# Banking - debit - credit card



## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

Hello to all Expats in Mexico,

I was finding information about using my debit and credit cards in Mexico. Called my banks USAA and FROST, both said that they charge 1%, which in my case equals $180.00 per month. Does anyone know of a way to avoid having to pay the 1% charge. SS offers a card and they do not charge a fee, however if used at an ATM machine that has a surcharge, some 3%?...


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

tochtitlan23 said:


> Hello to all Expats in Mexico,
> 
> I was finding information about using my debit and credit cards in Mexico. Called my banks USAA and FROST, both said that they charge 1%, which in my case equals $180.00 per month. Does anyone know of a way to avoid having to pay the 1% charge. SS offers a card and they do not charge a fee, however if used at an ATM machine that has a surcharge, some 3%?...


Are you reading the parallel thread on http://www.expatforum.com/expats/mexico-expat-forum-expats-living-mexico/161098-banking.html?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

tochtitlan23 said:


> Hello to all Expats in Mexico,
> 
> I was finding information about using my debit and credit cards in Mexico. Called my banks USAA and FROST, both said that they charge 1%, which in my case equals $180.00 per month. Does anyone know of a way to avoid having to pay the 1% charge. SS offers a card and they do not charge a fee, however if used at an ATM machine that has a surcharge, some 3%?...


I don't see the correlation between 1% and 180 usd, however, all US credit/debit cards will charge at least 1%. That is the International Conversion Fee. Many of us here have a Bank of America debit card and use it to withdraw pesos from either Santander or Scotia banks. At these two banks, there are no fees aside from the 1% that BofA will charge for the conversion.

The other thread is getting strange, talking about owning bridges and toll fees on them.


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## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

Hopefully my math is wrong - my monthly income is 1871. If I use my debit card to with draw money at this rate it would be 1% times 1871.00 = 18.71, I think, so if this is correct then my math was wrong and a lot happier, thanks.

Mark S


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

If you change banking/credit cards to Schwab they reimburse all fees for any ATM through out the world...


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=chicois8;1227683]If you change banking/credit cards to Schwab they reimburse all fees for any ATM through out the world...[/QUOTE_]

Quite trueChicois8:

We are reimbursed for any ATM charges anywhere in the world at any ATM by Shwab without fail. Wire transfer fees, which should be $25USD per transfer, are waived. On the rare occasion when we wire money from the U.S. to Mexico or France, Schwab exchanges dollars to pesos or euros at their more favorable exchange rates to our benefit. A fabulous investment hoiuse with whom to do business and especially if one live in a foreign country as do we. I cannot extoll the virtues of Schwab enough.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

tochtitlan23 said:


> Hello to all Expats in Mexico,
> 
> I was finding information about using my debit and credit cards in Mexico. Called my banks USAA and FROST, both said that they charge 1%, which in my case equals $180.00 per month. Does anyone know of a way to avoid having to pay the 1% charge. SS offers a card and they do not charge a fee, however if used at an ATM machine that has a surcharge, some 3%?...



WOW, you sure are sending in a lot of money each month!!! If you have that kind of money you would be quite foolish to be paying 1%. You would be much better off to do a wire transfer or find another bank who will do a transfer for you for free.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

Oh, I should have kept reading....  

You did 10% not 1%.....


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## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

kito1 said:


> Oh, I should have kept reading....
> 
> You did 10% not 1%.....


Duh - sometimes my anxiety overwhelms me!....

Thanks
Mark S


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## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

kito1 said:


> Oh, I should have kept reading....
> 
> You did 10% not 1%.....


Un poco estúpido

Gracias

Mark S


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## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

kito1 said:


> WOW, you sure are sending in a lot of money each month!!! If you have that kind of money you would be quite foolish to be paying 1%. You would be much better off to do a wire transfer or find another bank who will do a transfer for you for free.


I wish -


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

You don’t say where in Mexico you are going to be living. If you move to someplace close to a Bancomer BBVA branch you can save a lot of money by using their services. Open an account and then you can take a US check and deposit it with just the conversion rate charge and in 8 working days you can withdraw funds with no charge at all.


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## tochtitlan23 (Jun 26, 2013)

Thanks I am moving to SMA - I figured 10% instead of 1%, which is acceptable to me. My bank in the US will even mail a new debit card to me in Mexico. Also I opened an account in 1999 at Banamex, it was not a checking or savings account, rather, actually I am not sure what sort of an account it was, but I left $100.00 in it and I have not been back to see if it is still active. And I lost the paperwork. Hopefully, if it is not closed, my passport may serve as proof of the account. 

Thanks for your information

Mark S


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## johnmex (Nov 30, 2010)

tochtitlan23 said:


> Thanks I am moving to SMA - I figured 10% instead of 1%, which is acceptable to me. My bank in the US will even mail a new debit card to me in Mexico. Also I opened an account in 1999 at Banamex, it was not a checking or savings account, rather, actually I am not sure what sort of an account it was, but I left $100.00 in it and I have not been back to see if it is still active. And I lost the paperwork. Hopefully, if it is not closed, my passport may serve as proof of the account.
> 
> Thanks for your information
> 
> Mark S


Don't bother, it won't be active any longer.


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## Steven John (Jun 25, 2012)

I'm using my Bank Of America debit and credit card here in Progreso and Merida at the local Santander Bank locations in the Yucatan. Works great. No fees that I'm aware of but I'm sure they take a snippet when doing the converting.

Since I don't have my FM2 or FM3 I can't get a bank account in Mexico anyway.

Nobody has sold me on the benefit of having a Mexico bank account. It's simpler to use the BOA card at my local Santander bank ATM because I know my money is safe there.

Steve


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Steven John said:


> Nobody has sold me on the benefit of having a Mexico bank account. It's simpler to use the BOA card at my local Santander bank ATM because I know my money is safe there.


Santander and Scotia ATMs are good places to withdraw funds, however, try and buy something for 3 or 4 thousand pesos and see how fast BofA will shutdown your card. Then you have to call them and swear that it was you buying a refrigerator.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

joaquinx said:


> Santander and Scotia ATMs are good places to withdraw funds, however, try and buy something for 3 or 4 thousand pesos and see how fast BofA will shutdown your card. Then you have to call them and swear that it was you buying a refrigerator.


Doesn't always happen!!! My best friend used to go to a Central American country to buy his medication directly from the manufacturer since he had no insurance here in the USA. I added him as an additional user on one of my CC's so I could get the points and he would pay the bill. Every 3 months it would be around $6100-$6200 depending on currency flunctuations. One month I looked online and he had charged right at $22,000!!! After speaking with him, and him telling me, that no he had not bought a car or something on my CC  I called up the credit card company and they pulled the receipt and told me that someone had obviously entered in something incorrectly and they would fix it right away. I asked why it wasn't flagged since it was such a huge difference and they said well, he had been charging down there pretty regularly and they don't like to inconvenience their customers! I told them next time if it was over a few thousand dollars difference they should call and inconvenience me!!!!


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

kito1 said:


> I asked why it wasn't flagged since it was such a huge difference and they said well, he had been charging down there pretty regularly and they don't like to inconvenience their customers! I told them next time if it was over a few thousand dollars difference they should call and inconvenience me!!!!


You can set up alerts for out of country charges and any transactions. I get them when I withdraw at an ATM and get the alert within minutes.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

I am not too terribly worried about my CC's they have a limit as to what I am responsible for, but debit cards are another animal altogether. I do not have the visa/mastercard logo on my cards at all and I never carry one with me unless I need it because I am stopping at an ATM to get cash. In the USA I NEVER use a debit card at all as everywhere takes CC's so I never use cash but out of the country of course this is not possible. 

In Managua last year, I got cash out of an ATM and someone skimmed the card or whatever you call it. A week or so later I looked at my bank account and it was cleaned out and had started pulling money from my MMA. Luckily I had set it up not to pull more than $1000 out of MM. I called up and they cancelled the card but it took over 2 months for me to get my money back. The bank in Managua was not cooperating and my bank said it looked like it was an inside job though they never were able to find out anything for sure. 

Be very very careful using a debit card cause it is YOUR money that disappears not the CC's money and it can take a while getting it back with some banks and Credit Unions!


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

kito1 said:


> Be very very careful using a debit card cause it is YOUR money that disappears not the CC's money and it can take a while getting it back with some banks and Credit Unions!


Good advise. I use my BofA debit card only for withdrawing from an ATM. I seldom use my BofA Visa . My Mexican HSBC debit gets used a lot, but I only keep a few thousand pesos in it.

Take a close look at ATMs. If it looks suspicious, don't use it. I use the ones in a supermarket where tampering would be noticed.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

When I got my Schwab checking account they sent me a debit card instead of a banking card for the ATM's, I only wanted an ATM card and what they did was limit the debit side of the card to $1.00 max 
although I can withdrawal a grand per day from any ATM in the world fee free....


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> When I got my Schwab checking account they sent me a debit card instead of a banking card for the ATM's, I only wanted an ATM card and what they did was limit the debit side of the card to $1.00 max
> although I can withdrawal a grand per day from any ATM in the world fee free....


I'm confused - I thought a bank card was a debit card. And what kind of miniscule card limit is $1.00, whether it be pesos or dollars?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

A debit card is what we use at any ATM and I suspect the limit on your new card will require you to activate the card by internet or phone, and establish a limit that you choose. It appears that it may be a security matter while the card was in the mail.


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

Actually there basically three kinds of cards that a bank will issue. One it a credit card with some limit and it gives you a period of time to pay off the purchase without any interest (now some banks give you NO grace period).

The second is a debit card and it allows you to withdraw funds from an active account. Just as the title says it debits your cash almost at once. Most banks give you a daily limit for ATM withdrawals so do most ATM machines. 

The third is what some people used to call a bank card. It’s basically an ID card that can be used in the bank to allow you to do various transactions without having to show much identification. 

Banks and credit unions are fighting for deposit dollars so they are offering the sun, moon and the stars to many people. Especially if they think you might want a loan or a mortgage


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=chicois8;1238654]When I got my Schwab checking account they sent me a debit card instead of a banking card for the ATM's, I only wanted an ATM card and what they did was limit the debit side of the card to $1.00 max 
although I can withdrawal a grand per day from any ATM in the world fee free....[/QUOTE]_

In all due resoect, Chicois8, that doesn´t make any sense. I have been a Schwab client for a number of years and what they issue under the Schwab One account is a debit card that is managed through PNC Bank in Philadelphia. The $1,000USD withdrawal limit per day _fee free _anywhere in the world where cash transactions with dollar accounts are legal from any any ATM machine is normal and they always rebate any fees charged by the bank owning the ATM. You may be dealing with Schwab Bank which is another entity but ofers he same service.

Whatever; Schwab is a great financial institution with whom to do business. All these folks talk about fee free ATM transactions at Santander with a BofA debit card and other affiliated bank transactions but you and I with Schwab get the fee rebate at any ATM in the world at any time we use an ATM anywhere. Now, that´s a good product.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> I'm confused - I thought a bank card was a debit card. And what kind of miniscule card limit is $1.00, whether it be pesos or dollars?


Will try and un confuse you Isla, Because Schwab bank would or does not issue a bank card I put a $1 limit on the debit side of the card incase it was cloned,lost or stolen while traveling anyone trying to use it could only charge one dollar....comprende?

I carry BanamexUSA and Citi bank cards only for ATM's use...


Dog, My Schwab Bank card is a Platinum Debit card issued by Visa....works just fine.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


pappabee said:



Actually there basically three kinds of cards that a bank will issue. One it a credit card with some limit and it gives you a period of time to pay off the purchase without any interest (now some banks give you NO grace period).

The second is a debit card and it allows you to withdraw funds from an active account. Just as the title says it debits your cash almost at once. Most banks give you a daily limit for ATM withdrawals so do most ATM machines. 

The third is what some people used to call a bank card. It’s basically an ID card that can be used in the bank to allow you to do various transactions without having to show much identification. 

Banks and credit unions are fighting for deposit dollars so they are offering the sun, moon and the stars to many people. Especially if they think you might want a loan or a mortgage

Click to expand...

_As an ex-commercial banker for perhaps 35 years mainly involved in commercial lending to the bank´s star clients, let me assure the reader that all of the "card" special client gimmicks are just that to lure in the uninitiated. Really important clients whether simply depositors or deposit and loan customers don´t need or receive cards telling the bank tellers and officers they are important; all they have to do is either approach the bank premise or just pick up the phone and the bank will come to them. If, folks, you have to show a "bank card" to a teller or floor officer to get special service, you are not that important.

I bank with both Bancomer and Banamex at both Lake Chapala and Chiapas and, because I am a foreigner, Bancomer issued me that phony "Preferred Customer Card". One day when the lines were particularly long at Bancomer in San Cristóbal because it was welfare check day and the bank is always jammed on those days monthly when welfare payments are distributed; I tried to use the short line with my "Preferred Customer Card" issued at Lake Chapala. I have never tried that before or since but had an urgent banking need so I tried to join the "Preferred Customer" Line showing the card issued at Lake Chapala and the teller at the window reprimanded me saying, "Sir, this line is for merchants and large depositors, please return to the (ordinary) client line (which was backed up out the door). Bancomer in Chiapas doesn´t give a happy damn about expats from Lake Chapala. They know that merchants and local wealthy depositors - all Mexicans - are the people that butter their bread.

In all of those years of lending to major clients in amounts in the millions of dollars and serving major and loyal depositors, I never, _EVER_, saw even one "Preferred Customer" Card. My clients - the really important clients of the bank - wouldn´t have been caught dead with one. 

Reminds me of the toaster programs in S&Ls in the 1960s. Open an account in the minimum of $500 Dollars and get a free toaster. There were elderly ladies all over Pasadena with countless toasters in some backhall closet and $500 Dollar accounts at every S&L within ten miles.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> Will try and un confuse you Isla, Because Schwab bank would or does not issue a bank card I put a $1 limit on the debit side of the card incase it was cloned,lost or stolen while traveling anyone trying to use it could only charge one dollar....comprende?


¡Claro que sí!


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


chicois8 said:



Will try and un confuse you Isla, Because Schwab bank would or does not issue a bank card I put a $1 limit on the debit side of the card incase it was cloned,lost or stolen while traveling anyone trying to use it could only charge one dollar....comprende?

I carry BanamexUSA and Citi bank cards only for ATM's use...


Dog, My Schwab Bank card is a Platinum Debit card issued by Visa....works just fine.

Click to expand...

_I am glad to hear, chicois8, that you have a Schwab Bank Platinum Card that serves you well. I don´t do business with Schwab Bank,only with Charles Schwab which issues my debit card through its Schwab One program which is no in any way affiliated with Schwab Bank - an entirely seoarate entity. My Platiinum Visa Schwab One Brokerage Account Debit Card has features similar to yours at Schwab Bank but is serviced by PNC in Philadelphia.

Here is something funny. Even though I am a Schwab One customer of 13 years in good standing, Schwab Bank will not open an account for me because I live in Mexico with no U.S. address and am an international account witth Charles Schwab. The Patriot Act forbids it

Man, am I glad to be out of the paranoid United States


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