I got mugged ......... By Scotiabank

[Lambada]

Remember there is a 1.5% tax on cheques... or is it a 0.15%?

I've been paying in cash............so I've yet to experience this. One of Simon's payments sounds like it could be the tax. But the other? A service charge? Again, no experience of this because I have a checking account (unused recently!) as well as a savings account, so have never asked bank to write me a cheque.
Simon, as soon as I get time, I'm going to go to my bank with the books of 2 savings accounts I've got, last book entry in one March 04, in the other June 03. I'll let you know what happens! If you're likely to be in centre of PP you can come with me & watch, & either fall about laughing or applaud, whichever seems appropriate .

 

[Criss Colon]

"BANRESERVAS" $UCKS TOO!

When I went to the "Automatic Teller" last week,I was more than "SURPRISED" to find 13,500 pesos "missing"! I,of course, thought that somehow someone had "stolen" the $$$$$$$$$.Come to find out,the "Bank" had taken the money,and paid off the entire balance of my "Banreservas" creditcard.Can they do that??? Well,they DID! I had planned to pay it off on the 25th.,with some my regular monthly pay.The money they took was from my "Christmas Bonus",that I planned to use to buy Christmas Presents!!
"Banks $uck","Dominican Banks "$uck Big Time"!! :bandit: :bandit: :bandit:s!
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[Lambada]

Well, Simon, I stand corrected! There IS a 'carga inactiva' - it apparently was introduced in 2003 (blame Hippo!) i.e. before you got here. The rest of us should have known about it & obviously didn't.

The info I was given is a bit different to yours, so I'll post it for what it is worth. The 'carga inactiva' applies to savings accounts, both dollar & peso, I was told, but not checking or any other type of account. It applies after 3 months of inactivity (as opposed to the 6 you were told, I believe). The charge was 42.50 pesos per month until April of 2004 when it became 50 pesos (or dollar equivalent). I didn't enquire as to whether the money went to Banco Central as I was more interested in learning about 'circumventing strategies'.

It would appear 'inactive' means no personal appearance to engender a 'book' entry. It doesn't have to be your personal appearance, as long as its a 'body' that is ok. 'Activity' is classed as a withdrawal, a deposit or (get this!) the appearance of the 'body' with your book to get the entries of interest etc. updated.

I gave them my 'indisputable logic' as per earlier post. No that is a 'bank' transaction not a 'body' transaction, I was told. So........those are the facts(!). The application of the 'facts' seems less than consistent. As you know from the dates I posted yesterday, both of my accounts were well out of time for a 6 month 'carga inactiva' let alone a 3 month one. I promise you, Simon, I walked out of that bank with the carga inactiva applied to one account & NOT to the other! (You have my permission to check my books to verify).

So perhaps my earlier invitation to either fall about laughing or applaud should be changed to one to join me in scratching my head.................

BTW there do appear to be circumventional strategies, I obviously found one for one of my accounts, but I don't actually know WHAT it is! I gather shutting down the account & reopening it is a possible, but I didn't have the time (not after all of the above!) but if you try this one, Simon, let us know how you get on.

A bemused Lambada, still pondering the mysteries of life & Dominican banking!

 

[MommC]

Hmmmm so what happens if you don't have a "book"????

Our US$ saving account at Banco Popular doesn't have a passbook! We get a mailed monthly statement (at least we're supposed to which actually sometimes happens!) so there is no book!
This also means we don't have to make a "body" appearance unless we are actually depositing or withdrawing money which we can do at any branch not just the one we opened the account at........
There is a monthly "bank" deposit for the interest which shows up on the statement........

Hmmmmm.......anyone else have any "Light" to shed on this subject

MommC....also bemused and shaking her head!

 

[tomgallo]

The thieving b*stards who collectively go by the name of Scotiabank seem to have found a new way of fleecing us out of our money. Perhaps someone can confirm the most bull*hit story I've ever heard.

I was in the process of paying a pile of pesos into my account when I was told that if you don't use your account for six months the Central Bank - not Scotiabank you understand? Charge your account 300 pesos - that's 10 dollars +. That is the law! - Sure enough, when they updated my book, there on my account was a 300 pesos debit. This carries on EVERY six months.

So, I mentioned what would happen if you had no money in the account. - They charge 300 pesos and now you're overdrawn. This obviously runs up interest at whatever sky-high number they choose to dream up. Consequently, within the year you would be several hundred pesos in debt without even realising. Now lets say you're not in the country and not told about this (I wasn't told and I live here). Over a few short years it's gonna run to thousands. - Then guess what happens? - They put a charge on your house to get "their" money back.

So in a few short years' from last using your account (and clearing it down to a handfull of change) you could be so much in debt that you simply wouldn't want; or be financially able, to return here. How mad is that!

Whatever next? Thank God they don't tax stupidity! :tired:

Hey, are you from Mars?

Banks everywhere are the new "bandidos". That is what they do for a living. We need the Islamic law that prohibits the charge of interest ans services charges. Find the meaning of "parasite" in your nearest dictionary.