Exchange Charge USD to Pesos at Banks

[CNYMAD]

The fee at the airport ATM was $3. At Mega it was $2 US. Both had a 7,000 pesos limit.

 

[briankinley2004]

I would use the ATM over exchange too but as others said make sure its a bank atm. Mega and Chedraui have them as well. Make sure you call your bank before you leave and let them know you will be using atm card out of the country. My bank waives atm fees charged by other banks so that's not an issue for me. Plus you look very rich when you see your balance on the receipt

 

[lthomas132]

NEVER use the ATMs around the plaza, only use the ATMs inside the banks! See my post from a couple of years ago:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/463152-atm-warning.html

 

[Lorenzoid]

Your bank may charge a foreign transaction fee on top, my credit union gets 1%, but others go from 0 to 3 + %, check with your bank.I believe BAMEX has 6K MEX withdraw limit, but it may be more.

It's been 10 days since the transactions, and Bank of America has not charged me any fee. The only fee has been 3% charged by the ATM owners, Scotia Bank and Santander.

 

[AdivingBel]

I've been watching this thread for awhile. I know there are a million reasons for selecting banks and credit cards. I set up a checking account and credit card with Capital One (not sure if it's kosher to mention company names, oh well) just for travel. I populate the checking account just prior to travel with cash I need on the ground for the trip. They cover all ATM fees, there is no transaction fee, and they give me market rate on currency conversion. Same with the credit card, no transaction fee, no currency conversion fee, and market rate conversion (still susceptible to local cc fees). It's a plain vanilla cc card. I get 1%/2% rebate depending upon the catagory purchase. No miles or anything else. I originally set it up for some European travel we did several years ago and it worked out so well I've hung onto it. You guys are all experienced travelers and have your own angles on these things. Just thought I would relate what has worked well for me. YMMV

 

[jbjclj]

I have done the same with Capitol One for 4 years. Works great! Just transfer the cash from my bank and transfer any unused cash back on our return.

 

[Lorenzoid]

So the idea of opening a dedicated checking account for travel with, say, Capital One, is to isolate the account you use to withdraw money from foreign ATMs from the account you use at home, to protect against someone fraudulently draining your account? Interesting. Is this the Capital One product you're talking about?

https://home.capitalone360.com/online-checking-account

 

[jbjclj]

That's it. I calculate my costs before I leave diving, meals Mega,taxi, propinas etc. and put extra in the account. I think you can withdraw 7000 pesos per day. When I come home, I just transfer any left over back to the bank. Hotels are prepaid with cc.

 

[AdivingBel]

Isolating the account is part of it as well. No CapOne360 is the old ING US that CapOne bought out a couple years ago. The Capital One I have is here (both checking and CC): Capital One Credit Cards, Bank, and Loans - Personal and Business

CapOne360 may work as well, just haven't tried it.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Isolating the account is part of it as well. No CapOne360 is the old ING US that CapOne bought out a couple years ago. The Capital One I have is here (both checking and CC): Capital One Credit Cards, Bank, and Loans - Personal and Business

CapOne360 may work as well, just haven't tried it.

I think it's the same thing. Look at the checking account information on the page you linked to. They refer to it as "360 Checking."

Anyway, thanks. I'll look into it.