# Banking ? - moving money from MX to US



## Jsteinberg9000

We need your advice. I have been working at the Mexico City branch of my company since June. My family will be relocating to Mexico City on 2 October from Chicago. I have opened a Banamex account to receive his paychecks (in pesos) but we are having an extremely difficult time sorting out how to get money out of that account back to the US to pay bills that have accumulated here. Anyone have suggestions?


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## AlanMexicali

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> We need your advice. I have been working at the Mexico City branch of my company since June. My family will be relocating to Mexico City on 2 October from Chicago. I have opened a Banamex account to receive his paychecks (in pesos) but we are having an extremely difficult time sorting out how to get money out of that account back to the US to pay bills that have accumulated here. Anyone have suggestions?


On one website I read a fellow had opened a Banamex account in the US and had a Banamex account in Mexico and had free transfers. The Banamex banks in the US are scarce and on the border in the US so far as I know. We tired to do that with a new Banamex bank in San Diego a year ago and they said we could not get free transfers as they were not set up yet to do that. The word yet was the key so next time we are in SD we plan to open an account there as we have an account here with Banamex.

10 banks NOB so far. 

http://www.ccbusa.com/int_web/eng/e...ranches_atms=true&zip_code=all&Go.x=20&Go.y=9

Once you get to this page hit "Banamex USA Branches/ATMs" and it will go to all the branches, do not check the box, just hit the words above.


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## Jsteinberg9000

AlanMexicali said:


> On one website I read a fellow had opened a Banamex account in the US and had a Banamex account in Mexico and had free transfers. The Banamex banks in the US are scarce and on the border in the US so far as I know. We tired to do that with a new Banamex bank in San Diego a year ago and they said we could not get free transfers as they were not set up yet to do that. The word yet was the key so next time we are in SD we plan to open an account there as we have an account here with Banamex.
> 
> 10 banks here NOB so far.
> 
> Banamex USA


Thanks Alan. We are in the midwest so there are no Banamex USA locations near us.


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## AlanMexicali

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> Thanks Alan. We are in the midwest so there are no Banamex USA locations near us.


Try opening an account by calling their 1-800 # and see if they will allow it. If you already have an account in Mexico they might.


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## joaquinx

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> Thanks Alan. We are in the midwest so there are no Banamex USA locations near us.


While you are living in the US with a US address, you can open an account over the Internet. The bank will mail to your US address the necessary forms to complete the opening of the account. Yes, call them if you have questions or need help.


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## Longford

Banamex is part of Citibank. If this were me, I'd have a conversation with the Banamex branch manager where your account is registered there in Mexico City. It's possible, I believe, to make electronic payments of bills from a Mexico bank account to the USA, depending upon the size of the transfer. I'm not certain, however, about any foreign currency transaction fees which may be involved. But the manager or someone else at Banamex/Citibank should be able to give good advice. That's where I'd start.


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## AlanMexicali

Longford said:


> Banamex is part of Citibank. If this were me, I'd have a conversation with the Banamex branch manager where your account is registered there in Mexico City. It's possible, I believe, to make electronic payments of bills from a Mexico bank account to the USA, depending upon the size of the transfer. I'm not certain, however, about any foreign currency transaction fees which may be involved. But the manager or someone else at Banamex/Citibank should be able to give good advice. That's where I'd start.


I read somewhere where they are classified as two different animals and Citibank corporate holdings just owns the majority of stock in Banamex but technically they are not one bank but two in the US and Mexico. Banamex USA and Banamex Mexico are closer together.


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## pappabee

AlanMexicali said:


> I read somewhere where they are classified as two different animals and Citibank corporate holdings just owns the majority of stock in Banamex but technically they are not one bank but two in the US and Mexico. Banamex USA and Banamex Mexico are closer together.


I hate to say this but I think that you're dealing with the wrong bank. You might try dealing with a bank that has branches in both Mexico and the US. Bancomer in Mexico and Compass in the US. 

I know that I can deposit my US check in my Bancomer account with no extra charges. I've also heard that you can wire transfer between the two banks. My suggestion is to check with your local BBVA branch.


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## tepetapan

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> We need your advice. I have been working at the Mexico City branch of my company since June. My family will be relocating to Mexico City on 2 October from Chicago. I have opened a Banamex account to receive his paychecks (in pesos) but we are having an extremely difficult time sorting out how to get money out of that account back to the US to pay bills that have accumulated here. Anyone have suggestions?


 If you live in Chicago you must have a bank, right? Get their routing information, send the money from a bank in Mexico to your bank in Chicago. You can use a bank to bank transfer or Internet banking to do the transfers. It is really pretty easy and straightforward. If you do not have a bank in Chicago, get one quick as time is running out.


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## AlanMexicali

tepetapan said:


> If you live in Chicago you must have a bank, right? Get their routing information, send the money from a bank in Mexico to your bank in Chicago. You can use a bank to bank transfer or Internet banking to do the transfers. It is really pretty easy and straightforward. If you do not have a bank in Chicago, get one quick as time is running out.


It is not that easy. We have to go into the lobby here to our bank. Wait at customer service. Get the form filled out for an International Wire Transfer. Pay about $450.00 pesos. Go to a teller with the form and hope they know how to do it. Then it arrives in the US account anywhere from 1/2 an hour to several hours. Then our US bank charges a $15.00 US fee for recieving the International Wire Transfer. Nothing can be done on-line here. I presume Banamex or BBVA/Compass Bank as Pappabee mentioned is the free transfer route. Some say that B of A has a "Send Safe" system to some banks in Mexico, I don´t remember if it works in reverse though, but there is a small fee, however I have joyfully boycotted B of A for life for very good reasons.


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## RPBHaas

I use HSBC Mexico for my banking here in Mexico and am quite happy with the overall experience. Every time I enter a Banamex anywhere in the country, there are very long lines as long as 45 minutes to see a teller.
For international transfers through HSBC Mex, I fill out a form with a banker/executive, take it to the teller and the next day my money is in my USAA bank account. USAA does not charge me an incoming fee. HSBC Mex charges 
389mxn for processing the transfer of any amount. There is no limit to the amount I can transfer as both accounts are in my name.
Hope this helps.


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## joaquinx

RPBHaas said:


> I use HSBC Mexico for my banking here in Mexico and am quite happy with the overall experience. Every time I enter a Banamex anywhere in the country, there are very long lines as long as 45 minutes to see a teller.


This is true, however around the 1st and 15th of the month, HSBC also has long lines. At my branch, it's not 45 minutes, but the client line usually has 15 to 20 people waiting.


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## f3drivr

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> We need your advice. I have been working at the Mexico City branch of my company since June. My family will be relocating to Mexico City on 2 October from Chicago. I have opened a Banamex account to receive his paychecks (in pesos) but we are having an extremely difficult time sorting out how to get money out of that account back to the US to pay bills that have accumulated here. Anyone have suggestions?


You should find an expat that transfers money from the US to Mexico on a regular basis and do private money exchanges. You can give them pesos in Mexico and they can give you US Dollars in the US. You could both save on currency conversion and wire transfer fees.


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## Isla Verde

joaquinx said:


> This is true, however around the 1st and 15th of the month, HSBC also has long lines. At my branch, it's not 45 minutes, but the client line usually has 15 to 20 people waiting.


There are long lines, especially after 1:00 pm, at most banks on the 1st and the 15th of the month since those are _quincena_ days. I bank at Santander, and except for those days, there are usually not more than 4 or 5 people in line ahead of me, and sometimes there is no one.


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## Lorij

Try HSBC/Vital bank there in Mexico, my fiance has an account there he has been able to trandfer money from that account at that bank to my account here in US, which is a different bank. Also HSBC does have locations in the US as well.


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## joco69

Jsteinberg9000 said:


> We need your advice. I have been working at the Mexico City branch of my company since June. My family will be relocating to Mexico City on 2 October from Chicago. I have opened a Banamex account to receive his paychecks (in pesos) but we are having an extremely difficult time sorting out how to get money out of that account back to the US to pay bills that have accumulated here. Anyone have suggestions?


A friend of mine who has a Banamex account does regular electronic transfers from his US account to HIS Banamex account. I would ask your Banamex account manager for advise. If he has no answer ask him to check with the branch in Chapala, Jal.


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## chilelover

I have citibank in US and Banamex in Mexico I can transfer from citibank account to banamex account on the internet with no trouble but I have never tried to do it the other way. Citi and banamex are adding new things to make them work better together. I would say ask at Banamex, but If your branch is like mine it's like they have 0 customer service.


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## joaquinx

I have transferred funds from Bank of America to HSBC, but looking on HSBC's web page of the banks that I can send funds to, there is none in the US. You had better check with your Mexican bank to see if it is even possible to send money to the US. There is a scent of money laundering in the air when you want to send money out of the country.


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## Isla Verde

joaquinx said:


> This is true, however around the 1st and 15th of the month, HSBC also has long lines. At my branch, it's not 45 minutes, but the client line usually has 15 to 20 people waiting.


Could that be because those are _quincena_ days?


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## joaquinx

Isla Verde said:


> Could that be because those are _quincena_ days?


 It is.


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## Isla Verde

joaquinx said:


> It is.


Then the answer to the long lines is to avoid the bank on those days, simple, eh?


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## joaquinx

Isla Verde said:


> Then the answer to the long lines is to avoid the bank on those days, simple, eh?


Being retired, the days merge into one another making important dates on my agenda the only ones I notice. I have gone to the bank on the 1st and on the 15th only to look into the bank and curse. I mumble to myself that I'll never make that mistake again until the next time. Anyway, I do get out of the house and get some exercise.


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## Isla Verde

joaquinx said:


> Being retired, the days merge into one another making important dates on my agenda the only ones I notice. I have gone to the bank on the 1st and on the 15th only to look into the bank and curse. I mumble to myself that I'll never make that mistake again until the next time. Anyway, I do get out of the house and get some exercise.


The same goes for me though I still teach a few private classes. Sometimes I forget what day of the week it is unless I have a class to teach or an appointment to keep. Well, we all need reasons to get out of the house and take a stroll somewhere. Today I got my exercise from walking to the post office and up to the roof of my building to hang up some laundry and have a look at the fluffy white clouds.


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## TundraGreen

joaquinx said:


> Being retired, the days merge into one another making important dates on my agenda the only ones I notice. I have gone to the bank on the 1st and on the 15th only to look into the bank and curse. I mumble to myself that I'll never make that mistake again until the next time. Anyway, I do get out of the house and get some exercise.


I generally take something to read when I go to the bank. Banamex has an efficient take-a-number system and chairs, so you are not standing in line. The teller windows usually go pretty fast, but I have had some long waits in the Atención a Clientes line or to talk to an officer.


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## Isla Verde

Since my bank is a five-minute walk from my house, if I look in and see a really long line, I just turn around and go home.


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## joaquinx

Isla Verde said:


> Since my bank is a five-minute walk from my house, if I look in and see a really long line, I just turn around and go home.


Same distance here. It's in a shopping plaza and there are two cafes there. I'll go to one of them, order a coffee and browse the Times on my phone.


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## Isla Verde

joaquinx said:


> Same distance here. It's in a shopping plaza and there are two cafes there. I'll go to one of them, order a coffee and browse the Times on my phone.


Sounds like a plan. Since I have an ancient cellphone with no capacity for browsing the Times or anything else, all I can do is edit my text messages.


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## PVMikey

*Moving money from MX to US*

We live in Puerto Vallarta and have bank accounts at both Citibank in California and Banamex here in Puerto Vallarta. By the way, Citi DOES own Banamex; and, we are therefore able to move money from California (in US dollars) all the time to our Banamex peso account here, using the Citibank "Global Transfer" option. Citi considers Banamex to be within the Citibank group for the purpose of international "Global Transfer". There are no fees associated with these transfers, and the US dollars moved are converted into pesos here at Banamex according to the going rate at the time of transfer. Funds are always transferred immediately (no wait) and by the time that we've completed the transfer online with Citibank, we have an email from Banamex telling us that the funds have been deposited here. Also, Banamex does offer online banking, and we do our banking, fund transfers and pay all of our bills online here in Mexico. Their online services are fully comparable to Citibank's in the USA. I suggest you talk with your representative at the Banamex branch where you bank here in Mexico and get online access to your account. You should then be able to move money from Citibank in the USA to Banamex here and/or vice versa, pay your bills online and do any online banking that you can do at Citibank with Banamex here.


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## joaquinx

PVMikey said:


> We live in Puerto Vallarta and have bank accounts at both Citibank in California and Banamex here in Puerto Vallarta. By the way, Citi DOES own Banamex; and, we are therefore able to move money from California (in US dollars) all the time to our Banamex peso account here, using the Citibank "Global Transfer" option. Citi considers Banamex to be within the Citibank group for the purpose of international "Global Transfer". There are no fees associated with these transfers, and the US dollars moved are converted into pesos here at Banamex according to the going rate at the time of transfer. Funds are always transferred immediately (no wait) and by the time that we've completed the transfer online with Citibank, we have an email from Banamex telling us that the funds have been deposited here. Also, Banamex does offer online banking, and we do our banking, fund transfers and pay all of our bills online here in Mexico. Their online services are fully comparable to Citibank's in the USA. I suggest you talk with your representative at the Banamex branch where you bank here in Mexico and get online access to your account. You should then be able to move money from Citibank in the USA to Banamex here and/or vice versa, pay your bills online and do any online banking that you can do at Citibank with Banamex here.


All this information is very nice and has been posted before. The question still remains: how to transfer money from a Mexican bank to a bank in the USA. "Should" is not an answer, but "I did it, I have done it recently, etc". It's looking like the only way is to use a private currency service like Xoom or Paypal. Anyone use any of these service?


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## AlanMexicali

PVMikey said:


> We live in Puerto Vallarta and have bank accounts at both Citibank in California and Banamex here in Puerto Vallarta. By the way, Citi DOES own Banamex; and, we are therefore able to move money from California (in US dollars) all the time to our Banamex peso account here, using the Citibank "Global Transfer" option. Citi considers Banamex to be within the Citibank group for the purpose of international "Global Transfer". QUOTE]
> 
> Citibank corporate fund bought the majority of shares of Banamex but they are two different animals.
> 
> If they consider it a partner in global transfers, that is fine, but so do other national banks in the US and Canada have this setup. Here the problem is money laudering. Citibank got caught laundering ex Mexican President Salina´s brother´s money with his wife getting arrested at Citibank in New York City with something like 11 or 14 million US dollars [I forget] in US dollars in cash in 1996. See the story here:
> 
> The Salinas-Citibank Affair | FRONTLINE | PBS


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## PVMikey

All I know is that all of the Banamex branches here (Puerto Vallarta) feature the Citibank logo, along with the name "Citibank", next to "Banamex" on their signage, exterior and interior. We use the "Citibank Global Transfer" (CGT) often to transfer money between Citibank and Banamex, for no fee, as Citibank says that Banamex is "part of the Citibank family".


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## AlanMexicali

PVMikey said:


> All I know is that all of the Banamex branches here (Puerto Vallarta) feature the Citibank logo, along with the name "Citibank", next to "Banamex" on their signage, exterior and interior. We use the "Citibank Global Transfer" (CGT) often to transfer money between Citibank and Banamex, for no fee, as Citibank says that Banamex is "part of the Citibank family".


My information comes from talking to the customer new accounts lady at the Banamex Bank in San Diego last year. You were right she was wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/b...ed-at-12.5-billion.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm


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## joaquinx

AlanMexicali said:


> My information comes from talking to the customer new accounts lady at the Banamex Bank in San Diego last year, but possibly it has changed but also see where advertizing this in an expat area will help increase their business. I usually don´t trust advertising though.
> 
> Here I have never seen any Banamex with this logo or even English signs in them, only Actiner banks with English signs, so far. I could be wrong.


Banamex is owned by Citi, but there involvement is limited to profit and loss statements. If fact, Banamex was the only profitable part of Citi last year. There was a question last year about the ownership since the US government actually owned part of Citi due to the bailout. Cooler minds in DF overlooked the possible conflict with the banking law and let it ride.

Banamex's web page on Global Transfer givea a list of countries whose banka can send money *to* Banamex, but no listing of *from* Mexico. And this thread is on *from*.


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## PVMikey

AlanMexicali said:


> My information comes from talking to the customer new accounts lady at the Banamex Bank in San Diego last year, but possibly it has changed but also see where advertizing this in an expat area will help increase their business. I usually don´t trust advertising though.
> 
> Here I have never seen any Banamex with this logo or even English signs in them, only Actiner banks with English signs, so far. I could be wrong.


Hi Alan, I'm not trying to be contrary, just stating that all of the Banamex banks here in PV do have the Citibank name and logo on them. I also found this on Citigroup's web site:

"On August 6, 2001, Citigroup Inc. acquired Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival for US$12.5 billion, which became Grupo Financiero Banamex. This was the largest-ever U.S.-Mexico corporate merger. Grupo Financiero Banamex's operations were integrated with Citibank's relatively small existing Mexico business under the Banamex brand name."

Trust me, I am not trying to advertise Citibank or Banamex. In fact, I'm a retired computer programmer. I'm just saying that the Citibank Global Transfer tool works well for me here in PV.


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## AlanMexicali

PVMikey said:


> Hi Alan, I'm not trying to be contrary, just stating that all of the Banamex banks here in PV do have the Citibank name and logo on them. I also found this on Citigroup's web site:
> 
> "On August 6, 2001, Citigroup Inc. acquired Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival for US$12.5 billion, which became Grupo Financiero Banamex. This was the largest-ever U.S.-Mexico corporate merger. Grupo Financiero Banamex's operations were integrated with Citibank's relatively small existing Mexico business under the Banamex brand name."
> 
> Trust me, I am not trying to advertise Citibank or Banamex. In fact, I'm a retired computer programmer. I'm just saying that the Citibank Global Transfer tool works well for me here in PV.


Yes, I Googled the aquisition and found this also. I guess Mexico´s business sector is willing to get tangled up with the US large corps. more than they were previously. I have to wonder what the new gov´t. here will be doing in the future.


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## fjack1415

Worse comes to worst, you can do this via PayPal, which now as a 3.5% transaction fee. I do this with two accounts, a Mexican PayPal account and a US PayPal account, although I am given to understand you may be able to do this with just one account (eg. Mexican) listing the two banks, your Mexican bank and your US bank. To make transfers of more than a certain amount you will need to verify the bank accounts, and this is best done with a credit card from the bank. I was able to get a credit card from Santander only with my FM-2 Visa. Best wishes, Frederick


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## tdemex

Check out for a USA bank called BBVA COMPASS Bank They are tied in With BBVA Bancomer in MX. This is how I've been doing it Out of the GM plant in Saltillo MX. they even have a bank at the plant, and are all over MX. Compass has 2500 branches in the USA. Mine is in Laredo TX. Not sure about Southern CA?....You even get an ATM card or cards that are free in MX if used at a BBVA Bancomer bank!


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## fjack1415

OK I just checked this out by modifyijng my Mexiacn PayPal account. You can indeed add a US bank to your Mexican PayPal account, so that you will not need both a Mexican and a US Paypal account. I again remark that you will want to have a CC with the Mexican bank to verify for withdrawals of more than $100 (?). And I should think the current 3.5% fee is really not that bad for small transfers just to pay small bills.


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## joaquinx

fjack1415 said:


> OK I just checked this out by modifyijng my Mexiacn PayPal account. You can indeed add a US bank to your Mexican PayPal account, so that you will not need both a Mexican and a US Paypal account. I again remark that you will want to have a CC with the Mexican bank to verify for withdrawals of more than $100 (?). And I should think the current 3.5% fee is really not that bad for small transfers just to pay small bills.


A debit card works just as well. I have both, a US bank debit and a Mexican bank debit card on my PayPal account. I can't comment on any fee, but I found the exchange rate to be low and about 10 days to complete the transfer from US to Mexico. A bank transfer to Mexico takes, maybe, two days, but there is a 35 to 45 usd fee. The exchange rate is lower than an ATM withdraw.


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## fjack1415

That's curious, that you can do it with only a debit card. PayPal did not accept my Santander debit card for bank verification purposes (and without verification the transaction amount is quite limited) and told me I had to have either a credit card from Santander or I had to provide a bunch of hardcopy to verify my account. To complicate things, I was told that Santander does not give a credit card unless a) the account holder has a FM-2 and b) the account holder is lesss than 69 years old. I lucked out on both counts. I had just gotten my FM-2 AND I was just short of my 69th year.


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## joaquinx

fjack1415 said:


> That's curious, that you can do it with only a debit card. PayPal did not accept my Santander debit card for bank verification . . . .


I just checked my PayPal account and, yes, I have an HSBC debit card registered with them. I thought that I had my BofA debit card registered, but last year in BofA 4 blown attempts to send me a card, the card number change and I had to delete the card from PayPal. As an alternative, you can register the bank account rather than the card. I don't know if there is any difference in security.


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## fjack1415

joaquinx said:


> I just checked my PayPal account and, yes, I have an HSBC debit card registered with them. I thought that I had my BofA debit card registered, but last year in BofA 4 blown attempts to send me a card, the card number change and I had to delete the card from PayPal. As an alternative, you can register the bank account rather than the card. I don't know if there is any difference in security.


Yep, you can do it without the card, but you will have to send in paperword to register the account, and it is too much of a pain.


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