How to tell if your bank is stable

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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Guys,

For a while I've been trying to figure out a way to tell which banks are stable in the DR. So far I have not found a great solution, but I noticed something today I wanted to share:

When I was a BanInter customer, withdrawing money from my USD account, it was always a hassle. The limit was $1000, I often had to call in advance or go back and it always took a while. They'd have to get the money from "a special place in the back".

Today I withdrew some USD from BanReservas. It was quick, and the cashier had about USD$10k in cash in a drawer where she was working. The difference was astonishing.

BanInter had been making it a hassle with withdraw USD for at least 6 months now.

So I ask - has anyone had problems withdrawing money in USD locally? Or has it gone smoothly? I think that might be a pretty good sign.

Adrian
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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If they come to your house

and TAKE your toaster instead of giving you one then they are unstable.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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"Stable" is a word I NEVER use in the same sentence with "Dominican Republic"!!!

When will people ever learn that this is an Unstable Country!!!What will it take???Here are a Few examples of Stable,Unsatbility in the DR! The "Peso",Government,education,health care,insurance,real estate,taxes,electric power,water,fuel for your car,generator,cooking,telephone service,mail delivery(What a laff!!) I have never SEEN a "mailman"!Call the police,I am still laughing!!!Transportation system,What System????How about Banking? You have GOT to be joking!!!!My "Money" remains safely in Boston!!!!!!Cris Colon
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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Cris,

Thanks for clarifying that the Dominincan Republic is unstable. I thought Santo Domingo was going to take over from Wall Street as the financial center of the world. Silly me!

;-)

Everything's relative. By stable I mean "not going to go undergo major financial turmoil a la baninter". And yes, my money remains in Atlanta. But I still need a local bank, and I want one which knows what they're doing.

Has anyone else had any experiences bringing money over from the US through a Dominican Bank and noticed liquidity problems?

Adrian
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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Try looking up the Fitch rating of the bank your using?

The only way to be 100% is put your money in a bank that is independently insured. This would mean banking in the USA or parts of Europe, Asia etc.

If a bank is paying you 30% plus on peso deposits then you need to assume a certain amount of risk. Reward doesn't come without risk and you can't have your cake and eat it, etc etc etc.

Anyone that replies to you runs the risk of going to jail :)

Quote by Malkum - Head of the Central Bank

"I would also like to issue a warning, so that ignorance may not be alleged, while recognizing the transcendent importance of having a healthy banking system in any country, that we have requested that the Executive Branch consider any statement, or affirmation, by any person, designed to cause disturbance or uncertainty regarding the Dominican banking system as a threat to national security."

Full transcript available here:
http://dr1.com/premium/news/2003/051403_baninter.shtml
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Robert, do you believe/suspect that Dominican authorities are monitoring this message board? If so, this has very troubling implications for many threads.
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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I'll try fitch - I already tried Weissratings, but they don't seem to cover DR banks.

Robert: thanks for the heads up. I did not know about the "national security" stuff related to banks

I have to admit I find it disturbing when they do things to supress/intimidate freedom of speech. For me that is among the factors that decides how long I stay living (and bringing money) into this country.

On a somewhat related note, I came across this interesting thread in the archives:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20430&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

Adrian
 
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Robert

Stay Frosty!
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Ken said:
Robert, do you believe/suspect that Dominican authorities are monitoring this message board? If so, this has very troubling implications for many threads.

I have no idea Ken, but this is the Internet, anyone could be watching. If anyone is concerned about their privacy, I suggest they never connect to the Internet.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Robert said:
I have no idea Ken, but this is the Internet, anyone could be watching. If anyone is concerned about their privacy, I suggest they never connect to the Internet.

I agree, but when the moderator posts a notice warning that anyone responding to the question is subject to legal penalties, it raises questions in the minds of the readers. Such as can you be required to give identifying information on posters who are using a board name?
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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The only way they can ask us or our server company is with a court order. If that is given, then we have no choice but to abide by the law.

Will that happen, I would say more chance of Hip?lito kissing the butt of Leonel Fern?ndez in public. But, you never know...
 

Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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unstable

My "Money" remains safely in Boston!!!!!!Cris Colon

When I eventually move to the DR I am leaving 80% of my money in the USA and I am NEVER going to invest in pesos. I have enough trouble stomaching the stock markets volitility..I refuse having to wake up every morning and check to see how much weaker my pesos have become...I dont care how much people are getting on bank certificates on pesos.I have learned from seeing other peoples mistakes.
Larry
 

getonwithit

New member
Mar 17, 2003
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adrianb said:

BanInter had been making it a hassle with withdraw USD for at least 6 months now.
adrianb said:
On a somewhat related note, I came across this interesting thread in the archives:
http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20430&perpage=15&pagenumber=2
if you have been here six months and you have read the thread you came across, you surely must suspect that it is decidedly risky to keep any money in a dominican bank.

what i don?t understand is that baninter kept you to a us$1,000 withdrawal limit - and later you say you keep your money in atlanta. it could be that you are very, very rich and even us$1,000 doesn?t mean that much to you, so keep your money off-shore. you can use international cash/atm cards here and/or change u.s bank cheques at reasonable rates when needed - for a rich man surely the costs of this would be trivial.

if you still have the urge, banreservas is probably the best bet at the moment if you want to take the risk.
others will disagree and swear to popular, citibank or nova scotia, others (myself and probably jazzcom) will recommend keeping any pesos you need for the short term under the mattress - hey, it?s all the same thing.

looking at that thread - where is 'gigi?now? he/she/it must be smiling to him/her/itself.

Robert said:
Will that happen, I would say more chance of Hip?lito kissing the butt of Leonel Fern?ndez in public. But, you never know...
robert....when you mean "arse", why don?t you say "arse"?
(...and don?t tell me i?m talking out of it.).
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Re: Re: How to tell if your bank is stable

getonwithit said:


looking at that thread - where is 'gigi?now? he/she/it must be smiling to him/her/itself.

Yep, that's what I thought when I read through that thread. 'gigi' obviously knew something others didn't.

Chiri
 

Escott

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Jan 14, 2002
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Nah, I don't agree on the Peso. That the Dominican Government can print as much as they want. It is the US Dollars that they need to pay oil bills with and if they aint got em they will take em from where they can find them.

Pesos are safe in a Dominican Bank in my opinion. The interest you get in the DR on Pesos is certainly not like in the US where you get "Mattress Money Interest" which equals NOTHING.
 

Criss Colon

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Escott,what are you talking about?

If you got 30% on your pesos over the last year,you LOST money!You would have been MUCH better off leaving you "Dollars" under your mattress and changing them AFTER the peso devalued!You MUST see that!

My Dominican paycheck is direct deposited into my Banco de Reservas checking account.I have a Banco de Reservas credit card.I have never had any problems with either one.As with all things in the DR it is almost obligatory to have a personal relationship with a bank officer.I do. I do all my transactions from an office in the Banco de Reservas "Torre" on Churchill.Cris
 
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Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Word on the street is that

qMalkum is pi$$ed off that he didn't get any of the Baninter payoffs.....That's why he went after them so hard....

BTW, Popular is pretty solid and so is Reservas....

HB