# Sending Money Back to the US



## baisarahr (May 16, 2011)

I will be moving to Pachuca, Hidalgo in August to live with my husband and work teaching English. I am trying to get the various logistics of it all worked out and the one area I have not been able to find much information on is sending money back to the US. 

I will need to send back about $500 a month for student loan payments. What would be the best way to do this? When I arrive, it will likely be several months before I can open a local bank account. My understanding is that Western Union is expensive, so I am hoping for an option that doesn't take too much of my money.

Thank you to anyone who can help.


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## BryansRose (May 25, 2009)

Many expats keep an active bank account in the US. Mine is a checking account, and when I need to, I can send checks via regular mail to the US. Timing is a problem, because the time it takes for a letter to arrive in the US from here varies greatly. Perhaps you could arrange an automatic debit each month. I do my credit card payments frommy US account online. 

If you won't be keeping an account in the US, I don't know. Others will have to answer that.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Definitely keep your US account and use 'Bill Pay' online to have your bank send the monthly check. You could possibly use PayPal, but Western Union from Mexico to the USA won't work well for you, as it is expensive and often requires that you have an account in the bank with the WU franchise.
You will need INM approval on your visa to work in Mexico and you may find that what you earn won't quite be enough to live on. The school that hires you will have to support your application for the working permission from Immigration.


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## La Osita (Oct 31, 2010)

Ditto to what RVGringo said. I keep my US bank account and use the online bill pay to take care of any payments I need to make in the US. Works like a charm. I've also taken to keeping the majority of my funds in my US account and keep only a minimal amount in our Mexican bank account.


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## EricRayMoss (May 19, 2011)

*Bank of America*



baisarahr said:


> I will be moving to Pachuca, Hidalgo in August to live with my husband and work teaching English. I am trying to get the various logistics of it all worked out and the one area I have not been able to find much information on is sending money back to the US.
> 
> I will need to send back about $500 a month for student loan payments. What would be the best way to do this? When I arrive, it will likely be several months before I can open a local bank account. My understanding is that Western Union is expensive, so I am hoping for an option that doesn't take too much of my money.
> 
> Thank you to anyone who can help.


Hi there - I keep an Bank of America account (although I am not a fan of the bank) where all of my US deposits go to. From there I have online bill payer which sends out electronic checks for me. You can have it done automatically, or set it up where you enter the amount and click send manually.

The big reason I chose Bank of America is because they coordinate the Santander Bank here in Mexico (or Banco Serafin - same thing really). There is little or no fee to use their ATMs as opposed to huge surcharges from other US banks. In some cities Santander may be hard to come by so I would check first online. 

The only minor irritating thing about BofA is that OFTEN they block my card for trave protection from fraud and I have to call the bank to get them to reactivate it. The whole reactivation only takes a few minutes, and I sometimes don't mind. Better safe than sorry I guess.


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