Casey67
Junior Nomad
Posts: 75
Registered: 4-4-2009
Location: Bahia Concepcion
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Hot
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Scotiabank experiences
I've been thinking of opening a local account with Scotiabank here in Canada so I might have less miscellaneous banking problems while in Baja for the
winter. Do any Nomads have positive or negative experiences with using Scotiabank in Canada and then using them in Baja?
This is mainly aimed at Canadian Nomads but feel free to chime in if you have noteworthy tales of dealing with Scotiabank on the Baja only side as
well.
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Paulclark
Nomad
Posts: 359
Registered: 10-13-2008
Location: Castillo de Arena
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The Scotia Bank in Canada and the Scotia Bank in Mexico are owned by the same group but operate as totally separate entities. There is no benefit in
opening an account in Canada as it will not be recognized or accessed from a Mexican Scotia Bank.
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Fred-o
Junior Nomad
Posts: 84
Registered: 7-6-2008
Location: Punta Banda
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No Scotiabank for me
No Mexican Checking account for me!
I posted the following info just last week: The only thing I liked about the ATM machine was that did not "in-take" the card, you just swiped it.
10/23/09 or so:
I went through all the hoopla, including a hand drawn map of how to get to my house in Punta Banda from the bank.
After two trips, I finally got a checking account. I got ripped off on the exchange rate for the initial cash deposit, and the limit was 2K U.S. More
USD would have to be by electronic transfer. The peso was falling rapidly at the time, and I could not get my pesos out quickly enough. Went from 11
to 15, remember? My wife never did receive her ATM card although we asked for it for months afterwords. I finally got the balance down to about 7
bucks, and said adios. I think they had a 3K peso withdrawl limit per day on the account as well. (Too low) I probably have some astronomical amount
due the bank for inactivity, as I'm sure the 7 bucks would not have satisfied them. AND...they have a map to my house.
That was Scotiabank in Ensenada, and I think they are all about the same. That's what Scotiabank claimed anyway.
I just use my B of A ATM card (I have a back up card in case the machine eats it) at any Santander ATM machine. (1800 ATM's nationally) No fees no
hassel and lots of locations. Not just two, Like Scotiabank. (In all of Ensenada)
No more Mexican bank accounts and no more problems.
[Edited on 10-31-2009 by Fred-o]
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Casey67
Junior Nomad
Posts: 75
Registered: 4-4-2009
Location: Bahia Concepcion
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Hot
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Paulclark
The Scotia Bank in Canada and the Scotia Bank in Mexico are owned by the same group but operate as totally separate entities. There is no benefit in
opening an account in Canada as it will not be recognized or accessed from a Mexican Scotia Bank. |
Ok, thanks. That is unfortunate. It seemed like the best case way to go. Back to the bank card and ATM plan after all.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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We have a peso and dollar account Scotia Bank. The peso is their cero account, no minimum, no other charges. Our dollar account we have to keep a
$500 minimum. After HSBC they are a walk in the park. Their personnel here are courteous and very helpful. The account managers speak English. We
live here so I have no idea about any charges for inactivity.
Here in San Jose del Cabo, they are the best we have found
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Cardon Man
Super Nomad
Posts: 1319
Registered: 8-28-2003
Location: Thetis Bank
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Mood: !Al Chingaso!
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I'm with Bajajudy. We've no problems at all with Scotiabank.
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1856
Registered: 3-9-2009
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The best way to go is to not open a Mexican bank account if you can avoid it. Most Mexicans avoid it. Only the people that absolutely need an
account have them.
If you can do without a Mexican bank account, the best thing to do is to open a Bank of America Checking account in the USA and use the B of A ATM
card to withdraw pesos at Santander Banks in Baja. No fees at all, and usually a good exchange rate that is about $0.05 to $0.15 pesos different that
the internet rate at any given time, and that is darn good! The daily limit for withdrawal is (I believe) %5,000.00 pesos, about $375 USD depending
on the exchange rate.
Most Mexican Checking accounts accounts require a minimum balance of somewhere between $200 to $500 USD for USD accounts (depending on the type of
checking account), mostly $500 USD.
In Mexico, the less administration you have to deal with, the better. Administrating anything Mexican is inconsistant, inefficient, unfair,
arbitrary, late, unpredictable and will cost a gringo alot of wasted money and more time than it could possibly be worth.
[Edited on 10-31-2009 by MitchMan]
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