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Greetings all. We have made the plunge and purchased a home in Coco. We have set up a Corp. to transfer title, and on Monday we are going to Banque Nacional to TRY to set up a bank account. We are returning to Canada on April 8th and want to get everything we can done, before that time. We don’t have any status here, and don’t have a Cedulla or have even started the process ( THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REAL ESTATE SEARCH TRIP…NOT PURCHASE<:) ...can we open an account without the Dimex. If we can't what the heck do we do? Seems its getting harder to open an account here?
[quote=”ratus”]Greetings all. We have made the plunge and purchased a home in Coco. We have set up a Corp. to transfer title, and on Monday we are going to Banque Nacional to TRY to set up a bank account. We are returning to Canada on April 8th and want to get everything we can done, before that time. We don’t have any status here, and don’t have a Cedulla or have even started the process ( THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REAL ESTATE SEARCH TRIP…NOT PURCHASE<:) …can we open an account without the Dimex. If we can't what the heck do we do? Seems its getting harder to open an account here?[/quote]
I can only give you the details of current banking experiences in Samara as related to me by recent newcomers to our community.
Not one of them has been successful in getting an account open with BNCR.
All of them have been able to get new accounts with BCR!
I bank with BNCR and I am very pleased with the service I get at the local branch so the above info has no ill intent toward BNCR. Just reporting the facts as they have been reported to me. Actually, this was a big discussion yesterday at our First Friday event.
It is possible that you might be able to open the bank account in the name of your corporation since a corporation is considered a person for business purposes in Costa Rica. You as the President and the Vice President would have the authority to conduct business in the name of the corporation. I don’t know anyone who has done this but I can’t think of any other way. BCR closed my accounts until I returned to Costa Rica and was able to “update” my information by showing them my cedula.
While you [i]may[/i] get an account, you will [u]not[/u] be able to do SINPE, internet banking between different banks. [url=http://insidecostarica.com/2012/10/05/the-dinex-card-you-probably-already-have-one/]Additional DIMEX info[/url]
[quote=”ratus”]Greetings all. We have made the plunge and purchased a home in Coco. We have set up a Corp. to transfer title, and on Monday we are going to Banque Nacional to TRY to set up a bank account. We are returning to Canada on April 8th and want to get everything we can done, before that time. We don’t have any status here, and don’t have a Cedulla or have even started the process ( THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REAL ESTATE SEARCH TRIP…NOT PURCHASE<:) …can we open an account without the Dimex. If we can't what the heck do we do? Seems its getting harder to open an account here?[/quote]
I’ve been here since December 2007 and never bothered with a CR bank account. All of my funds are deposited in my bank in the U.S. and I withdraw as needed through the ATH system here.
In the past we used the ATM system at BCR or BN but changes have required us to use the ATH machines at BAC.
We do have our Residency and Cedulas.
I used my attorney to setup mine in 2008 in Orosi. It took several trips for additional notarized information, but since he setup the corporation, he was my best source for completion and success. Finally, he allowed me to carry my whole file to the bank for their inspection which seemed to circumvent additional notarization costs.
You should ask you lawyer for the name of a acquaintance at the bank of choice. I only will deal with BNCR because of the protection of their deposits have under the Constitution of Costa Rica. Private banks in Pura Vida has no equivalent of FDIC insurance if they fail, they fail with the depositors hold the bag. I don’t think the government will even investigate their failure on your behalf.
If you do open a dollar or colones account with BNCR, make certain you get yourself a “ficha” (token) for 6,000 colones or you will not be able to add accounts inside your BNCR account for the payees you want to be able to electronically pay while you are out of the country. I now finally got my property account installed for I can pay my property taxes each quarter all 6,000 colones of it.
If you have a recommendation/introduction to the bank from your attorney/notary of record for your corporation, you might be more successful then walking in cold off the street. I resisted the effort for a corporate account for a personal $$ account when I was asked my choice at the bank branch in Orosi. For this I did not have feedback from my attorney, I just made the choice. Later he told me it would serve me just fine.
Remember this, in Costa Rica if you have introduction to a branch manager, that manager will take great pride in remember you in the future. This is a country where introductions still mean something and people are very glad to see you. This is not longer true in the United States, we lost this value about 40 years ago.
Good Luck,
Tom
Portland, Oregon
😀[quote=”costaricafinca”]Tom, many things have changed since you set up your account. Not so easy, anymore.[/quote]
Well That’s FOR SURE:!::!:
When I was a visiting professor at Universidad Nacional in 1980 I bought a CD in colones [with dollars} when I went back to the U.S. Due to exchange rate fluctuations, my CD lost 90% of its value [converting colones back to dollars]. But that’s beside the point. Now, because of changes in La Ley, my account doesn’t even exist. Pura Vida.
PEHThe current “buzz” on the forums is that the national (public) banks will not open a new account until you have a Dimex card in hand. That’s your residency cedula for you uninitiated.
It has been reported in the past few days, however, that folks who are having ARCR process their residency applications are getting ARCR’s assistance to get an account opened at Banco Nacional.
The private banks may take a different position. Their policies may be a little more lenient, so that’s an option to explore.
The private banks do not enjoy government protection for their assets, but unless you plan to keep large sums on deposit that should not be an issue. No private bank has failed here for many years. We bank at Banco Davivienda’s office here in Grecia. The staff here could not be more helpful.
And, unlike the national banks, the “float” on U.S. checks is ten days at Davivienda. Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica are reported to be holding checks for six weeks.
Another option is to open an account in the name of a CR Corporation that you are the Shareholders and Directors of. Although I wouldn’t use the same Corporation for the bank account that you are using for your property purchase. It is not a good idea to mix other items with real estate, or vehicles in the same corporation from a liability perspective.
Each CR bank will have its own policy with respect to opening accounts. Normally, this scenario would not require you to have Residency first.Thank you for all the info. I guess we will find out tomorrow if they allow us to open an account. Will post the outcome<:
thanks againOk…we went to the lawyer today and were informed we [i]can[/i] open a bank account under our newly formed corporation without a Dimex number, or even without any immigration papers filed. Unfortunately we were told the corporation was not complete. So we asked our lawyer a ton of questions and learned a ton of things! We talked and joked with him and he was more than willing to answer all our stupid questions. After we were done, we shook hands and were on our way out…. his assistant comes into the room and said oh sorry!! I had the paper work for the corporation finished on Friday and forgot to give it to you:shock: So we made plans to go the bank on Wednesday, and we learned that yes indeed…..things move slowly here in Costa Rica, but they do move 😛
My husband and I just relocated to Costa Rica from Canada.
We are living in the Ojochal area. We do not have our residency yet. We went to the Banco Nacional and they gave
us a list of what was needed to open an account. The list was; letter from a friend in Costa Rica, exact address in Costa Rica, bank letter from our Canadian bank, last 3 months of bank statements and a deposit. We went back the 2nd time
and we opened an account. They also took our old currency
and gave us the new bills. We found that the Banco Nacional was very hepful. We actually have had more problems with the Scotiabank in Canada.One of our clients who bought land almost 2 years ago, and built a house on it, was able to open a bank account at BNCR without DIMEX. They wanted copies of his electric bill and water bill, 2 reference letters from BNCR clients (me and 1 Tico), reference letters from his U.S. banks, and income statement from the U.S. they did not ask for translations into Spanish, nore for an income statement drawn up by Costarican accountant. However, he will not be able to do SINPE transactions.
We live in San Ramon 6 months of the year and have had a bank account with Scotia Bank since 2009. We had no problems at all. Yes, there were paper hoops to jump through and yes, things took time, but we never had any problems and have transferred money from Canada, also with no problems. We never bother with cheques from Canada, just direct transfers so there has never been a hold on any funds in our accounts.
Once we had established the Scotia account, we then went to Banco National in 2011 and opened an account with no problems at all.
This year was the first time we can’t do SINPE transfers, but now the house is finished, that really isn’t a problem.
My advice is to use Scotia–always polite, always willing to help and always able to speak English is you can’t speak Spanish.
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