Post all information here regarding the process of opening a bank account in Mexico for U.S residents who are relocating there to continue their poker careers.

Feel free to include information on FM-2 and FM-3 visas as well and which banks require you to have these.

I will be moving to Mexico at the end of July. Will post updates then

If you know the bank manager personally you can get an account without an FM3. Otherwise all banks require it.

Below is an email exchange from last week*:

My reply:

Dear Jennifer,

Thank you for the quick response.** I am currently not an HSBC client, and do not have $100k to become a Premier account holder. The purpose of opening an account in Mexico is that I plan to travel to Rosarito, TJ, La Paz and Cabo on a regular basis in the future in order to visit friends who live down in those areas, and would like to have access to funds while I am in Mexico for extended periods of time. Having an account will hopefully help me to avoid things like ATM fees, high currency exchange fees, etc. Will opening a checking account with HSBC be an option for me?

Cordially,
Cafe Noir

Jennifer seems nice. You will note "FM2" and "FM3" are terms not present in her email, as are any verifiable IOIs. I have not gone in and attempted to open an account, but that's the info I was able to glean from a Vice President, Premier Relationship Manager from the Latin America International Center, for what that's worth. If someone has opened an HSBC account successfully without an FM2/FM3, that would be good information to include in this thread.



* I have another email exchange that's also dated last week that's very similar to this one. I will likely post it in this thread as it has slightly different information.

**Slightly sarcastic in tone: Response time is stated as being under 24hr, when in fact she took 48hr.

hmmmmm

i wonder what they would say if you didn't have a 100k..

edit: if you can ask them to be specific on the FM status that is required, that would be awesome.

I wouldn't recommend an HSBC account for poker.

Mexico and other developing countries are more relaxed than the US about this sort of thing. The law in many countries is that foreigners need a special permit to open a bank account, but the reality is that many banks will open an account with just passport and proof of residence.

I think you misread, I specified I did not have the 100k for the premier account (in which case I could just do it all through the US).

Why not?

HSBC closes any accounts that are identified as doing transactions with poker sites.

^ Are you sure you're not thinking of HSBC US? I'm sure the US branch has very different policies than HSBC in Canada, Mexico, etc. The company is headquartered in London where gambling is explicitly legalized..

I have certainly read of Americanos opening foreign HSBC accounts having them closed for making gambling transactions. Search 2+2 for HSBC and you'll probably find more info.

^ Will do. I will admit I had the opposite impression because most of what I had read was about how awesome the Premier accounts are (and also which I'm sure they're less strict with), so thank you for that.


Obviously I feel I should now ask, which Mexican banks are good for poker transactions?

Take this from someone that lived less than 10 miles from the border for a while and when we could hear gunshots at the house(On the water at SPI Texas) from Mexico I decided to leave. Mexico is getting very very dangerous for gringo's I had a good friend that lived in SPI she was mexican with a green card and wouldn't cross the border. The ONLY safe place in Mexico right now IMHO is Cozumel.

I posted already in another thread but had a question regarding a tourist visa vs work visa in Mexico. Can you make money playing poker in Mexico on a tourist visa without having to get a work visa?