Job Discussion Forums

Gab · Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 26 Location: Canada

Hi everyone, I have an important question:

If I NEED to send roughly 300$ to a Canadian bank account every month, what is the best way to do this?

BEST way implies low/no bank fees. Speed is not an issue.

My ideas are:
Internet transfer
Money order
Mail a cheque

Where's the best place to convert pesos to Canadian dollars?
Anyone have past experience with this?

Also I thought about opening an account with Scotia Bank here in Canada, I've heard they are established in M�xico D.F., any comment?

dixie · Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 644 Location: D.F

hlamb · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Canada

sarliz · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Jalisco

If you do a search for this topic, you can read all of my past ramblings with this problem, with the difference being a US bank instead of a Canadian one.

The short version of the answer is to set up two Paypal accounts, and send money between the two. I think it ends up being about a 3% charge per transaction, vs. the $20-$50 (US) the banks here would charge. However, setting up the accounts isn't very user friendly, and can take a while to do and figure out.

Oreen Scott · Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 179 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico

I was talking with a Scotia bank representative this week on an entirely different matter - Rick Hansen Wheels in Motion event.

I asked why Scotia was in Mexico. I was told the Scotia Bank has been international for over 100 years and is represented in over 50 countries.

Larry, the Scotia bank rep I was talking to, gave me his email address and said once I had more details regarding my finances to send him the details and he would send me a list of the Scotia branches in Mexico. I suspect he is able to do far more than that.

So, you see, there is a connection - Scotia Bank is a Canadian bank operating internationally.

I don't have any more details right now because currently my priorities are elsewhere. But, when the time comes, I'll get in touch with Larry.

When I have more details I'll gladly share.

notamiss · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 11:49 am Post subject:

There is a corporate connection, but if it has translated into any substantial advantages for the ordinary account-holder, we have yet to hear about it.

When Scotiabank first acquired Inverlat a few years ago, we investigated whether there would be any advantages to switching our Canadian account to Scotiabank, since we had a Mexican account in Inverlat, or Scotiabank as it is now called in Mexico, too. At that time there were none at all.

Later we heard a rumor that withdrawing money from a Scotiabank ATM in Canada with a Mexican Scotiabank card would incur lower fees than using the same card at a Canadian ATM of any other bank, but we were unable to confirm whether it was true.

dixie · Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 644 Location: D.F

notamiss · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject:

Back to Gab's original question, I just remembered another way. This is a way used by many Mexicans in the U.S. to send money home to their families in Mexico.

You would need a bank account in Mexico and a person in Canada whom you trust 110%. You give a card from your Mexican account to your trusted person, and every month they use the card to withdraw $300 in cash from your Mexican account at a Canadian ATM, and deposit it in your Canadian account, or pay it to whatever institution is supposed to receive the payment.

Gab · Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 26 Location: Canada

Excellent!
We have 2 very interesting options:

Set up 2 paypal accounts *(1 Canadian, 1 Mexican) and do online transfers

OR

Set up a Mexican bank account, and give a debit card to a TRUSTED Canadian to withdraw and deposit in the Canadian bank.

So the real question becomes: Which method would limit the fees?
In my opinion, paypal SHOULD be better, because there is only a 1 time currency exchange fee.
The bank would have the exchange fee, PLUS the fee for withdrawing from another banks ABM *(or ATM or whatever)

Can anyone validate this?

P.s. I spoke to HSBC and ScotiaBank representatives, don't bother, it's 3$ per withdrawal with a Canadian card while in Mexico, EVEN if it's an HSCB/Scotia teller, ABM, etc...

notamiss · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject:

It's hard to pick your way through the information about Paypal fees, but it looks like the fee for sending $300 would be either 3.8% or 4.9%. In other words, definitely more than $3. In addition, they make money on the currency transfer.

Cross-currency ATM withdrawals have the reputation of offering the best rates for currency exchanges (compared to exchanging cash at a bank or exchange house, at least), so it seems likely the rates would be better than PayPal, too.

All in all, from what I can figure out it looks as though the trusted intermediary option would be cheaper.

obinhwan · Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 23

Super noob here. I talked to one of the Scotiabank guys too, but i one of the one that was specialized in online banking. He said email transfers would work, $1.75 each. I don't much more about it other than that, but if the exchange rate is favourable to paypal or an atm, then I would imagine this would be the best way to go.

sarliz · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Jalisco

Just a word of warning: I had that same conversation with my guy at Citibank (Citibank and Banamex are the same company), who assured me that I could link up all of my Citibank and Banamex accounts online and move money between accounts with great ease, all of which turned out to be completely false when I got here. Really, you need to talk to the bank administrators on the Mexican end, as their policies will dictate what you can do, not their well-meaning foreign counterparts.