar sign in a Montevideo shop window, it always means pesos.

As of October 2026 (when we were there), the Uruguayan peso to USD rate sits around 40 pesos to the dollar.

Notes come in $20, $50, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, and $2,000 pesos, and coins in $1, $2, $5, and $10 pesos.

Should you bring US dollars?

We didn’t need them.

Almost everywhere we went, they wanted a card or pesos in cash, so bringing a stack of dollars would just mean exchanging them again.

By the end, we ran out of cash; they did not accept cards, so we wanted to pay with USD in cash, but they would not accept it. Only cash Uruguayan pesos.

A card plus a few ATM withdrawals in pesos covered everything for us.

Is Uruguay expensive?

Yes, by South American standards.

It’s one of the most expensive countries on the continent.

In Montevideo, we paid $25 (€23) for just a few supermarket items, and spent around $60 (€55) per person a day eating out most meals.

See our Montevideo is worth visiting post for the full breakdown.

Summary:

• 💵 Budget traveler: $35 to $45 (€32 to €41) a day: hostel beds, cooking your own meals, buses
• 💵 Mid-range traveler: $60 to $90 (€55 to €83) a day: private room, eating out most meals (where we landed)
• 📈 Peso stability: one of the more stable currencies in the region, but not fixed

Cards: what we’ve used and why

Visa and Mastercard are the two cards you’ll actually use, accepted at most hotels, mid-range restaurants, and supermarkets in Montevideo and the coastal towns.

American Express has weaker acceptance, so don’t build a trip around it.

Smaller family-run restaurants, market stalls, and rural guesthouses always prefer cash, even if they technically take cards. This means you’ll also pay the ‘normal’ price and not get the VAT discount.

The VAT discount for foreign cards

This is the biggest money tip we can give you for Uruguay.

Non-resident tourists who pay with a card issued outside Uruguay can get a reduction on IVA (Uruguay’s 22% VAT) at restaurants, bars and cafés, and on car rental.

Hotels can also invoice non-residents without IVA.

The discount shows up on the receipt or later on your card statement.

Cash gets NO discount.

In our experience, paying with our foreign Visa always got us a discount, sometimes up to 15% off the bill.

Part of that is the VAT reduction for tourists, and some restaurants add their own promotions for foreign cards.

Don’t count on the restaurant card promotions you’ll see advertised for platinum and other premium cards, though: those are for Uruguayan bank cards, not foreign ones.

Why we use Wise

For us, Wise has been the simplest card for everyday spending.

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate plus a small, upfront conversion fee instead of a hidden markup.

As a couple, we share a joint Wise account, so we both pay from the same balance and never have to settle up who paid for dinner.

Where it hasn’t been the obvious answer: it’s a card you need to set up and load before you fly, not something you can sort out at the airport, and it doesn’t remove ATM withdrawal fees on the Uruguayan side, only the markup on the currency conversion itself.

ATMs: where they work and where they don’t

With our Wise card, every withdrawal cost us 100 pesos (about $2.50 / €2.20), and the fee was the same at every bank we tried.

The ATMs we’d point you to are RedBROU, the network of BROU (Banco República, the state bank), which worked best for us.

You’ll also see Santander and Itaú ATMs in Montevideo, Punta del Este, and Colonia.

👉 INSIDER TIP: skip the Abitab machines. They’re everywhere, but they only work with Uruguayan cards, not our foreign one (we tried).

Summary:

• 💵 ATM fees: 100 pesos (about $2.50 / €2.20) per withdrawal in our experience, plus whatever your own card provider charges
• 📍 Reliable coverage: Montevideo, Punta del Este, Colonia
• ⚠️ Scarce elsewhere: smaller coastal and inland towns

KEEP IN MIND: outside the big three, ATMs get scarce fast. Withdraw more than you think you need before you leave the bigger cities.

Uruguay money at a glance
💱Currency: Uruguayan peso ($ or $U)	📊Exchange rate: ~40 UYU per $1 USD (check current)	🏧ATM fee: ~100 UYU (about $2.50 / €2.20)
🍽️Restaurant tip: 10%	💳Restaurants: pay by foreign card for the VAT discount	💵Daily budget: $35–90 (€32–83)

Tipping in Uruguay

Tipping in Uruguay is more modest than in the US.

Most guides say around 10% at restaurants is standard, but in practice nobody asked us for a tip anywhere except the Mercado del Puerto, where they asked at the end of the meal whether we wanted to add one.

Summary:

• 🍽️ Restaurants: around 10% if you’re happy with the service. It isn’t added automatically, and you likely won’t be asked at tourist spots.
• 🚕 Taxis: round up to the nearest convenient note
• 🧳 Hotel bellhops/porters: $1.20 to $2.30 (€1.10 to €2.10) per bag
• 🥾 Tour guides: $9 to $18 (€8 to €17) per person for a half-day tour, more for a private full-day like a Carmelo wine tour

👉 INSIDER TIP: if you want to tip after paying by card, keep a few small peso notes on you, since most places won’t prompt you to add one.

A quick checklist for your money in Uruguay

• Not sure yet where the money will actually go? See our best things to do in Uruguay and what to pack for Uruguay guides for the fuller planning picture.
• If a no-fee travel card fits your trip, set it up (and load it) before you fly. It’s not a same-day fix.
• Pay restaurants with a foreign card, not cash, to get the VAT discount.
• Carry at least two payment methods in case one is declined.
• Withdraw extra cash before leaving Montevideo, Punta del Este, or Colonia if you’re heading somewhere smaller.
• Keep a mix of small and large peso notes, since vendors outside the capital often can’t break large bills.

Our take

Money in Uruguay isn’t complicated once you split it into its four parts:

• pesos for small vendors,
• a foreign card for restaurants (where it can save you the VAT),
• ATMs in the big three cities before you head anywhere smaller,
• and a 10% tip.

For us, that card has been Wise, but if your trip is short or your debit card already has no foreign fees, you don’t need it.

Make those four decisions before you land, and Uruguay’s prices will sting a lot less.

Written by Laura and Alexander, a travel couple overlanding through Uruguay, from Montevideo’s Ciudad Vieja to the wineries of Carmelo.