Cash or Credit

TimeOut

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Nov 4, 2007
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For day to day living expenses on an extended stay in the the DR how do you find it best to pay for everything.
Credit cards or taking cash out of ATMs/cashing checks at cambios.
I would think credit cards with incur more fees.
Opinions?
 

JayinRD

Member
Apr 18, 2013
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Cash always for the smaller stuff. I withdraw 10k pesos at a time from the major ATMs...they all seem to give good exchange rates. The more you use your credit card here the more chance of credit card fraud. For a major purchase say more than $200 i might use my credit card as i dont like to be carrying so much currency around.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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dr1.com
Define extended?

Open a bank account, deposit the US$, use a local debit and credit card.
 

pularvik

Active member
Jan 2, 2011
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cash a check

For day to day living expenses on an extended stay in the the DR how do you find it best to pay for everything.
Credit cards or taking cash out of ATMs/cashing checks at cambios.
I would think credit cards with incur more fees.
Opinions?

Cash a check at a check cashing cambio and pay for everything with cash. There will be a small difference in what you get for exchange rate tho. Still probably not as much as AYM and CC.
 
The most annoying thing ever is that you have to pay most things with cash here! If you do tourist things you could use your credit card. I think there are positive and negatives about both. I haven't had any problems with the use of credit cards or cash.
If you are going cash just make sure you don't let anyone see it!
If you do credit cards make you check your transactions etc...
 

drescape24

Bronze
Nov 2, 2011
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Cash! With all the skimmy of credit cards I wouldn't think of using my plastic. I have bank account and keep what I use per week on my safe, and only take what I spend in a day on my person.
 

TimeOut

New member
Nov 4, 2007
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Cash! With all the skimmy of credit cards I wouldn't think of using my plastic. I have bank account and keep what I use per week on my safe, and only take what I spend in a day on my person.

What is the confidence level in using your US debit cards at the ATMs?
I would hope fraud is minimal.
 

pularvik

Active member
Jan 2, 2011
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2 years using my US debit card in ATMs in Cabrera and Rio San Juan and Sosua with no problem. Still am most comfortable cashing cheques as long is there is no holding time,- ie I don't use banks who take at least 3 weeks to get you your money.
 
Sep 4, 2012
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If cash - there is the risk to carry it. The benefits is to carry just enough to go by daily and purchase as necessary; with cash comes the benefit of purchasing power everywhere.

If ATM Card - there is the risk to lose it, have it eating by the ATM machine or cloned. Benefit is to be able to draw cash as needed.

If US CC - the risk to have it lost, stolen or cloned. The benefit is to have the CC backed by a US institution with customer service to respond to any fraudulent charges, if any. Also, if you're into rewards from the US CC and planing to spend lots of money, you can gain rewards points on the purchase.

If Local CC - the risk; must go through the approval and paperwork process (tedious in the DR banking arena) and the benefits is to be able to use the local CC and deal straight with the bank should anything go wrong with any transactions.

Everything would come down to your risk/tolerance factor. My personal choice is a combination of all depending on each situation. I've used my US CC and ATM Card w/o any problems at all in the DR. Personally, me, myself and I hated all the red tape, bureaucracy and the many different standards required by each DR bank, so, no local CC for me for that alone.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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WyW... you sound like a cash candidate to me.... too paranoid....

w/ cash, you know what you will lose.....
hide it in your shoe (strippers do) or in your panties(if thats safe)

Cards are not for all people
 
Sep 4, 2012
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LOL.....to the contrary, am all CC and plastic. In fact, I won't carry more than 40.00 in my wallet unless I know I will be spending more, otherwise is all CC. Too much rewards points to lose.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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LOL.....to the contrary, am all CC and plastic. In fact, I won't carry more than 40.00 in my wallet unless I know I will be spending more, otherwise is all CC. Too much rewards points to lose.

Hahaha... I carry cash most of the time..... 10,000 or less in my pocket.
Cars take 2,000 at a hit, maybe 3,000...... groceries and wine eat up another 2-3,000.... so after the 10 withdrawal and a couple of errands, you're down to 5k or less.

Big trips to Playero, etc can call for a card.

In Cabrera, we haven't got that many retailers who can offer debit/credit services.
Gas station can.... but that's about it.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,087
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What is the confidence level in using your US debit cards at the ATMs?
I would hope fraud is minimal.

I use ATM's frequently and have only had one minor issue in 10 years that was resolved without problems.

Credit Card fraud is rampant in the DR. That issue is not minimal. Those that have not had problems with frequent usage of out of the DR based credit cards have been lucky.