The best Mexican bank for Gingos to pay bills online?

banks and paying bills

electric and water bills are paid in many locations including most pharmacies and supermarkets. cash only--no checks or credit cards. telnor can be paid at some banks. but you have to wait in (usually) long lines to do so. telnor is best paid online (imho) at their own website, but this has to be prearranged at a telnor office.

mexican banks are unbelievably user-unfriendly in my experience. even trying to open a checking account took several visits and required interacting with a sullen "official" who seemed loathe to accept our money. (opened account for fm3 purposes--costs 50 pesos/month. cannot find any savings accounts or interest-bearing checking accounts like we were used to on the other side.) banking, and all business dealings for that matter, are definitely the downside of living in paradise

A couple of years ago the then local Loreto Bancomer manager (Valerio Davis) spoke to a group of gringos at the University.

He was very concerned about the long lines. He said they were considering some plans to address the problem. Almost ALL of the people in line were not Bancomer customers, he claimed; they were there to cash checks, get change, whatever, but the bank made no profit from their visits, yet has to hire staff to serve them. The result is not enough staff for all the people wanting service.

So they planned ways of prioritizing, and now that the bank is being remodeled there is one change: those with accounts at the bank get their own line, and so far it looks like a short line, if any.

Now, having said all that, there are still many procedural bottlenecks that slow things down. And IMO there is often a lack of attention to detail, like filling the cash machines.

I think its an Australian dog.

Kidding, right?

You'll be lucky if you can find a Mexican bank who won't churn up your deposits in "hidden" fees or clerical errors.

Get this:

I am required to connect my corporate account "on line" with Hacienda to pay taxes. My bank charges for this privilege.

Your utility bills are not on line. Fact is, you'll be lucky to receive a bill. But don't think this will relieve you of the responsibility of paying...Like an electric company representative once told me, "It's not our responsibility to give you the bill, just your responsibility to pay it."

And one more thing:

Utility companies routinely change billing cycles, without written notice.

Welcome to Mexico.

[Edited on 1-1-2007 by Dave]

so glad

we don't do any business in mexico except the absolutely minimum necessary--paying property taxes. the times we have had to deal with accountants, notaria, attorneys, were horrifically complicated and stress producing. and i know the culture and language, having been born and partly raised in mexico. i just got spoiled living in the good ol' usa for most of my life

dave, you got it exactly right. utility companies accept no responsibiolity whatsoever for failing to deliver bills. on an unrelated note, when we first got telnor service, we were listed in the next phone book. but the one after that, our residential listing had disappeared. i called telnor and was advised it was the responsibility of the phone book publisher. when i called the publisher...you guessed it. they blamed the phone company. meanwhile, i've decided it's much better not to be listed. don't get any scam contest calls anymore

as is said, price you pay for living in paradise

The Telmex people in Constitucion said I could pay online on their web site. But when I tried to register, I needed two numbers: one off my first bill, and one from the next bill. ?! What? And even to get that far on their site I needed to try three web browsers.

So I had to wait for another bill. Then, with both numbers entered....zip. No go.

Electric? They stick a bill in the door.

Water? Pay when you remember. No cutoffs. But last year a new penalty was levied, I think it was 2000 pesos worth, for late payment. If they charge the locals that for late paying, they'd just walk out and not pay anything.

the closest one?????

BBVA Bancommer USA

I bank at the Santa Ana , Orange County office of bancommer USA and receive the absolute best of service, and I can use their MX partners ATM at no charge....The fee for with drawing pesos in Mexico is 1% and that is the Visa charge for processing the International Debit card peso transactions ...The manager of my home office greets me by name when I enter the bank and has given me his e-mail address in case I have any problems in Mexico. My Social Security is direct deposit and my pension is also derect deposit. And they are setting up the on-line banking, they say very soon. CaboRon

Larry: Go to the back of the line! Your card expired June 07.

We banked at Bancomer and Banomex and tried to set up a method of automatically withdrawing money from our accounts to pay for electricity telephone and water. The banks assurred us that it was possible and that it would be done It was never done and our services were dissconected.
Resolution- We now leave a deposit for our services at Telnor, Elect., and water

Sorry, my mistake. Not yet, I am still paying bills on their websites and pulling funds out of the bank acct. Also, am in the process of switching over from my credit union to the Bancommer acct. I am reluctant to direct deposit to a Mx bank. And, believe it or not I was kind of looking forward to paying bills in person in cash, like an old small town....... we'll see how I feel about this after a few months . LOL CaboRon