Save Money When Changing Dollars to Pesos

Posted by Larry F on October 31, 2014, 11:54 am
70.66.229.133

Most of us foreigners who live in Mexico use credit and debit cards to get pesos from our bank at home. Recently, in preparation for heading south again, I went to my bank to find out what these transactions were costing me. Using my debit card to get money out of an ATM (when the machines at Banamex actually work) cost me a 35 peso fee from Banamex plus a $3 fee from my bank at home. Six flipping dollars! Use your credit card at Soriano or Walmart? Most credit cards charge a 2.5% foreign exchange transaction fee. What I learned when I complained to my bank: Get a no-fee debit card. No more $3 charged for every ATM visit. There are usually annual fees for this card, but there are ways to get these waived. Don't use a credit card, or get one that doesn't charge the foreign exchange fee. There aren't many, but in Canada, for example, Amazon offers one that also has rewards as well. Intercam, if you have an account with them, used to have a great service in getting your US and Canadian money into your pockets in pesos at excellent rates. Now that they are a bank, I'm not sure how it will work. Looking for other ideas on maximizing the buck in La Manzanilla. Legal ones, of course.

639