Bancomer is a good option for Banking here in Mexico

There seems to be mass confusion out there about whether or not you can even have or open a bank account here in Mexico. I live in Tulum right now but this apply's to all of Mexico. They have special bank employee's who are there to cater to expats.

First of all anyone and I mean anyone can walk into a bank in Mexico with your passport and entry Visa and open a new account. It's safe and easy to do. There bank s are fully regulated just like in the US. You may have heard last week the Mexican Central Bank bought over $1 billion dollars worth of Gold as a hedge against both inflation and our pathetic currency which grows more and more worthless with each passing month due to our idiots in Washington and the Fed.

Let me introduce you to my personal banker Luis Fernandez Gutierrez of the Bancomer Bank here in Tulum, a very large bank here in Mexico. They have all of the usual relationships with Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and others for doing wire transfers or other international banking needs.

Bancomer is a very progressive bank here who very much wants to be your bank of choice here in Mexico.

Luis main job is to be on hand to help expats and foreigners with their banking needs from opening up a new account to getting real estate loans, trust, loans and of course fideicomiso trust for real estate which so many of us have here.

When I walked into his branch here in Tulum last year he was both courteous and polite to a fault which is the norm here, everyone is extremely polite in business dealings. He took me into his office where the whole process to open a new checking account took about 20 minutes and I walked out with my Visa debit card for the bank in my hand not 7-10 days if your lucky like in the US.



They even have a name for this service for Gringos your Preferred Client and we have separate lines at the bank and believe it or not no matter how many people are standing the regular lines you walk right up and get served next, admittedly this sometimes make me feel uncomfortable to cut to the head of the line but membership has it's privileges.

If you want to email or call him with your questions I've attached a link to his email

Luis Gutierrez Preferred Customers Unit , phone number from the US 011-521 (984) 871-3506

We all remember when our banks in the US actually cared about us, it was a long time ago I know. In Mexico they do things the old fashion way still and its a nice change.


Luis the friendly Bancomer expat banker
























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Ummm, dude, the Cliente Preferente is NOT aimed at or for gringos. It is for anyone of any nationality including those of this country who maintain a balance above a certain amount. Bancomer does not have people in all of its banks to cater to foreign depositors.

FYI I am a, for the most part, happy Mexican Cliente Preferente/Bancomer customer.

I have been to 6 different ones and all had and if they don't thats not the point.
Most folks mistakenly are afraid of the banks here. I have used them for 8 years now with no problems at all. Noting if perfect but it helps to be able to send or receive a wire, etc

Larry, that may be true where you are. It's not true here in the Lake Chapala/Guadalajara area.

Point well taken. We have sent out clients in to get 5% 30 yr. mortgages, trust services.
Even in Baja it was good.
I know a VP for them here. i'm going to ask her why their services are lacking.

Thanks for your input Larry and welcome to the board. There is another thread on here, that you may want to read, about some of the experiences people have had with Bancomer and others in the Chapala area.

http://lakechapalainfo.forumotion.net/t1672-banking

The Banco on Isla Mujeres insisted on a FM3 and we already had a fideicomiso in place with them...

Bancomer is usually good with bank type services, they try to push investments but don't train their people and their mortgage department is absolutely Mexico's worst disaster, they should stick to bank stuff, high end clients and service which they do well EXCEPT for trying to use one of their credit cards online, a complete disaster as they require you to sign up for a password and need your stmt in front of you but even with it in front of you it locks you out, you call and wait for them to tell you that you are locked out, they can't help and try again in 24 hours

I believe it is called the "Securecode" program and many bank credit cards NOB require it now also. I just went through a similar exercise a couple of days ago while trying to purchase something on-line. Fortunately I had my info handy and got signed up.

Solovino wrote:Ummm, dude, the Cliente Preferente is NOT aimed at or for gringos. It is for anyone of any nationality including those of this country who maintain a balance above a certain amount. Bancomer does not have people in all of its banks to cater to foreign depositors.

FYI I am a, for the most part, happy Mexican Cliente Preferente/Bancomer customer.

There is some confusion here which is understandable. Both larryc and Solovino are correct but talking about two different services at Bancomer. Larryc, who lives in Tulum where there is a large contingent of foreign clients , is a client of a branch designated a "Preferred Customer Unit" which means that that branch has been designated as one seeking to serve a significant "English speaking" foreign client base and the bank endeavors to have English speaking staff available during the business day. There are actually very few of these branches at Bancomer nationwide and they are concentrated in places such as Chapala, Tulum, San Miguel de Allende, etc. Solovino is considered by his branch to be a "cliente preferente" which is a more meaningful program aimed at clients of any nationality conversant in the local language who are actually important to the bank regardless of the color of their skin or their ethnic origin. That importance is adjudged by such criteria as average deposit balances or other services utilized to measure the profitability of a relationship.

The "Preferred Customer Units" established in places where there are many foreigners resident, are a standing joke and, in my view, an embarrassment to Bancomer since, to become a "preferred customer", all one has to do is be an English speaking foreigner - an absurd and nonsensical way to measure the basis of a profitable banking relationship. It doesn´t seem to bother larryc, but it should embarrass him to stand in a short line for "preferred customers" just because he´s an English speaking foreigner whereas when Solovino enters a "cliente preferente" line, he has earned that privilege by having established a meaningful, meaning "profitable" relationship with the bank over time.

A couple of points:

* All "Preferred Customer Unit" means at Bancomer is that management has attempted to assure English speaking foreign clients or potential clients that someone in that particular branch (located in an area with large numbers of English speaking foreign vacationers or expats) with whom they might wish to do business is at least conversant in English. God help you if you are French or German or Russian or Chinese. On the other hand, any branch of Bancomer in Mexico will recognize the "preferente" status of clients such as Solovino who have actually proven profitable to the bank over the years. Keep in mind that Bancomer is the Mexican subsidiary of the major international Spanish based banking conglomerate BBVA Group (Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria) with thousands of retail branches branches throughout much of the western world at which larryc is about as special as a wet dog wandering in off the street.
* We are long time customers of Bancomer in Ajijic (eight plus years) and in San Cristóbal de Las Casas and also customers of Banamex in both of those towns. Neither bank is superior to the other in terms of service to us and if we sought a "preferred customers" line with special privileges at Bancomer in San Cristóbal where there are almost no North American foreign clients, they would probably laugh us out of the bank. Neither Bancomer nor Banamex are that special either in Chapala or San Cristóbal. We have no doubt that HSBC, Banco Santander, both of which also have branches in those towns, would provide us the same level of service as Bancomer or Banamex in either place. We opened the Bancomer account eight years ago because they had the only branch in Ajijic at that time. Today there is a HSBC branch in Ajijic and we have no doubt they would serve us as well as Bancomer. Don´t fall for that "special services for foreigners" BS. However, if you speak no Spanish but only English, Bancomer is more likely to be a more comfortable place for your business as they do genuinely try to have English speakers on staff at all times. If, on the other hand, you only speak French, you are screwed in either bank.

I actually have both services and at Tulum any senior citizen can walk to the head of the line.
I don't make the rules and certainly don't judge others.
We have a very small gringo group in Tulum maybe 500, but everyone is anticipating huge growth over the next decade with lots of Europeans, and North Americans.

Lighten up a bit, life's too short

I think it's time for a special "Bubba" welcome.

Well, I still think all BIG banks suck, they just vary by degrees. I had good luck with using my B of A ATM debit card until it got eaten at Banco de Santender in Chapala and the woman asst mgr just laughed -- said she could not help me because I had used the Santender ATM at City Hall.
So, I have changed my ways and now use the swipe mechanism at Scotiabank ATM which accepts B of A ATM cards. That way it will not get eaten. However, that machine is often out of money.
My recommendation if you must have an account in Mexico, go with Multiva. They are very reliable!

Please remember that who you bank with will affect third parties, especially if you have a checking account (which in my opinion nobody or few should have in Mexico). Cashing checks in Mexico is a pain in the butt and there are many hassles and less protection for you as the account holder.

Had a recent bad experience with Multiva which was fixed but they don´t think outside the box and if you want to lose clients, hassle people or be frustrating then write them a check, here cash is king.

To expand, I´ll describe here a bit of the madness.

If you write a check you need to write the payee´s name exactly as it appears on their ID, if you write a check to John Wilson Smith and write John W Smith or John Smith he will not be able to cash the check and if he deposits it then he gets the check returned with excess charges.

Also the best way to write somebody a check is to make it to "AL PORTADOR" which is like making it to cash in the US with the difference being in the US they note your ID and often time make you place a fingerprint now on the check, here they don´t so if someone fraudulently forges a check, you have no clue who did it, even a name!

One recent scam done by a local attorney as well as others is to vary the way you sign your check on large amounts so that funds are good but the person cannot cash the check. One numnuts attorney did this and is stiffing the court expert on payment of her fees and believe me, the judge knows, do you think this guy will ever win a case????

Also, some banks want to see a voting credential to cash a check, Bancomer is cool with an FM2, FM3, passport or driver license, HSBC wants a voting credential or driver license (Mexican) for checks up to $9,000 pesos BUT for over $9,000 pesos they want only a passport or voting credential OR CURIOUSLY ENOUGH a foreign (like California) driver license.

Multiva requires voting credential or passport even for small amounts and say it is the law but then when I mentioned the other banks the guy got quiet, fortunately my secretary emailed a color scan of my passport of I would have made a wasted trip to Ajijic.

Bancomer has foreign staff or ones that speak English and know how to, at times, think outside the box and who can fix stuff. Banamex and Santander have played games and lied to clients so wouldn´t recommend them as you can fix anything and they really just want to get rid of you. I´ve been lucky with some stuff but if you don´t know what to ask for and what the procedure is then you may be lost, Bancomer locally is good helping out but only for bank stuff, their other stuff stinks and they need to rely on people far away and that is the rub, things out of their hands and then things forgotten or much easier to lighten the workload by saying sorry it can´t be done, etc.