# Check Cashing Disaster



## Ramana42 (Sep 22, 2016)

Today was a disaster! :help: I received a very large personal check from my Dad in the States last week and tried to open a bank account here in Mexico today and deposit it. I called Santander first and asked them if they accept American checks. They assured me that they did. So, I went and opened an account at Santander. At the end of the process, the woman told me, "Sorry, but we don't accept checks from the United States." :jaw:

So, then I called HSBC, and asked them 3 times if they accept personal checks from the USA and was assured 3 times that yes indeed they accept U.S. checks. My wife and I went to the local bank and was told that absolutely "no" they do not accept checks from the USA. After much confusion and phone calls, a representative apologized and said that they only accept checks in the North of Mexico. 

Please, I need your help. Where do I go from here? :noidea: 

_I live in the Central part of Mexico._ Are there any banks here that accept personal checks from the United States? If possible, I would prefer a bank that does not send any reports about my banking activities to the United States. I fear I could lose my Social Security Disability Insurance if the government found out about this check. 

Many thanks for your time and help in this regard! :wave:


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Ramana42 said:


> Today was a disaster! :help: I received a very large personal check from my Dad in the States last week and tried to open a bank account here in Mexico today and deposit it. I called Santander first and asked them if they accept American checks. They assured me that they did. So, I went and opened an account at Santander. At the end of the process, the woman told me, "Sorry, but we don't accept checks from the United States." :jaw:
> 
> So, then I called HSBC, and asked them 3 times if they accept personal checks from the USA and was assured 3 times that yes indeed they accept U.S. checks. My wife and I went to the local bank and was told that absolutely "no" they do not accept checks from the USA. After much confusion and phone calls, a representative apologized and said that they only accept checks in the North of Mexico.
> 
> ...


Tear up the check after you ask your dad to do an international wire transer to your Mexican bank account.


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## Ramana42 (Sep 22, 2016)

AlanMexicali said:


> Tear up the check after you ask your dad to do an international wire transer to your Mexican bank account.


He is very elderly and barely able to do any work. I doubt that he is capable of handling all the routing numbers and such.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I semi-follow a San Miguel forum and people on there say that CIBanco accepts US checks as does Intercam, which is an investment firm. However, you have to invest a certain amount with Intercam, I believe. 

If the check is that large, why don't you hop a plane to Houston or some other close US city and deposit it there. Or, if your father is in that bad of shape and he is giving you so much money, maybe you ought to go visit him and you can do your banking while there. Just sayin'.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I send checks from my USA account to Banorte yearly and never had a problem......


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Some US banks now give you the ability to take a picture of the check and deposit it using your smart phone. With my bank I had to download and install their mobile app, agreeing to some Ts&Cs etc. The banks typically provide their app for free, and if it supports picture deposit that's typically free too. 

Then, since that only gets your money in a US bank, you have to get it changed into pesos, and there are a lot of posts about that, the consensus seems to be that using a US-bank ATM card at a mexican ATM is good for getting cash in amounts up to your daily limit, but for really big amounts the only choice is to wire the funds. To do a wire from US to Mexico, you need something called a CLAVE for the destination account, which is a really big number that uniquely identifies your account in the way necessary to do an international wire transfer. It's like an account number and routing number and a country code rolled into one.

Also, I believe that if a US citizen or permanent resident ever gets a balance more than US$10,000 in a non-US bank account the person has all sorts of extra forms they must file with the US government. You might want to read up about FATCA. It's a big steaming pile of Kafkaesque anti-money-laundering nightmare rules.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

eastwind said:


> Also, I believe that if a US citizen or permanent resident ever gets a balance more than US$10,000 in a non-US bank account the person has all sorts of extra forms they must file with the US government. You might want to read up about FATCA. It's a big steaming pile of Kafkaesque anti-money-laundering nightmare rules.


No. You have to fill out an IRS form W-9 when opening an account in Mexico or if you already have an account, the bank will ask you to come in and fill one out. The 10k usd limit on reporting is for the bank to do not the account holder.


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## DiverSailor123 (Sep 17, 2016)

Really ? I am the only one who has an issue with someone asking all of you, to help them _In Their Own Eyes and To The Best Of Their Knowledge _, To Break The Law? 



Ramana42 said:


> I would prefer a bank that does not send any reports about my banking activities to the United States. I fear I could lose my Social Security Disability Insurance if the government found out about this check.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I had my acronyms slightly confused. The problem for most folks is not the FATCAT requirement it is the FBAR requirement. Individuals must file fincen form 114 to meet the FBAR requirement. 

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements

FATCA reporting thresholds are (much) higher, but if crossed, require the individual to file IRS form 8938 with their taxes. 

Note the draconian penalties for not filing the fincen form 114, and note that it must be filed separately from one's tax return (it's filed directly to the office of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).

Personally, I have so far kept all my money in the US in order to make sure I don't cross any of these, so I just knew about the "lowest floor" requirement of 10k. My plan was to maybe open a Mexican checking account but make damn sure to never exceed 10k US$ value in it at any point. In that case I believe joaquinx is correct.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

On my read through the thread I had not seen the part DiverSailor highlighted, I must have skipped over it. My recommendations are in no way to assist in breaking the law, but in keeping it.


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