Money in Monaco

Monaco is one of the easiest places in Europe to handle money — and one of the most misunderstood. The euro is legal tender, cards work everywhere, and yet the Principality sits outside the EU, runs on French banking law, and applies its own cash rules. This page covers the practical side: paying, withdrawing, transferring and being protected. For which banks exist and how to open an account, see Banks in Monaco and Opening a bank account.

The euro in Monaco

Monaco uses the euro (EUR, €) as its sole legal currency, under a monetary agreement concluded with the European Union — not because it is an EU member, which it is not. The practical consequence for a visitor is simple: nothing needs to be exchanged. Euros drawn in Nice, Milan or Frankfurt spend identically in Monte-Carlo.

The Principality also mints its own euro coins. Monegasque issues carry the effigy of Prince Albert II or the princely arms on the national side, and occasional €2 commemoratives mark national anniversaries. They are legal tender across the entire euro area, and because mintages are small they are actively sought by collectors — if you receive one in change, it is worth more as a keepsake than as 2 euros. The Musée des Timbres et des Monnaies in Fontvieille displays the historical series.

Banknotes are the standard European ones, from €5 to €200. The €500 note has not been issued since 2019; older ones remain legal tender but shops routinely refuse them, and so do many hotels.

Paying day to day

Cards are the default. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in virtually every shop, restaurant, pharmacy, car park and taxi. Terminals are EMV chip-and-PIN — the magnetic stripe alone will usually be rejected — and contactless is standard, typically up to about €50 per tap before the terminal asks for a PIN. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are widely supported.

American Express is accepted by hotels, larger restaurants and luxury retail, but not by every small trader; carry a Visa or Mastercard as a backup.

Always pay in euros. When a terminal or ATM offers to bill you "in your home currency", that is dynamic currency conversion: the merchant's rate, not your bank's, and it is consistently worse. Decline it every time.

Cash still has its uses: some market stalls at the Marché de la Condamine, a few small cafés, older parking machines, and tipping. Keep €20 and €50 notes rather than €200s — change for large notes is often refused.

Cheques remain in circulation in Monaco and France far longer than elsewhere in Europe; landlords, schools and some administrative bodies still accept them. They are of little use to visitors, but a resident with a Monaco account will usually be issued a chequebook.

Cash rules that differ from France

This is where Monaco genuinely diverges from its neighbour, and where a lot of published advice is simply wrong.

Monaco's anti-money-laundering framework requires professionals — jewellers, art dealers, yacht and car brokers, real-estate agents — to identify the buyer, document the source of funds above the threshold, and file a suspicious-transaction report with the AMSF where doubt persists. Practically: a €20,000 cash purchase is lawful in Monaco but will involve paperwork, and the same purchase made in Nice would not be lawful at all if you are a French tax resident.

ATMs and withdrawal fees

ATMs are dense for a territory of 2.02 km². You will find them at every bank branch, in the Fontvieille and Métropole shopping centres, around Place du Casino, at the Gare de Monaco-Monte-Carlo and near the port at La Condamine. All accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus; American Express withdrawals are far more limited.

What it costs you:

• Monaco banks do not usually surcharge cash withdrawals on European cards — the fee comes from your own bank.
• Non-euro cards typically pay a foreign-transaction fee of 1–3% plus a fixed charge, so withdraw larger amounts less often.
• Screen offers to convert into your currency: decline, as above.
• Weekend and event peaks (Grand Prix, Yacht Show) empty machines in the tourist core faster than elsewhere; the Fontvieille machines are quieter.

Bank counters open Monday to Friday, broadly 08:30–12:00 and 13:30–16:30, with a genuine lunchtime closure and no Saturday service at most branches. Plan cash needs around that, not around Northern European habits.

Transfers, IBANs and SEPA

A Monaco account number is an IBAN beginning with MC, 27 characters long, built on the French model: 5-digit bank code, 5-digit branch code, 11-character account number and a 2-digit check key.

Monaco is inside the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). That matters more than most guides admit: a euro transfer between a Monaco account and any account in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK is a SEPA credit transfer, charged as a domestic payment and normally settled the next working day — or within seconds by SEPA Instant where both banks support it. Direct debits for utilities, telephone and insurance work the same way.

Outside SEPA, transfers go over SWIFT with the usual correspondent-bank costs, generally €15–€50 incoming and more outgoing, and one to five working days.

One practical trap for new residents: EEA-licensed neobanks generally do not accept a Monaco address. Revolut and N26 do not open accounts for Monaco residents, because Monaco is outside the EEA. People arriving with such an account often keep it registered at a previous address, which creates problems at the first compliance review. The realistic answer is a Monaco or French account — see Digital banking in Monaco.

Who supervises, who protects

Monaco's financial architecture is layered, and the names matter if you ever need to escalate a complaint:

• ACPR (Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution) — the French supervisor. Under the Franco-Monegasque convention of 14 April 1945, credit institutions established in Monaco apply French banking law and are licensed and prudentially supervised by the ACPR.
• FGDR (Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts et de Résolution) — the French deposit-guarantee scheme, to which Monaco-licensed banks belong. Cover is €100,000 per depositor per institution for deposits and €70,000 for securities.
• CCAF (Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières) — Monaco's own authority, which licenses and supervises portfolio-management companies and investment advisers. 4 rue des Iris, tel. +377 98 98 43 59, ccaf.mc.
• AMSF (Autorité Monégasque de Sécurité Financière) — since 2023 the independent authority handling AML/CFT supervision, financial intelligence and sanctions, replacing the former SICCFIN. 13 rue Emile Loth, amsf.mc.
• AMAF (Association Monégasque des Activités Financières) — the industry body grouping every bank and management company in the Principality; its published member list is the authoritative roster of who is actually licensed here.

Note that the EU's GDPR does not apply in Monaco. Personal data held by Monaco banks is governed by Monegasque Law n° 1.565 and overseen by the APDP — see Data protection in Monaco.

Currency exchange

Because the euro is the currency, exchange is a non-issue for most visitors. If you do arrive with sterling, dollars or francs, a card withdrawal from an ATM will almost always beat a bureau de change counter, and hotel exchange desks are the worst option of all. Details and locations are in Currency exchange in Monaco.

Crypto-assets are legal to hold but are not a payment method here: a handful of merchants advertise acceptance, almost always through a processor that settles in euros. See Cryptocurrency in Monaco for the regulatory position.

A short checklist

Before you arrive

1. Tell your bank you will be in Monaco — some fraud engines still treat it as an unusual destination.
2. Check your card's foreign-transaction and ATM fees.
3. Carry two cards from different networks, stored separately.

Once you are here

1. Pay by card, decline every currency-conversion offer.
2. Keep €50–€100 in small notes for markets, tips and older machines.
3. Use bank-lobby ATMs rather than isolated ones, as anywhere.

If you are moving here

1. Open a Monaco account early — compliance checks routinely take several weeks (see Opening a bank account).
2. Expect to provide your carte de séjour or its application receipt, proof of address and proof of resources (Carte de séjour).
3. Do not assume a neobank account will survive the move.

Related guides

• Banks in Monaco — who operates, who supervises, how to choose
• List of banks in Monaco — the current institutions
• Opening a bank account — documents and timelines
• Cost of living in Monaco — what your money actually buys
• Tipping etiquette — how much, and in cash or on the card