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Banking in Mexico

Most foreigners in Mexico have accounts outside the country, and use an ATM to get cash. Around Chapala and Ajijic, many also have money in Lloyds, which is not a bank but a kind of trust fund, similar to a mutual fund in the U.S., only they offer banking-like services as well, such as currency exchange. Deposited funds earn a varying rate of interest, depending the return on investments, and different accounts earn different interest rates.

The only problem with using Lloyds is that they do not offer Internet banking. My wife, who is Mexican, opened an account at BanaMex so that she could transfer funds from her PayPal account, and have on-line access to account information.

We decided to purchase some land, so I wanted to transfer money from my Canadian bank account to my wife's BanaMex account. Easy, I'll write a check, no? No. When she tried to deposit my check she was told she could not deposit a foreign check for more than she had in the account. Say What?? I can't fathom any reason for that, but that is how it works. Luckily, she also has an account at Lloyds, so she took the same check there, deposited it in her account, and was told the funds will be available in four days.

So obviously it is not Mexican law that was preventing the transfer, but some crazy rules at Banamex. I have no idea if other Mexican banks are as eccentric. I have seen people from north of the border open bank accounts here and have problems sending the same funds back to their foreign bank because Mexico, as with most countries, has rules regarding how much money you can take out of the country at one time. But I've never before heard of any reluctance to bring money in!

Continuing Saga...

It is now five weeks later, and we still don't have access to that money! It did indeed take only four days for them to remove the money from the Canadian account, but they wouldn't let her withdraw any for 'four to six weeks' she was told. Back we went after five weeks, and 'it takes eight weeks' we are told, but if you can provide a bank statement showing the money was withdrawn from the bank in Canada, you can access it 24 hours later. Unbelievable...