Before you start

Carné de extranjería
Proof of your Cusco address, usually a utility bill
Proof of income — an employment contract or payslips
A Peruvian mobile number, for Yape and the bank's app

Step-by-step

1
Wait for the carné de extranjería before applying
BCP, BBVA, Interbank and Scotiabank all have branches in Cusco and all will generally decline an ordinary account for a resident on a passport alone. This is national policy rather than a regional attitude.
In personWho: YouAfter the CE is issued
2
Open soles and dollars together
Cusco's tourism income arrives in both currencies and some rents are quoted in dollars. Holding parallel accounts under one client number avoids a monthly trip to a counter.
In personWho: You
3
Find your CCI on day one
The código de cuenta interbancario is the twenty-digit identifier employers and clients ask for. It is in the app, not on the card, and giving the shorter account number instead is a standard cause of a delayed first payday.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Set up Yape or Plin immediately
Instant phone-number payments are used by market stalls, taxi drivers and landlords throughout Peru, and Cusco is no exception once you step outside the tourist streets. Life here without one is noticeably more awkward.
Mobile appWho: YouSame week
5
Learn which casas de cambio are worth using
Exchange houses cluster around Avenida El Sol and the Plaza de Armas and their rates differ by more than newcomers assume. Compare two or three before a large exchange, count the notes, and refuse torn or heavily marked dollars — Peruvian businesses reject them and so should you.
In personWho: You
6
Keep a cash buffer for the low season and for paros
Seasonal income and occasional road blockades both argue for holding more cash at home than you would in a large city. Card acceptance in the tourist centre is good and thins quickly beyond it.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Carné de extranjería
Passport
Proof of Cusco address
Employment contract or payslips
Peruvian mobile number

Things most newcomers don’t know

Torn or marked dollar notes are refused here, and that is not a scam.

Peruvian businesses and banks reject US notes with tears, ink marks or significant wear, and will simply hand them back. It is a real convention rather than an attempt to cheat you, and it applies at exchange houses too. Inspect notes when you receive them, refuse damaged ones on the spot, and be aware that a note accepted without comment in North America can be worthless in a Cusco shop.

Source: community-reported

Exchange rates in Cusco vary enough between casas de cambio to be worth walking two blocks.

The concentration of exchange houses around Avenida El Sol and the Plaza de Armas produces genuine competition, and the spread between the best and worst rate on a given morning is not trivial on a meaningful amount. Compare, count in front of the cashier, and prefer an established casa with a visible licence over a street changer — the latter is where counterfeit notes enter.

Source: community-reported

Cusco's economy is seasonal, and your bank balance should be too.

Employment, tips, rental income and business revenue all collapse in the rains and surge from June. Residents who budget on a high-season month and then meet November without a buffer are a recurring story here. Treating the year as two distinct financial halves — and holding part of the buffer in dollars, given that a soles devaluation would hit exactly when tourism is weak — is what long-stayers learn to do.

Source: community-reported

Card acceptance drops off sharply a few streets from the Plaza de Armas.

The tourist core takes cards everywhere. The markets, the district shops, the colectivos and most landlords do not. Since Yape and Plin cover much of that gap by phone number, the practical answer is a Peruvian bank account plus Yape plus a habit of carrying small soles notes — not a foreign card and optimism.

Source: community-reported