# Joint bank accounts



## CDMXian (Jul 29, 2019)

Is it true that joint bank accounts are no longer allowed in Mexico? This is what a bank is telling us.:confused2:


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

So you were told you could not have a co-titular ?


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Following from lat19n’s question, it’s because there are two ways of having a joint account (at least as far as I know). One way is if one person is the _titular_ and the other is the _co-titular_.
The other way is that one person is the _titular_, and the other is the _adicional_.

Please do correct me if I haven‘t got that right.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I am not aware they ever had joint account like in the US..when we got here in 2001, we got an ac**** we believed to be a joint account but in reality there was a titular and a co titular...


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

However, a _co-titular_ has more power in the account than an _adicional_.

How I found this out is the following: I’m a co-titular, my husband is the titular. Something about the way our account is documented in the bank’s computer records doesn’t put my co-titular status on the first page that comes up when the teller looks up our account. 

So before I figured this out, I would go to the bank and ask for some transaction that was too complicated to do at the ATM. They would tell me I couldn’t, that it had to be the titular. Then I would say but I did it last month. And they would look a little farther into our account records and say, oh, you’re a co-titular, so you _can_ do it.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes it is a pai so we opened another account were I ws the titular and my husband the co titular... I use one account and he uses the other..


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

citlali said:


> yes it is a pai so we opened another account were I ws the titular and my husband the co titular... I use one account and he uses the other..


We have a similar setup with our primary bank. But we set my wife's account up years after 'my' account and apparently I was very lucky in that I can do a lot of things which she can not do, and I believe any new (FATCA compliant) customer today can not do - even though we are Mexican citizens... 

On the positive side, we have a 'premium' relationship with our primary bank - which requires a rather sizable minimum balance. Our bank realized the reason for our opening my 'wife's' account and set it up as a 'familial' account (which took some special intervention) such that she can piggy-back on the balance in my account. The balance in her account is normally very small. 

Another nice thing about my old account is that I have a physical fob which generates the required 6 digit access code. A newer account (my wife's) requires an app on a cell phone, which can be a little more involved.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lat19n said:


> …
> Another nice thing about my old account is that I have a physical fob which generates the required 6 digit access code. A newer account (my wife's) requires an app on a cell phone, which can be a little more involved.


 I used to have a fob. I recently switched to using the phone app to generate a code. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but I find the phone more convenient.


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## CDMXian (Jul 29, 2019)

lat19n said:


> So you were told you could not have a co-titular ?


Yes, that's what they said. I thought joint and co-titular were the same but it seems they're not. Anyway, we went to the bank today and the director confirmed they no longer allowed adding a co-titular to an account or replacing an existing person because of a reforma financiera that all banks will have to comply with by 2020. Ours implemented the changes a few months ago apparently. My partner was trying to replace a person from one account with me, but the bank said it's not possible. After we said we'd be taking our business elsewhere, they told us to wait to see what they could do. Somehow, another account my partner happened to have was transformed into a co-titularand the investment from the other account transferred to that. No idea why that was possible, but that was fine with us.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

we have an account with a fob and one with the phone app. I like the phone app because it is always with me ..


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> I used to have a fob. I recently switched to using the phone app to generate a code. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but I find the phone more convenient.


The fob is simple. I push the button and I get a code. Not even an on/off switch.

We each have a cell phone. The bank's app is currently on my (Mexican purchased) phone. We recently tried to move it to my wife's (US purchased) phone and found that our bank's app was not available from Google Play Store. Turns out the Play Store is configured for one specific country. You can change the country, but only once each 365 days.

Is that progress ?


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

CDMXian said:


> ... we went to the bank today and the director confirmed they no longer allowed adding a co-titular to an account or replacing an existing person ...


I'm far from an expert, but I can kind of appreciate that. In Mexico (and perhaps even in the US) you don't so much have an account with a bank but rather a contract. 

We have Mexican wills and I believe if something were to happen to our 'executor' we would need to create new wills (but once again I am no expert).


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