If you are not planning on working in Mexico or living here long term you may not want or need to open a bank account. Lots of snowbirds access funds through ATMs and manage quite well. Mind you, there are limitations to the amount of funds you can take out per day and per transaction. Personally, I had my Canadian bank account changed to allow a much higher daily and weekly cash withdrawal which made getting larger amounts of cash a lot easier.

Now you might be wondering why there’s such a need for cash. Unlike up North, Mexico is primarily a cash driven economy. Yes, many businesses accept foreign debit and credit cards but there are some who do not. And unfortunately there are times when our foreign cards are not accepted by the point of sale terminals for a variety of reasons.

There are going to be some instances where you could need a lot of cash. For instance, to pay a private individual for a used car or boat. Without a Mexican bank account you might have to become a frequent flyer at the ATM kiosk. I don’t know about you but there is something just a little unnerving about walking around with $10,000 pesos in my pocket. Repeatedly . . .

Undoubtedly the most likely reason that you would need a Mexican account would be big ticket items like purchasing a car, property or doing a major renovation. Technically, you don’t need an account to buy a home because you can wire the funds from your home account into an escrow account set up by the lawyer who is handling your sale but that may not be possible depending on various factors. If you open a Mexican account you can transfer in big amounts of money from your “home” bank. Then from your Mexican account you can make larger withdrawals from a teller than would be possible at a bank machine.

Typical Requirements
Opening a bank account in Mexico. The requirements tend to be the same across the major banks. To open an account as a foreigner they say that you need to apply in person and bring your:

- Valid passport
- Temporary or permanent residency card (not a 6 month visitor visa)
- Proof of address (recent utility bill)
- CURP number (you receive this number when you get your temporary or permanent residency and it appears on your residency card). You can also print out a certificate for free.

Having said that, there are always exceptions. Like our neighbors who were visiting La Paz in 2018 but had not yet purchased property nor had residency visas. They were given a bank account at Santander using their 6 month visitor visas, passports and our utility bill!

One consistent exception to the residency requirement is Intercam bank who are offering bank accounts to foreigners without a long-term visa. Most online information says that this is impossible and yet . . . it happens. At least in La Paz and likely other places as well.

A Few Thoughts on Money Transfers
We tried making wire transfers directly into our Santander account from a national bank in Canada but the information provided by Santander did not work. We discovered later that it was a common problem caused by one code which was a digit shorter than what the Canadian banking system required. Inserting an extra zero at the front of the code resolved that. Keep in mind we were living in a hick town way up north and the tellers weren’t that savvy when it came to international transfers. Anyway, we ended up opening an account at Intercam here in La Paz. It’s a Mexican financial group that has branches in most major Mexican cities. We had no trouble transferring money to Intercam and they then transferred the funds directly into our Santander account without taking a huge fee.

Alternative options for transferring cash other than bank wire transfers are online companies like those described in this article on the Best Ways to Transfer Money Internationally. There are also many apps like those detailed in this 7 Best Money Transfer Apps writeup. Always be sure that you know how much you are actually paying to do the transfer. Some banks or online options may say “No Fee” but they can really gouge you on the exchange rate.

With a Mexican bank account, apart from accessing cash, you will receive a debit card that allows for purchases from Mexican online institutions or businesses that do not accept foreign cards. As of the time I am writing this you can’t pay your power bill online with a foreign card but your Mexican bank card will work. The same is true for various businesses throughout Mexico. Even big companies like Telcel, the largest cellular network provider, accepts some foreign cards and rejects others when paying online.

I’ve also had a number of cases where my credit cards were rejected as being either invalid or the PIN was incorrect, which was not true. When I checked with my banks they could find no attempted charges made to my cards, which likely means an Internet connection issue on this end. I have one card that always says the PIN is incorrect but I discovered that if I enter the PIN three times it will automatically authorize it.

For bigger purchases there are also times when a transaction is declined by the authorizing bank because it is coming from a foreign country. Sometimes this happens even when you’ve advised your bank that you are residing in Mexico. A friend was purchasing furniture in Cabo San Lucas and the clerk advised her that she should call her bank before attempting the transaction. My friend insisted it would not be an issue, but it was, and continued to be throughout a 45 minute frustrating call to her American bank. Eventually it went through. My point is, it’s better to have options!