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Brian In The Army

Feb 7, 2003, 4:56 AM

Post #1 of 19 (5003 views)

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Banking In Mexico

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I would like to set up banking investments. What is required for cds? For savings accounts? I want to start an account with a tourist card and a passport if needed. Any information, experiences, etc would be very much appreciated.

Brian In The Army

(Stuck in Kuwait. The land of no beer and women that wear clothes up to their eyes)

Uncle Jack

Feb 7, 2003, 5:01 AM

Post #2 of 19 (4655 views)

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Careful, my friend

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"Stuck in Kuwait. The land of no beer and women that wear clothes up to their eyes"

Tread lightly and watch 6!

UJ

keith

Feb 7, 2003, 9:09 AM

Post #3 of 19 (4550 views)

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Re: [Uncle Jack] Careful, my friend

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main things required: ability to put up with long lines, poor service, all kinds of hassles, and deposits in a currency that periodically goes belly up.

awcharro

Feb 7, 2003, 5:52 PM

Post #4 of 19 (4488 views)

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Re: [Brian In The Army] Banking In Mexico

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Unless you need to withdraw a lot of money in a day's time in Mexico, or if there are people in Mexico depositing to your account on a regular basis, or if you want to establish credit to borrow from a Mexican bank (understanding that you will have to have a Mexican who will guarantee your loan), I do not see much need to have a bank account in Mexico. With USAA bank in San Antonio, which services the military, I am able to withdraw up to about $400 a day at any Mexican bank's ATM machines as long as I have money in the account.

This bank, along with the other bank that I am using, NetBank, pays interest on checking accounts and has no monthly fee with no minimum balance requirements like Mexican banks do. I believe that you would probably be a lot better off depositing your money in a U.S. bank.

The Old Gringo

Feb 7, 2003, 7:36 PM

Post #5 of 19 (4403 views)

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Re: [Brian In The Army] Banking In Mexico

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I believe that I read somewhere that you need an FM-3 to open a Mexican bank account, so unless you plan to go that route, you're better off with a good versatile US bank.

Perhaps one of the new arrangements between certain US and Mexican banks may have a program. Citibank?

Hooa

TOG

Sherrill

Feb 7, 2003, 7:53 PM

Post #6 of 19 (4410 views)

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Recent experience shows you need FM3 and proof of local address to open bank account

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I have read posts that say one does not need an FM3 to open a bank account. However, last week I tried opening another account and was in the process of getting FM3 renewal. Had the receipt for it and my passport. Bank would not do it. Since I was already there and curious I asked if one could use a tourist visa; manager whom I know well said no. You have to have a current FM3, passport valid for at least a year, a utility bill showing your address here, three local referrals. And this was at a bank where I already have an account.

Feb 8, 2003, 10:47 AM

Post #7 of 19 (4366 views)

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Re: [Brian In The Army] Banking In Mexico

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In Reply To

"Brian In The Army" writes:
I would like to set up banking investments....

Brian,

At present, I personally wouldn't classify a Mexican bank account to be a good investment. The problem is that the Mexican Peso (MXP) has had a historic trend of losing value in comparison to what I'm assuming is your base currency, the US Dollar (USD). In the past year this decline has been quite harsh.

As a concrete example, let's say that on February 8, 2002, you had $2,000 USD floating around. You take half of the money ($1,000) and placed it in the First Bank of Sealy Posturpedic (i.e. you stuffed it into your mattress); the other half you convert into Mexican Pesos and place into the bank's Mexican counterpart, La Primera Banco del Colchón Sealy. Ignoring exchange rate discounts and transfer fees you'd undoubtedly encounter along the way, when you converted your money into MXP, at the 02/08/02 interbank exchange rate of 9.1830 MXP/USD you'd end up with $9,183 MXP for the mattress stuffing. Today, a year later, assuming no major bedbug/chinche transactions, you'd still have $1,000 USD in the US mattress, and $9,183 MXP in the Mexican mattress. If you now take the $1,000 USD and convert it into MXP for addition to the Mexican mattress, you can (again ignoring the costs of currency exchange) add $11,026 MXP to the stash. Why the $1,843 MXP difference? Today's (02/08/03) interbank exchange rate is $11.0260 MXP/USD, a change of some 20% from a year ago.

With this kind of decline, I haven't wasted a lot of time researching what interest rates Mexican bank accounts are paying their depositors. My general impression is, however, that standard savings accounts are paying on the order of 1% interest (per annum), roughly the same as a US money market type account, and definitely nowhere in the neighborhood needed to offset the loss from the decline in currency value. On this and other Mexico-related forums, you'll also see references to "Lloyds" and the interest rates they're paying (ex "Just write a check on your U.S. bank, depositing to your Lloyds account, and you'll also earn a lot more interest on your money."). Lloyds in this case is the Operadora de Fondos Lloyd, S. A., a Mexican mutual fund/financial services management company unrelated to Lloyds TSB Group (the latest encarnation of the venerable British bank), which markets its services heavily to the english-language speaking community in Mexico. Lloyds operates a series of MXP denomination money market funds which like their counterpart financial mutual fund/financial services counterparts in the US, have different limits and operating rules (and account insurance, if any) than the money market accounts in banks and other savings institutions. With current yields running from 4.4-6.8% range, the interest paid on such accounts still comes nowhere near to offset the loss from the currency value decline.

awcharro

Feb 8, 2003, 4:57 PM

Post #8 of 19 (4333 views)

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Re: [Sherrill] Recent experience shows you need FM3 and proof of local address to open bank account

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This was also my experience. However, fortunately, my FM3 hadn't expired yet, so I was able to open up an account with Bital. The only reason I did so is because there is a Mexican businessman who makes a donation once a month to the prison ministry that I have here in Mexico. I tried having him deposit the money to my church's account, but it became such a big hassle that I decided to open up my own account.

Unless you live here in Mexico, or if your family lives here in Mexico and you are sending money to them, there is absolutely no reason that I can see that it would be of any benefit for you to try to open up a bank account in Mexico.

gdy

Feb 9, 2003, 9:10 AM

Post #9 of 19 (4325 views)

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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Hi Awcharro,

I too have an USAA bank ( checking ) account, for their ATM reimbursement policy and the ability to transfer funds to/from accounts I have with different banks. After reading your post, I went to the Netbank website and did a little bit of reading. What advantage do they have over USAA, other than free bill paying?

awcharro

Feb 9, 2003, 1:15 PM

Post #10 of 19 (4276 views)

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Re: [gdy] Banking In Mexico

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NetBank pays a higher rate of interest on their checking accounts than USAA does. Also, I had a lot less problems doing an international wire transfer with NetBank than when I tried to do it with USAA.

However, if I had to choose between the two banks, I would pick USAA. This is because of the ATM reimbursement policy, rewards for using their debit card for purchases, being able to call them toll-free from Mexico (which I can't do with NetBank), and also because I'm from Texas and am there a lot more often than I am in Georgia. I also received a very pleasant surprise from USAA when they deposited $50 in my savings account as a special promotion this month.

tomgibbs

Feb 9, 2003, 10:01 PM

Post #11 of 19 (4227 views)

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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Have you guys found that your USAA accounts satisfy all your Mexican living needs? Does your USAA ATM and Master/VISA cards supply all of your needs in Mexico?

I'm going completely paperless with them in preparation for this fall's move. Is that all the banking preparation I will need?

gdy

Feb 10, 2003, 7:26 PM

Post #12 of 19 (4185 views)

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Re: [tomgibbs] Banking In Mexico

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I have not moved to Mexico yet. Hopefully that'll happen in the next 2 months. But I feel that I'll stick with my USAA account due to it's ATM reimbursement policy, ability to transfer funds to other banks and their toll free calls from Mexico. I also am setting up a California Commerce Bank checking account in case I have a future need for the CCB/Banamex affiliation. If anyone has any other needs that should be considered, please let us know.

awcharro

Feb 10, 2003, 8:50 PM

Post #13 of 19 (4161 views)

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Re: [tomgibbs] Banking In Mexico

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You can use your USAA ATM card to withdraw money (up to $400 or perhaps more) at any ATM in Mexico. I don't believe that you can use your USAA or any other foreign credit card here in Mexico, except for maybe some plush hotels or restaurants who cater to a lot of Americans. You cannot use it to pay your Telmex bill.

You can get your statements on-line with USAA. They will also send mail to your Mexican address. Of course, you will have to give them your new address in Mexico. Their computer has it's own idea on how to abbreviate the names for the states in Mexico. If you give them the correct "codigo postal" (zip code here in Mexico), that should overcome that problem.

Howard Botz

Feb 14, 2003, 3:23 PM

Post #14 of 19 (4114 views)

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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What about the ATM fee?

I was in Puerto Vallarta last week and used the Bannamex ATM, and Wells Fargo (my bank) charged $3.00 for the transaction (because it was not a Wells Fargo machine). Doesn't the frequent ATM use, coupled with a fee each time, make this method of banking a little costly? Or is it just Wells Fargo? I would like to remain with Wells Fargo but not if the ATM fees add up significantly. I would appreciate hearing from other people who use Wells Fargo.

Howard in Seattle (moving down this summer)

awcharro

Feb 14, 2003, 4:00 PM

Post #15 of 19 (4110 views)

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Re: [Howard Botz] Banking In Mexico

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This is the very reason that I changed from Wells Fargo to USAA bank in San Antonio. You can make withdrawals up to ten times a month without having to pay an ATM fee to them. After that, it's only a dollar a withdrawal.

I also have an account with NetBank in Georgia. They do not charge anything to make withdrawals at another bank's ATM either. How are they able to do this? These two banks have no branch banks, so they do not have as much overhead costs as banks that have branches. Therefore, they can afford to pass this benefit on to their customers.

USAA will reimburse you up to $1.50 per transaction for ATM charges by other banks up to ten times a month. NetBank will not, but their bill pay service is free (USAA charges $4.95 a month, the last time that I checked.) NetBank pays a higher interest rate on their checking accounts than USAA does. Neither one of these banks have a monthly service fee. You can call USAA toll-free from Mexico.

When I had the same problem that you have with Wells Fargo, I posted a message just like you did and got information on these two banks that I now use from this web site.

Howard Botz

Feb 14, 2003, 4:46 PM

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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Thanks for the great information.

Let me ask a couple of other questions:

1. The reason I have not gone with the more common Calif. Commerce Bank is the lack of ability to pay bills on line. What would you think of keeping some money in Wells Fargo for on line bill payment and using the act. with Calif. Commerce Bank with free ATM?

2. Or, would you still recommend the NetBank of Georgia, or USAA Bank in San Antonio? If so could you tell me how to contact these two banks either on line or by telephone? Do they allow on line bill payment?

I certainly appreciate your thoughts and help. The banking issue is my biggest worry yet to be solved for my move to Ajijic.

Howard

tabascoone

Feb 14, 2003, 6:03 PM

Post #17 of 19 (4068 views)

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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I too have USAA and have use my cards (credit and debit) often times in Mexico with noproblems, I do not currently live in Mexico (is an eventuality) but visit the country often enough (as recent as thsi week).

It is good to hear from Americans living in Mexico and doing the banking in the U.S. I have often thought what my options were going to be, now reading teh thread, and finding out that USAA also will send mail to Mexico, my decision is much easier.

Concerning the question of using the USAA credit card in Mexico, I have had no problems using it on most businesses (Flower shops, Soriana, Gigante, etc.)

awcharro

Feb 14, 2003, 7:36 PM

Post #18 of 19 (4066 views)

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Re: [Howard Botz] Banking In Mexico

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The only reason to go to California Commerce Bank is if you have a reason to have a lot of money in a Mexican bank. Mexican banks, in my experience, do not offer as much to their customers as American banks do. If you don't need to withdraw more than $400 a day, do not need to have a lot of money in Mexico at one time, and have no one who is depositing to your bank account in Mexico on a regular basis, in my opinion, you probably don't need an account in a Mexican bank. I got by living in Mexico for eight years before I had to open up an account in a Mexican bank. The only reason I did so is because someone in Mexico is making a monthly deposit to my account. All the Mexican banks that I know of charge anywhere from 50 to 100 pesos a month for their service charge, unless you have an average balance of 1,800 to 5,000 pesos in your account (this depends on the type of account, of course). There are also not as many free services in the Mexican banks, I've found, than in a number of American banks. For example, with the basic account that I have with Bital, I only get up to four free ATM withdrawals a month. If I want to withdraw cash from a teller window, they charge me for that. Possibly I could have a different type of account with them where they would not charge me for these services, but then the monthly service charge would be higher.

The web site address of USAA is www.usaa.com. NetBank's website address is www.netbank.com. USAA's toll-free number (from Mexico as well) is 800-531-2265. NetBank's toll-free number is 888-256-6932.

Personally, the only reason I can see having an account with Wells Fargo is if you are living in a town where there is a Wells Fargo bank and your travels take you to places where there is always a Wells Fargo bank.

As I mentioned in my last post, NetBank has free bill pay service. I use it from Mexico all the time. USAA has bill pay as well, but they charge $4.95 a month for it. But, there are other features that USAA offers that NetBank does not.

Howard Botz

Feb 15, 2003, 8:51 AM

Post #19 of 19 (4041 views)

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Re: [awcharro] Banking In Mexico

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You have been so helpful. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Your information is clear and concise.

Howard