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Please let us know here which bank you prefer doing business with in Costa Rica and why?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comHow about the local credit unions and co-ops? I’ve had nothing but problems with the public and private banks (nothing major just poor service and bumps)… I guess it comes with dealing with the big guys. Yet my CoopeMex accounts run like clockwork! They pay the bills (water/electric/phone/cell) on all my properites, provide EXCELLENT service, know my name, treat me like family, and make banking a pleasure…. not a task to spend hours on! And I’m by NO means a BIG $$$ customer! Even when I’ve had difficult situations that required some attention (not created by them)…. they’ve been great!
This might not be an option for some folks… but for me I’m VERY happy with the service. Something to think about.
We can always rely on you to give us over the top and unsubstantiated comments soflodoug – thanks for that.
By law all banks must be structured as a Costa Rica bank even though they may have an international connection. HSBC is a Costa Rican bank but obviously part of the enormous HSBC company.
PS. I had some unauthorized credit card transactions done online and HSBC were terrific in handling that problem which cost me NOTHING.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAlso be careful not to sign any bank documents that hold harmless the bank from any errors they or anyone may make on your account.
This was posted in the wrong place and reposted here.
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Posted Aug 08,2008 7:13 AM dickkeim
I have had a 2 year relationship with Scotiabank and have been well pleased. Dick Keim
My wife and I use Banco Nacional in Parrita. We have had very good service and very few problems. There have never been any incidences of fraud. Although we have very limited Spanish my wife has learned how to use the online banking to pay our hotel employees, social security, ICE bills, pool company bills and in some cases miscelaneous repair bills to local contractors. We wire money manually into our accounts in CR and can move funds between accounts. The security seems better than our USA banks with regard to password changes (every 30 days), no vowels, etc. I am sure there are some problems based on reports I have read in the media, but for us at least so far, None! I will add that the only other choice in our little coastal town is Banco Costa Rica which we have not looked into. There are no international banks in our little town. We would have to travel to Quepos or Jaco which seems unnessary to us at this point.
One other question for the group…We were considering opening a Euro account, but haven’t done so. Certainly wish I had done so years ago with the way the value of the Euro has moved with respect to the USD. Anyway any pros and cons on that appreciated. I haven’t visited this forum much recently, so please excuse me if this was a recent topic.
I have accounts at BN in Cobano, which unfortunately is the only bank in town and they obviously know it. Customer service is not on their top 10 list of prioriies and most of my friends in the area will move their accounts as soon as another bank is opened. Did not realize there were credit unions in CR. Boeing Employess Credit Union in the Seattle area is the best financial institution in the Pacific Northwest. As a non-profit corporation, it’s 600,000 members can get a home equity line of credit for 4.24%!!!
I have an account an BN and Cuscatlan. I have to say that Banco Cuscatlan is very ‘user’ friendly, has bilingual tellers, and has an English language website for online banking as well. I am able to transfer money internationally online, instead of standing in line at BN for hours sometimes (Tamarindo) to do one. No thanks. Taking a number like you are at the deli counter is for the birds. If only more banks could be like Cuscatlan! The one thing that Cuscatlan does need is a more ‘user friendly’ bill pay system and transferring funds to other banks. That is my only complaint. However, to bypass that, I move money from my Cuscatlan account to my BN account and make most of my online payments there.
I have trouble with the BNCR website. You would think that they would have the site in english. I deposited $18 K in a Euros CD a year ago angained 25%. This could be a false dollar rally because the colone is also rising. Does the Parrita branch have safety deposit boxes? I would still keep Euros plus the bank will pay moderest interest.
I think you can open a Euros account for a few hundred$$$US? You know for a checkless society there is alot of people walking around with cash. Do you know if there is a limit on withdrawls> Have you ever used their services to send money to the USA?
Take Care
Stan
Try everbank.comTo Bandera,
I also have trouble with the spanish BNCR site, but I am determined to just learn the spanish. My wife has less spoken spanish than I do, but she is a whiz at paying bills, etc on BNCR.
Yes the Parrita Branch does have safety deposit boxes, but they are small in size. We haven’t bothered to get one, but may in the future.
As for withdrawal limits. You can set that fairly high, but I don’t know what the limit is. I am refering to the withdrawal limits for the ATM. I don’t know of any limits on withdrawals at the teller inside the bank. We recently had to update our accounts inside the bank because of new passports. I think that is when we set up our daily withdrawal limits. There is a very nice man who appears to be mid-level mgt for this branch, speaks very good English (not a teller, works behind the glass near the corner of the glass wall next to the tellers and behind the public computer/printer workstation).
Sounds like you live in the Parrita area. My wife and I own a small hotel on the beach at Playa Palo Seco http://www.cabinaslatranquilidad We don’t live there full time yet, but plan to be there full time by the end of this year. Give me an email sometime and maybe we can have a beer or something when we’re down.
I agree with Mediatica about Cuscatlan. I’ve been using them for 6 years and pay all of my bills except Amnet with them. For that, I have to transfer money to BN online. The online transfer is cumbersome, there are many menus to go through, i.e. “are you sure” and “once you do this, there’s no going back”, etc. Apart from that, no complaints. I’ve had two mortgages with Cuscatlan and found the process to go very smoothly. The main reason I chose Cuscatlan 6 years ago was because of their relatively short holding time on personal checks drawn on US banks. The time is 8 working days, 5 working days if your bank is in southern Florida. The day you deposit is not counted and the funds are available on the day after the last day of the holding period. So for example, if you deposit your check on a Wed, you count Thur, Fri, all next week, the Mon of the second week and then your funds are available on Tues. Less than 2 week turnaround. If you deposit on a Mon, it’s available Friday of the next week. I haven’t heard, seen or read of anything better than this free of charge. I’ve been doing it at least twice a month for 6 years now.
MediaTica, would you mind elaborating on transferring funds internationally online?
As for BN, I don’t trust them and never have more than $200 with them. They have a history of online security problems and money “disappearing” from people’s accounts. Their home page flashes red flags everywhere in front of your face. It basically says that YOU are responsible for online security and lists a number of preventive measures for YOU to adhere to. What do THEY do? They make you change your password every 30 days and your new one cannot be the same as any of your previous 12. This is, I want to say childish, but let’s say amateurish to say the least. I have accounts with about a dozen financial institutions and none of them have ever required me to change my password for better security. There are many other options that are more effective in improving security, but it would appear that BN is absolutely clueless about this.
Jon
Hi Jon:
I requested to be able to wire money internationally to the USA from my $ account at Cuscatlan. It is ironic, because as I mentioned that their bank to bank transfer system is complicated, thier system to wire internationally is so simple and takes minutes online. More banks should offer online international transfers. Hope this helps.
That sounds great. I will check into it when I get back to CR. Is it possible to setup the transfer with any bank in the US or is the selection limited? What sort of fees are involved? What about US to CR?
A few months ago, I did a lot of googling trying to find information on sending Electronic Funds Transfers from a bank in the US to a CR bank and basically came up empty, although some people have told me they are doing it. ETF’s from the USA are available to some countries, including Mexico and a few countries in the EU, but I don’t think the list includes CR. It would be great if it did, or maybe things have changed since I last looked? Anyone have any clues?
The fees involved to transfer online internationally are $41.00. Under the same menu you use for bill pay is a tab for ‘transferencias internacionales’. You just need the typical information, routing, ABA, etc, bank name, and the wire usually hits the next business day. I send money between my account here in CR to my account in the states without issue. To receive funds is another story, the bank charges a commission, so usually I just write a check from my US account and deposit it in my Cuscatlan account. Much cheaper. There are no ‘set up’ fees for the online international wires. You can wire to any bank in the USA. There are no restrictions. I can’t help you with your EFT question unfortunately.
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