We are coming down from Canada and have bought a villa in Cabarete. Is it better to convert Canadian $ to US $ at home. Then US $ to pesos in the DR or should we just bring Canadian $? Also, to set up a bank account in the DR to pay telephone etc. should this be a peso account that we can transfer money to from our Canadian account or should we have a US $ account somewhere?
- Thread starter kdeer
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Canadian or US Dollars
US gives the best exchange rates always.
Phone etc is possible to pay by phone if you don?t live here permanently, by cc.
You need a peso account for pesos and a US account for US.
You can also use your ATM card for your Canadian bank here to get pesos.
Do a search, alots of this have been discussed and you will find many answers online already here on DR1.
Phone etc is possible to pay by phone if you don?t live here permanently, by cc.
You need a peso account for pesos and a US account for US.
You can also use your ATM card for your Canadian bank here to get pesos.
Do a search, alots of this have been discussed and you will find many answers online already here on DR1.
You may find it nearly impossible to send DR$ to a DR account from any Canadian bank - they may not even have DR$ accounts with DR banks. And fees for actual wire transfers are very high. Better to leave enough there for telephone banking etc. It almost if never makes sense to bring CDN$ to the DR - the small loss in buying US$ in Canada first will be offset and then some when you use those US$ to buy your pesos.
As for US$ to US$ accounts some people have posted that wires from Canada Scotiabank to their DR subsidiary works OK, if so even if not a customer, it might be the best choice for a Canadian bank to send from even if you are not a BNS client normally. No other Canadian banks are in the DR , subsidairies or other types.
As for US$ to US$ accounts some people have posted that wires from Canada Scotiabank to their DR subsidiary works OK, if so even if not a customer, it might be the best choice for a Canadian bank to send from even if you are not a BNS client normally. No other Canadian banks are in the DR , subsidairies or other types.
Always bring $US in American Travellers cheques. For obvious security reasons, do NOT carry large sums of cash. Just change enough $US to $Pesos for a few days at a time at a reputable bank or exchange house, never on the street. You can also withdraw $Pesos from your Canadian chequing account by using your debit card. Good luck! Canadian Bob.
Do NOT exchange CDN$$ for US$ before coming.....
You lose on exchange fees twice......
Instead bring a thousand or two for immediate expenses and change to pesos here.
Otherwise the best rate is if you withdraw at a bank using your debit card or credit card (we use our credit card as the exchange is slightly better then make an equivalent payment to our credit card via on-line banking.).
You can also set up a bank account at a Scotiabank here in the DR (you need one also in Canada) then transfer funds from one to the other (you need to transfer the money BEFORE you leave Canada).
The funds will be deposited to your account here in the DR in pesos......
You can also set up an American $$ account in both places and transfer from the one in Canada to the one in the DR.
We've been doing this for 15 yrs and haven't had any problems......
Keep in mind when making withdrawals from the credit card there is a $6. international banking fee for each withdrawal......so we withdraw enbough to last two months at a time and deposit it directly into our peso account so we don't need to carry a lot of cash.....
P.S......In case you are wondering I am a bookkeeper with a son who is an accountant and we have a business that uses money transfers to pay for goods arriving from around the world (in Canada) and this is the most economical way we've found to avoid paying an arm and leg in fees during our winters here.
You lose on exchange fees twice......
Instead bring a thousand or two for immediate expenses and change to pesos here.
Otherwise the best rate is if you withdraw at a bank using your debit card or credit card (we use our credit card as the exchange is slightly better then make an equivalent payment to our credit card via on-line banking.).
You can also set up a bank account at a Scotiabank here in the DR (you need one also in Canada) then transfer funds from one to the other (you need to transfer the money BEFORE you leave Canada).
The funds will be deposited to your account here in the DR in pesos......
You can also set up an American $$ account in both places and transfer from the one in Canada to the one in the DR.
We've been doing this for 15 yrs and haven't had any problems......
Keep in mind when making withdrawals from the credit card there is a $6. international banking fee for each withdrawal......so we withdraw enbough to last two months at a time and deposit it directly into our peso account so we don't need to carry a lot of cash.....
P.S......In case you are wondering I am a bookkeeper with a son who is an accountant and we have a business that uses money transfers to pay for goods arriving from around the world (in Canada) and this is the most economical way we've found to avoid paying an arm and leg in fees during our winters here.
kdeer said:Thanks for the reply. That's good to know we can pay by telephone banking. Trying to get ahold of the phone company before we come down but no luck. I understand it can take quite some time to get a phone installed so wanted to start the process.
You cannot start that before arriving. You need to sign papers, have someone guarantee for you (unless you have a cedula ) and finally pay and chose plan.
What do you mean MommC?MommC said:Do NOT exchange CDN$$ for US$ before coming.....
You lose on exchange fees twice......
Instead bring a thousand or two for immediate expenses and change to pesos here.
Bring a thousand or two what? Canadian dollars?
The best rate I have ever seen for Loonies was around 15% less than the official exchange.
Some cambios pay 30% less for Loonies.
I agree that the best rates are with a credit card advance but the key is to take out enough to make the service charge a very small percentage.
I don't want to depend on my card so I take enough US$ to get me by but I usually spend around double this so I save the dollars and use the credit card for the first few days.
It costs around 2% to buy US$ and the cambios are paying around 2% less that the official exchange.
The exchange Mastercard gives is around 2% less than the OE and the service charge of $4.50 per transaction is around 1% to 1.5% depending on how much I take out.
Not much difference but either way is way better than changing Loonies.