Should I open a checking or savings account with BanReservas to avoid massive fees?

live_for_life

New member
Mar 4, 2007
344
4
0
I am a USA citizen moving to the Dominican Rebpublic. The only bank I trust with my us dollars is BanReservas. I want to avoid massive fees so should I open an checking or savings account with BanReservas? How much of my money will have Dominican government protection from fraud like FDIC in USA which insures your funds up to 150,000$ I will use my USA passport to open this account. I hope I do not need un fiador.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
948
113
Think about keeping your money in your U.S. bank and just writing checks for cash to one of the established "Agente de Cambio" houses.

A number of us do it that way, and don't even have a Dominican Bank account.

Perhaps open an account here to keep a minimum amount in it to use as reference....
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Think about keeping your money in your U.S. bank and just writing checks for cash to one of the established "Agente de Cambio" houses.

A number of us do it that way, and don't even have a Dominican Bank account.

Perhaps open an account here to keep a minimum amount in it to use as reference....
^^^That's the way to do it.
 

johnny

Bronze
Feb 8, 2003
907
74
0
hausenland.com
I?ll recommend to open your account in Banco Popular.
Goverment employees recieve their payments thru banreservas, plus all the goverment tramites are paid thru Reservas too. so, there are always very busy.
Popular has more branches, and most of them close later.
 

amstellite

Bronze
Sep 5, 2007
565
12
0
paying ren t in the DR from a Bank acct

Hope you don;t mind me tagging onto this one, but I am also interested in this. I travel frequently to the DR and getting money out of the cash machines ends up costing me a bundle when I return home, because I rarely take out more than a hundred bucks in pesos at a time in case I lose it or get crazy with it drinking!!! So maybe opening up an acct in the DR may not be a bad idea.. can someone tell me how much is a minumum I need in the checking acct in order to not pay any fees? And can I get a checking debit card? Do I need to declare to US at year end ( i'm only going to be keeping a small amount in there, just enough to cover free checking). One more thing.. I pay rent on a house for a family there and right now am using Western Union to send over 60 bucks each month o the 10th - and that costs me close to 8 bucks with them each time I do it... am I able to set anythign up for the dueno to be paid on the 10th from my acct ? Just wondering. thanks
 

johnny

Bronze
Feb 8, 2003
907
74
0
hausenland.com
if you open an account ;lets say in Banco Popular, you can use internet banking Popular en l?nea and transfer to the another person account. there is not charge.
I think the minimun to open an checking account is 3,000 pesos. but you can also open a saving account and have you debit card.
 

Mason3000

Active member
Aug 2, 2008
363
46
28
I'm not saying BanReservas or any other bank here would do this but a friend and I were both robbed by a bank in Costa Rica (Luckily I lost just the opening deposit of $500) that was "Insured by the Government".

We sat down and asked "Is this bank insured by the Government?", they said "Yes it is. 100%". We proceeded to open US Dollar accounts. Shortly thereafter they announced all dollars accounts had been lost and the account holders were SOL. When I inquired about the bank insurance they said "Yes, but all dollars are shipped to a bank in the Bahamas & that bank went bankrupt & was not insured. We only keep the local currency here & the local currency is indeed insured by the Government, sorry for any inconvenience"
 

crazyegg

New member
Jan 24, 2010
11
0
0
Hi All,

I am not 100% sure about this but:

Scotiabank is a Canadian CHARTERED bank that has full insurance for all deposits. At least this is the case for its Canadian branches...

Most "banks" and American style S&L companies are not chartered and may or may not have full insurance.

If I ever move to the DR, I would just leave all of my cash in a Canadian branch and transfer spending money (via email transfer: its the cheapest) to the Scotiabank branch in the DR on an "as needed" basis.

Regards,
ed...
 

live_for_life

New member
Mar 4, 2007
344
4
0
if you open an account ;lets say in Banco Popular, you can use internet banking Popular en l?nea and transfer to the another person account. there is not charge.
I think the minimun to open an checking account is 3,000 pesos. but you can also open a saving account and have you debit card.

Will I be able to open a standard savings account at Banco Popluar in US dollars with my US passport and cash? The website said something about a employment reference. I will be looking for a job in Santo Domingo. Is Banco Popular insured by any entity? Is it hard to get a loan for a house and car in the DR if you have substainable employment there?
 

live_for_life

New member
Mar 4, 2007
344
4
0
I?ll recommend to open your account in Banco Popular.
Goverment employees recieve their payments thru banreservas, plus all the goverment tramites are paid thru Reservas too. so, there are always very busy.
Popular has more branches, and most of them close later.

Is Banco Popular insured by any entity? Do most Dominicans used Banco Popular or BanReservas ( I guess the same as Banco de Reservas). I am probably more like to get someone at Banco Popluar that speaks english. Any Popular Branch that has many customer associates that speak english and explain my account options in english?
 

J D Sauser

Silver
Nov 20, 2004
2,940
390
83
www.hispanosuizainvest.com
  • There is NO such thing as FDIC or state insurance to my knowledge in this country. Every time a bank has gone under, the depositors have eventually taken the hit (except maybe for a few very well connected ones).
  • BanReservas is being rumored by the PUBLIC as the safe one because they like to believe that that's where the State/government "keeps" it's money and that it can not go bankrupted because they would not let it. As long they all believe it it's certainly helpful for the solidity of the bank.
  • Foreign banks doing business as banks locally (in the DR) do so as a separate local incorporation under Dominican laws exclusively. They may have their internal policies but only as far the local law allows them to. If a client has a claim against such a bank here, the "back home" banks of the "same name" will be legally entitled to deny any responsibility in their country as they again are separate entities.
Furthermore:

  • Most expats will advise NOT to keep large amounts locally for it's unnecessary risks with little to no real rewards. Obviously you might have to bring in or stock up a larger sum for occasional acquisitions.
  • Most expats wind up having one or several PAIRS of accounts locally. By "pairs" I mean a DOP and a HOME CURRENCY (USD, CAN, GBP, EUR) account. That allows them to wire in periodic amounts in home currency and converted them on an as needed basis in local currency, trying to delay currency devaluation the most possible.
  • Most will favor "savings" accounts as checks are not a common payment method here anyways and savings accounts are cheaper (mostly free).
  • Most expats as well as affluent locals , if they really need to keep a larger amount of money in this country, will likely spread it over several banking institutions, in an intend to hedge against the risk of one going belly up suddenly (the wise "don't keep you eggs all in one basked" - approach).
  • Depending on where you plan on to settle, some banks or only some of their branches may have some "funny" policies about opening a bank account. You would be well advised to prepare for their requisites by bringing recent statements of your accounts "back home", one or preferably two letters "of good standing" from banks you currently keep accounts with (in Spanish or English) and you might even as a newcomer to this country be expected to present one or two "letters of recommendations" from known local people or businesses. A typical Latin American paper collection orgy, I know, but some will insist.
... J-D.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
I just enquired at popular, and they want a bank reference from my bank in europe, as well as 2 references from local dominicans (they just want the name and the phone-number).

At banco leon a checking-account is free if you have an average of 10,000 rds in it per month. The debit/visa card is a one time fee of 150 pesos and is valid for 4 years (but you cannot use it on the internet)

anybody knowing a bank which gives a visa debit card which you can use on the internet???