Transfering funds - Scotiabank Canada to Scotiabank DR

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Fiesta Mama

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Jan 28, 2004
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Okay, I know this was briefly discussed in another thread but I am hoping to get some more specific answers. I have decided to forget about opening a U.S. dollar account in the DR. However, I would still like to have a small slush fund account in the DR in pesos. What I want to do (and don't know if it's possible) is the following:

Open an account at Scotiabank Canada. Open an account at Scotiabank DR. Be able to do internet banking to manage both accounts and be able to transfer funds between each account.

When I have been in the DR in the past and have taken pesos out of my Canadian account I have been gouged on the exchange rate and this is part of the reason I want to have pesos available there.

Also, because I am not a resident of the DR, will I have any problem opening a Scotiabank account in the DR?

Are there any Canadians out there who have a Canadian Scotiabank account and also a Scotiabank account in the DR and are able to do the things I want to do?
 
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miguel

I didn't last long...
Jul 2, 2003
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Si!!

Anybody can open an account in the DR, dominican or not. In my case, it's easier for me to just transfer/wire money from my account here in the US straight to my account in SD. My bank charges $30 US for any amount I wish to transfer/wire. I also would advise anybody to open a dollar account over there instead of pesos since we all know that the pesos in very unstable.
 
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simpson Homer

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Nov 14, 2003
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Scotiabank

Fiesta,

I don't know if that possible to open a bank acount with Scotiabank in the DR,
in May 2003, my girlfriend and I went there to open a bank acount in Scotiabank Santiago the lady that was working at the desk she said that is not possible for my girlfriend to open a bank acount with Scotiabank if she is not having the "Cedula", I recomend you Banco Popular or Citybank.

About having pesos, I dont know but every single day Dominican money loose point every single day. Then any time you want you money, you can take it Back to Canada.

Make sure that any time you want to take you money out from the Bank they don't give you hard time. "Banks make you feel like Queen/King while they have you money"
 
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miguel

I didn't last long...
Jul 2, 2003
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Well!!

simpson Homer said:
Fiesta,

I don't know if that possible to open a bank acount with Scotiabank in the DR,
in May 2003, my girlfriend and I went there to open a bank acount in Scotiabank Santiago the lady that was working at the desk she said that is not possible for my girlfriend to open a bank acount with Scotiabank if she is not having the "Cedula", I recomend you Banco Popular or Citybank.

About having pesos, I dont know but every single day Dominican money loose point every single day. Then any time you want you money, you can take it Back to Canada.

Make sure that any time you want to take you money out from the Bank they don't give you hard time. "Banks make you feel like Queen/King while they have you money"
Click to expand...
My brother is an american citizen and he opened an account at Scotiabank with his US passport only.
 
F

Fiesta Mama

Bronze
Jan 28, 2004
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Conflicting reports...

Okay, I agree that the American dollar is more stable BUT on another post a few days ago about the Scotiabank in Sosua, people were saying don't bother opening a U.S. account in the DR because you can just use your bank card from Canada. People - I am opening an account in the DR, one way or the other - so... would you recommend U.S. dollars or pesos???

Miguel thank you. From what you have said I don't think I will need to open an account in Canada with Scotiabank as I already bank with another institution and if I can just pay aprox. $30 to wire funds to my DR account I will do that.

Homer, maybe Popular or Citibank would be a better option. Does anyone know if Citibank would be insured since I assume it would be a subsidiary of the American Citibank? Does anyone recommend either of these banks?

Lastly, can I write a check from my Canadian account and deposit it into my DR account while there (in the case that I am there for an extended period and just need some extra cash) and if so, will they hold the funds for so many days?

Sorry everyone for so many questions, but I just want to get this right, especially considering the current political situation. I understand that some people have advised me not to open an account at all but I will keep the funds to a minimum until I see what is happening in the country. Also, I will not be doing this until July.
 
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Nelly

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Jan 1, 2002
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upon my inquiry last year...

I was informed that a passport and a letter of reference from my bank in Canada was required to open an account with Scotiabank in Sos?a. They also required a minimum deposit ( I think it was 5000 RD) that would be held for a period of time.
 
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miguel

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Jul 2, 2003
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I see!

Nelly said:
I was informed that a passport and a letter of reference from my bank in Canada was required to open an account with Scotiabank in Sos?a. They also required a minimum deposit ( I think it was 5000 RD) that would be held for a period of time.
Click to expand...
I am just talking about an episode that happened to my brother. The only thing that they needed was his US passport and nothing more. He opened it with RD $ 2,000 in SD. I guess that it's different in every Scotiabank in the DR.
 
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mountainfrog

On Vacation!
Dec 8, 2003
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Novios and Banks

Remember?
You'd be surprised how much they can have in common.
But it seems that some mistakes are just too good not to do them over again.
Leave your money where it is (safe) and use your personal cheques here to cash them (into RD?s) according to your needs.
A few thousand pesos can always be hidden somewhere. They are just as safe there as in any Dominican bank.
Unless you tell your novio the secret spot ...

m'frog
 
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rendul

Bronze
Feb 24, 2002
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Opening a Scotiabank Account

We have a place in Cabarete. When I was down in March I went to the branch in Cabarete and was told that they do not have online banking yet. I wanted to do the same thing as you. I was also told by someone who lives there full time that if you are a Canadian and you open an account in the D.R. Scotiabank, they have to issue T5's on your account to be sent to Canada for tax time. When I opened our accounts in the D.R. I needed my passport, letter of reference from my home bank and a minimum deposit. At that time, the only branch of Scotiabank on the north coast was in Puerto Plata and they were not helpful at all. I finally opened my accounts at Progreso and have had no difficulty in transferring funds from my account in Canada to my accounts at Progreso. Also if you notice on your tax returns, if you have in the past year purchased a property out-of-country exceeding $100,000.00. I'm not sure of the tax implications but given past experience, it can't be good.

It is a definite learning curve!! :knockedou
 
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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Fiesta Mama said:
Homer, maybe Popular or Citibank would be a better option. Does anyone know if Citibank would be insured since I assume it would be a subsidiary of the American Citibank? Does anyone recommend either of these banks?
.
Click to expand...
It's been written many many times on this board that the laws of other countries do NOT apply to banks in the DR even if you think they are a subsidiary.
 
B

baileyboy

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Jun 27, 2004
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Fiesta Mama said:
Okay, I know this was briefly discussed in another thread but I am hoping to get some more specific answers. I have decided to forget about opening a U.S. dollar account in the DR. However, I would still like to have a small slush fund account in the DR in pesos. What I want to do (and don't know if it's possible) is the following:

Open an account at Scotiabank Canada. Open an account at Scotiabank DR. Be able to do internet banking to manage both accounts and be able to transfer funds between each account.

When I have been in the DR in the past and have taken pesos out of my Canadian account I have been gouged on the exchange rate and this is part of the reason I want to have pesos available there.

Also, because I am not a resident of the DR, will I have any problem opening a Scotiabank account in the DR?

Are there any Canadians out there who have a Canadian Scotiabank account and also a Scotiabank account in the DR and are able to do the things I want to do?
Click to expand...

I'm sure you probably have your answer and made your decision, but I thought I'd let you know about Scotiabank... I work for Scotiabank in Canada, and the only way to trsfr money btwn accounts in Cda, and the DR, is through a wire transfer. Although the name is the same on the door in the we do not have accessibility to Scotiabank accounts in the DR. I have accounts here at Scotiabank, and if I want to transfer funds to a bank account in the Dr, it's a wire transfer, which can take a long time, and can be costly, depending on how much your transfering, although you have the option to transfer in pesos or US funds.

Now opening an account in Cda at Scotiabank, you need to be a resident of Cda, now whether this is the same in DR, I'm not sure of the internatinal rules and regulations and policies of the DR. I could find out if you would like to know....
Lisa
 
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MommC

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Mar 2, 2002
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I bank with Scotiabank in Canada........and i did have an account

with Scotiabank in Santo Domingo (now closed as I now bank with Popular for my pesos and no longer need to transfer money from Canada). So I don't know how "current" this info is but here goes!
I had no problem at all to have Scotiabank transfer funds from my Canadian account to my SD account-no charge for transfers.
SD DID NOT issue t5's for Canada Revenue! I needed only my passport to open my SD account (same goes for opening any bank account in RD).
That's it......
If you'd like to know more FM send me a PM and I'll answer as best I'm able.....
 
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T

Toronto2inDR

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Jun 10, 2004
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Things have changed with all the banks. I opened my account in Scotiabank Puerto Plata 2 years ago with nothing more then my Canadian Passport. Minimum for the US dollar account was and still is $500.00 in order not to be charged monthly fees. In Pesos it?s the same $500.00 minimum.

Now to open an account you need a letter of reference from your bank in Canada, US or where be it and that goes for all the banks I visited just last week?Because I was upset with the service at Scotiabank and wanted to close my accounts there.

As for transfers, I also have an account in Scotiabank in Toronto, Canada and 2 years ago I transferred money with nothing more then an email request from my hotmail email account while I was here in the D.R. and the money was sent from Canada in 48 hours it was in my Puerto Plata account. Note - it was more then $50,000.00 US, with no questions asked.

A few weeks ago I transferred more money, about the same as 2 years ago and it took 14 days to get the money into my account, Puerto Plata wanted proof of where the money came from etc. Funny that Scotiabank in Canada would have already done all that checking so you would think that there is no problem but we had to go all the way to the top in Toronto and Santo Domingo to get the money into my account and it cost me $129.00 U.S.

Things have changed somewhat
 
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