International bank transfers in and out of Belize

Correspondent banks have only been dropped for off shore banks, like Atlantic International Bank.
Transfers/wires to/from Atlantic Bank have not been affected.

Thanks for rapid response! Guess I'm confused between how  Atlantic Bank and Atlantic International Bank differ.
If I want to transfer USD held in Atlantic Int Bank out of the country that is no longer possible?
But if I want to transfer BZD by wire in/out to USA/Europe, that's still OK?

Don.t know what is going on tried to wire funds last month through our Chase bank in Calfornia to Belize bank and it was bounced back with a note from BofA saying Belize bank closed down. not exactly accurate. Tried again last week giving them all  the info sent to us by Belize bank. With the full routing address using Commerze bank this  resulted in a Phone call next day saying  Chase bank  cannot send a US dollar transfer through a Bank that is in Europe.
Last month  I was going over anyway so was able to declare the cash and take it through customs. Taking a trip to Belize just to transfer funds is not an economical way of doing it. If anyone has been able to do a wire transfer recently  I would appreciate info on who it can be done from California.

NickGonzo - If your account is at Atlantic International Bank, you should contact them to see how to withdraw/transfer your funds. Maybe an alternate correspondent bank has been established by now.
Our account is with Atlantic Bank and we have no problems wiring funds to Belize. Have had no need to wire out of Belize. We wire USD which are deposited to our account in BZD at a rate of 2:1. (At least a couple of months ago it was 2:1). Atlantic Bank charges a small fee for an incoming wire.
Atlantic Bank uses 4 or 5 correspondent banks, including Commerzbank AG and Bank of America.

I don't know. But this is good info. I'm attempting to open an Atlantic Bank account. Guess I will look into this.

Thanks

We have an off-shore account with Caye Bank in SanPedro. My most recent wire into Caye Bank out of the US was in June. I contacted them last week, relative to all the volatility in the Belize banking market, and they assured me there have been no changes to their corresponding US bank relationships that would affect my ability to move money. I paid someone in Belize last week from this account, and will need to do the same when we are in Belize next month, and I don't anticipate any problems. We chose Caye Bank based on input from a legal group in Houston.

Hello folks,
This thread is useful, but the info is from 2015. what is the latest situation in this aspect? 

moving to BZ in April 2018.  But have to wire-transfer to Philippines to support my in-laws' family.  Is it going to be easy?  which bank is good for this? what are the intermediate banks?

dr22maria.fernanda wrote:

Hello folks,
This thread is useful, but the info is from 2015. what is the latest situation in this aspect? 

moving to BZ in April 2018.  But have to wire-transfer to Philippines to support my in-laws' family.  Is it going to be easy?  which bank is good for this? what are the intermediate banks?

I am an American citizen and it seems to be far harder for us to open domestic bank accounts in Belize than for citizen of commonwealth(former) counties. I gave up for now on a domestic account but did open an account with Atlantic Bank International. That took about seven months but a couple of months of that was because I was not in Belize.

I do not know what it is like for citizens of other countries. The needed documentation requirements are on the Atlantic Bank International website. Pay attention to the need for current dated originals, not copies of current banks documents signed by a bank officer with their contact info. (They do contact them.)

Get more references that they ask for in case they reject one. Get several originals of each just in case. As a side note, Bank of America will not allow their officials to sign referral letters, issuing  an almost generic unsigned letter instead. Belize banks will NOT accept that letter.

If you are able to open an account with Scotia bank, increasingly difficult, but work permit holders have an easier time (still a pain in the neck) Scotia bank still has full wire transfer facilities, we wire money in from both the US and UK often, but never tried to wire money out of Belize. Most US banks no longer allow their staff to sign personal references. but we found chase would allow a bank history signed by the manager with his contact details. which was accepted in Belize.

Thanks Will The Old and terrific; for the details . We will be fine with one account which will be on his name since he has the work permit.  If they have internet banking (I do hope they have) I can operate it anyway. 

One point is not clear to us.  Two bank reference letters?  is it that letters should be from two different banks from Canada? or just original copies from one bank?

Yes, I will be interested in wire-transfer to Canada since our children; his parents and my parents - all are there.  Also the job is only for 1 year.  except me and my hubby - everybody is excited about visiting BZ and Mayan places - now everyone want to visit in summer break becoz we will be BZ.  But we are not sure if his salary can support or we may have to use up some bucks from here??  Let us see how things go.

dr22maria.fernanda wrote:

One point is not clear to us.  Two bank reference letters?  is it that letters should be from two different banks from Canada? or just original copies from one bank?

It has been a while, but I am pretty sure they want two from banks, they do have alternative if you don't have two.

But please go to a Belize bank website (I prefer Atlantic Bank) for the latest requirements as things do change. Canadians posting on this forum have indicated it has been easier for them and other folks from commonwealth countries to open a bank account here than for Americans. 

You really have to do your due diligence to understand all the requirements to open an account and the difference in what you can and can't do with a domestic bank account vs an international one, and all the various fees associated. Many details are not clear on first reading. They will not cut you any slack for omissions or errors, so once out of your country it is much harder to fix.

The contrast between opening a bank account in other countries vs Belize is like day and night, it is almost as if the government is discouraging folks from being able to open one at all.

There is lots of good info on the subject in other threads on this site, use the search feature to find other threads on the subject.

off topic for the banking.  Spring break is, we have found in our family, the perfect time for younger adults and teenagers to visit Belmopan weather usually dry but before the high heat starts. Lots of spring growth and flowers.