I strongly recommend Washington Mutual for people with US Social Security Number.
Wamu.com, home of WaMu Free Checking
You can open account online. Just need to use an EPS address. You need to send opening deposit (even $1) within 30 days. If you have friends stateside, they can deposit money on your behalf. Once completed, they send you a checkbook and Debit MasterCard.
Now comes the best deal:
- No monthly fees for account maintenance
- You can maintain 0 balance
- No ATM withdrawal fees worldwide. NONE. EVER.
And the sweetener:
Exchange rate is very comparable to Caribe Express exchange rate.
Because there are no ATM fees, you can withdraw 500 pesos. 100 pesos. 2000 pesos. Whatever you want. And the money gets debited to your account no withdrawal fees. This way you can withdraw in small amounts in case the ATM wants to play games on you (as we have heard before) - so your immediate loss/inconvenience is no more than couple of dollars.
For example, I withdrew 3000 pesos today.
The exchange rate was:
3000 RD pesos - US$ 86.01
Foreign conversion fee 1% - US$0.86 (all banks charge this, up to 4%)
Total for transaction: US$ 86.87
So 300 pesos was 86.87 dollars which comes to - 34.53 exchange rate. Considering Caribe Express today is 34.50 and most banks are around 34.20 it's a real good deal.
For people that do not have US SSN but can go to the USA they can open a WAMU free checking in any WAMU branch in the USA (e.g. Florida, NYC, etc.)
It's really a good deal.
AND final good thing - you can maintain a checking and savings account (both free of charge, savings account is free if you open it online) or have 2 checking accounts opened in the branch if you cannot open account online - WHY, you ask? Because that way you can maintain money in your savings/second checking account, and move money to your checking account with ATM Mastercard before you go to withdraw money. After you withdraw money, what is left, you move it back to the second account.
All of this done from the comfort of your home in Wamu online banking.
This way you prevent unauthorized charges if somebody copies your Mastercard details somehow.
Wamu.com, home of WaMu Free Checking
You can open account online. Just need to use an EPS address. You need to send opening deposit (even $1) within 30 days. If you have friends stateside, they can deposit money on your behalf. Once completed, they send you a checkbook and Debit MasterCard.
Now comes the best deal:
- No monthly fees for account maintenance
- You can maintain 0 balance
- No ATM withdrawal fees worldwide. NONE. EVER.
And the sweetener:
Exchange rate is very comparable to Caribe Express exchange rate.
Because there are no ATM fees, you can withdraw 500 pesos. 100 pesos. 2000 pesos. Whatever you want. And the money gets debited to your account no withdrawal fees. This way you can withdraw in small amounts in case the ATM wants to play games on you (as we have heard before) - so your immediate loss/inconvenience is no more than couple of dollars.
For example, I withdrew 3000 pesos today.
The exchange rate was:
3000 RD pesos - US$ 86.01
Foreign conversion fee 1% - US$0.86 (all banks charge this, up to 4%)
Total for transaction: US$ 86.87
So 300 pesos was 86.87 dollars which comes to - 34.53 exchange rate. Considering Caribe Express today is 34.50 and most banks are around 34.20 it's a real good deal.
For people that do not have US SSN but can go to the USA they can open a WAMU free checking in any WAMU branch in the USA (e.g. Florida, NYC, etc.)
It's really a good deal.
AND final good thing - you can maintain a checking and savings account (both free of charge, savings account is free if you open it online) or have 2 checking accounts opened in the branch if you cannot open account online - WHY, you ask? Because that way you can maintain money in your savings/second checking account, and move money to your checking account with ATM Mastercard before you go to withdraw money. After you withdraw money, what is left, you move it back to the second account.
All of this done from the comfort of your home in Wamu online banking.
This way you prevent unauthorized charges if somebody copies your Mastercard details somehow.