Sorry - I thought I was being clear but obviously not. Yes, I transferred the money from the property sale from Banco Popular to BHD.
- Thread starter drstock
- Start date
Banco Popular v BHD
Ok thank you for making it clear.
I use Popular for almost 20 years and I have never had any problems with any paperwork with them.
The only problem with them for me is their technical troubles that they have once in a while with their internet banking or app or credit cards or whatever else, but tell me what bank here do not have those.
Thank you for the retrospective financial advice, but I had already decided that I did not want to do anything complicated, but wanted to hold the money here in a Dominican Bank where I can get at it if necessary. Also, although your example does show excellent historical performance, the Index can always go down.Totally agree ! Popular treats their client like s...! BHD far better than any other Bank. But i have to question your decicion to park your money in a certificate. Put it in SP500 and you do much better.
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Well, you are lucky. Try opening a certificate for a substantial amount.
I have never tried to open a certificate with them, but I can tell you this: I needed to transfer 250K from another country to my account in Popular once. Of course, they asked me where the money come from, and I said that I sold one of my properties overseas. They asked me if I can show them the copy of contract of sale, and I did that. The funny thing is that the contract of sale was not just in another language, but in a language that use another, non–Latin alphabet, so they could not read a word and could not even see if my name is there and what is that paper all about. I asked them if they want a translation (I could provide that), but they said no, just scanned it to have a copy for themselves, and that's it. So I can't say that they require more documents than needed, at least from me.
But, I have Dominican citizenship too, maybe they have more rules for foreigners.
May I ask why? I have used Popular, Reservas and BHD, finally I closed my accounts in BHD because in my opinion it was the worst and the slowest in everything (at least for me), I still have accounts in Reservas but barely use them because if I have to visit customer support in person for any reason, all of their branches here in Santo Domingo are overcrowded and I always have to wait a long time. With Popular I have never had any problem except small technical problems that they have once in a while, but once again, both Reservas and BHD have more problems like that. Last time I tried to change my password for BanReservas internet banking, I could not do that for two months because that function was simply not working (I have no idea if they fixed it or it's still not working).
Ok, that sounds normal. I wonder if, now that you have the certificate, would you need similar documentation in a year or so if you wished to open another type of account with them? Anyway, no need to worry about that now!
I have been here a long time and dealt with most every bank here. BP will take whatever they can from you and more. They never have any money to pay out to speak of. You want $7,000 US from your account they send you to two banks to get it. Any teller in BHD can handle that. I guess for a small account it is OK for you. And BP is jammed with people all the time. Just NOT FOR Me.........
I am wondering what the value of your car has to do with it? In your case you don't ask the bank for the money, you want to deposit YOUR money long term with them, so what's the difference for them what car you drive, maybe you ride a moto or a bicycle, what it has to do with your deposit?
I think it depends on location, in my branch in Santo Domingo they always have cash, I used to withdraw amounts from $5000 to $9000 before I travel internationally, to have some cash with me, not just cards, and they always have cash, I always could say, for example, give me $5000 in $100 bills, $1000 in $20 bills, etc.
Maybe if you are in Punta Cana or North Coast or somewhere else, then things are different, I don't know.
Well, I use them to receive USD wire transfers from US (usually come the same day, sometimes in less than an hour) and from other countries (usually takes a couple of days), I use them to deposit checks in USD issued by US banks to my USD account, I use their internet banking or app to change USD to pesos to use with my debit card in pesos here for my daily expenses, I get cash in pesos from their ATMs, I pay my utility bills from my pesos account, I use their Tarjetas Internacional (the ones issued by their Panamanian bank) for all online shopping and payments in USD and for traveling, I have bought and sold properties using transfers to/from my USD account with them, I also bought properties using Cheques Administrativos in USD issued by them, I sometimes transfer money from my Popular USD account to my accounts in other countries, the outgoing wire transfer is usually executed the same day, the transfers from/to other person's Popular accounts are instant, transfers from other Dominican banks via Pagos al Instante (BCRD) comes almost instantly during the day, so I don't know, what else..... I don't need any prestamos, I don't open any 'certificates' either, so I can't say anything about that, but for my regular banking needs they work fine. Yes, sometimes some technical errors in their internet banking or app or their system in general ara annoying, but once again, tell me which bank in DR don't have technical problems once in a while.
Hey Mr. stock, first congrats for selling your property, well done.
Can I ask you what interest your getting in BHD versus BP and how long is the term of the certificate.
Have you looked into buying sovereign bonds through BHD? Last time I checked, the interest rate was at least double that of BHD CD's. A friend told me that CD's at Banco Popular were only in the 3% range. Pathetic!
Thank you, the interest rates for the Central Bank notes look very attractive. I suppose one will have to keep the interest earned under the income tax limit
I will have a go at this next month when I am there. I looked at the app and the only option linked to Certificado financiero digital shows a maintenance error.
A savings deposit certificate, issued in Dominican pesos. You agree to leave the money with the bank for a set period of time, from 1 month to x years, and they pay you a set amount of interest. Currently for example the rates are typically 8% per year of interest for a 3 month certificate. So if you deposit 100,000 you get the equivalent of 8,000 per year interest, which is 666 per month. Less 10% tax which the bank deducts from the interest. You can take your money out before the agreed period if you need to, but you then lose half of the interest.
You have to go into the bank to open one, and the certificate is a piece of paper that you have to keep safe because if you lose it you can't get your money back easily.
The interest rates are good here compared to the US / UK but beware that the peso is devaluing so in a year's time your pesos will be worth a lot less dollars than they are today.
Interest is normally taxed at source at 10% by the bank. I think it is counted separately from the earnings income tax.
Hopefully you get more big amounts of cash coming in and therefor you should know that investing in SP500 takes much less time than any certificate in a DR Bank and you have the money back at your account within 2-3 Business Days if you decide to withdraw it. If you are a US Citizen than you can go to Robinhood, Ameritrade, Schwab etc. . If you are not a US Citizen you can use etorro for example. Just don't do stupid things and play with 'Leverage".
Etorro alows you to have a Virtual Account with 100K to test it out for free. BUT AGAIN: DO NOT TOUCH "LEVERAGE". SP500 is the safest thing out there. I hate traditional Banks, therefor if only one $ less goes to a traditional Bank, the time writing this messge was worth it.
It's a one year peso certificate and I am getting 9.5 per cent instead of 9.00 at Bando Popular. And before anyone says it, I know that the depreciating peso against the dollar means that in the end there is not much difference against the dollar, but I live here in the DR so the amount of pesos I have is most important to me.