# Monterrey Mexico Bank Branch



## conorkilleen

I am looking for some leads on what has worked for expats that prefer to keep their money in an American bank, but need to have a bank in Mexico that you can pay rent, utilities, ect with. I have bank of America right now.

Just curious how other have went about setting up a bank account in Mexico and how much do they wack you with wire transfer fees from USD to Pesos.

I am looking at Banamex and HSBC. I should have the house rented this month and then the utilities in my name so I would like to set up the account in Mexico next month. My FM# is pretty muh ready...we are just waiting for my little girls and we should be ready to cross the boarder late February.


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## ReefHound

I think BofA has an affiliation with Santander that would let you pull straight from BofA with ATM with no fees.


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## tftimm

That is what I was told at BOA here in Texas, that I could withdraw from an ATM with no fees. I could not deposit money, use my ATM/Debit card, etc. without fees, but I could withdraw with no fees at Santander banks.

I heard the same thing at Reefhound...


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## RVGRINGO

Banks in Mexico are not a 'user friendly' as in the USA, so most expats simply keep their home bank accounts and use ATM cash for daily needs. For larger amounts, or emergencies, there are investment houses that are easier to use than banks. In either case, the fees are high and the service is low. We've lived in Mexico for a decade and have never opened a local bank account.


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## conorkilleen

RVGRINGO said:


> Banks in Mexico are not a 'user friendly' as in the USA, so most expats simply keep their home bank accounts and use ATM cash for daily needs. For larger amounts, or emergencies, there are investment houses that are easier to use than banks. In either case, the fees are high and the service is low. We've lived in Mexico for a decade and have never opened a local bank account.


do you pay all of your bills in cash? I am just wanting an account so I can transfer $$ that my company deposits into my US bank account to pay bills in Mexico such as rent.

Does the Mexico Electric company, Sky Tv, internet, ect. take american debit/credit cards for payments online?


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## sunnyvmx

conorkilleen said:


> do you pay all of your bills in cash? I am just wanting an account so I can transfer $$ that my company deposits into my US bank account to pay bills in Mexico such as rent.
> 
> Does the Mexico Electric company, Sky Tv, internet, ect. take american debit/credit cards for payments online?


In Mexico everything can be paid in cash. The electric bill can be paid at the local office or at a Bodega store. I walk into the Cable.com office to pay for cable. I pay my rent in cash to the landlord. The gas truck is paid when he delivers and all my shopping is done with cash. In this way I make two or three draws from an ATM per month and checking my bank account online is a snap.


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## conorkilleen

sunnyvmx said:


> In Mexico everything can be paid in cash. The electric bill can be paid at the local office or at a Bodega store. I walk into the Cable.com office to pay for cable. I pay my rent in cash to the landlord. The gas truck is paid when he delivers and all my shopping is done with cash. In this way I make two or three draws from an ATM per month and checking my bank account online is a snap.


Im afraid that my rent and bills will total over what I can take out of the ATM at any given 3 times. It may work in the meantime if I take a little out over each day in a week, however that is not sustainable to my situation.


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## RVGRINGO

You may have your bank increase your daily limit, thereby solving that problem and also reducing the ATM fees per withdrawal. Most businesses and individuals won't accept checks or credit cards and utilities often won't accept non-Mexican credit cards. It is a cash society and few bills arrive in the mail and almost none can be paid by mail, etc.


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## conorkilleen

RVGRINGO said:


> You may have your bank increase your daily limit, thereby solving that problem and also reducing the ATM fees per withdrawal. Most businesses and individuals won't accept checks or credit cards and utilities often won't accept non-Mexican credit cards. It is a cash society and few bills arrive in the mail and almost none can be paid by mail, etc.


Got it RV. I will talk to Bank of America to see what my options are there. I still do not want to walk around with my debit card or a pocket full of cash.

I read on the other thread and this one that BoA had an agreement with Santander bank for ATM withdrawals, however I am not sure that is still valid since BoA sold the stock back to them.

Compass BBVA may be another option, however I have not spoken to them yet. Would really like to stay with my current bank and just have a small account in Mexico just for paying bills from.


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## joaquinx

Many Mexican banks have on-line access. With this access, and it depends on the bank, you can pay the electric bill, cable bill, telephone bill, etc. Often your landlord will have a special account at a bank where you can pay, via deposit, your rent. 

I have a Mexican bank account with a debit card. I don't like to carry my US bank debit card around with its large balance, but carry the Mexican bank debit card with its small balance. If I get mugged or have the card lost or stolen, I won't lose much as opposed to the US card. Lastly, I don't like to carry large amount of cash with me.


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## curiosa

conorkilleen said:


> Got it RV. I will talk to Bank of America to see what my options are there. I still do not want to walk around with my debit card or a pocket full of cash.
> 
> I read on the other thread and this one that BoA had an agreement with Santander bank for ATM withdrawals, however I am not sure that is still valid since BoA sold the stock back to them.
> 
> Compass BBVA may be another option, however I have not spoken to them yet. Would really like to stay with my current bank and just have a small account in Mexico just for paying bills from.


Where you able to find out with BofA regarding withdrawing more money? I am moving to Mexico next month and have an account with them. I was there in April and was able to withdraw money from a Santander ATM without having to pay fees. I'm just wondering now what other options are available with them. Thanks!


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## conorkilleen

curiosa said:


> Where you able to find out with BofA regarding withdrawing more money? I am moving to Mexico next month and have an account with them. I was there in April and was able to withdraw money from a Santander ATM without having to pay fees. I'm just wondering now what other options are available with them. Thanks!


I have my limit with BOA set to 1500 per day but Santander has their limit per branch set to 6,000 pesos. You need to go to 3 different banks if you need that much in one day. I pay my rent in cash so I take it out over the course of 2-3 days at different machines. Free of any charges of course.


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## curiosa

Good to know! Thanks for the info!


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## conorkilleen

curiosa said:


> Good to know! Thanks for the info!


I decided not to do the "safe transfer" or whatever they have available if you want to set up a MX account at Santander. The fees seemed a little weird. I would need to take out cash anyway since Mexico is a cash society, so I am staying with BOA for now and just getting my cash from the ATM and paying for groceries with my debit card.

make sure you let BOA know you are going to be using your card in Mexico. Make sure that you can get another one quick if yours is stolen. I have not figured that one out yet, but I also have a wachovia account I can transfer money too. Someone on here said something about Wachovia having some deal with Mexico banks, but I have not looked into that very much further.


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## curiosa

Ah. And when you pay with the debit card, are there any transaction fees?


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## conorkilleen

curiosa said:


> Ah. And when you pay with the debit card, are there any transaction fees?


yes, but very little (to me). If I spend $300 USD at the grocery store then I have like $8 worth of fees. if I go in with a budget and stay under, then I pay with cash. But sometimes I don't have enough cash to cover so I pay with my debit. I try very hard not to use my debit card very much for purchases.


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## curiosa

That's not too too bad considering. This is all stuff that I was curious about and didn't want to wait to figure out till I got there.  Thanks again.


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## conorkilleen

curiosa said:


> That's not too too bad considering. This is all stuff that I was curious about and didn't want to wait to figure out till I got there.  Thanks again.


no problem. There is a learning curve once you get here anyway. Not everything can be thought of before the big move, but you are on the right track for learning the important stuff.

Good Luck. Where are you moving to?


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## curiosa

Thanks! I'm moving to a small town just an hour south of Tulum in Quintana Roo. It will be a big change for me. I'm from Mexican descent and have visited and what not but living there for an extended period will be huge. I see you live in Monterrey and I have family there. It's such a great city.


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## conorkilleen

curiosa said:


> Thanks! I'm moving to a small town just an hour south of Tulum in Quintana Roo. It will be a big change for me. I'm from Mexican descent and have visited and what not but living there for an extended period will be huge. I see you live in Monterrey and I have family there. It's such a great city.


yup. Monterrey is great (other than some misfits causing trouble). I have been all around Mexico and Monterrey is my favorite city after Puerto Escondido. My wife is from there and we have some property right on the ocean that we want to start building on in the next 5-10 years.

I love the mountains here and the people are really nice. Outside of some customer service hassles with the cable company here, I have found Mexico to be quite manageable. I live here in Monterrey for business, but enjoy Mexico for things other than business. We are going on vacation down to Huatulco, PE and Rio for a few weeks. My friends are jealous that I live in Mexico and don't have to leave to go on vacation!


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## curiosa

I just Googled Puerto Escondido and it is beautiful. I'll have to add it to my list of places to check out. 

I miss the mountains of Monterrey and would love to visit soon. You are right on....living in Mexico, you have so many great places to visit at your disposal. I'm looking forward to that part of it.


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## maesonna

Check out Bank of America's Safesend program (Google {bank of america safesend}). This program is designed for people in US to send money to their relatives in Mexico. Because the remittance market is competitive, it is not very expensive; cheaper than wiring money. I'm not sure if it will work for your situation, though, because you probably need a person at the US end to send the money. But maybe your bank would set it up so that you could instruct them from Mexico. Or if you have a trusted person back home who could work with you to do this.

Once the money is sent, you bring the code number associated with the transaction and your official ID to any branch of the receiving bank (Santander, BanNorte, or Bansefi) and pick up the cash. If you then had an account in the same bank, you could deposit it right away, without having to walk around carrying cash.

The limit is $1500 (USD) per transaction and $3000 per month.


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## joaquinx

maesonna said:


> Check out Bank of America's Safesend program (Google {bank of america safesend}).


I would like to know if you have tried this program. I am a customer of BofA and would like to try this myself, however, I haven't found one customer of BofA who has. I telephone the bank once and asked about Safesend. No one knew anything and was then transferred to the "Safesend" extension which never answered. Some managers in the brick buildings know nothing of this program.


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## maesonna

joaquinx said:


> I would like to know if you have tried this program. I am a customer of BofA and would like to try this myself, however, I haven't found one customer of BofA who has. I telephone the bank once and asked about Safesend. No one knew anything and was then transferred to the "Safesend" extension which never answered. Some managers in the brick buildings know nothing of this program.


I don't know how it is from the sending end, but I've been on the receiving end; I've had a client in the US send me money on different occasions via Safesend. I don't know if it was hard for him to find someone at his BofA who knew what to do.

If not this program in particular, then in general a way to find out possibilities for sending money in Mexico is to look into what Mexicans in your city use to send remittances to their families in Mexico. As I mentioned above, the remittance market is quite competitive, and various banks have programs to send money with low fees.


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## curiosa

My mother actually has used SafeSend to send money to relatives in Monterrey and it works great. She's never had a problem with it.


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## joaquinx

curiosa said:


> My mother actually has used SafeSend to send money to relatives in Monterrey and it works great. She's never had a problem with it.


Can we send money to ourselves while IN Mexico?


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## maesonna

joaquinx said:


> Can we send money to ourselves while IN Mexico?


I think it could be done, _provided_ it is possible to have a trustworthy person or procedure in place at the U.S. end to instruct your bank to take the money from your account and process the remittance.


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## curiosa

joaquinx said:


> Can we send money to ourselves while IN Mexico?


I don't see why you couldn't but you might as well go to a Santander ATM to withdraw cash.


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## joaquinx

curiosa said:


> I don't see why you couldn't but you might as well go to a Santander ATM to withdraw cash.


That makes a lot of sense. So rather than enrolling in Safesend, we should go to a Santander ATM and withdraw it. If I understand this program correctly, it is for those who live in the US and want to send funds from their account to someone in Mexico. Great program, but I really doesn't do us ex-pats much good unless we have someone in the US to send us money. Stranded travelers I suppose.


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## TundraGreen

maesonna said:


> I think it could be done, _provided_ it is possible to have a trustworthy person or procedure in place at the U.S. end to instruct your bank to take the money from your account and process the remittance.


When I bought a house I transferred money from a US account to a Mexican account. It was kind of a pain because it was a mutual fund account. Next time I am going to find a more painless way to do it. I don't plan to buy anymore houses, but I like to have a Peso account and debit card for purchases in pesos. I have been in small towns where you could get cash from Mexican banks but not from other banks, no ATM, just a window at the local Telmex office. Also, in buying things on the web, like bus tickets, it is handy to have a peso denominated account.


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## DennyDaddy

Hello...

I use Wells Fargo Bank in the states and was useing my ATM card in Mexico at local Mexican banks. Then I got my statement from Wells and was charged 5 bucks everytime I used the Wells debit card in Mexico!

I called and complained and the cus service rep for Wells said they can transfer up to 1500 bucks a day for 3.50, and can do over the phone or Internet banking in Mexico!

They said I can set up two accounts to send money, and said it would be a good idear to get an account with a Mex bank!

I can send money to myself and they give me a number to take to the bank to get cash, but I set it up with my Mexican builder! I call Wells, they have name of my builder I gave them, they transfer and give me the number I e-mail to my builder!

My second account transfer I set up a account with Bancomer Bank for me to send money to use in Mexico! I opened a mxn account and a second account for US currency! I got a Bancomer debit cards for both peso and US currency!

So, I can send from Wells 1500 bucks a day for 3.50, most of the time I just call Wells, as they have an international toll free number.

Now, for Bancomer it was easy to set up both accounts! I just was told by another Xpat to go there to the English speaking special accounts where they cater to gringoes, and even call us the special accounts people section!

The bank just set me up just like I would go to get an new account in the states!
I just showed my passport and drivers lic, and the bank set me up for the two accounts right on the spot! Since we go back and forth to the states, and want US currency, I can withdraw US money!

But that I just keep the required 100.00 and incur no fees & if it drops below there is some type of fee!

I use the pesco debit card here just like I do it the states, for stuff at the Mex stores or to just get cash!

Now, that bank has a real good internet banking site in both English and Spanish, and you have two pass words, one to just look on line and the other with a special card you get with a code set up that when you log on you give first password, then if ya do any online banking the second password and then they ask for a code that is on the card known only to who has the card! Every log on, different code!


So, the bank here pays all the monthly or yearly bills, like my Mexican electric bills, I just bring a past bill in, they get all info, and then every other month in my fence is the elec bill but the bank pays! Do that with water and Mex taxes! We keep enough money in every month so the bank takes from my account and pays for me!

So with on line banking, weather we are in the states or Mexico, we can access wells account and Bancomer accounts and safely do whatever banking that needs to be done! And transfer money between and from pcs to US money.

Twice we were out of Mexico and neighbor 
did not pay, forgot or whatever, and was disconnected! Last time when we got there no electric and took after reconnect fees about 10 days to get svs back!

This works great for us, and both US and Mexican bills are paid auto by both banks!

Anyway this short story turned out long, but Bancomer Bank has a special section in English for there special customers who speak English! As they say!

Now I don't have the 40 to 50 bucks a month ATM fees with Wells, as we live on our debit card here and in US!

Hope this also helps but you have to go to Wells for the first transaction and to set up, as they want to make sure all goes tru smooth.....and they only send Peso's, not US money! 

My problem with BofA I will not go into! But the the new US banking laws stopped them!

Other parts of Mexico should (said loosely) should be the same with Bancomer!


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## DennyDaddy

Hello Again....

I forgot to add that the Bancomeer Mexican bank debit cards can be used anywhere in the US! We went to dinner at Benson, Arizona and being use to be pulling out my Mex debit cards in Mexico, and the peso one,I gave it to the waiter here in the US, he ran it thru, and my bill was paid! 

Just a FYI, and most likely there were fees, but I guess wanting to be mostly cashless carry, I know I have to pay, I guess! 

DD


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