I am so confused! Preparing for my move to POP in the fall, I reread a lot of the threads on banking. I understand several people have had banking issues (transfer, ATM, credit card, etc). In my experience the rate given to CAN$ in dominican banks is much less than my converting CAN$ to US$ first then converting US$ to pesos.
Here is what I intend to do based on what I have read so far - I hope I understand correctly, please correct me if I am wrong.
1. Using a letter of recommendation from my CAN ScotiaBank (SB) and my passport, open both US and peso account at either DR-SB or Santa Cruz or maybe even Popular in POP.
2. Bring in the max in US $ cash (10K) when I fly in and deposit in DR US account. I have a CAN-SB US $ account on which I can write cheques for deposit to my DR US$ account. Expecting 7-10 working days to clear. Or on-line transfer between my CAN SB US $ account and my DR US account if I can - need to check on that. I can fund this CAN US $ account while I am here at a better exchange rate than CAN banks give me online by going to the local money market.
3. Monthly, I can withdraw from my DR US $ acct and exchange to pesos wherever i get best rate, probably some Casa de Cambio.
4. Once my CAN SB US$ acct is empty (wont take that long if I buy a condo!), I will transfer from my CAN $ SB acct to my DR peso account using some online method I hope. Then I can use my ATM card or wait in line to withdraw pesos.
5. I have 2 credit cards that will be loaded with a small debit balance (2K or so). This would serve as another emergency fund - I do not intend to use my credit cards in the DR if at all possible. For big purchases I intend to write a cheque on my DR peso account.
Questions:
- As the Cdn $ is losing ground to the US $ and the rate given by DR banks to exchange CDN $ to pesos is not great... are there any other ways to avoid being gauged on fees and exchange rates?
- This whole thing looks complicated. Am I getting it right?
- Someone mentioned that I can deposit money at the Casa de Cambio and get a much better interest rate than the banks. Can this be right?.. or is that like loaning to loan sharks?LOL
Thanks a miilion!
Here is what I intend to do based on what I have read so far - I hope I understand correctly, please correct me if I am wrong.
1. Using a letter of recommendation from my CAN ScotiaBank (SB) and my passport, open both US and peso account at either DR-SB or Santa Cruz or maybe even Popular in POP.
2. Bring in the max in US $ cash (10K) when I fly in and deposit in DR US account. I have a CAN-SB US $ account on which I can write cheques for deposit to my DR US$ account. Expecting 7-10 working days to clear. Or on-line transfer between my CAN SB US $ account and my DR US account if I can - need to check on that. I can fund this CAN US $ account while I am here at a better exchange rate than CAN banks give me online by going to the local money market.
3. Monthly, I can withdraw from my DR US $ acct and exchange to pesos wherever i get best rate, probably some Casa de Cambio.
4. Once my CAN SB US$ acct is empty (wont take that long if I buy a condo!), I will transfer from my CAN $ SB acct to my DR peso account using some online method I hope. Then I can use my ATM card or wait in line to withdraw pesos.
5. I have 2 credit cards that will be loaded with a small debit balance (2K or so). This would serve as another emergency fund - I do not intend to use my credit cards in the DR if at all possible. For big purchases I intend to write a cheque on my DR peso account.
Questions:
- As the Cdn $ is losing ground to the US $ and the rate given by DR banks to exchange CDN $ to pesos is not great... are there any other ways to avoid being gauged on fees and exchange rates?
- This whole thing looks complicated. Am I getting it right?
- Someone mentioned that I can deposit money at the Casa de Cambio and get a much better interest rate than the banks. Can this be right?.. or is that like loaning to loan sharks?LOL
Thanks a miilion!