USA Pension Check into RD Pesos.....Best way?

Pseg24

New member
Sep 21, 2016
19
0
0
Hi All,








my Wife and I are moving to Punta Cana in July. I get a monthly pension check from the USA. However, I am trying to figure out the safest/cheapest way to do monthly transfers from my USA account to my Dominican account.






I have heard of the XOOM service, and I planned to use this service.......but the exchange rate is WAY below the actual rate.


I was considering opening a Banco Popular account in Dolares (or another bank) and possibly pulling money out in pesos. (Not even sure if that is possible). I was told my monthly pension check can be deposited into a Dominican dolares account no problem. Any help is appreciated. Thank you....
 

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
2
0
Hi All,








my Wife and I are moving to Punta Cana in July. I get a monthly pension check from the USA. However, I am trying to figure out the safest/cheapest way to do monthly transfers from my USA account to my Dominican account.






I have heard of the XOOM service, and I planned to use this service.......but the exchange rate is WAY below the actual rate.


I was considering opening a Banco Popular account in Dolares (or another bank) and possibly pulling money out in pesos. (Not even sure if that is possible). I was told my monthly pension check can be deposited into a Dominican dolares account no problem. Any help is appreciated. Thank you....

I myself have an account in the USA with Wells Fargo and I withdraw the cash I need at most any ATM in the DR. Some don't even charge me an ATM fee of 175 pesos as most do. But my bank does charge me $5.00 for international transactions. I have been told that one can have an account with Bank of America and not be charged that fee if they withdraw at Scotia Bank There being quite a few Scotia Banks around the DR. Using the debit acrd for purchases does not incur the $5.00 international fee. At the moment i am in Colombia and te withdrawals haven't triggered the $5.00international fee here for some reason.
Der Fish
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
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If you have a bank of America acct and transfer online to your BHD acct for example the fee is very minimal. What I do is transfer into a dollar acct then withdraw the dollars and go to a casa de cambio. Give a few points higher exchange than the bank or if you are my wife you negotiate with the bank to give you the same rate as the casa de Cambio, and she usually gets it.
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
9,531
4,046
113
Cabarete
Hi All,








my Wife and I are moving to Punta Cana in July. I get a monthly pension check from the USA. However, I am trying to figure out the safest/cheapest way to do monthly transfers from my USA account to my Dominican account.






I have heard of the XOOM service, and I planned to use this service.......but the exchange rate is WAY below the actual rate.


I was considering opening a Banco Popular account in Dolares (or another bank) and possibly pulling money out in pesos. (Not even sure if that is possible). I was told my monthly pension check can be deposited into a Dominican dolares account no problem. Any help is appreciated. Thank you....

My pension check is deposited into my checking account in Florida. I just write a check on my Florida account and deposit it into my BHD Dollar account.
 

franco1111

Bronze
May 29, 2013
1,248
229
63
Gringo
My pension check is deposited into my checking account in Florida. I just write a check on my Florida account and deposit it into my BHD Dollar account.

The question then is how long before they actually make the deposit to the BHD account.  When I first came to the DR, it took about 60 days for even a certified check to clear.  Maybe it is different now.  I have read on DR1 it is easier with a casa cambio if they know you.  They give you cash.  I don't do any of this.  I use bank wire transfers when I have to, and bring cash.  Not that efficient.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
Not pension money,
But I maintain a US bank account and transfer money to a DR, US account then withdraw or transfer internally to a peso account.

Opening an account here can be arduous....
once you have a casa de cambio 'friend' , he'll cash your checks instantly... no muss/fuss

Depends on what you want.....try the easy way to start, then once established move on to locals banking.
 

InsanelyOne

Bronze
Oct 21, 2008
895
28
28
I lived in the Caribbean for 11 years (6 of those in the DR) and used a US Charles Schwab bank account the entire time. They are an online bank and don't have branches although you can use their brokerage offices to do some transactions. They charge zero fees and refund ALL ATM fees worldwide. (I would typically get anywhere from $50-$100 refunded to me every month.  They had to be losing money on me but I guess they made it up elsewhere). You can't beat them.  I did open a local ScotiaBank account in the DR but never really used it.  It was mostly because it helps with certain activities to have a local account.  
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
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I just got a Schwab account at the recommendation of others. I just did that over the past 2 weeks. Yes, they refund ATM fees, but the FOREX rate is not quite as good as changing USD to DOP at Caribe Express.

A method another pointed out, I also have a USD account at a local bank. I deposit US checks into that account, then I remove the cash in USD and change it to DOP at a location like Caribe express. There are no tranfer fees when depositing checks and you get a good FOREX rate. Been doing it this way for 14 years.

I also use an ATM card at times when it is more convenient, but the FOREX rate, even with Schab refunding the ATM fees, is a bit less that way because VISA takes a cut of it.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
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A way some people change USD to DOP is to create a relationship with a money changer who accepts USD checks and changes them at a rate similar to Caribe Express/Western Union. For some reason, I have not done this.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
My income is in USD on a BofA account. The best and fastest way (and also cheapest) is a wire from my Bofa to my Popular USD or pesos account. The wire arrives the same day, costs 45 dollars plus 15 usd local bank charges. Which seems a lot but Xoom is more expensive above 1800 dollar wires. 

I have a usd and pesos account at Popular , receive the wire in dollars , change (online) when I want and withdraw from pesos account. However , if you wire what you use monthly having a pesos account would even be enough. The pesos doesn't lose value that fast to want to hold on to your dollars during a month. 

Cashing a check is ofcourse cheaper but than you have to walk around with cash every month and keep cash at home.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
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I tried checks, but had to wait too long for the funds to be released here in the DR (30 days in my case). Being from Canada, I had to transfer funds to a US bank first which was quick and free and then write a check on that US account. Interbank transfers directly to the DR were too time consuming and costly to initiate and use. Eventually, I started using my credit card, getting a cash advance, coming home, paying off the advance right away online and eating the $5 credit card charge as the cost of living in Paradise. Much cheaper than transfers, much easier to do and immediate. Now the bank accounts here are all but unused.
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
458
83
I believe you can as said above have your pension deposited in a dollar account here then do an online transfer to your peso account for withdrawal. Exchange Rate will always be the official rate.
 

Garyexpat

Bronze
Sep 7, 2012
2,105
739
113
Open a Dollars account, however it will also depend on how often you transfer funds. It costs me about $60 U.S. to transfer from B of A in the states to my dollars account here ($45. B of A/ $15 Ban Reservas) so I only do that for larger amounts, otherwise I transfer from Wells Fargo using Remittance (Remesis here (Spelling?)). It only costs $7.00 for up to a thousand but the exchage rate is not great.
If you can transfer once a month probably best to transfer to dollar account, take out what you need and then change at the best casa de cambio that you can find.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
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I tried checks, but had to wait too long for the funds to be released here in the DR (30 days in my case). Being from Canada, I had to transfer funds to a US bank first which was quick and free and then write a check on that US account. Interbank transfers directly to the DR were too time consuming and costly to initiate and use. Eventually, I started using my credit card, getting a cash advance, coming home, paying off the advance right away online and eating the $5 credit card charge as the cost of living in Paradise. Much cheaper than transfers, much easier to do and immediate. Now the bank accounts here are all but unused.

Yes, the clearing of a check takes time. But once the pipeline is filled, I have no problems. Been doing it that way for 14 years. If I buy a car, then I will make a transfer from the US to a DR account, but that is about the only reason.

And there are people who will take a check and cash it immediately giving you pesos.

No charge for either of the above methods. I am "fee adverse" so I learned to avoid them.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
Yes, the clearing of a check takes time. But once the pipeline is filled, I have no problems. Been doing it that way for 14 years. If I buy a car, then I will make a transfer from the US to a DR account, but that is about the only reason.

And there are people who will take a check and cash it immediately giving you pesos.

No charge for either of the above methods. I am "fee adverse" so I learned to avoid them.

We bank at BHD, checks clear in about 2 weeks, but we always keep at least a one month cushion in the account. We withdraw dollars as needed, usually 1,000 at a time, and use a casa de Cambio to exchange for pesos because rate always higher.
 

Juan Bosch

Active member
Dec 8, 2015
441
119
43
Hi All,








my Wife and I are moving to Punta Cana in July. I get a monthly pension check from the USA. However, I am trying to figure out the safest/cheapest way to do monthly transfers from my USA account to my Dominican account.






I have heard of the XOOM service, and I planned to use this service.......but the exchange rate is WAY below the actual rate.


I was considering opening a Banco Popular account in Dolares (or another bank) and possibly pulling money out in pesos. (Not even sure if that is possible). I was told my monthly pension check can be deposited into a Dominican dolares account no problem. Any help is appreciated. Thank you....

I have a simple question. Is your pension from SS?
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
9,531
4,046
113
Cabarete
The question then is how long before they actually make the deposit to the BHD account.  When I first came to the DR, it took about 60 days for even a certified check to clear.  Maybe it is different now.  I have read on DR1 it is easier with a casa cambio if they know you.  They give you cash.  I don't do any of this.  I use bank wire transfers when I have to, and bring cash.  Not that efficient.

Obviously you have to have some money in both your US checking account and DR USD account for this to work smoothly. At BHD it takes 10 working days for my check to clear. Never waitied more than two weeks. I just keep an eye on my balance down here and plan my withdrawals accordingly. Very simple really.

If for some reason I need cash in a hurry and don't have enought in my acct down here(rarely), I can always use my US bank debit card or my Visa card. Get great exchange rates on both. $5.00 cash transaction fee on one - the other is free.

I get the top exchange rate from a cambio nearby. I call them and they send a guy with the pesos to meet me at the bank. No need to go anywhere. Withdraw USD and deposit the pesos. Good to go. Easy peasy. Done this for 10 years now. Never a problem.

If you are going to be living here for any length of time, it's worth the effort to open a bank account here. Not all that hard.
 
Last edited:

RDKNIGHT

Bronze
Mar 13, 2017
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Citibank 25- 30 dollars depending on the type of account you have with them..... up to 25k
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,504
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It costs me 13.50 CAD to send an online transfer to BHD and they charge 7 dollars and the government gets a little fee so about 20 dollars to send up to 2500 per day. Usually in my acct within two or three days.