Bank fees for inactivity

Alltimegreat

Member
Nov 16, 2012
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So I called ScotiaBank today to check on my account (which I opened in 2008 and haven't touched since). They told me the account has been closed and cannot be reactivated. The money is gone. There was apparently a 30 peso fee per month of inactivity, which brought the account balance down to zero, at which point they closed the account (it was 1,000 pesos to begin with). Has anyone ever heard of this or know if there is a similar charge (or higher charge) for inactivity in dollar accounts?
 
May 29, 2006
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It's very common in American/Canadian banks, esp for accounts without much money in them. Bank fees are getting crazy in the US. One bank tried to charge me a $15 fee to cash a $100 check written from that bank because I didn't have an account with them. That's high, but it's the norm now to charge $5 to cash a same bank check if you don't have an account. In the US, they charge as much as $3-$5/month for inactivity.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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So I called ScotiaBank today to check on my account (which I opened in 2008 and haven't touched since). They told me the account has been closed and cannot be reactivated. The money is gone. There was apparently a 30 peso fee per month of inactivity, which brought the account balance down to zero, at which point they closed the account (it was 1,000 pesos to begin with). Has anyone ever heard of this or know if there is a similar charge (or higher charge) for inactivity in dollar accounts?

It's normal pretty much across the planet, not just in the DR :)
 

Lobo Tropical

Silver
Aug 21, 2010
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Minimum Balance

So I called ScotiaBank today to check on my account (which I opened in 2008 and haven't touched since). They told me the account has been closed and cannot be reactivated. The money is gone. There was apparently a 30 peso fee per month of inactivity, which brought the account balance down to zero, at which point they closed the account (it was 1,000 pesos to begin with). Has anyone ever heard of this or know if there is a similar charge (or higher charge) for inactivity in dollar accounts?

Of course we have heard of this!!!

I don't know what your country of residence is.
Every bank has sevice charges unless you have a minimum balance.
In N. America the balance may be $ 1000.
Don't know what it is in Europe.

In the DR it is usually DOP 3000, if not 30 P. pre month.
No free lunch, know your way.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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DR banks charge you both fee if you do not keep minimum balance, and also inactivity fee after 6 months.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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Every bank has sevice charges unless you have a minimum balance.
In N. America the balance may be $ 1000.
Don't know what it is in Europe.

i have two accounts in two different banks in the UK. have not used them for about five years, went to london and took out all the monies. the accounts were in "hibernation" but there were no charges. i wanted to close them both but i was told there are no charges for basic accounts and i do not have to bother with them...
 

NY2DR

New member
Nov 21, 2009
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So I called ScotiaBank today to check on my account (which I opened in 2008 and haven't touched since). They told me the account has been closed and cannot be reactivated. The money is gone. There was apparently a 30 peso fee per month of inactivity, which brought the account balance down to zero, at which point they closed the account (it was 1,000 pesos to begin with). Has anyone ever heard of this or know if there is a similar charge (or higher charge) for inactivity in dollar accounts?

I opened a peso account with Santa Cruz in 2009 that I never touched or thought about. I think the minimum was $20 at the time I just wanted a account for future usage. Anyway I completely forgot all about the account until this year when I wanted deposit some real money & I was told that not only was the $20 gone due to new amendments within the bank which changed the minimum deposit but also that I had fees. I was silly enough to mention I should have received a notice then I realized where I was lol
 
DR banks charge you both fee if you do not keep minimum balance, and also inactivity fee after 6 months.
As far as inactivity goes, can't you link your DR account with your account back home via the internet and then make deposits and withdrawals between both accounts and in that way keep activity showing on the DR account even if you haven't been in the country for a while?
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
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Has anyone ever heard of this or know if there is a similar charge (or higher charge) for inactivity in dollar accounts?

Yes, the same applies for dollar accounts. Scotiabank charges 10 dollars per month for being below minimum (USD500).
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
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For decades now Cdn banks have surpassed the "50% fee income" standard...... US banks strive for this target.

Fees are a way of life
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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As far as inactivity goes, can't you link your DR account with your account back home via the internet and then make deposits and withdrawals between both accounts and in that way keep activity showing on the DR account even if you haven't been in the country for a while?

In a word, NO, that is not possible by "linking" as you suggest. DR banks are independent entities. You could wire transfer money into a DR bank, but that is costly. Some banks might offer on line banking where you can pay bills while you are away.
 
In a word, NO, that is not possible by "linking" as you suggest. DR banks are independent entities. You could wire transfer money into a DR bank, but that is costly. Some banks might offer on line banking where you can pay bills while you are away.

I opened an account with Banreservas two weeks ago and it looked like the only way that I could wire transfer money to my Banreservas account would be through my american bank, Wells Fargo, and pay their hefty fee of US$30.00 per transfer.

Then I discovered a website called Xoom which will deposit the money directly into my Banreservas account for only US $4.94.
I've made two small deposits so far with no problem and the money is in the account within 3 hours. Xoom allows deposits of up to $1000.00 dollars with $25.00 the minimum and the price is just $4.94 for any transfer be it $25.00 or $1000.00.

Check it out: Xoom.com
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Well, you almost pay your 30 dollars with Xoom as well:

1000 USD to send is only US$4.99 yes, but you get only 39550 pesos, whereas the current exchange rate is 40.70 or even more. So you are getting 1150 pesos less than you would get if you had 1000 USD on hand in the DR. Those 1150 pesos is 28.3 USD by the same exchange rate. So your actual transfer costs you over 33 USD.

XOOM also has option to deposit/pay out money in USD, but that costs 2%, or US$20. If you are sending more than 1000 dollars, payout in Pesos with 4.99 USD flat transaction fee gets even more expensive than wire transfer. Your option would be to use a USD payout and pay the 2% fee... but again, with 2000 USD or more, wire transfer is less expensive than ANY xoom transfer option.