Carol Schmidt
Nov 30, 2003, 9:17 AM
Post #20 of 25
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We've used Lloyd's too, and everyone I know who uses them has only raves. You can call in the morning to have a check for cash waiting for you when you go in (has to be before 1 pm each day) and then cash it right there at the teller window, or you can wait a few minutes longer if you don't call ahead. They will also issue a check directly to someplace like a hospital in an emergency if you call and tell them you need a large sum.
Some people we know do withdraw most of their money shortly before a presidential election and then wait a few weeks while things settle down--just a precaution, I guess the economy has been known to get volatile after a turnover in the past.
During Mexico's economic mess in the '90s, Lloyd's was paying huge interest, I think I remember the figure of 48% a year, 4% a month! At least that's what I've heard, I don't have first-hand knowledge of that. Now it's around 6% a year depending on the kind of account you get, but that's still better than most banks in the US. You do need to deposit at least $1000US for the basic account most people get, and more for other kinds of accounts.
We haven't gotten our SS check switched over to direct deposit in Mexico yet--it's been convenient to keep it at the Phoenix bank we've used for many years, and we use ATM's here in SMA to withdraw our spending money. We actually have it set up so we have two accounts there so we can withdraw the limit in a day from each of them, I think $400US each a day (some banks have lower limits), which is close to 9000 pesos.
Like using any ATM, you have to think ahead if you're going to need more cash on hand than that and get advances over several days, or go to Lloyd's. Lloyd's is about a six-block walk for us from where we live (hard to find parking there so we walk when we go) and the ATM is half a block, so we get lazy sometimes.
Carol Schmidt
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