I have a US Dollar account and they took $10 a month for no activity. I only noticed after losing $160 US.
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Opening a Bank Account. Mucho Problemo!
I have a US Dollar account and they took $10 a month for no activity. I only noticed after losing $160 US.
The RD banking system is alive and well...
Valhalla for banks is 50% 'fee income'
A target the US banks have yet to reach....
Canada has been perched there a looong time... like the 80's
The Cdn system is envied around the world...
regulated to semi-regulated
suffered ZERO losses in the 2008 debacle
I would be interested to see the fee income for RD banks... % of revenue
Must be near that magic 50%
It's the Chinese water torture method , those banking fees
just a drop at a time -- incessantly....
Valhalla for banks is 50% 'fee income'
A target the US banks have yet to reach....
Canada has been perched there a looong time... like the 80's
The Cdn system is envied around the world...
regulated to semi-regulated
suffered ZERO losses in the 2008 debacle
I would be interested to see the fee income for RD banks... % of revenue
Must be near that magic 50%
It's the Chinese water torture method , those banking fees
just a drop at a time -- incessantly....
It would make fees more palatable if they made it easier to do the banking. But most foreigners give up at some point in disgust. Who wants to spend retirement years in a line waiting at a bank ?
Yeah I think this is wise. I have a reference letter from my bank in the UK but concerned as to whether I need it translated and certified into spanish or just translated
Translated will do...
or your friend will read it them
and many...speak/read a bit of English
You should be fine....
or your friend will read it them
and many...speak/read a bit of English
You should be fine....
When you open the Banreservas account, you should get a sheet that lists all the fees, which includes inactivity fees. You have to have activity in the account. This is not a DR thing, US banks freeze accounts for the same reason. Also, you want the account tied to your cedula, NOT the US passport number. It only takes one day for Banreservas to verify the new passport number; however, much depends upon the branch that you use. Some are more helpful than others. US citizens can thank their government for some of the paperwork difficulties. Banreservas asked me to complete the same IRS form for SSN verification twice in two years, even though it had the original form. Now, I did not need to provide a SSN when I opened the account, as I used my cedula, and I keep less than US $10K in the account, so there is nothing to report. I have found the on-line, Internet customer service to be helpful, albeit slow at times, in assisting with situations. However, the best thing to do is to find a branch that provides good customer service and use it. Some of their tellers go out of the way to assist you.
Recently opened an account at Banco Santa Cruz. Recommended as it seems to be the gringo bank of choice. My wife was a banker for over 40 years so I took her with me just in case. No problem pretty easy. Needed a note from our bank in the US which my wife wrote and sent to her former employer listing how long we were customers and average monthly statement. Also needed a local reference letter which I used a friend that also banks there (the woman at the bank says " Oh I know him, good". Waited a few days and we are good to go. Pretty simple. As for the inactive fee, we set up online bill pay as this was the major reason for getting the account so I could easily pay my Ednorte bill when not here instead of leaving a bunch of pesos with a neighbor. On bill paid every month should cover the inactivity. Before you try to scare me about that, there is very little on account there, covering the minimum daily balance and enough to be my small electric bill when not here. Give them a shot. Several people told me would be easy before going and they were right.
When I opened by account with BHD ten years ago, I had a problem trying to get a letter of reference from my UK bank. They told me that BHD had to write to my UK bank in English and they would reply in English. They said that they couldn't send a reference letter directly to myself, so I knew that it was going to be a non-starter.
So I went onto my bank's website and copy/pasted their logo onto a Word document and wrote my own reference letter. Worked a charm!
So I went onto my bank's website and copy/pasted their logo onto a Word document and wrote my own reference letter. Worked a charm!
I know people who fudged up rental contracts to qualify for the Investor grade residency...
very little background checking...
very little background checking...
A little follow-up. Lots of good an interesting info here. Thanks! Some of the responders here suggested Scotiabank. So, I wrote a detailed email to them and received this response within a couple days.
For resident:
Two (2) personal ids (Dominican ID, passport or driver’s license)
Two personal reference letters.
Sounds simple. No Problem.
This week or next we’ll go down there and see what happens. Stay tuned.
On a side note, Banco Santa Cruz was also suggested. For many years we have cashed personal checks, drawn from our US bank(s), at our local “gift shop” for about ½ point or so. Sometimes the checks are for amounts over 5K US (construction etc.) It’s never been a problem…and they deliver!! Anyway, their bank is Banco Santa Cruz so my thinking is that I will take my “gift shop friend” and head over to Banco Santa Cruz and give them a try. Somehow I’ll bet they know us by name!! Cheers!
For resident:
Two (2) personal ids (Dominican ID, passport or driver’s license)
Two personal reference letters.
Sounds simple. No Problem.
This week or next we’ll go down there and see what happens. Stay tuned.
On a side note, Banco Santa Cruz was also suggested. For many years we have cashed personal checks, drawn from our US bank(s), at our local “gift shop” for about ½ point or so. Sometimes the checks are for amounts over 5K US (construction etc.) It’s never been a problem…and they deliver!! Anyway, their bank is Banco Santa Cruz so my thinking is that I will take my “gift shop friend” and head over to Banco Santa Cruz and give them a try. Somehow I’ll bet they know us by name!! Cheers!
My stomach was churning for a week after I "fudged" a reference letter date by 5 days! Yikes!
I'm liking the Banco Santa Cruz idea..... that's a shoe in !!
we hope....
Fudging - just a sleight of hand..... easy peasy...hahaha
we hope....
Fudging - just a sleight of hand..... easy peasy...hahaha
Many cambios use Banco Santa Cruz. I've been writing checks to them for years.
Just a follow up here. After a short phone conversation with Banca Santa Cruz a couple weeks ago, we headed off to Sosua yesterday to open two types of accounts. One is a regular savings, and the other, a “trust” account. (Two names, one dead). We arrived at around 10:00am. They were professional and courteous and seemed to really care about making things happen. The ONLY thing we really needed was a passport, however, having a Cedula and Residencia helped out. Two letters of reference, (not notarized and easy to do yourself) and absolutely no other paperwork required. They indicated that usually you need to come back the next day to “get the ball rolling” after a “check” of your passport. In our case, they understood that we live 2 ½ hours away and asked us to “go out to lunch and we will call you back”. (In ten years of living here I can think of two times a person of Dominican decent ever called me back). As we were about ½ through lunch, we received a phone call that “everything checked out OK” and come back in. One hour later my wife walked out with a passbook, account and ATM card. They even went out of their way to sign us up for “online access”. Compared to the “other crazy stuff” we went through at the beginning of this post, the difference was like night and day!
Although it is possible to set up a “trust account” (this is all new stuff here in the DR) they had never done this before but indicated that Banca Santa Cruz will do this. They just have to learn how… so….I’ll follow up with that adventure later. Thanks for the recommendation. They are really good!! Respectfully.
Although it is possible to set up a “trust account” (this is all new stuff here in the DR) they had never done this before but indicated that Banca Santa Cruz will do this. They just have to learn how… so….I’ll follow up with that adventure later. Thanks for the recommendation. They are really good!! Respectfully.