Yeah i've heard conflicting stories as well. I need to set up a bank account, but I don't actually want to live in Mexico..lol. I'm sure it's a wonderful place but i'd much rather live in South America so I can work on my spanish...

Is it possible to move down to rosa, get everything set up, and then after a couple months move to South America BUT keep the mexican account and use it as my primary account for withdrawing funds?

I live in Mexico and have a Santander bank account. Today I went to my branch and asked for the info to do wire transfer cashouts. I noticed that the Swift Code is for JP Morgan Chase in New York City for USD transfers. The beneficiary bank is Santander, S.A. Is this the same for others and if so, is it a problem with PS?

Thanks!

Possibly. But I can foresee alot of problems with that. Like losing your debit card. Mexican banks will literally do NOTHING for you if you're not standing in front of them.

Ok, if you have any other ideas feel free to pm me please. Unfortunately, mexico is off my list...the legislation thats probably gonna go thru and now the banks being more wary of us citizens. I think setting everything up in Montreal would be better I guess.

My plan was to set everything up, get my money off us sites via mb to foreign bank to my schwab, then leave and travel around and only come back when I needed to. Basically only use mb and foreign bank for bigger withdrawals and then use NT and my schwab debit in whatever country im in for everyday stuff.

^^Set up bank accounts/MB in Canada then move to Mexico imo

Same question. I also heard they were locking down these funds if you wired them and immediately tried to move them.

I had relocated to canada but my time there is almost up but i found out i could go back to canada after leaving for a bit. However... since skrill no longer allows gambling transactions this is going to be a huge problem for me b/c i need to move funds around quite a bit and am planning to come to mexico.I had asked skrill if i relocate to mexico could i just send the mexican bank statement and then i could do gambling transactions and they said yes. I have few questions that i wanted to ask as well for this. Someone told me to post this on this thread because questions i asked him... he said its very complicated and depends on so much things and to ask in this thread. I only considered Rosarito at the moment b/c that was the only place i hear about. I spoke to someone that recently relocated there and they said its great and they got bank setup there with santander. I also spoke to someone else who said back then they relocated to san lucas cabo and said its great there as well. So right now im thinking about which of the 2 i should relocate. The person from san lucas cabo said they rented a monthly place furnished and the person in rosarito told me they were able to find monthly condo 1 bedroom which is what im looking for as i have studio here in montreal.


1. Is Santander bank the primary bank for Rosarito? Is there another bank that you could use... i recalled there was another popular mexican bank but i could not recall the name of it. I think its the 2nd most popular one. Could you use santander and the other one at cabos or playa? Is all you need id/passport or you need lease etc? I opened bank acct in canada with just id/passport, they didnt require lease though i had one. I read you need some type of fm2 or visa? What is that and where do you get it and how much does that cost?


2. Do almost all of you open 2 different currency accounts with one bank... one in usd and one in peso? In canada, i opened usd for doing my gambling transactions and CAD for living expenses. Someone told me that you have to be in rosarito first if you want to create a usd acct and if you go straight to playa del carmen... you could only open up a peso acct and thus this is not good b/c you woudl pay tons of conversion fees everything? Does anyone know how this is for cabos? The person i spoke to who was there said he didnt have bank acct so i didnt ask him this question.


3. Bank wire fees. Here in canada i have bank of montreal. So back when i could use skrill for gambling transactions, its poker site > skrill> BMO> Bank of America. Poker site to skrill is free... skrill to BMO i think its 2.50+15 so 17.50? I never did a withdraw from skrill to bmo yet. And if i wanted to get those funds into bank of america, i could do a wire that would be 40-60 dollars total since boa charges 15 or 20 to receive wire and bmo charges 15-30 depending on amt. Or the cheaper way is to get a bank draft which i think is 15 dollars from bmo and then you could take that draft with you to usa and deposit into bank free of charge or mail it to someone in the us to deposit for you.

Can someone tell me how much are these bank wire fees for mexican bank to transfer funds to american bank acct? Is there an option to withdraw funds via bank draft and then mailing it to the usa and have someone deposit the draft for you? Is it pretty similar to canadian bank wire fees?


4. Are there any withdraw limits for these banks? I read someone mentioned they could only withdraw 5000 a month max from skrill to mexican bank? Is this true or did it read this wrong? Or maybe i read 5000 a month you could wire from mexican bank acct to american bank acct?


5. Neteller. I used neteller back when i was in the usa and when it was still allowed in the usa. Do most of you use neteller for deposit/withdraw or most of you just use skrill? It certainly is nice to have another ewallet in addition to skrill though skrill should be good enough.


6. Neteller debit card. I spoke to someone who said hes in mexico but doesn't even have a bank acct. He said you could use it and withdraw funds in mexico and in the usa as well but you have to tell neteller. So if im getting this right... when you withdraw funds from poker site to neteller... then you go to an ATM machine and withdraw USD cash from it using your neteller card? If so... that would make things very very easy and convenient if you need cash. Thus neteller card is basically a way for you to get funds without having to wire and thus pay wire fees to get funds from neteller to your mexican bank account? However... i assume there has to be cost for withdrawing funds from neteller right? Is it a flat rate for each withdraw or is it flat rate plus percentage of what you withdraw? And what are the limits for withdrawing?

Someone told me you could withdraw funds in the usa as well. So if you have just 5k in your neteller account... then you in the usa and want to withdraw it.. you can just like that at any atm? Because this seems to be great away to get funds of without having to be in mexico since for example if you have funds in skrill and in the usa... u cant access your funds.... then again that should be normal though but im really confused that you could withdraw funds via neteller.


Thank you.

Santander and Bancomer are probably the two most popular banks here in Mexico. Santander has slightly lower fees but Bancomer generally has more atms around the country. All you need to open an account is your passport and an electricity bill from your apartment. Best to bring your lease and your fm3 visa on arrival too.

I only ever had a peso account so I can't really comment but you're reasoning sounds logical. You want to minimize converting money, and when you do you want to convert at the best price.

Bank wire fees are quite similar in Mexico. At santander it is roughly 300 pesos to receive a wire, at Bancomer a little more expensive, either 350 or 400 I think. Fees for sending to USA are similar to the ones you quoted.

Both of my ATM cards have a 6k/day limit. There are no lmits for sending skrill to bank account or from Mexican bank to USA bank. All new skrill account are subject to account limits. Email them to get them removed.

Yes, neteller is a great service. Good idea to have an account open in addition to Skrill.

Yes the Neteller and Skrill Mastercards are both great! It is certainly a great way to get money without paying fees while back in the states. Withdrawing using them in Mexico can be cheaper than a wire depending on the withdrawal amount and your VIP status in Neteller or Skrill.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all that information. What do you mean by fm3 visa? You actually need that in mexico to stay there? Here in canada... i dont have any visa at all and was told i dont need one if i stay here 6 month and leave and come back later on.

Upon arrival you will be given a little piece of paper that permits you to stay in Mexico for 180 days. That is your fm3 visa. Keep it until you leave the country.

For those of you still in PDC, Rosarito etc... is there any concern about the banking/gambling legislation or it's effects?

Are you referring to the legislation discussed here - http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/57...poker-1398846/? Details seem hard to come by at this point, so it's all just speculation so far, but it doesn't sound very promising. Maybe offshore sites could get licenses to keep operating legally, but I imagine the Mexican casinos would work their mafia magic and keep them all for themselves. Then again, a quick search shows news as far back as 2008 about proposed changes to the federal gaming law, so who knows if it will actually get done this time around. Have to wait and see the actual details of any legislation that gets passed, whether it includes bank regulations or just affects the casinos, etc.

My understanding is that the fm3 is the temporary resident visa. The 180 day on arrival is an FMT1

What banks can you open an account at without the FM3?

*Holiday's recap on the last page is good, thanks

No, that's not correct. FMM is the tourist visa that permits up to 180 days stay. FM3 is the a long-term non immigrant visa, it's for people who want to stay longer than 180 days, even tho you can simply renew the FMM every 180 if you want. Alot of people who retire in Mexico get the FM3.

Concern, yes, but this is something that should at the very least take months to pass. Mexican Senate has until March to agree and present to the Pres, and then he has 180 days to sign. There's no word on whether the Senate has ratified etc. Once the law gets enacted, they are supposed to create a new gaming commission within 180 days. So as you see, potentially, this could take over a year to happen, assuming the Senate agrees in the 1st place.

Again, FM3 is the non-immigrant permanant resident visa, and FMM is the 180 day tourist visa. You can open a bank account at Bancomer, and Santander with just the FMM. I can't speak for the other banks.

You are able to use Neteller and Skrill mastercards with US dollars while in the states? I'm in a similar situation as DrewFish. I Was using moneybookers to funnel money through my US dollar CAD account to my Bank of America account in the US. Now I don't know wtf to do without money bookers. I have a Bancomer peso acct in Playa del Carmen but I will pay a ton of fees going from a Stars Euro wire > Bancomer peso account > USD bank account.

Also, to those who wire $ from their mexican acct to their American acct, has this been difficult? I would want to be wiring around 20-25k once every 2 months. I'm assuming you have to go into the bank to request the wire transfer and can't do it online (like HSBC in Canada). And of course us in Playa del Carmen can't get US dollar accounts. Does that mean you have to go from Stars USD > Moneybookers peso > Mex peso > back to US bank acct in USD? That would be two currency exchanges and seems like a lot in fees. I wonder if us in Playa who already have Mex peso accounts can just go down to Baja and open an additional USD acct. I have Bancomer fwiw. I had the perfect setup before with MB > my USD CAD acct. Pretty frustrating now.

Yes, you can use Neteller and Skrill cards while you're in the US. But only if your account is based in another country of course. I've been told you should not login to your account while in the US however.

Bank wires are annoying, but yeah, you have to go in and fill out the form in person. Stars Euro Wire -> Peso Bank Acct -> US Bank. You're stuck with the 2 currency exchanges. Most people trade, or Skrill/Neteller ATM in the US -> Deposit US Bank Acct while you're there. I don't think you can open an acct in Baja without a lease agreement/utility bill there.

Thx for the info! I think someone from pokerexpats posted here a year ago saying they could hook up a bank account with just a passport and tourist visa (FMM that everyone gets). I will look into this just to get a USD account. I'm in the process of trying to get my Moneybookers account changed from Canada to my place in Mexico but they are slow as **** responding. I was also wondering why no one uses HSBC down in Mexico. I used it in Canada simply cause they had the online wire option which is super convenient for those wiring money to the states consistently.

To those of you in mexico, are you getting charged extra fees from skrill to your mexican usd account? In the skrill thread, someone mentioned that since skrill no longer service canadians for gambling transactions anymore, the fees for getting funds from skrill to a canadian bank acct, they said they dont cover it anymore and just let the user pay it.


Just a minor thing but is the fee from skrill to your mexican usd bank acct still the same the last few months as oppose to previously? Curious if this is just for canadian accts who transfer from skrill to canadian usd bank acct or is it for everyone else outside canada.

I currently have a Skrill account linked to a canadian bank account which I used to withdraw to, now Skrill no longer works with poker sites for Canadians. So if I move to Mexico, would it be possible to withdraw from stars to Skrill and then to my original Canadian bank account.

Not really familiar w/ the MB/Canada thing so I'm not sure. Does NT work up there?

Nope, NT been gone for years...

Can someone confirm if its true that you cannot get a USD Bank Account in Playa Del Carmen and the only way to get a usd bank account in mexico is if you go to rosarito and create a usd bank account there or go to a bordering state to get the usd account, then come to playa del carmen later? I read a information that someone mentioned you can open one in playa with just 15k min and need some fhm3 visa but no one here has one so thats not possible. Does that mean the guys who relocated to playa dont use skrill at all then? I spoke to a few realtors in playa del carmen for 1bedroom but it seems like i wont be going there if i cant get a usd bank account.


Would it be possible for me to just get a 1 month lease in rosarito just for the usd bank acct then leave and head to playa? Or do the banks there require at least a 3 month lease? Also is it true that santander bank no longer allows new accounts unless you are in mexico for at leaset 6 months so bancomer is my only option? I spoke to someone who mentioned this recently and i never heard of this.


Or would it be possible for me to rent a room from someone in rosarito just so i can get my name on the lease somehow so i could create an usd bank account and then i leave few weeks or month as i see there are ppl that want a place to stay for 2 weeks or less. Or would that not be possible?

any body have a room for rent ?

Can somebody confirm that I can open an account with Bancomer that will let me do the following:

1) Cash out from PokerStars to my Bancomer Account and then send a wire to my United States bank account without having to go to the bank every time? (I.e. do it all online)