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Finances: how to in Chapala


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I have a small condo in Seattle that I come up to several times per year.  I wire funds to Mexico maybe two or three times per year when I am in Seattle. To have a place in Mexico to wire the money too, I opened up a Bank Account in Mexico. Before coming north I check to ensure that I have the correct bank account wiring instruction from my Mexican Bank. When back in Seattle I ask My stock broker at Merrill Lynch to wire maybe $10,000 dollars to my Mexican bank following the instructions I received from my Mexican Bank. I have been doing that for about 20 years. It works great. My bank in Mexico converts my US dollars to Mexican pesos.

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We maintain an account in the U.S. and have an account with a Bank in MX.  We are both on S.S., do not have any pensions from the U.S.  One S.S. check is direct deposited in the U.S., one in MX.  We use an ATM card to withdraw money from both accounts.  If we need larger amounts from the U.S. account, we wire transfer funds to our MX account.  We have lived full time in MX for almost 22 years, no major problems with this system of obtaining or depositing funds.

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Never found the need for a MXN bank account, through owning 2 houses with substantial renovations at both.  

Use our Schwab debit card to get pesos...never a fee by them, good exchange rate, and they refund any fees by local banks, world-wide.  

Since 2017 we use US credit cards now that chip technology is common in MX....never let the card out of our sight.  Use it at big stores for large purchases (Home Depot, Walmart, etc.).    

If you do open a MXN financial account, be aware of issues that can arise.  Ongoing story from San Miguel de Allende.

https://sanmigueltimes.com/2019/09/the-monex-scam-7-million-usd-vanished-from-expat-bank-accounts/

https://themazatlanpost.com/2020/01/19/san-miguel-retirees-wont-back-down-in-a-fight-over-millions-in-stolen-savings-from-monex/

 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Never found the need for a MXN bank account, through owning 2 houses with substantial renovations at both.  

Use our Schwab debit card to get pesos...never a fee by them, good exchange rate, and they refund any fees by local banks, world-wide.  

Since 2017 we use US credit cards now that chip technology is common in MX....never let the card out of our site.  Use it at big stores for large purchases (Home Depot, Walmart, etc.).    

If you do open a MXN financial account, be aware of issues that can arise.  Ongoing story from San Miguel de Allende.

https://sanmigueltimes.com/2019/09/the-monex-scam-7-million-usd-vanished-from-expat-bank-accounts/

https://themazatlanpost.com/2020/01/19/san-miguel-retirees-wont-back-down-in-a-fight-over-millions-in-stolen-savings-from-monex/

 

 

 

Your links are old news and Monex was the exception not the rule for Mexican banks. We happily bank with Intercam and to top up our account we write a cheque from our Canadian bank which our account exec deposits in our account for access right away even though it takes 5-10 days to clear for them.

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I transfer money from my US bank to Santandar bank in Chapala.  I chose Santandar because they have the best exchange rates.  However they don't have English speaking person in bank if this would be problem.  When in Mexico and I need more money I can simply call my US bank and they will send that day more money to Santandar.  Don't know if all banks in states will do this.  I have a good relationship with US bank.  My monies are all deposited in my US bank. I also have US credit cards and a debit card from Santandar.  You have to be careful with cards as I was hacked once for a considerable amount.  Always keep them in your hand don't hand to another like in a restaurant.   One suggestion is to cover with tape your security code on back of card.  I try to pay in cash whenever possible.

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8 hours ago, happyjillin said:

Your links are old news and Monex was the exception not the rule for Mexican banks. We happily bank with Intercam and to top up our account we write a cheque from our Canadian bank which our account exec deposits in our account for access right away even though it takes 5-10 days to clear for them.

Not old news to those expat customers who are continuing to fight in the courts (at great expense to themselves) to get their own money back!  They have yet to be made whole.

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Strongly recommend to have a US bank that has free ATM withdrawals worldwide.  Get the bank's app on your phone before you arrive in Mexico or you may not be able to download it. 

There are many and brokerage firms that offer the service as well. 

Getting a Mexican bank account opens up the possibility of IRS reporting requirements for US citizens.  

There are benefits to a Mexican CCard (many large purchases months to pay without interest) which is hard to get without having a Mexican bank account.

Also most US CCards have a foreign transaction fee. Search for one that does not .....so your purchases in Mexico aren't affected by that. 

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Many people find no need for a Mexican account. You can keep your money in your home bank and access it via bank machines in Mexico.  Make sure you have as high as opossible daily  withdrawal limit from you home bank. If you are doing construction and need to withdraw large amounts of money build it up and hide it. If you need to transfer money from NOB consider getting an HSBC account in the North and in Mexico. If you are a premier customer in the North you are one anywhere in the worldM. Then you can transfer money between the two countries on your computer.  No charge  for the transfer and is instantaneous. No ATM fees. I would never leave more than a few thousand dollars in your Mexican account as it can disappear. The HSBC bank here is one of the few full service banks. They have 3 ATMs

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People who lost their money were not paying attention and trusted someone they should not have trusted. If you take care of your own business without delegating to someone you do not lose your money in a Mexican bank. We have had accounts in Mexico for 20 years without any problems. We bank on line from the US via Schwab and with Bancomer and Banamex without any problems. 

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56 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

Strongly recommend to have a US bank that has free ATM withdrawals worldwide.  Get the bank's app on your phone before you arrive in Mexico or you may not be able to download it. 

There are many and brokerage firms that offer the service as well. 

Getting a Mexican bank account opens up the possibility of IRS reporting requirements for US citizens.  

There are benefits to a Mexican CCard (many large purchases months to pay without interest) which is hard to get without having a Mexican bank account.

Also most US CCards have a foreign transaction fee. Search for one that does not .....so your purchases in Mexico aren't affected by that. 

Many US credit cards issued in the past few years do not have foreign transaction fees, at least in my experience with Citi and Chase.  

 

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12 minutes ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Most US credit cards issued in the past few years do not have foreign transaction fees, at least in my experience.  

 

Your Source?   

Bankrate .com says 

Credit card foreign transaction fees

 Bank of America

Issuer fee: 2%

MasterCard/Visa fee: 1%

Total: 3%; fee waived on Bank of America® Travel Rewards, Bank of America® Premium Rewards®, Alaska Airlines Visa®, Amtrak Guest Rewards® World Mastercard®, Royal Caribbean®, Virgin Atlantic, Asiana Visa Signature®, and Celebrity Cruises.

Barclaycard

Issuer fee: 2%

MasterCard/Visa fee: 1%

Total: 3%; fee waived for AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver World Elite Mastercard®, JetBlue Plus Card, Lufthansa credit card, Mastercard Black Card

 Chase

Issuer fee: 2%

MasterCard/Visa fee: 1%

Total: 3%; fee waived on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, United℠ Explorer Card, United TravelBank Card, United MileagePlus® Club Card, British Airways Visa Signature® card, Marriot Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card, The World of Hyatt Credit Card, IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, Ink Business Preferred℠ credit card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, United MileagePlus® Explorer Business Card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business credit card

Citi

Issuer fee: 2%

MasterCard/Visa fee: 1%

Total: 3%; fee waived on Citi ThankYou® Premier Card, Costco Anywhere Visa® Card By Citi and Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card By Citi.

 Wells Fargo

Issuer fee: 3%

MasterCard/Visa fee: 1%

Total: 3%; fee waived for Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card.

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My sources are the cards we have and use here!  Two are travel-connected with airlines and one appears as Waived on your list.  One is a Costco Anywhere, also shown on your list as Waived.  Your list is not complete as I have another airline card that is not shown with Citi.  Also a card from a local US credit union that has no international fees.

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Since only 2 of the 6th largest no annual fee cards have no foreign transaction fees  (as Angus pointed out Capital one doesn't  (Nor  Discovery but it isn't accepted here)  my advice that the majority of US CCards have a foreign transaction fee and that the OP should have one before they come here

Not all people want to pay annual fees for an affinity card.  

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20 hours ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Depends on one's lifestyle; to many of us airline cards are worth it.  Pre-virus we flew monthly somewhere.  Last May we flew Business Class RT (2 of us) from US to Lisbon free, thanks to miles.   

I am also a cc aficionado I have two Chase, IHG for free hotels stays choise of about 12 different hotels now over 200,000 points.  Chase Untited, Apple Titanium cash back, no international fees. BoA three different ones. One is a travel card with no international fees.  Also Bancomer cc. Why leave money on the table. When I need pesos I use Bancomer. I can't wait when I can travel again. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I wire Funds from my Merrill Lynch Brokerage account in the US to my Mexican Actinver Brokerage account. When do I make that transfer? It all depends upon when I need added funds and adjusted as necessary based upon advice from Actinver stock Broker about when to do so based on what day I might get the best rate of exchange.

Why do I make the exchange on the date recommended by my Actinver broker? Because I discovered that when I followed their advice I would usually get a better rate of exchange than I would get based upon what I thought. Oh and Merrill Lynch picks up any wiring fees

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19 minutes ago, Mostlylost said:

Interbank transfers over $10,000US are fine.

I have done so at Intercam by writing a cheque from my Scotia Canada bank when necessary or simply when  the exchange rate is good like it was last week. And I don't need no stinkin' broker for that because I follow XE, call my account exec at Intercam and we negotiate a figure that we are both happy with.

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