# Dollars and banks in Mexico



## LoneSteel (Feb 19, 2014)

Is it possible for a non-American, non-Canadian, non-Mexican to open a bank account for dollars in Mexico?
If not, is there any other way to send dollars from my account back home to my account in Mexico?

Also, is it possible to withdraw dollars from my CitiBank account? Or will it be automatically converted to pesos?

It seems like the law regarding currency is changing all the time!


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

You never said were home is

DD


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

DennyDaddy said:


> You never said were you were sending from


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

I did open both a pcs and a dallor account in Mexico with Bancomer Bank, but remember there is a min amount the bank requires. But my bank in the states required that the first transaction had to be done at a bank branch in the states before I could do it over the phone or on the net.

But the way the US buck is, sometimes hard to get rid of. My wife went on a trip to Thailand to visit family, had US cash, went to many Thai banks, who refushed US money to trade for Thai money, even American owned banks, but she finally found one there who would trade her dallors, even tho her sister had an account in one of the banks.

Do banks know something now about US money that we may not know??????


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

The restrictions have to do with money laundering. Besides, it is much easier these days to simply use a debit card for your daily needs and get the local currency from an ATM. If you want to own dollars, keep them in a US bank or investment house. Of course, there may also be residency requirements, so life is not as simple as it once was.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

RVGRINGO said:


> The restrictions have to do with money laundering. Besides, it is much easier these days to simply use a debit card for your daily needs and get the local currency from an ATM. If you want to own dollars, keep them in a US bank or investment house. Of course, there may also be residency requirements, so *life is not as simple as it once was.*




Ah, yes; life is not as simple as it once was. RV and I are about the same age (early 70s) and I remember the simple life of the 1960s when, whether in Paris or Bombay or Mombasa or on a cruise ship on the open sea, getting money was a daunting transaction and one did not worry about the exchange rate but simply having some money in order to survive. 

DAWG (From Calcutta calling Dad in Alabama over an impossibly static phone line circa 1967): 
"Dad, my wallet was stolen, please wire me $1,000USD to Barclays Bank here in Calcutta ASAP as I am off to Madras and have no money ." 
DAD: Well, sure, son. I´ll head on down to the First National Bank where you have your account and wire the money to Barclays in Calcutta and you should have it in just a few days if everything goes well.
DAWG: Thanks, Dad.

Life as simple as it once was, my ass.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Hound Dog said:


> [/B]
> 
> Ah, yes; life is not as simple as it once was.
> DAWG (From Calcutta calling Dad in Alabama over an impossibly static phone line circa 1967):
> ...


In Ernest Hemingway's_ A Farewell to Arms_, the protagonist is in Switzerland during WWI without a way to escape to a country not at war. Needing money, he went to a Swiss bank and using a counter check, wrote a check on his relatives (his father?) bank in the US. They cashed it. He felt that they always honor it simply to show support for those at war. :fencing:


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

I use to use local ATM's in Mexico years back when I use to RV around Mexico and Baha. But, when i got my Wells bank statements, I was charged 5 bucks for each transaction. I never tried to figure out what the Mexican banks were chargeing me for useing an American debit or credit card. 

Now, i got a credit card with Bancomer bank, and if you have a account you can get an instant crediit card with 6000 pcs credit on it. Works like the states if hacked. Since I do not like to use my Bancomer debit debit card in places I don't feel right, or might get hacked, I use the Bancomer credit card. Since interest is so low on our side, I deposit a few hundred in pcs in there so I don't go below the 6000 pcs of the bank's money so I don't pay bank interest. Anyway, works for me.

Then first of month I call to have money sent to Mex bank. And by the way, I canceled my US dallor account because Wells sends Mexican pescos to Mexican banks, and I do not need US money here.


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

Loansteel

Should answer your question....if you are an American there is a limit you can send out of the country. We we drive across the border it saids $5000..... But when you take money out to give up your US ciz., you get a big leaving tax! 
If you are in the states and want to send US bucks in small amounts to an Mexican Bank which I know Bancomer has US dallor accounts, some US banks will send US money south. When I signed up for the US dallor account at Bancomer, then went back to the US, Wells Fargo to set up transfers of pcs and US dallors, they told me no, they don't sent US dallars but only Mexican pcs to Mexico. I think maybe Bank of of America may, but not sure.


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## SunnyD (Mar 29, 2014)

I noticed many of the ATMs in PV gave out dollars. I did not consider this an advantage since, then, you had to go to the exchange to change to pesos, but they did give USD so maybe in tourist areas? 

I use Bank of America in the U.S. because they have a deal with Santander so there's no fees if I use Santander ATMs in Mexico, and, in PV, the Santander ATMs gave pesos so no exchange and no fees. Good deal.

In India, I set up an Indian account because BoA s%cked for fees, so it depends where you are. I had no trouble changing dollars last fall in Thailand, not sure what that was about for DennyDaddy.

Personally, I think ATMs, debit cards, and online banking are far simpler than "it once was". I didn't have my debit card when I left India and flew to Mexico and it was a time consuming nightmare to get cash. I did, however, meet some very nice people as I attempted to talk them into letting me pay their restaurant bills with credit cards in exchange for pesos. Ah... adventure.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

SunnyD said:


> I use Bank of America in the U.S. because they have a deal with Santander so there's no fees if I use Santander ATMs in Mexico, and, in PV, the Santander ATMs gave pesos so no exchange and no fees. Good deal.


SunnyD, are you aware that that is no longer true? Last year Bank of America changed its "deal" with Santander, and now you have to pay a 3% fee when withdrawing money from your BofA account at Santander ATMs.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

The best deal that I know about is opening an InterBanco account (InterCam) with a check on your home account. You will get great exchange rates and no fees. Take your passport and proof of residence.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

kcowan said:


> The best deal that I know about is opening an InterBanco account (InterCam) with a check on your home account. You will get great exchange rates and no fees. Take your passport and proof of residence.


The only problem with InterCam is that they aren't everywhere in Mexico.


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## wonderphil (Sep 7, 2013)

kcowan said:


> The best deal that I know about is opening an InterBanco account (InterCam) with a check on your home account. You will get great exchange rates and no fees. Take your passport and proof of residence.


I looked into this and see that there is an Intercam location near where my condo is in Mazatlan (and also in Puebla where I am considering taking an immersion Spanish Language class). I have been recently been looking to get a Mexican bank account so that I can pay certain bills in Pesos without getting scammed on the exchange rate. That was after I paid my maintenance fees for seven months in advance in US dollars and lost 3 or 4% on the conversion to pesos. The official exchange rate that day was 13.2 (mid) and they gave me 12.8 (on $1900 USD that adds up and I do not want to repeat that hit every year).

I will try to talk to Intercam tomorrow. It is not clear to me the relation of Interbanco and Intercam. I would be interested in hearing from anyone about this entities. What are your experiences, how easy it it to pay bills online?, do you have a checking account? What are your experiences any opinions about account fees? Ect.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

wonderphil said:


> I looked into this and see that there is an Intercam location near where my condo is in Mazatlan (and also in Puebla where I am considering taking an immersion Spanish Language class). I have been recently been looking to get a Mexican bank account so that I can pay certain bills in Pesos without getting scammed on the exchange rate. That was after I paid my maintenance fees for seven months in advance in US dollars and lost 3 or 4% on the conversion to pesos. The official exchange rate that day was 13.2 (mid) and they gave me 12.8 (on $1900 USD that adds up and I do not want to repeat that hit every year).
> 
> I will try to talk to Intercam tomorrow. It is not clear to me the relation of Interbanco and Intercam. I would be interested in hearing from anyone about this entities. What are your experiences, how easy it it to pay bills online?, do you have a checking account? What are your experiences any opinions about account fees? Ect.


 Well, wonderphil; 

First of all, don´t get the idea that the "exchange rate" on dollars to pesos or any other currency exchange transactions you may see on the internet is what you will get anywhere. That won´t happen for you or anyone else trading in what the financial institutions consider ki"peanuts". You will never achieve the pure interbank rate as long as you live anywhere at anytime without the help of your U.S. banking institution and then only if it has international clout.

I have had an account at Intercam at Lake Chapala for at least seven years and can cash checks on my U.S. bank account for up to the equivalent of $3,000USD a day there any time I walk through the door but I rarely use that service because I consistently get better exchange rates at nearby ATMs at all local banks and I have been doing this for years so I would challenge your description of the advantage of an Intercam account although it is an occasional rare convenience when I need more daily liquidity than is normally the case. Even then, there are other currency exchange media that deliver a better evchange rate and are as convenient.

By the way, I have two Mexican bank accounts and have for years and I never pay any recurring fees on those accounts ever nor any occasional transaction fees. You are being mislead in my opinión based upon my personal experience starting in 2001.


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## wonderphil (Sep 7, 2013)

Hola Hound Dog:

I am not really claiming anything about Intercam. I know very little about it at this point. I am only investigating it and other opportunities to move money around with minimum fees. I pretty much have accomplished that already by just getting cash out of the ATM's using my Fidelity account that rebates the fees and gives my the best "exchange rate" pesos to dollars. However now I see that I need (or is it that I just want?) a Peso account to pay bills in Pesos when I am away from Mexico and especially pay them online from wherever. I do not want to give up anything in the way of whatever to do this (in fact it could even be done by taking the Pesos out of the ATM when I am down here and then depositing them in a Mexican Bank account which I have not yet opened because I am still looking into that. However this is not very convenient. 

You wrote " 
First of all, don´t get the idea that the "exchange rate" on dollars to pesos or any other currency Exchange transactions you may see on the internet is what you will get anywhere. That won´t happen for you or anyone else trading in what the financial institutions consider peanuts. You will never achieve the pure interbank rate as long as you live anywhere at anytime without the help of your U.S. banking institution and then only if it has international clout." 

I get the interbank rate from my ATM so maybe I or maybe Fidelity has clout. For example on 4/4 I took out 7000 pesos from the ATM Fidelity debited my account 535.09 after they rebated me the $2.40 fee the Santander ATM charged. So that works out to $1 use = 13.0819 pesos on 4/4 which was the interbank rate on that date. 

Currency Converter | Foreign Exchange Rates | OANDA

However when I am back in the USA for six or seven months and have no current way to pay certain things in pesos unless I pay them in advance which just cost me 3 or 4% in the case of my maintenance fees (which is unnecessary and stupid IMO to pay this every year).


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

I can only speak for Intercam compared to Canadian Banks. They offer about 1% FX fee and no other charges. Wire transfers were $30 to $50 from my bank. Intercam gives me the money on my Canadian cheque right away whereas Bancomer held up the funds for 18 days. 

ATM charges were 3% FX and a Plus fee of $3 and an ATM fee (variable). My only experience with InterBanco was earning 3.75% on a CD.


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## wonderphil (Sep 7, 2013)

Hound Dog: 

You have provided a lot of good info on the banking threads, Thank you. 

I have read a book of your posts and I do not understand and you have never said (that I seen) why you have bank accounts at both Banamex and BBVA Bancomer. Of course it is really none of my business but you seem willing to share information, 

So why do you use both of those banks? when it seems to me that one would work. Having said that I use two local banks in the USA plus my brokerage accounts (I use the Brokerage accounts in some ways the same as banks ( TD Ameritrade and Fidelity). The reason I use two local banks is one of the my wife uses as her personal account and the other we pay local household bills from. All the big bills I pay with credit cards and I then pay the credit cards off with a fidelity account so get cash rebated to me.

In Mexico I only want one local bank to pay local peso bills. If you had to choose between your Mexican banks, which ONE would you pick and why?

Thanks again and in advance.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

wonderphil said:


> Hound Dog:
> 
> You have provided a lot of good info on the banking threads, Thank you.
> 
> ...


A good question, wonderphil:

Why do we have bank accounts at both Bancomer and Banamex? Well, I would normally agree with you that an account at either bank, both of whom have branches all over Mexico, would be sufficient but our needs arose from our living in two different and far-flung towns. We opened an account at Bancomer back in 2001 because, back then, they were the sole bank in central Ajijic on Lake Chapala where we had just settled in retirement. We opened the Banamex account when we bought a second residence in San Cristóbal de Las Casas where we found Banamex to be more convenient for several reasons. If we only lived in one town, there would be no reason to have accounts at two separate Banks. 

Neither bank is superior to the other in terms of service or cost and I would say the same for other nationally prominent Banks from Santander to HSBC to any other bank with widespread branch networks in Mexico. If I were trying to decide where to establish my primary personal bank account in Mexico today, I would make that decisión based on the following criteria:
* Which bank has a branch nearest my residence or place of employment?
* Does the bank have a widespread network of branches throughout Mexico?
* Does the bank provide a debit card universally recognized among other financial institutions throughout Mexico and the world for ATM transactions so I have access to my cash on deposit at all times anywhere I happen to be anywhere in the world? 
* What are the mínimum account balance requirements of the bank in order to provide bank services normally free of service charges - and these mínimum account balances can vary widely according to the bank and the choice of accounts.
* What is the bank´s system for handling customer service priorities? This can be a big deal. For instance, at Bancomer one simply stands in line for one´s turn at being served. At Banamex, one draws a number, sits in the lobby in a chair provided by the bank and is served according to the priority of the number. In my view, sitting in the lobby waiting for my number to be called over waiting in a stand-up line, is a superior operating method so I prefer Banamex in this regard. Your preference may differ.

Just random thoughts.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

We joined Bancomer when the had their Prestige Client Unit. It was great for a few years. It has now been eviscerated. We still get the quick line for the teller. And limited help in English.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

kcowan said:


> We joined Bancomer when the had their Prestige Client Unit. It was great for a few years. It has now been eviscerated. We still get the quick line for the teller. And limited help in English.


An interesting point, kcowan:

The marketing ploy you refer to at Bancomer came about a few years after we established an account at Bancomer in Ajijic. It was called the Preferred Customers Unit or PCU and was an attempt to attract bank customers among expats living in the bank´s markets in designated branches where the bank considered there was a sufficient number of expats resident who would be attracted to that notion that they were special and would constititute a "preferred" clientele.

Of course, this was a joke and a marketing ploy born in naivete by some recent college graduate with a pea brain and the whole marketing strategy was doomed from the start and failed after a brief trial since, let´s face it; if an expat had real and significant cash reserves adequate to please a bank, that expat would be living in Palm Beach or Carmel, not in cheesy Ajijic or some two bit beach condo in Puerto Vallarta. Live and learn.


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## wonderphil (Sep 7, 2013)

kcowan said:


> We joined Bancomer when the had their Prestige Client Unit. It was great for a few years. It has now been eviscerated. We still get the quick line for the teller. And limited help in English.


I went to Bancomer today to open a new account. Bancomer has a so called PCU unit in Mazatlan and it appears to be somewhat functional in that they have a so called prefered line where I think the casher speaks reasonable english which is valuable to me as I am nowhere up to speed on Spanish. 

Actually I was there to open the account yesterday and talked to a tall beautiful Señorita. Unfortunately I only had a copy of my passport with me which was not good enough. So I came back this morning. Anyway today the Señorita was talking to someone else and had to suffer by dealing with a man who insisted I needed to purchase life insurance at a cost of 300 pesos a month. He said I could not cancel it for three months and (of course) you have to cancel in person. I am leaving in a few days and will not return until November. I told him to forget that and departed the bank. I had previously looked into Banamex very close by and did not like what I saw. So I then went into a Santander also nearby. I dealt with a man of poor communication skills (like my own) so that did not work for me. 

Then I went to Scotia Bank and talked to another beautiful woman (the branch manager), who spoke excellent English and was very nice and helpful. I opened an account there (no account fees to open etc.) I partially funded the account by pulling 10k pesos out of the ATM at the fair exchange rate of 13.05 pesos / USD). If I would have funded it with a US dollar check today at Scotia bank I would have received 12.55 which was the about the same as the Bancomer account manager told me yesterday. 

I think maybe the man at Bancomer might have just been trying to scam me into buying the insurance so that he could make a commission, kind of like a appliance salesman selling you a extended warranty. He told me that other banks also require this ??? that does not matter to me now I just think it is a scam in many ways.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

If you bought the life insurance I am sure he would have then told you about their vacation club (timeshare)!

Yes the idea of expats investing a bunch of money in Mexico was definitely a poorly designed marketing program. It worked fine for a few years, there are no transaction fees (subject to a minimum) and they pay all my utility bills. I just deposit a cheque once a year to cover my likely bills. This year I will use Intercam to get the pesos.

There used to be a lovely Mexican woman handling the PCS in PV. Now it is an overweight man. The English documentation has not been updated in 3 years and they have changed the website. Fortunately my Spanish is good enough to navigate it now.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Maybe I'm missing something here, but what does the looks of the bank rep have to do with what the BANK has to offer?
You don't get to take the rep home when you open an account. lol.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

It makes the interactions more pleasant. Nothing more. :argue:


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

We have had a Bancomer account since 2001, it is free of any charges whatsoever with a mínimum balance of $2,000Pesos which is next to nothing and they páy all of our utility bills every month without fail. They´ve never tried to sell us anything at all and handle our account with the utmost professionalism. We´ve also had a free checking account at Banamex since 2006 and have experienced no problems with them in the last eight years. I might add that the personnel at the Banamex where we opened that account in San Cristóbal de Las Casas speak no English but we have still experienced no problems with the account. Acually, I think I am the only person in San Cristóbal who speaks English except my wife for whom English is a second language except when she wants to tell me to go f**k myself which is quite often.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


lagoloo said:



Maybe I'm missing something here, but what does the looks of the bank rep have to do with what the BANK has to offer?
You don't get to take the rep home when you open an account. lol.

Click to expand...

_That´s according to the size of your mínimum deposit and whether you are seeking male or female companionship I remember when I was the regional manager of a commercial banking team in the San Francisco Bay Area back in the 1980s and we had no pride whatsoever when it came to pulling in business that was directly related to our annual salary increments and bonuses. If you had the money we would deliver whatever you wanted in a brown paper bag and kiss your a** until you yawned off.


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

I stopped sending money from my US bank one a month or so, when I need money deposed in my mexican bank. Both my bank, and the Mexican bank charge a fee.. What I do now is just go to the local Intercam office, write them a check drawn on my US bank, sign it, they cash it for US dallors or pasos, at a higher rate than I would get at my Mexican bank, plus, it may take up to 18 days to be put in my account. At Intercam, I get my check cashed right away.
Then I take the pasos and deposit into my Mexican bank. Quick and easy. Intercam is an investment bank. They also do 
Bank Trusts, and investments.

dd


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Deositing cash means you have to pay the tax in Mexico if it is more than 15000 a month right?
oops they do not do that anymore...


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## DennyDaddy (May 3, 2011)

citlali said:


> Deositing cash means you have to pay the tax in Mexico if it is more than 15000 a month right? oops they do not do that anymore...


Banks want to dump US greenbacks...or keep just enought to use for trade. Afraid that they will have a loss as the US buck devales! Even as I said before, my wife visited family in Bangkok, had US money to exchange to thai money! Went to many banks, even US banks, and they refused to exchange her US money. Finally found one, after going to many banks that would exchange her money. So, I can only persume that they want to limit US greenbacks.
I hope this is all untrue tho....FYI


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