Banking

I set my USAA debit card to a 6000 peso limit & only get hit one fee per transaction.

Can someone answer this question: why have a Mexican bank account at all? What advantages are there over just using an bank card to access your funds from the US or Canada? Is it easier to pay bills and/or make large purchases?.

Bob, I answered your question on Page 1 of this thread:

To have access to your funds located in Mexico, sometimes in amounts exceeding what you can get from an ATM.

Sometimes it's handy to be able to write a check. e.g. for purchase of a car.

"Multiva is paying 4.34 interest every 28 days now."

Who is managing their fund? Bernie Madoff from his jail cell? That interest rate is so high, I won't bother with annualizing that rate - just take my money and run like the wind!

Sorry David I missed it. Makes sense.

Yuri, the interest rate isn't that high. I have a Dynamics Canadian Equity Fund paying 7%. I get a monthly check. The interest rate is set every year. After the crash in '09 I was still getting 5%. In '10 I was getting 6% and now it's back up to 7%. Good investments are out there if you look around and get a good financial person.

And you often need to pay large bills in pesos like health insurance premiums.

yuri wrote:"Multiva is paying 4.34 interest every 28 days now."

Who is managing their fund? Bernie Madoff from his jail cell? That interest rate is so high, I won't bother with annualizing that rate - just take my money and run like the wind!

The answer is the Government of Mexico. Cetes are the equivelent of T-bills in the US. BTW, that IS the annual rate.

Well said Simpsca, I pay my Health Insurance bill every year with a Peso check.

David wrote:Well said Simpsca, I pay my Health Insurance bill every year with a Peso check.

Probably wasn't clear, but what I meant is that is one reason to have an account here - so you can pay your insurance premiums in pesos. Or if you have a medical procedure that is expensive but under your insurance deductible you can take a peso check. The alternative to to walk around with a ton of pesos - not a good idea in today's climate.

Well here is my $.02 and what I do any why.

For a credit card I use Capital One as I get miles for the dollars I spend and no international transaction fees.

For a Mexican Bank I use Bancomer as they give you a gold VIP card which means never waiting in line, they do have local English speaking reps who have brains and will help to fix any errors, other banks are lazy and would rather spend an hour fighting with you to not work than 5 minutes resolving a problem, also Bancomer has many branches so if someone needs to give you money you can get paid or in the alternative if you want to buy on the Mexican ebay or pay utilities or buy airtime for your cell phone it is very easy and no fees with a nominal minimum balance.

Thanks , good advice. I also like Simpsca's idea of opening a B of A online account in the US and having some reciprocal agreement to access Santender for no ATM fees. In fact, I did that this morning while I still have a US address.
David had said that Bancomer is very good as well. However, do they have any connection with US banks? Can I assume that most of these banks have about the same exchange rates (although I read Banamex is lower)?
Also, I opened a Capital One Venture visa account about 6 months ago for the express purpose that they do not charge foreign transaction fees.

Intercasa -- another pregunta para usted. I just obtained an FM 3 at Mexican Consulate in DC three weeks ago and they told me it is only good for 6 months. What happened to the one year duration for FM -3?
Thanks

Intercasa, You mention that with Capital One there is not international transaction fee. Do they waive the ATM fees somehow?

And to jachl453, make sure you use your B of A card at a Santander branch to avoid ATM fees.

simpsca wrote:

David wrote:Well said Simpsca, I pay my Health Insurance bill every year with a Peso check.

Probably wasn't clear, but what I meant is that is one reason to have an account here - so you can pay your insurance premiums in pesos. Or if you have a medical procedure that is expensive but under your insurance deductible you can take a peso check. The alternative to to walk around with a ton of pesos - not a good idea in today's climate.

Well. not entirely true. We have two bank accounts in Mexico. One account is a savings account but the other account is a combination checking account and investment account. We can write checks on the the latter account but got a little gunshy when they bounced one for "irregular signature". These days, our insurance company simply sends us a billing payable at any number of large banks and we go into the bank - any branch - or just use our home computer and simply transfer money from our account to the account of the insurance company. No checks involved unless we wish to use one.

By the way, our account with Charles Schwab in the U.S. waives all ATM charges at all banks in Mexico - period, every time and the same when we are in France. No need to limit yourself to affiliated banks if you have a good investment house with a captive bank in the U.S.

I never had a problem like that with Multiva (I have a check book) or Actinver (they make the check and you need to go in ahead of time and need the exact name of the person or entity being paid. Mistake in the name results in the check is not good. So it is a little tricky here. Only once had to return a check to Actinver and have a new one made out because the agent receiving the check did not give me the correct info.

I don't cash advance with my Capital One credit card, just use it for purchases, cash advances may have fees.

As far as the FM3 issued at the consulate, you have a time limit to enter Mexico and then another time limit while here to register it or be fined. It will be good for a year from the date issued.

Thanks Intercasa. That is what David also indicated earlier today on another thread.

simpsca wrote:I never had a problem like that with Multiva (I have a check book) or Actinver (they make the check and you need to go in ahead of time and need the exact name of the person or entity being paid. Mistake in the name results in the check is not good. So it is a little tricky here. Only once had to return a check to Actinver and have a new one made out because the agent receiving the check did not give me the correct info.

simpsca - MULTIVA is now charging $ 80. pesos a month for having a checkbook. Two weeks ago we got rid of our checkbook with them. We never used it. Everyone here wants cash so they don't have to pay taxes.

For a Hospital, we use our Credit Card, same as in Costco. You can use your card at Clinics too. That's the only 2 places we use it. Too much fraud in Mexico. Don't bash me as I was told this by Citibank, worst country for fraud.

I was just told by Multiva act. rep that I would not be charged for the check book. I'll call her again on Monday - maybe I'll take all my money out of there if they do.

I do use my US credit card at hospitals, but not too much else here.

simpsca wrote:I was just told by Multiva act. rep that I would not be charged for the check book. I'll call her again on Monday - maybe I'll take all my money out of there if they do.

I do use my US credit card at hospitals, but not too much else here.

I have been using mine at Costco monthly for 10 years now, but not anywhere else especially after they stole my card info at Farmacia Guadalajara in Ajijic.

I use the HSBC bank. good service and the prettiest women work there!

simpsca wrote:I was just told by Multiva act. rep that I would not be charged for the check book. I'll call her again on Monday - maybe I'll take all my money out of there if they do.

I do use my US credit card at hospitals, but not too much else here.

Just received an email from the Multiva account rep. So much for her honesty when she said there is no charge for a check book. It's 80 pesos per month for the bank card and check book. Account will be emptied on Monday.

Hi Simpsca:

What will your alternative be to Multiva?

She will probably stay with Multiva for her cetes account and get rid of the checking account.

Now it has been a while but if we want money we just transferred to the daily savings and withdrew with an ATM card?
Refresh my memory guys as we have had the checking account and ATM card for a while.

Actually don't have a cetes account with Multiva, just a bank account right now. I'll be talking to Actinver and Bancomer as alternatives - that's based on all the reading I've done on this web board and a few others. I do have a B of A and other accounts in the US but it is convenient to be able to write a peso check here when needed.

Hensley I think you have to transfer from your cetes account to the bank account to get cash with your card. That's what I used to do when I had money in a fund there - but had to call on a certain day of the month to order the transfer.

simpsca wrote:I was just told by Multiva act. rep that I would not be charged for the check book. I'll call her again on Monday - maybe I'll take all my money out of there if they do.

I do use my US credit card at hospitals, but not too much else here.

We have had no credit cards at all for a couple of years. We do have three debit cards, two with Mexican banks and one on our U.S. bank. We have had no problem using debit cards in lieu of credit cards in any and all circumstances including hotels, hospitals, car rentals and all other negotiations in both France and the United States as well as all over Mexico. When we are reluctant to use the debit cards with clients we do not necessarily trust, we use Pay Pal or, within Mexico, interbank deposit transfers. Of course, when at all possible, we use the U.S. issued debit card or cash when dealing with merchants because our U.S. bank will take care of us in the event of problems and God help us with our Mexican banks.

We thought of applying for a credit card at one of the two large national banks with which we do business in Mexico but, upon reflection, decided that was a bad idea even though we easily qualify for one at either institution. Mexican law does not, in our opinion, provide even a modicum of the protection we would enjoy using a U.S. bank issued credit card with the consumer protections available there under the U.S. law. Plus, I wouldn´t trust the Mexican banking bureaucracy for a minute to take my side in a fraud controversy.

By the way, my advice to readers is that they never use debit or credit cards at retaurants or street merchants in Mexico. Go to an ATM and get cash to pay for that meal or that EZLN T-Shirt.

So after reading all this I suppose one could forgo the middle man and simply have their Portfolio Manager deposit their monthly allowance from their investments directly into a Mexican bank account. This way one would have Mexican checks and a Mexican debit card which would eliminate ATM fees and make replacing a lost or defective card a breeze.