Opening an account at ScotiaBank

jcrew20

New member
Jun 22, 2005
131
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0
My friend is in Santo Domingo and he is trying to open an account at ScotiaBank. He has his dominican residency. Does anyone know what is required to open an account? When I opened an account at Bank Leon a few years, all I had to show was my passport and in 5 minutes I had a pesos account with a Visa Debit Card.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
He needs his Passport, from whatever country he is from originally. He also has to give them two names and phone numbers of Dominican citizens that can vouch for him.

They also ask a lot of dumb questions about what he does for a living and where his money comes from. But he should get it open right then and there with what I said above.
 

Mason3000

Active member
Aug 2, 2008
363
46
28
I tried to use Scotiabank DR, I really did. I have Scotiabank accounts in 3 other countries so continuity made sense, but it's a circus run by clowns in bad pant suits. At the end of the failed experiment I sat down with Scotiabank and asked them to name one single advantage to banking with them and the branch manager simply couldn't because no such advantage exists.

* US Dollar accounts are worthless. You will not get any type of debit/cc so no purchasing online or in local stores/shops. You also will not be able to access your money at ATM's. Every time you wish to withdraw you will need to drive there, wait in line and make your deposit/withdrawal. When you do withdraw dollars you might want pesos, in which case you'll have to go to a casa de cambio or get screwed (BIG TIME!) on the exchange rate. You can not transfer funds to/from another Scotiabank you might have in another country without paying international bank wire fees + a % of the transfer.

* Your Peso account there will be almost as worthless. They have no affiliation with Visa/MC so while you will be able to use your Scotiabank DR debit locally you will not be able to make any purchases online, like plane tickets, etc. Also, buyer beware using ATM's as they're infamous for stealing from their customers. I know several unhappy Scotiabank DR customers who've been short changed at ATM's in this country and not one was ever compensated. On the contrary they we all accused for all intents and purposes of trying to pull a scam. I believe there are one or two posters on this site that have encountered this.

* Want a loan, lol? I asked point blank "do you lend in dollars?", "Yes we do sir" was the answer. I got all the requirements to apply for a loan and asked a few basic questions at which point I found out they lend in dollars on a handful of pre-approved beach properties, nothing else. When I did inquire, a US200k loan was $1850 a month over 30 years. I have a US$200k loan over 20 years in another country with them and the quote is $1350. TEN EXTRA YEARS + $500 a month extra? Pass, lol.
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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a US200k loan was $1850 a month over 30 years. I have a US$200k loan over 20 years in another country with them and the quote is $1350. TEN EXTRA YEARS + $500 a month extra? Pass, lol.

What you will find out that there is very little difference in monthly payments 20 yrs vs 30 yrs. Also I do not know in what "other" country you have SB loan, but in the DR the mortgage rate rounds around 14% p.a. in all the banks.
 

Mason3000

Active member
Aug 2, 2008
363
46
28
I've used Scotiabank in a couple other Latin American countries. I got 7% and 7.25% fixed over 5, switching to variable with a max of 1% above prime (Which they still claim is a worldwide Scotiabank policy).
 

Mason3000

Active member
Aug 2, 2008
363
46
28
Rubio, only after investigating a lot of different avenues for a home loan did I come to the realization that they're all predatory in this country, thus why so many folks build their own homes as the money becomes available.
 

Mason3000

Active member
Aug 2, 2008
363
46
28
Thanks for the help. What other banks would you suggest?

After dealing with the banks here you come to understand why so many people just keep it stuffed in a mattress, lol. At the end of the day I think Popular is the easiest to work with.
 

crazyegg

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

Playing devils advocate for a second...

The reason why rates in the DR are so high is due to land title security issues (or lack of).

It is my understanding that many Dominican home owners (especially the poorer ones) do not actually have authentic title to their homes. Many just did a land grab many years ago. Kind of like cowboys and indians style. As such, there is a great potential for land title disputes down the road. Thus, banks need to charge a risk premium. Hence the "high" rates.

Just like in in the US and Canada, if I wanted to buy a house that has "risks" with it, I would get a higher rate or maybe the bank would turn me down for the loan!

If I were a bank in the DR, I would be doing the exact same thing and charge these rates. Believe it or not, rates have come down significantly from years ago in the DR.

As more newer homes get constructed (i.e. condos and such), with proper title, rates will continue to trend downwards.

Regards,
ed...
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
113
* US Dollar accounts are worthless. You will not get any type of debit/cc so no purchasing online or in local stores/shops. You also will not be able to access your money at ATM's. Every time you wish to withdraw you will need to drive there, wait in line and make your deposit/withdrawal. When you do withdraw dollars you might want pesos, in which case you'll have to go to a casa de cambio or get screwed (BIG TIME!) on the exchange rate. You can not transfer funds to/from another Scotiabank you might have in another country without paying international bank wire fees + a % of the transfer.

* Your Peso account there will be almost as worthless. They have no affiliation with Visa/MC so while you will be able to use your Scotiabank DR debit locally you will not be able to make any purchases online, like plane tickets, etc. Also, buyer beware using ATM's as they're infamous for stealing from their customers. I know several unhappy Scotiabank DR customers who've been short changed at ATM's in this country and not one was ever compensated. On the contrary they we all accused for all intents and purposes of trying to pull a scam. I believe there are one or two posters on this site that have encountered this.

I find Banco Leon quite good about this. You can have dollars savings account (with Libreta) and Pesos savings account (with VISA debit card - electronic use only). You can pay with it in stores worldwide that accept VISA, you do not need to enter PIN, but you cannot make Internet or online purchases, unless the online store accepts "VISA ELECTRON" card (many in Europe do). You can also activate a prepaid VISA card which will work very well for Internet/Paypal/Ebay/phone etc. use and have all of those linked in the Internet banking. You can even link the card to PayPal (using European PayPal site) and have the VISA card as the withdrawal method (PayPal in Europe allows withdrawal of money from your PayPal account to a credit card, as well as bank account). So if somebody sends you money via PayPal and you have a PayPal with German address, you can withdraw money to Leon VISA prepaid card.

Within Banco Leon Internet banking, you just move money around as you wish ... checking, savings, dollars, pesos, prepaid VISA, etc. E.g. want to pay by Paypal or VISA? Transfer money into your prepaid VISA just seconds before you make the purchase ... it is also good against fraud, because the prepaid card can have zero balance (there is no monthly fee, only RD$25 issuance fee and card is good for 3 years).

You can transfer dollars into pesos 24/7, via "Sell Dollars" feature. The rate is usually 25 points below Casa de Cambio rates (e.g. today it's 35.80 vs 36.05) but you have access to moving money around 24/7/365.
 
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