nikad
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- Aug 10, 2006
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I have been a member of this and other expat forums and groups for over ten years now. Before the " cepo " and money restrictions, I always recommended Banco Piano for international transactions, as they had a reputation for handling things well and being more open to expats' needs.
I recommended them over and over, to the point where some real estate companies that mainly work with expats these days, adopted them as well.
We have now completed the purchase of our own apartment in the city and I can only say that I am highly disappointed with Banco Piano. Not only they demanded excessive paper work, they tried to get us to pretend to be returning money back into the country ( ahem, money that was never here in the first place ), and for the service they charge a whooping 3% commission fee. Oh, apparently they do not trust IRA accounts, and they stopped replying. I bet you all know how shady these accounts can be ...
You would think that cuevas are more expensive right? Of course, they are charging around 6%, the reality is that we were doing it 100% en blanco and our bank's foreign commerce department charged us 0.025%.
Let me tell you that I have done a lot of research and was in contact with the Central Bank. I talked to the and they clarified all my questions and doubts. Banco Central sets the guidelines, and each private bank can require more or less documentation as per their legal departments. So you will find that different banks ask for different things ( some more, some less, some translated, some not translated, etc ). The basic rule is that you need to prove the origin of the money and get it transferred under the transaction code that best reflects the reality ( real estate purchase, student fees, gifts, family help, etc )
The bottom line is: Whether you are buying property, bringing money that was gifted to you, bringing money for your expenses, charging clients abroad, etc it can all be done at extremely low fees! Money does not have to be converted: you send usd you get usd., same with euro.
So if you are doing things legally, have documentation to back up your transactions, have a local bank account in usd, it is all working.
Avoid expat traps like Piano and financieras. If you have permanent residency and have nothing to hide, things go smooth and easy and cheap.
Best banks with reputable foreign commerce departments ( in no particular order ) Galicia, Santander Rio, Frances
This is all based on our experience from 2 weeks ago. Hope it helps someone.
I recommended them over and over, to the point where some real estate companies that mainly work with expats these days, adopted them as well.
We have now completed the purchase of our own apartment in the city and I can only say that I am highly disappointed with Banco Piano. Not only they demanded excessive paper work, they tried to get us to pretend to be returning money back into the country ( ahem, money that was never here in the first place ), and for the service they charge a whooping 3% commission fee. Oh, apparently they do not trust IRA accounts, and they stopped replying. I bet you all know how shady these accounts can be ...
You would think that cuevas are more expensive right? Of course, they are charging around 6%, the reality is that we were doing it 100% en blanco and our bank's foreign commerce department charged us 0.025%.
Let me tell you that I have done a lot of research and was in contact with the Central Bank. I talked to the and they clarified all my questions and doubts. Banco Central sets the guidelines, and each private bank can require more or less documentation as per their legal departments. So you will find that different banks ask for different things ( some more, some less, some translated, some not translated, etc ). The basic rule is that you need to prove the origin of the money and get it transferred under the transaction code that best reflects the reality ( real estate purchase, student fees, gifts, family help, etc )
The bottom line is: Whether you are buying property, bringing money that was gifted to you, bringing money for your expenses, charging clients abroad, etc it can all be done at extremely low fees! Money does not have to be converted: you send usd you get usd., same with euro.
So if you are doing things legally, have documentation to back up your transactions, have a local bank account in usd, it is all working.
Avoid expat traps like Piano and financieras. If you have permanent residency and have nothing to hide, things go smooth and easy and cheap.
Best banks with reputable foreign commerce departments ( in no particular order ) Galicia, Santander Rio, Frances
This is all based on our experience from 2 weeks ago. Hope it helps someone.
