Last January 15, I conducted a test to compare the Schwab debit card with the BofA debit card for withdrawing US dollars in Mexico. I conducted the
test at the Plaza Peninsular branch of Santander Bank in San Jose del Cabo. I withdrew 2500 pesos with my BofA card and immediately withdrew 2500
pesos with my Schwab card. When withdrawing with BofA the screen indicated that Santander Bank was not charging any fee for withdrawal. When
withdrawing with the Schwab card, the screen said that Santander was charging 31 pesos for the withdrawal (which was later reversed by Schwab). A
couple days later, I checked both accounts to see how much it cost me in dollars to withdraw 2500 pesos in Mexico. Schwab withdrew US$191.07 from my
account with no fees. BofA withdrew US$188.71 from my account, so BofA gave me a better exchange rate. HOWEVER, BofA charged my account another
US$5.66 for the withdrawal which equals a total of US$194.32 withdrawn from my account. Therefore, Schwab is the better deal since they withdrew less
from my account ($191.07) than BofA ($194.32) for the same 2500 pesos.
I think that settles the issue for me.
[Edited on 1-29-2014 by oxxo]MitchMan - 1-28-2014 at 08:01 PM
Settles it for me too.chuckie - 1-28-2014 at 08:24 PM
WOW! THREE BUCKS!!!!bc4me - 1-29-2014 at 01:00 AM
The more you withdraw then BofA eventually would deduct less from your account than Schwab because they have a better exchange rate and the
transaction fee would be the same. If you withdrew 6000 pesos BofA would deduct less USD from your account.
[Edited on 1-29-2014 by bc4me]Hook - 1-29-2014 at 07:18 AM
The transaction fee wouldn't be the same. B of A charged the 3%, according to what was posted. So, a 6000 peso withdrawal would have resulted in fees
of around 13.60 US in fees from B of A.
IF he had taken out 6000 pesos that day, Schwab would have charged his dollar account 458.71 while B of A would have been 466.77. And if you were
forced to use an ATM other than a Santander, it would have been 471.77 or a difference of over 13.00 US when compared to Schwab.
B of A really was a sweet deal before the 3%. Their exchange rate has always been stellar. I could never beat it anywhere.
But the 3% kills it. Before that, B of A would have beaten Schwab by about 5.00 US on a 6000 peso withdrawal.
And anyone in an area where there is no Santander (maybe somewhere like Mulege ) could be paying as much as 26.00/month more with B of A than Schwab. This assumes two, 6000 peso withdrawals per month; a
reasonable amount of withdrawals.
Actually, if you own a boat and fish a lot, you might make more withdrawals than that. I dont use a card at the Pemexs as there is lots of suspicion
over here that they are responsible for cards being compromised.
That's a fair amount of money to some, for nothing more tangible than you would get from Schwab.
Suppose your favorite pizza place raised their prices to a point where it was costing you 26.00/month more? If you go, say, every Sunday for a pizza,
your medium pizza suddenly costs you 6.50 US more.
Wouldn't most people look for an alternative; cut back on pizza or, gulp, start buying frozen pizza?
[Edited on 1-29-2014 by Hook]oxxo - 1-29-2014 at 08:28 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by bc4me
The more you withdraw then BofA eventually would deduct less from your account than Schwab because they have a better exchange rate and the
transaction fee would be the same.
No, that is incorrect. BofA charges a percentage of what you withdraw. The more you withdraw, the more BofA charges.
The Nomads on this forum who are multimillionaires, need not worry about the measly 1 1/2 percent difference in exchange between BofA and Schwab.BornFisher - 1-31-2014 at 12:37 PM
A few weeks ago at a farmacia in Rosirito Beach, I bought some meds with a credit card. The total on the receipt was $155 (Roma Farmicia). When I went
to my B of A online banking, they had debited my account only $148. So I`m thinking B of A has such a great exchange rate I would look into buying
some pesos up here NOB. I accessed their info on line and was shocked!! They are selling pesos at 12.58 to 1 today (1/31/14) where the actual rate is
13.3 to 1. For $1,000 you get $943 worth of pesos!! Oh and if you get less than $1000, there is another $7.50 tagged on!!
So don`t buy pesos from B of A, but the credit card seems good!!
) could be paying as much as 26.00/month more with B of A than Schwab. This assumes two, 6000 peso withdrawals per month; a
reasonable amount of withdrawals.