[Lionlily]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]We have known a number of tourists (not legal residents) who have successfully opened accounts at both national and private banks. Generally, they’ll need proof of your identity (your passport), some indication of where you live (like an electricity bill which need not be in your name), some proof of the source of your income (Social Security award letter, pay stub, etc) and probably a letter of reference from a legal resident or citizen. It would likely be better if the letter were from one of the bank’s customers.

It seems that few people have or use checking accounts. Mostly, expats have a dollar account and a colon account. The dollar account is good to deposit wire transfers and U.S. bank checks into. Especially when the exchange rate is advantageous, it’s good to be able to convert dollars to colones and deposit them in your colon account.

In Grecia, at least, there don’t seem to be what we normally think of as safety deposit boxes. Last time I checked, Banco Nacional would rent you a locked metal box which they would keep in a locked file cabinet in a locked room.

We have a mortgage at HSBC where their service has been superb. We do our online banking there, too. It’s much easier to pay bills online than to go to the teller.

Recently, we opened accounts (one for Marcia and one for me) at Banco Nacional. There, and at Banco de Costa Rica, you can have your U.S. Social Security check electronically deposited each month for a monthly fee of $6.00. We’re changing ours over.[/quote]

Hi, Just curious did you close your US Bank Account? do you need/have to open a bank account in CR? How many ATM machines are there? Can you not use your US debit? and go into a bank if you need cash? Just curious….Thanks!

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