Looking for a bank account that can be set up from the states

Oriental Bank and First Bank are the best

I have one through the cooperativa.

Also FYI all major US Banks and Cooperatives work fine here in Puerto Rico. I have a Navy Federal Credit Union Account as my main account. I also have bank accounts with Oriental Bank, First Bank PR and a Local Cooperativa.

in Puerto Rico basically each town/municipio has their own local Cooperativa. But the Mayor banks in Puerto Rico are Popular it (Sucks) First Bank and Oriental Bank.

I have an eaccount with Banco Popular.  However, tried converting it to a regular account and needed the following, utility/cable bill showing an address in PR, SS card, and government issued ID.  Had all but my SS card with me so couldn't convert it during my last trip.

If you are trying to set up the account from the states,  I reccomend Pentagon Federal Credit Union ( PenFed). Very fast and easy. Once you are on the island they have a few branches  if you need cashier's checks (free of charge) etc  and one even stays open until 7pm on weekdays ( in the metro area).  They have a partnership which allows members to have access to a large network of Ath/ Atm machines many of which you can use free of service fees.  They also are  excellent for car financing should you need that service as well. If you aren't military there is a small onetime  donation to make but well worth it for the wide variety of services available many of which can be done without physically being present here in PR.

I tried to set up the E account with Banco Poular and they have it locked because I am not a resident (or do not have water, electricity in my name or drivers license for PR).

Popular bank. There in Florida

I agree with LarryJohnsonPR. PenFed is your best bet.

I'm pretty certain you will only be able to do that in person.You can try and call a few banks like banco popular, first bank etc. And check .I've only been able to set accounts in other islands by phone and alotta documents on a few other islands in the past.But P.R is super cautious in that area.I deposited a large check once in banco popular and wow that triggered a huge mess and lots of questions what, why where the money came from etc.and a long hold on the check as well. There policys are rather strict simply because of all the fraud and money laundering here in P.R.

Check out T-Mobile banking, available to T-Mobile customers.  I love the many options to withdraw cash, with ZERO transaction fees, everywhere on the Island.

The question, rhetorical, is why? Do you need it to prove residency? Us banks allow you to change addresses and keep your bank account. So my main account is still with Bank of America. I do have a Banco Popular, note - don’t use them, for my Act 60 business but, that required an address.

I bought one from Piloto 151. But you can get a P.O. Box. BP did require some proof we were here so our rental agreement and land deed were sufficient. But you need something.

The only advantage I can see with a 1st bank, Oriental, BP… account is ATH.

We also have Bank of America and haven’t opened a local account yet. We both have direct deposit for my husbands USPS pension & I still work part time with my previous employer in Miami remotely. If I by chance receive a check I need to deposit I use BOA app to deposit it, rarely have we written a check here. Main drawback is if we need more than $600 cash at same time you can’t withdraw from ATM. Here they call the ATM system ATH and they have an app called ATH Movil similar to Cash app or Zelle but I can’t figure out how to use with a bank from States. That’s the only reason why I want a local account as I like scanning the QR tag and not touching anything.

Banco Popular (BP) does not have Zelle to connect to my stateside Chase account. The only transaction I am allowed to do is transfer/send funds from BP to pay my Chase CCs but I cannot send money to deposit in my personal Chase account (or vice versa) because BP does not participate in Zelle. Very frustrating.

P.S. If anyone does know of a PR bank with Zelle to stateside banks, please let me know. Thanks.

A thought, you can write a check on your Banco Popular account and use the Chase app to deposit it. I have Bank of America and my BP checks clears within 48 hours on my deposit via the app, there are no transfer fees.

I kept my Capital One accounts for everything, but opened a BPPR e-account just for ATH Mobil. I set up recurring (monthly) automatic deposits from the CO account to the BPPR account. It's been working well.