Money, Paying & ATMs.
The escudo is fixed-pegged to the euro - but it's a closed currency. What that actually means for cash, card payments, and cash machines on the individual islands, and why you shouldn't exchange more escudos than you'll actually spend.
Payments at a glance.
- Currency
- Cape Verdean escudo (CVE)
- Exchange rate
- Fixed: €1 = 110.265 CVE, unchanged since 1999
- Card network
- Vinti4/SISP - nearly all ATMs and POS terminals
- Card acceptance
- Visa & Mastercard reliable, Maestro/V-Pay unreliable
- ATM limit per withdrawal
- Anecdotal: usually around 20,000 CVE (~€180), up to 2x daily - varies by bank/machine
- ATM fee
- Anecdotal: approx. 165-300 CVE + your home bank's fee, no uniform table found
- Cash needed
- On Santo Antão, Fogo, Brava, São Nicolau, generally yes
- Leftover cash
- Best to spend it all before departure
A rate that never changes.
The Cape Verdean escudo (CVE) has been fixed-pegged to the euro since 1999: €1 = 110.265 CVE. The peg traces back to a 1998 agreement with Portugal (then pegged to the Portuguese escudo) and was carried over one-to-one to the euro when Portugal adopted the euro in 1999. This peg is maintained by the Banco de Cabo Verde (BCV) and hasn't changed since - unlike with freely floating currencies, you don't need to factor in exchange-rate fluctuations. Exchange bureaus and banks practically always calculate using this fixed rate; small deviations only come from fees, not from actual rate changes.
The CVE is a closed currency: outside Cape Verde it's barely to not at all exchangeable, and even within the country, exchanging it back to euros at the airport is often cumbersome or comes with an unfavorable rate. So only exchange as much cash as you'll actually spend on the ground, or plan to keep leftover amounts for a future visit rather than hoping for a good exchange-back rate.
Vinti4 is the standard.
Almost every ATM and card terminal in Cape Verde runs on the national Vinti4/SISP network.
Vinti4/SISP network
240 ATMs (BCV payment-system report, as of Q4 2025 - no newer official figure found) and roughly 12,000 POS card terminals nationwide run on SISP's (Sociedade Interbancária e Sistemas de Pagamentos) Vinti4 system. Per the same report, on average 89.7% of these were actually operational - so a machine can be temporarily out of order, and keeping a cash buffer makes sense. Visa and Mastercard are reliably accepted; Maestro and V-Pay don't work reliably everywhere - bring a classic Visa or Mastercard credit card if possible.
Withdrawal limits & fees
Most machines cap individual withdrawals at around 20,000 CVE (approx. €180) - for larger amounts, you'll need to withdraw multiple times. On top of your own bank's fee, many Cape Verdean machines charge a local fee of about 200-300 CVE per withdrawal. A fee-free travel credit card (e.g. DKB, N26 on certain plans) saves noticeable money over time here.
Local banks
The largest banks are BCA (Banco Comercial do Atlântico), BCN (Banco Cabo-verdiano de Negócios), Caixa Económica, and Ecobank. BCA changed its majority owner in early 2026 - practically nothing changes for travelers as a result, Vinti4 machines and branches work unchanged.
Mobile payment
Vinti4 also offers a mobile-payment app (Televinti4) for transfers and bills - practically unusable for short-term visitors without a Cape Verdean bank account. For travelers, the classic combination of cash and a credit/debit card remains the relevant one.
Where cash stays mandatory.
On the most tourism-developed islands - Sal, Boa Vista, São Vicente, and Santiago - card payment at hotels, larger restaurants, and supermarkets is now standard. Things look different on the smaller, more rural islands:
- Santo Antão, Fogo, Brava, São Nicolau: small guesthouses, local restaurants, and markets generally expect cash - card terminals are considerably rarer there.
- Maio: similar to the smaller islands - plan for cash at more remote accommodations and local vendors.
- ATMs outside the main towns: on every island, ATMs are concentrated in the respective island capital - more remote villages generally have no machine at all.
Rule of thumb for your cash budget
Withdraw a moderate amount right after arriving at the airport (not too small because of the flat fee, not too large because of the closed currency), and plan for extra cash when island-hopping to more remote regions - there, the next machine is often a ferry ride away.
Sources & status of this page
- Fixed rate €1 = 110.265 CVE, year refined (21.10.2026): confirmed multiple times (incl. Wikipedia, cabo-verde.cv) - the peg traces back to an agreement with Portugal from mid-1998 (then pegged to the Portuguese escudo, at a different rate), but was only carried over to today's euro rate of €1 = 110.265 CVE when Portugal adopted the euro in 1999. This page previously said "since 1998" throughout for the euro rate itself - that was imprecise, since the specific euro fixed rate only came into being in 1999; now corrected everywhere to "since 1999," with 1998 separately named as the origin of the PTE peg. Managed by the Banco de Cabo Verde (BCV).
- 240 ATMs nationwide, as of Q4 2025 (refined 18.10.2026): BCV payment-system reports cite 218 active ATMs at the end of 2023 and 240 in the fourth quarter of 2025 - this page previously said "~230" as an average of that range; now showing the most recent documented figure with its time reference directly, instead of an indirectly derived average. No newer official figure found. The same report additionally cites an average availability rate of 89.7% - not every machine is operational at all times.
- ~12,000 POS terminals: not confirmed in the available official BCV/SISP reports - those show only around 8,000-8,700 POS terminals for 2019/2020. The cited figure of 12,000 comes from a single, no-longer-findable SISP press release and is explicitly treated here as an unconfirmed reference figure.
- BCA ownership change in early 2026: confirmed by several business media outlets (Financial Afrik, Expresso das Ilhas, Ecofin Agency) - the Portuguese state bank CGD sold its 59.81% stake to the Coris Group, closing in mid-January 2026.
- ATM limit (20,000 CVE, 2x daily) & fees: the withdrawal limit is consistently cited by several travel forums and financial guides (incl. a Revolut guide, Tripadvisor forum); fee amounts vary between sources (between roughly 165 and 300 CVE) - a uniform official fee table could not be found, so it's flagged as a reference figure with a range.
Questions about money & paying.
What's the euro-to-escudo exchange rate?
Fixed since 1999: €1 = 110.265 CVE. The rate doesn't change; small deviations only come from fees.
Can I pay by card everywhere?
On Sal, Boa Vista, São Vicente, and Santiago, usually yes. On Santo Antão, Fogo, Brava, and São Nicolau, you should carry cash.
What happens to leftover escudos?
The CVE is a closed currency and is barely exchangeable outside Cape Verde - spend as much as possible before departure, or keep it for a future visit.
How much does an ATM withdrawal cost?
Expect around 200-300 CVE in local fees, plus your home bank's fee. A fee-free travel credit card saves money here.
Do Maestro or V-Pay cards work?
Not reliably. Bring a classic Visa or Mastercard credit card as your main means of payment.
Exchange rates, fees, and ATM density can change - this page does not replace checking current terms with your bank before departure. Information is based on publicly available sources at the time of research (October 2026).
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