Opening a bank account in Quintana Roo, Mexico – PART ONE

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of how we went about opening a bank account, I would like to share the story behind us making the decision to open an account.  It all started because of a loaf of whole wheat bread.  That is right, you read that correctly.  We opened a bank account because of a loaf of whole wheat bread.

We love baking our own homemade whole wheat bread.  Our basic recipe calls for whole wheat flour, yeast, maple syrup and water.  Pretty simple…right?  But there is one other ingredient that really makes your bread, BREAD.  It adds to the texture, look, and feel of our bread.  This one ingredient is Vital Wheat Gluten, and we just refuse to make bread without it. But here is the problem.  We could not find vital wheat gluten anywhere here in Quintana Roo.  We posted on forums and social media, asked all our friends, but no one knew where we could buy some. Typically, when my husband comes for a visit from the United States, he will bring a bag or two with him.  But this time when he came for a visit, COVID-19 struck the world and he ended up staying in Mexico.  As we made our last loaf of whole wheat bread, we began to panic. 

After an extensive search, we found an online store called Mercado Libre.  It is sort of like an Amazon, but in Mexico (not to be confused with Amazon Mexico).  Anyway, when we saw they sold vital wheat gluten our hearts almost leaped out of our chests (yes, it’s that serious…for us, LOL).  

We created our account on Mercado Libre immediately and started placing items in our shopping cart.  When it was time to check out, they had some many payments options we thought to ourselves, how easy-peasy the process was.  

We entered our credit card information and the entire process came to a screeching halt when our card was declined.  The company did not take our credit card from the United States, only wire transfer.  We were so sad.  There was only one thing left to do…open a bank account in Quintana Roo, Mexico that would allow us to pay our local bills and shop on Mercado Libre.

Now the search was on for a bank.  We had spoken with several locals who had recommended their banks.  They explained the simple process and the low fees to open.  However, as we checked into these banks, the fees were astronomical, and the process was not so simple.  Since I had recently written a blog post regarding ATM’s and banks, I decided to start there to research which bank would be a good match for us.  In addition, our condominium had recently become a civil association, which included opening an account (I was a part of that process), so I did have a few options to get me started.

After reviewing several forums and social media, and going to several banks to obtain their information, we selected Intercam Bank (low opening deposit, no monthly fees, no fee for wire transfers, good interest rates, online banking, English speaking representatives and an English speaking help-desk via an 800 phone number).     

On May 4, 2020, we went to the bank and spoke with Victor Hernandez of Customer Relations who proceeded to explain the process for opening a bank account in Mexico. We explained what our needs were for opening an account (ordering ingredients for my whole wheat bread…LOL, and paying our utility bills online), and completed an application form.  He then explained that he would need to come to our home in the next couple of days to obtain a photo of the front of our condo building.  

Victor scheduled an appointment with us for the next day to take photos and asked us to send him our GPS coordinates for our address and directions.  He arrived at the schedule time, took a photo (with us in the photo), and asked for a brief description of our condo. 

Now in case you are wondering what on Earth does a bank need with a photo of the front of your property and a description of your home (number of rooms, etc.), you are not alone.  I started asking all sorts of questions, especially the WHY do you need that information question.  Victor quickly explained that the United States of America has extremely strict rules and regulations for Americans to open international bank accounts.  He continued to explain that all banks in Mexico had to follow KYC (know your client) for financial and banking services. I quickly looked up KYC in order to educate myself and have a comfort level for the process.  In a nutshell, this policy deals with anti-money laundering regulations.  Once I understood why all the questions, I was able to relax and view it as a learning experience, instead of viewing all the questions as an opportunity for identify theft.
 
Now that the application was completed, a photo of the front of our condo with us in it and the documents submitted to the bank, it was time for the application to be processed.  Victor indicated it would be approximately 7 to 10 days for them to process our account.  In the meantime, my account was given to another representative, Mr. Francisco Gurria (nickname is Paco) who would manage my banking needs moving forward.  When he contacted me to inform me that my account was almost ready, he indicated that they still needed additional information.  Apparently, there was a misunderstanding (no one’s fault) and it would take a few more days to process my application. After a few days, Paco contacted me and scheduled an appointment to come to my home with our contract.  I signed several documents (which are only in Spanish), called the dedicated 800 number for English speaking clients, and set-up my account on their English language website. Let me just say that the process is no small feat.  It involves lots of repeat entering of numbers and extensive security (using an iToken,) at every step…WHEW!

But wait…my account is still not finished.  To be able to order items online, I still need my debit card from Intercam bank, which will take an additional two weeks of waiting.  On June 20th, I still had not heard back from anyone regarding my debit card, so I contacted Paco to inquire into the status of my card.  Paco responded immediately and explained that due to COVID-19, things at the bank had been terribly slow due to staffing issues and that my card would be ready for pick on Thursday, July 2 or Friday, July 3, 2020.  As you can see from the above dates, it has been well over one month just to receive my debit card.  

So, the saga continues😒...watch for my August 2020 blog post (PART TWO) for updates on my bank account.