# What currency is used in Moldova?

Moldova's currency is the Moldovan leu \(MDL\); one leu is 100 bani. Euros and dollars are not used in shops, but are easy to change at exchange offices and at the airport. Cards work in town; in villages, at markets and on minibuses you pay cash.

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- **Updated:** 2026-10-30T14:48:42+02:00

## Lei and bani

The leu is issued by the National Bank of Moldova and has been in circulation since 29 November 1993. The national currency is the **Moldovan leu** \(code MDL\), divided into 100 **bani**. Since 2018 there are also 1, 2, 5 and 10 lei coins, circulating alongside banknotes of the same value; a note and a coin of the same value are used the same way.

## Changing money

- **Exchange offices** \(*casa de schimb valutar*\) are everywhere in Chișinău and the larger towns, with the rate posted at the door. Euros, US dollars and Romanian lei are changed everywhere.
- **Cash machines** are common in town and at the airport. When a machine offers to convert into your home currency, choose to be charged in lei \(MDL\) — it is usually the cheaper option.

## Card or cash?

- **Cards** work in hotels, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, petrol stations and most of the large wineries.
- **Cash** is what you use at markets, on minibuses and intercity buses, in taxis without a terminal, at many village guesthouses and with small producers.
- For a day in the countryside, carry a few hundred lei in small notes.

## Prices on moldova.travel

Every indicative price on this site is in Moldovan lei \(MDL\), as our partners publish it.

## Transnistria

The Transnistrian region has its own currency, the **Transnistrian ruble**, and cards issued abroad usually do not work there. If you go to Tiraspol or Bender, take cash and change only what you need once there.

## More

- [Travel questions](https://moldova.travel/en/g.md)
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