B of A has a program called 'Safe Send', it allows one to send money to Mexico at no charge and at the current Banco Santander exchange rate. Guess
they wanted this for Illegals living in the USA so they would flock to B of A and get bank accounts. We have been using this to bring up to 3,000
dollars a month to our home in Mexico. They always seem surprised when we call 'Safe Send' in English and ask the money to be sent to our Gringo name.
So, here is what they have done....Effective July 1 you can not change any details of you transfer information via the phone, next effective July
16th, all people using 'Safe Send' must go into a branch located inside the USA and with a photo ID add their Mother's Maiden Name to the account. I
asked them, "how can I do this with no notice being given, while I am in Mexico?" They answered "YOU CAN NOT"!!!
Guess we are back to using the fraud ridden ATM's to get cash from our USA accounts. We do know that it is a tiny bit safer to use an ATM actuall
inside a bank branch. The ATM in Los Barriles has a copy device connected to it, when one enters their PIN number, it records the PIN and account
number, then a new card is printed and used in Mainland Mexico to run up large sums. We love it here in Mexico as we fish a lot and have tons of great
friends, but the time is comming........Bob and Susan - 7-19-2006 at 05:37 AM
We've had good luck with Citibank and Banamex...
$5 dollar transfer fee...between accounts...
We have a dollar account then exchange at the bank for pesos.bajabound2005 - 7-19-2006 at 06:35 AM
Hey, Bombero -- you can withdraw money at any Santandir branch with your B OF A ATM card and incur no fees.
With a Wells Fargo ATM card you can do the same at Bancomer with no fees.
I would also almost guarantee that B of A instituted this new measure for fraud prevention not to make your life miserable. And I'm NO fan of banks
and their policies in general. I've just found a way to make it work for me.
Also, if your ATM has this copy device attached to it would be most effective for you to report it.
Bank Fees
Bomberro - 7-19-2006 at 07:09 AM
Taco de Baja - 7-19-2006 at 07:44 AM
Don't know if this will help but with my ING Direct account I can transfer any amount of money from a linked account in and out of the ING account for FREE.
If I have an extra $1,000 lounging in my checking account earning 0.00001% interest, I can move it to my ING account. If I need an extra $1,000 in my
checking, I can transfer it out of ING.
If you have two or more linked accounts, you can use ING as a middle man: Checking A to ING; ING to Checking B, or savings C.
Plus I get 4.35% interest bajalou - 7-19-2006 at 08:34 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajabound2005
With a Wells Fargo ATM card you can do the same at Bancomer with no fees.
I am always charged a fee by Wells Fargo for ATM withdrawls at Bancomer.
problem?
pacificobob - 7-19-2006 at 09:09 AM
ive yet to have one with a atmlosfrailes - 7-19-2006 at 10:32 AM
I too am charged a fee by Wells Fargo for a cash withdrawal (in pesos at Intl Exch Rate) at either a Banamex or Bancomer ATM. Never have had a
problem with Identity Theft here.
However, scanning the Bancomer web page, I do not see an English version available.
Banamex has an English version available on their web site.
Find either with a Google search.
[Edited on 7-19-2006 by losfrailes]Bomberro - 7-19-2006 at 04:27 PM
Thanks for all of the really good information on how to move money to banks in Mexico. ING sounds really good, and as for one being able to use an ATM
card at no charge in any banks ATM, there is still an internation exchange fee for most.
Some of the Banks drop the 'non branch fee' but still have the exchange fee.
I have gotten some info from the famous Baja Pony Express that one can cash a BofA check or deposit the same into a Santander account. If you live in
Baja, you need to be listed on the BPE, one only needs to read the horror stories of probably 15 people that have been very inconvienenced via the
infamous Los Barriles ATM, and several people in the know have said that there must be a device connect to that ATM that records the transactions.
Seems that just because an ATM has a bank logo, does not mean its not owned by an individual.
We just made a Costco run to Cabo today and went inside a Santander and used the ATM cards to withdraw some pesos, living in the East Cape, the
closest bank is about 70 miles away! La Paz is a long trip and so is Cabo, sure beats the days goneby when everything had to come from the States...
Lencho, you should send an email to the Baja Pony Express, its BajaPonyExpress@aol.com and they will place you on the mailing list, you can search
past items by doing the following:
Go to gmail.com
Userword: bajaponyexpress
Password: ponyexpress
Type in your search word.
Information is the key to everthing and friends helping others like in this thread makes life in Baja just a lot more fun.....Thanks to all the Old
Firemanbajabound2005 - 7-19-2006 at 05:16 PM
For you Wells Fargo users - call them or email them. It may be you have to have a certain type of account. As for B of A, we changed our type of
account and are no longer charged ANY fees when using Santandir ATMs. No fee by Santadir, no fee of any kind from B of A. When we were here in the
Fall we were getting killed by the non-BofA ATM fee and the International Fee. When we got home we went into the bank and they fixed us up. We are
happy campers now!bajabound2005 - 7-21-2006 at 06:56 PM
AND -- we just learned Citibank (Smith Barney) owns Banamex...believe you can use your Citibank card at Banamex ATMs w/o any fees as well!Bob and Susan - 7-21-2006 at 07:18 PM
that's what they told us too....bajabound2005 - 7-21-2006 at 07:47 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob and Susan
that's what they told us too....
Does that mean you've used your card without fees? We just got our cards like yesterday and haven't had the opp to use them. Saw a Citibank ATM on
the street and called our Fin Adv about it. So we just got the cards and googled Citibank ATMs in Mexico and found they owned Banamex!Bob and Susan - 7-21-2006 at 08:07 PM
we haven't tried yet...
we just changed to citibank....just got our cards like you
our local small bank got gobbled up by a bigger fish and now wanted to charge us $20 a month just to keep our money....yuk
we do have a banamex account in Santa Rosalia and have used checks and taken out and deposited money there ...
maybe next month we'll try the withdrawal stuff wiith the card.comitan - 7-21-2006 at 08:21 PM
No charge at Banamex for ATM from Calif. Comerce originaly owned by Banamex now its Citibank Banamex.Bomberro - 7-23-2006 at 09:51 AM
This is getting very complicated..after getting several e-mails from members of this forum and another, I decided to try Safesend again and do evasive
answers, and when I got to the who am I sending the money to, I gave my name again, they asked me if the last two names were the family names I said
yes and the transfer was sent!
Could be just too many years of too many Pacificos, I think now that they want the name I am sending to to have Mother's name and Father's in it as
they do in Mexico, well, my middle name is strange, its Wiles and I guess from now on I will just say yes its the other family name.
..Ever wounder why one never sees any bailing wire laying next to the road? Its because it was used to patch some car back together, here in Baja we
need to improvise to make things work.......I love Baja......This link has a ton of very important information on getting money in Mexico..I am making
a list of connected banks.....
