Fyi
Banco Central is offering the following rates on ventanilla (at the windows) CDs WITHOUT early cancellation:
- 180 days 8%
- 365 days 10.5%
- 18 months 11%
- 24 months 12%
- 30 months 14%
- 36 months 16%
All investments or in RD$ ONLY! Minimum investment amount is of RD$ 100,000. Maximum amount of investment is not specified but it is usually RD$ 20,000,000. These rate are for Plazo Fijo CDs. Plazo Fijo CDs are CDs that DO NOT have an early cancellation option and MUST be held without exception to the maturity date.
All investment are handled by appointment only. All Investors interested in acquiring BC Plazo Fijo CDs will need to call or visit Banco Central to make an appointment for investment. Although, all investment are handled by appointments, investors should be prepared to spend a few hours (2-5) at the bank. Appointments at BC do not work as one might expect. Appointments are given as a unit in a 30 minute slot. BC divides the working day into 30 minutes slots and each slot has anywhere form 10-20 (perhaps more) units. In all actuality, when you make an appointment you are scheduled as part of a group for the time slot given to you as YOUR appointment.
Please note that interest payment can not be compounded and a dominican bank account where interest is to be pay is required to invest in BC CDs. Investors that do not have a local bank account where interest payments will be deposited will be rejected. Make sure you take your bank account number with you when you go to BC. If the bank account you are using is one WITHOUT a bank book -- ATM CARD ONLY -- make sure to get your bank account from you bank. The numbers that are stamped on the card usually are NOT the bank account.
Interest payments are calculated on a 365 day year and paid on a monthly basis to a local (Dominican) bank account as mentioned above. This means that your actual monthly interest payment varies from month to month. If you want to know exactly how much interest is due for a given month use the following simple formulas:
dip = (C * I) / 365
P = dip * D
Where:-
- dip is the daily interest payment
- C is capital (amount of the CD)
- I is interest rate in decimal NOT as a percent
- P is payment for the month
- D is days in the month
Ex.:
If you invest RD$ 1,000,000 for 36 months at 16% and you would like to know what your interest payment for the months of February and March are:
Calculate dip: dip = (C * I) / 365
(1,000,000 * 0 .16) / 365 = 160,000 / 365
160,000 / 365 = 438.356
dip = 438.356
February:
Calculate: P = dip * D
438.356 * 28 = 12,273.968
or
RD$ 12,273.97
March:
Calculate: P = dip * D
438.356 * 31 = 13,589.036
or
RD$ 13,589.04
Note that once you figure out what the daily interest payment (dip) is, it is a simple matter of multiplying the dip by the number of days in the month.
The hours of service for BC CD investments is form 8:30am to 3:00pm Monday-Friday except holidays. Appointments are usually given from 1-3 days from the date of your call or visit. I suggest getting your appointment after 12 noon. Anywhere from 1:00pm to 2:00pm is good. Everyone seems to go in the early morning and the wait time is usually much longer. Also note that BC employees take 1-2 hours lunch breaks at 12 noon sharp. If you get an appointment for 11:00am you'll most likely spend 5 or more hours waiting! Appointments can be made in person or by phone, I suggest you call the for an appointment. The numbers are:
Santo Domingo:
(809) 221-9112 or (809) 221-9116
Santiago: (not sure but here is BC main number)
(809) 583-1151
On the day you visit BC to make your investment (buy ventanilla plazo fijo CD) you need:
- if a Dominican resident, Cedula (Dominican national ID card)
- if not a Dominican resident, Passport.
- proof of your Dominican bank account, where the interest payments are to made.
- proof of where the money came from. -- your can't say you *found it*
- the money you are going to invest in a certified bank check (make the check payable to YOU)
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