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Buying Pesos

yellowklr - 5-23-2011 at 07:59 AM

Can someone please tell me the current Rate to BUY pesos at a Mexican Bank.......

I know the offical Exchange rate is around 11.67 but I want to know what the banks are selling pesos for.

Thanks

sanfelipebob - 5-23-2011 at 08:06 AM

buy 11.10 sell 11.80

baronvonbob - 5-23-2011 at 08:16 AM

Bank sells you 11.10 pesos for one dollar
Bank buys 11.80 pesos and gives you one dollar

Pescador - 5-23-2011 at 10:06 AM

If you go to: http://www.banamex.com/index.htm You will get the current days exchange rate.

bajagrouper - 5-23-2011 at 10:58 AM

Banamex is one of many banks that posts their exchange rate for the day...check 10 different banks and get 10 different exchange rates....There is one place that makes the exchange rate offical, and it is posted on their website: http://www.banxico.org.mx/
Banco de Mexico is like the US Treasuary Dept........

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador
If you go to: http://www.banamex.com/index.htm You will get the current days exchange rate.

J.P. - 5-23-2011 at 04:51 PM

jjJust use your A T M card you get best exchange rate. If you have to sweat the atm surcharge you probably dont need to be here.

yellowklr - 5-23-2011 at 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by J.P.
jjJust use your A T M card you get best exchange rate. If you have to sweat the atm surcharge you probably dont need to be here.

Nice response
Who is sweating ATM fees????

dtbushpilot - 5-23-2011 at 07:15 PM

Last time I got pesos from the atm machine they charged me 21 pesos to get 5000 and even had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to make a donation to something. It was in Spanish and I don't know what it was for but at least there was a button to push that said "no donation".

Boy, this MX thing is getting out of hand, every time I turn around someone has their hand in my pocket. I don't know about the rest of you but I've had enough....I'm moving back to San Luis Obispo..... :lol:

..

Just kidding.....get your pesos at an atm, preferably one at a bank where the security may be better. DO NOT use the machine if there is someone else in the room and don't let someone "help you" with anything....but you already knew that........dt

btw: if you don't have an account at a MX bank they probably won't exchange dollars for pesos for you. Be sure to have your passport and smile a lot to have any chance of exchanging dollars for pesos at a bank.....

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by dtbushpilot]

yellowklr - 5-23-2011 at 07:41 PM

With my atm card I get charged 20 pesos plus 2% so no bueno.......
I've had NO problem in Bancomer walking in and getting the exchange. Just wondered what it was. This summer I need to take a day and just go open an account at Bancomer, will make life easier.

Thanks for the help everyone

bajaandy - 5-23-2011 at 07:49 PM

Just go to your local bank and buy them. Wells Fargo sells Pesos currently for 10.93/U.S. Dollar. Can you get a better rate? Sure you can. Are you buying enough pesos to make it worth it? Doubtful. I like buying Pesos before I go to Mex because it's just one less thing to have to stop for when I get there.

yellowklr - 5-23-2011 at 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaandy
Just go to your local bank and buy them. Wells Fargo sells Pesos currently for 10.93/U.S. Dollar. Can you get a better rate? Sure you can. Are you buying enough pesos to make it worth it? Doubtful. I like buying Pesos before I go to Mex because it's just one less thing to have to stop for when I get there.

Costco in Chula Vista is selling pesos for 11.15
Like you said I'm normally not buying enough for the rate to matter much

dtbushpilot - 5-23-2011 at 08:46 PM

I don't even consider the rate, I stick in my card and take what they give me......like sheep over a cliff :lol:

....guess I have other things to worry about.....on second thought, guess I don't worry about much when I'm in Baja.

I have a Wells Fargo account in the US and a Bancomer account in MX. They have some sort of alliance and once you set up the accounts that you want to transfer money through you can do it with the click of a button.

I can transfer money from my WF US account to my Bancomer account, drive to the bank (15 minutes) and withdraw it (during regular business hours). Don't know how they do it or what the exchange rate is or care for that matter, it is always a good deal...

Am I getting off the topic? I think I did that on another post too.

....dt

yellowklr - 5-24-2011 at 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dtbushpilot
I don't even consider the rate, I stick in my card and take what they give me......like sheep over a cliff :lol:

....dt

cool I like the Wells Fargo-Bacomer Idea

Bob and Susan - 5-24-2011 at 09:05 AM

american and mexican banks di not work together
no matter what they say

it doesn't work

if you transfer money...you pay
nobody rides for free

take my word on this

Bajajorge - 5-24-2011 at 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by yellowklr

Quote:

Originally posted by J.P.
jjJust use your A T M card you get best exchange rate. If you have to sweat the atm surcharge you probably dont need to be here.

Nice response
Who is sweating ATM fees????

Depending on your bank, that is how much the ATM charge is. The charge by the Mexican bank is a percentage of the amount you draw. BofA charges $5.00, and I think Wells Fargo is the same. My Credit Union charges 30 cents, guess which card I use at the ATM? :?:

Bajatripper - 5-24-2011 at 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dtbushpilot

I don't know about the rest of you but I've had enough....I'm moving back to San Luis Obispo..... :lol:

If I had a place in San Luis Obispo, I'd have to give it serious consideration--and I wouldn't care if they were paying 15 pesos a dollar. What a great place to have lived.

Bajatripper - 5-24-2011 at 09:39 AM

Quote:

The charge by the Mexican bank is a percentage of the amount you draw.

Don't think this is correct. It seems to me that the screen tells me how much they're going to nail me for up front, before I tell it how much I want. But, as is always the case, I could be wrong.

Even so, I remember what travel abroad was in the pre-ATM days and can say I'd pay a lot more for the convenience of not having to carry all my cash everywhere I go. Can one imagine what highway holdups would be like in this time of crisis if each of us were a rolling wad of cash?

bajagrouper - 5-24-2011 at 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

The charge by the Mexican bank is a percentage of the amount you draw.

Sometimes folks use their credit card in the ATM so added to the ATM fee is the International Money Exchange charged by the credit card co. of 3% of the withdraw ...

longlegsinlapaz - 5-24-2011 at 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajatripper

Quote:

The charge by the Mexican bank is a percentage of the amount you draw.

Don't think this is correct. It seems to me that the screen tells me how much they're going to nail me for up front, before I tell it how much I want. But, as is always the case, I could be wrong.

In this instance, in the La Paz area, you are correct. It is a flat fee, not a percentage. But don't let it go to your head! :rolleyes:

Bajatripper - 5-24-2011 at 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
american and mexican banks di not work together
no matter what they say

if you transfer money...you pay
nobody rides for free

I'd have to say "no," and "yes, you're right." The fact that dt can (if I understood correctly) go online in Mexico and access his U.S. bank website, transfer money from his U.S. bank account into his Mexican bank account with the click of a button, and then drive down to his Mexican bank's ATM and withdraw that money in 15 minutes during normal working hours seems to me would involve considerable cooperation between U.S. and Mexican banks.

I've tried doing this between banks with no such agreement and found it easier to drive from La Paz to San Diego, cash the damn check, and drive back down to deposit the money in my Mexican bank account (they wanted to put a one-year hold on the funds "to make sure the check cleared." Yeah, right!)

But you surely pay for this convenience, as you stated.

MitchMan - 5-24-2011 at 11:03 AM

Separate countries have separate banking systems (hence different regulations, policies and procedures) by law, period.

It has always amazed me to observe the differing attitudes that people have towards their money. I am a penny pinching, price watching cheap skate and I love a deal; hate to pay retail. I don't have to watch my pennies, I just love doing it; it's an avocation and a hobby.

I can't understand careless shoppers in a super market who willy nilly throw things into their shopping basket without regard to price. They load up on all the slick and very expensive packaged items, walk out of the store having paid $70 USD for 1 shopping bag of groceries never giving it a second thought. So, I can see why so many don't give a hoot what the exchange rate is in Baja when buying pesos.

I think if people actually understood the "time value of money" as taught to all business graduates, the cavalier attitude towards cost of money wouldn't be so forgiving of the fees and detrimental exchange rates experienced by some (maybe most) people.

For example, did you know that a 1% or 2% commission/fee per withdrawal of funds at an ATM is equivalent to an annual interest expense charge of 365% and 730% on your money?

I spend about $7,000 USD in Baja every year vacationing and fishing there. The difference between an exchange rate of 11.8 versus 11.4 is about $250 USD for the year. That $250 can buy about 27 liter bottles of Jose Cuervo Gold, or about 80 Sonoran Beef rib eye steaks, or 93 Margaritas at my favorite bar on the Malecon in La Paz, or gas and oil for my boat for 18 fishing trips.

Not saying that not paying attention to nor caring about exchange rates is immoral or the wrong way to be as a person, just saying it results in waste.

If you do care about preserving your funds if at all possible, then get yourself a Bank of America checking account in the USA with an ATM card and withdraw pesos from a Satander ATM with that card while in Baja and you will get the best exchange rate possible at the time of withdrawal while nogt experiencing any withdrawal fees at all.

Also, leave Baja with at least the equivalent of $300 USD in pesos ( today that's about $3,500 in pesos) and that way, upon returning to Baja, you will have sufficient pesos to get you by until you can make it to Santander when it is convenient to get more pesos. Keep that par of at least $3,500 pesos when you leave Baja.

Easy, painless, practical, convenient, smart, eliminates waste, allows you to buy more tequla, margaritas, rib eye steaks, and gas for fishing.

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by MitchMan]

Bajatripper - 5-24-2011 at 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MitchMan
I can't understand careless shoppers in a super market who willy nilly throw things into their shopping basket without regard to price.

To back up one of your points, Mitchman; I'm one of those who pays a little attention at least to prices in supermarkets here, which is why I noticed this great sale item at our local Chedraui recently.

I could either buy one bar of Palmolive soap for $7.70 pesos or I could buy three for the supersale price of 24 pesos.

While I had no problem resisting such a great offer and instead settled for just one bar of soap, I did take the announcement as a souvenir.

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by Bajatripper]

surfdoc - 5-24-2011 at 11:27 AM

Yo Derek
Used the ATM in Vizcaino last Friday... 1500 for 134.90.

However, add the 29 peso's charge plus 5$ from my bank... it ends up being about 10:1........

Still wouldn't live anywhere else...

See ya Saturday!

MitchMan - 5-24-2011 at 11:41 AM

I run into those false sales at Walmart in La Paz all the time on a variety of items. Makes me laugh.

Here's a tip, if you're interested. When you see a price for meat or fish stated in pesos per kilo, divide the peso price by 25 and you will get the approximate price per lb in USD: example: rib eye @ $142 pesos per kilo = 142/25 = approx $5.70 USD per lb.

Back to exchange rates. I track the exchange rate on the internet daily (I am fixated, I admit that). I have noticed that the banks, B of A in my case, apply a rate to a given ATM withdrawal based on yesterdays internet rate. That is to say that there is a slight delay by banks that trail the internet published exchange rates. For example, if the exchange rates have been dropping daily and continue to drop even after your withdrawal, then the exact exchange rate applied to todays withdrawal will be closer to yesterday's internet exchange rate than todays internet exchange rate. That has been my experience.

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by MitchMan]

bajalou - 5-24-2011 at 11:55 AM

Quote:

If you do care about preserving your funds if at all possible, then get yourself a Bank of America checking account in the USA with an ATM card and withdraw pesos from a Satander ATM with that card while in Baja and you will get the best exchange rate possible at the time of withdrawal while nogt experiencing any withdrawal fees at all

But it you have to drive 150 miles to find a Satander ATM, you've lost more than you've gained.

yellowklr - 5-24-2011 at 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by surfdoc
Yo Derek
Used the ATM in Vizcaino last Friday... 1500 for 134.90.

However, add the 29 peso's charge plus 5$ from my bank... it ends up being about 10:1........

Still wouldn't live anywhere else...

See ya Saturday!

Yeah thats the prob i get hit with those same 2 fees......I just got 11.15 to 1 at the Chula Vista Costco so I Can't complain. Especially considering yours ended up at around 10.5 the all the fees.

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by yellowklr]

MitchMan - 5-24-2011 at 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalou

But it you have to drive 150 miles to find a Satander ATM, you've lost more than you've gained.

Obviously, bajalou, you're right about that. Each person can only do what is practical and available. Also, I can see where cost (fees, bad exchange rates, ATM charges) of buying pesos can be viewed as just another cost of traveling, as such, is a minimal and trivial cost of travel.

On that tack, if you maintain a presence in Baja, there are alot of things that relate to cost of travel, such as transportation to and from airports both in Baja and at the US airport, plus the differing airfares to the different locations in Baja.

For instance, if you like to go to Todos Santos or Los Barriles, you will incur a substantial additional cost to get from the Baja airport to your destination as opposed to having the destination as the same city that the airport is in. I am always amazed as no one ever brings that cost differential up as an issue. To me it would be a huge cost issue, since I come and go about 10 times a year. But, I suppose if you only drive to and from your baja destination or if you only come and go a few times a year, then it may be a non-issue.

As much as I like Loreto, I personally would have to eliminate it as a destination because of the exhorbitant air fares from Southern California.

bacquito - 5-24-2011 at 12:48 PM

I have an account at Santander. I can use my Bof A debit card to withdraw money and there is no charge.

dtbushpilot - 5-24-2011 at 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
american and mexican banks di not work together
no matter what they say

it doesn't work

if you transfer money...you pay
nobody rides for free

take my word on this

You are right. I never said that the transfer was free. I get the current exchange rate and there is no charge from Bancomer. (Bancomer is always better than Banamex IMHO) and my bank charges me $3.50 for the transfer. I usually transfer $1500-$2000US at a time so the $3.50 isn't much of a fee.

If I use my Bancomer card to get money from an atm I have to pay the 21 peso fee per transaction so I usually take out $5000 pesos at a time. If I go to the window with my card I can get whatever amount I want with no fee.

[Edited on 5-24-2011 by dtbushpilot]

bajagrouper - 5-24-2011 at 04:05 PM

I have to be able to take out large sums of pesos ( about 40,000 Pesos) maybe 3 times a week for building and labor costs...I have a Schwab Bank Checking Account that has an ATM card, any fees charged are rembursted at the end of the month statement....I have a CitiBank Gold Account with ATM banking card and all fees are waived and a Banamex USA account with ATM card fee free if used at a Banamex ATM....

Oh MitchMan, dug what you were saying until you got to the Jose Cuevro Gold...

MitchMan - 5-24-2011 at 08:07 PM

I knew somebody might say something about that. Actually, I personally usually buy Jose Cuervo Tradicionales for Baja, but buy Cuervo Gold for taking back home to USA as nobody I drink with in USA can tell the difference. Works fine for Margaritas topped off with a splash of Damiana. Tried a shot of Don Julio last month...smooth. However, since I stopped drinking too much about 20 years ago, apparently I don't care what I drink these days.

I did mention I was cheap, didn't I?

[Edited on 5-25-2011 by MitchMan]