# How Are Folks limiting the Mexican Banks Negative Imppact on your monthly income..



## DiverSailor123 (Sep 17, 2016)

WOW! That was a mouth full  So my question is which banks are the friendly banks in Mexico? Both with minimal fees charged , and with an across the border association with a USA Bank.. Just a few years ago it seemed like banking was one of the biggest headaches an Expat might experience in Mexico.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Citi bank owns Banamex, all my funds go into a Citi Gold Account and by using a Banamex ATM ( fee free ) I withdrawal funds as needed up to $2000 USD a day...


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

chicois8 said:


> Citi bank owns Banamex, all my funds go into a Citi Gold Account and by using a Banamex ATM ( fee free ) I withdrawal funds as needed up to $2000 USD a day...


Can an expat with no US residency have a Citi Gold account ?

Have you ever checked the exchange rate you get for the transfer ? Do you have an example ?

We sat down with the Citi (US) VP here in Mexico. They wanted a MILLION dollars to set up a Banamex <-> Citi relationship for us. The vetting process was just about as bad as getting top secret security clearance in the US. In the end we told them to take a hike.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Probably not, you have to plan ahead and get a bank account when you still have a US address....

Last time I checked the Banco de Mexico exchange rate that day was 1USD = 19.11, checking after the withdrawal I received 19.11 ( fee free)......

A million dollars or a million pesos?


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

They're changing citi gold requirements, raising them, and will be booting current customers that don't meet the new requirements to lower-status accounts. 

Requirements:


> Waive monthly service fees on your Citigold checking account by linking accounts. There's no monthly service fee for the first two statement periods. After that, we'll continue to waive the monthly service fee if the combined average monthly balance of your eligible linked accounts for the prior calendar month is:
> 
> $50,000* or more in eligible linked deposit and retirement balances
> 
> ...


But the change is covered by the asterisk:


> * Effective November 1, 2016, if you do not maintain a minimum combined average monthly balance of $200,000 in eligible deposits, retirement accounts, and investment balances, your Citigold Account Package will be converted to a different banking package and your accounts will be subject to the terms and conditions then in effect for that package. We will contact you prior to account conversion and send you complete information about the banking package to which your account will be converted.


Also, the requirements above are just those to waive the $30/month fee, which goes away in Nov anyway. To get the fee-free ATM withdrawals chicois8 was talking about you need, I think, half a million (US) in combined banking accounts and citi investment accounts (retirement or taxable). I couldn't find the actual thing to cut & paste just now, so that part's from memory of the last time I looked at it, and could also be going up. 

So it's certainly a sweet deal, but you have to have a big pile of money. I haven't dug into it enough yet to find out what investment choices they have. I think their investment accounts are basically full brokerage accounts, and so the only fly in that ointment is the trades are $25 or $29 (I forget which). 

Personally, I still haven't decided what banking arrangement to use, and won't until my house sells - I'll keep my old bank and pay the ATM fees until that deal's done. 

I am keeping an address in the US using a commercial mail receiving agent (costs around $15/month). All my US mail will get forwarded there. They scan it for you and email you the scans, and you can then direct that the mail be shredded or forwarded somewhere (you pay postage). I am hoping I can use that as my US address to open the bank account.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

chicois8 said:


> Probably not, you have to plan ahead and get a bank account when you still have a US address....
> 
> Last time I checked the Banco de Mexico exchange rate that day was 1USD = 19.11, checking after the withdrawal I received 19.11 ( fee free)......
> 
> A million dollars or a million pesos?


A million DOLLARS (now that could include IRAs, 401ks etc). That was on top of the 3 or 4 million PESOS we had deposited in our Banamex Patrimonial account.

I'm happy for you if you are happy with Citi. We are MUCH happier with Schwab. 

At this point - ALL of our banking relationships are honest ones. No more using others' addresses in the US etc. We live in Mexico. And you are correct - we have had a BofA account for perhaps 20+ years. They know where we now live and seem to have no problem with it. We opened the Schwab accounts after moving to Mexico and they are cool with it. The same can not be said for our 29 year old relationship with a certain Boston based brokerage - which seems to have an opinion of Mexico similar to that of a current US political candidate.

For your own information - visit this site and enter the transaction information you mention above. How does it match up ?

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Yes, the Citi Gold Account does have min. deposits...You could also do what I did was open an account with Charles Schwab Bank and use their debit card to access funds from any ATM in the world with all fees re-embursed...Or Capitol One account with world wide ATM in their group of ATMs with fees re-embursed monthly......I have heard a Fidelity account is basically like Schwab.........


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

eastwind said:


> I am keeping an address in the US using a commercial mail receiving agent (costs around $15/month). All my US mail will get forwarded there. They scan it for you and email you the scans, and you can then direct that the mail be shredded or forwarded somewhere (you pay postage). I am hoping I can use that as my US address to open the bank account.


For what it is worth - we have a street address where we have packages and such delivered (perhaps a new credit card via DHL/Fedex etc). We also have a Mexican PO box (cost perhaps 200 pesos/year). We have done such a good job converting all correspondence over to paperless that in 2016 we have received only a single piece of mail to the PO box.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

chicois8 said:


> .I have heard a Fidelity account is basically like Schwab.........


Fidelity will not like you much if you are honest with them and tell them you live in Mexico. They may sell you a stock or an ETF for your existing US brokerage account - but you will start to hear things like - "we are only licensed to deal in the 50 US states". The 'exchange rates' offered by Fidelity are laddered and go as high as 3% fees (like most banks) - and then they will tell you that their Forex exchanges are really only for investment purposes - not for transferring funds out of the US. Just an experienced heads up. If you happen to have an annuity at Fidelity - and tell them you live outside the US - you will receive 2 options; an immediate annuitization (sp ?) or a lifetime annuitization (you can't do it over 10 years say). It goes on and on....


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Gatos said:


> For what it is worth - we have a street address where we have packages and such delivered (perhaps a new credit card via DHL/Fedex etc). We also have a Mexican PO box (cost perhaps 200 pesos/year). We have done such a good job converting all correspondence over to paperless that in 2016 we have received only a single piece of mail to the PO box.


I might get to that level of stability someday, but for now am renting and may not even stay in mexico after the first year, so it's worth it to me to point everything important to the same mail drop and then I can move around without worrying about it. Once I settle down somewhere, I can reevaluate. 

Vanguard & Fidelity were both happy to change my address to this CMRA. Even though I have them on electronic statements they still need an official US address, and this CMRA address was satisfactory. But I haven't changed my bank address yet, or tried to set up a new bank using the CMRA address.


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## DiverSailor123 (Sep 17, 2016)

WOW! Some interesting information to say the least... Having a US address isn't difficult for us.. 
I would have to read what they offer for investment % on $200K.. losing even 1/4% reflects $500 how much they would save me in fee's is important..


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

You might look into Ally Bank. I have had an account there for about five years now. I opened the account before moving to Mexico and I am currently using a box address from a UPS store as my address. I have not tried to update my address with Ally to my Mexican address so I have no idea how they would respond to that.

But, on the plus side, Ally does not require any minimum balance, they charge no monthly fees, they pay a very small amount of interest monthly and I can make withdrawals at any ATM in Mexico with no fees charged by Ally and the fees charged by the ATM reimbursed monthly. In fact, I just got some cash at an ATM yesterday with my Ally debit card and I got 19.58 pesos for each dollar.


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## DiverSailor123 (Sep 17, 2016)

I am Thinking that's a WINNER!




dwwhiteside said:


> You might look into Ally Bank. I have had an account there for about five years now. I opened the account before moving to Mexico and I am currently using a box address from a UPS store as my address. I have not tried to update my address with Ally to my Mexican address so I have no idea how they would respond to that.
> 
> But, on the plus side, Ally does not require any minimum balance, they charge no monthly fees, they pay a very small amount of interest monthly and I can make withdrawals at any ATM in Mexico with no fees charged by Ally and the fees charged by the ATM reimbursed monthly. In fact, I just got some cash at an ATM yesterday with my Ally debit card and I got 19.58 pesos for each dollar.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

dwwhiteside said:


> You might look into Ally Bank. I have had an account there for about five years now. I opened the account before moving to Mexico and I am currently using a box address from a UPS store as my address. I have not tried to update my address with Ally to my Mexican address so I have no idea how they would respond to that.
> 
> But, on the plus side, Ally does not require any minimum balance, they charge no monthly fees, they pay a very small amount of interest monthly and I can make withdrawals at any ATM in Mexico with no fees charged by Ally and the fees charged by the ATM reimbursed monthly. In fact, I just got some cash at an ATM yesterday with my Ally debit card and I got 19.58 pesos for each dollar.


Which emblem is on your debit card ? Visa ? MasterCard ? something else ?

That is who is setting the exchange rate. You are correct - it is Ally who is deciding to not charge you a percentage over that exchange rate.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Mexican banks/U.S. banks:
Once upon a time (over 12 years ago) there was a bank in the U.S. called "California Commerce Bank" which would link your account to Banamex, in Mexico. Life was easy. Transfers could happen when you needed them, online. Somewhere along the line, it turned into Banamex USA, which was still fine. Then Citibank took it over and there was some question about having customers living in Mexico, so over a period of about a year, we were all dumped with no reason given. Our credit card accounts were closed as well. Finally, Banamex USA itself was closed down, and rumor has it that money laundering was involved.

Point being........once you are domiciled in Mexico and aren't trying to use a fake address in the U.S., almost NO U.S. bank will open an account for you. This can be a real PITA.

Advice: Get that bank account arrangement made while you still live in the U.S. Get a P.O. Box for bank mail to be sent which is then forwarded to your Mexican mail drop. Open a Mexican bank account after moving, but put no more money in it than you can afford to lose. If you get one that lets you use an ATM card at their own machines, you may not be charged any fees.

Right now, if you're getting a pension in U.S. dollars, you are in hog heaven with the current exchange rate........but it's probably not good to count on that continuing. Stuff happens.


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

Gatos said:


> Which emblem is on your debit card ? Visa ? MasterCard ? something else ?
> 
> That is who is setting the exchange rate. You are correct - it is Ally who is deciding to not charge you a percentage over that exchange rate.


The current card has a Mastercard logo but a previous card for the same account had a Visa.


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