Currency and Money
The currency in Jordan is the Jordanian Dinar (JD) – known as the jay-dee, which is made up of 1000 fils. You will sometimes hear piastre or girsh, which are both 10 fils (10 qirsh equals 100 fils). Often when a price is quoted the unit will be omitted, so if you’re told that something is 25, it’s a matter of working out whether it’s 25 fils, 25 piastre or 25 dinars!
Coins are 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 fils. Notes come in denominations of JD1, 5, 10, 20 and 50. Try to change larger notes as often as possible at larger restaurants and when paying your hotel bill. Changing money is very easy in Jordan, and most major currencies are accepted in cash and travellers cheques. US dollars are the most accepted, followed by UK pounds and euros.
It is possible to survive in Jordan almost entirely on cash advances, and ATMs abound in all but the smaller towns. Visa is the most widely accepted card for cash advances and using ATMs, followed by MasterCard. Other cards, such as Cirrus and Plus, are also accepted by many ATMs (eg Jordan National Bank and HSBC).
Travellers’ checks and major credit cards are widely accepted.