Job Discussion Forums

[selecta713]

Hey there! I just discovered this website recently, and the information on the boards, and all your comments, have been extremely helpful.

I'm heading to Santiago next week, and I am new to the city, the region, and the whole teaching thing.

The first question is this: how difficult is it for foreigners, esp. Americans, to set up a Chilean bank account. The thought of carrying around wads of cash isn't exactly enticing, so if I could get some sort of account set up that would be ideal. Secondly, if I have an American bank account, is it gonna be a problem for me to pulse out money from Chilean ATMs? Are they all on the same Pulse system?

I don't really know what to expect, so any and all tips or advice you could offer me would be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to hit me up if you're new to the area or if you're just looking for more people to chat with down there.

thanks,

*anthony*

[denise]

I don�t know about the bank account question, but I know that it is easy--too easy!--to withdraw money from your account in the US. There are ATMs everywhere.

Welcome to Santiago!

d

[evansmith]

Hey Anthony,

yeah, no problem pulling money out from you account in the states, or wherever. Chilean banks do not allow foreigners without permanent residence to set up bank accounts. I know, it sucks. Being able to appply for permanent residence takes a while, I'm not even sure of the exact requirements. I did hear something once about some kind of a restricted account for foreigners at banco de chile(you were allowed to deposit and withdrawl like once or twice a month) but I never knew anyone who actually pursued it or used it. Yeah, it's not too good to carry wads of cash around, but as a fellow teacher, I know that the wads aren't really THAT big!! And the same goes for any savings that might accumulate. Myself, and everyone esle that I taught with would usually just cash our checks for the month and head straight home and put the money in a "safe" spot in our apt. or house. This mothod works pretty well and I never knew anyone who lost their pay due to roberry, mugging etc. I left Chile a few months ago, so things may have changed, you might want to look into it further once you get there.

Good luck and have fun. Its a great place.

Saludos

Evan Smith

[Brynita]

I second what Evan said. It sucks not being able to store your money in a bank, but as long as you have some safe place at home that you can lock, you should be OK. Try to avoid having friends or whoever cash your check for you (yes, this is possible). The only time I ever lost money from my paycheck was when a friend cashed my check and then (supposedly) got his pockets picked on his way to bring me the money.

As for getting at your money in the state, it shouldn't be a problem. Depositing money might be a bit more difficult, though. I was in Chile for so long, that I finally ended up closing my US checking acct. because the monthly fees were running it down anyway with no additional deposits from me. That did make it difficult for me to pay my mother some money I owed her, and any US relatives who felt like sending me money had to send cash (very risky) or wire it. Basically, a pain in the rear end.

[eileen]

Agreed with taking out money. Not a problem. You can't get a bank account in Chile for love nor money unless you have a carnet, or national ID, but you don't have to be a permanent resident. I've got a carnet subjeto a contrato (subject to my work contract) and was able to get a cuenta vista (type of bank account). Not exactly sure what the legwork was, as they did it for me through my school.

I thought that maybe since I have a citibank acct at home I could get one here, but no dice. Turns out it's a totally different system. The problem might not be so much carrying the cash as having it in your apt. There used to be a problem with apts. of foreigners being broken into looking for cash. Haven't heard about it lately though.

gl!

[evansmith]

Wow, your school got you a bank account...now that is truly amazing. My institute did help me a lot with whole contract and carnet process (which still took a long time and a lot of legwork on my part) but never mentioned anything about a bank account. I guess if I would have been a little more proactive, I could have found out more about the details. It was probably the lack of much to put into the account that kept me from doing so What institute is that, if you don't mind me asking. And are you finding the account useful?