Bank loans in Belize

Priscilla wrote:

Hello,

Finances and banking can sometimes be a headache for many expats, especially when it comes to taking out bank loans.

Is it difficult for an expat to get approved for a bank loan in Belize?

Yes.

Priscilla wrote:

What are the types of bank loans available for expats (mortgage/bonds; business loans; car loans; personal loans; student loans)?

The only literature I have seen aimed at none Belizeans is mortgage and construction loans.

Priscilla wrote:

What are the general conditions for expats to take out bank loans (interest rates; timeframe to repay loans, etc.)?

When I researched this about three years ago, interest rates started at 9.5%. The manger hinted 12% was typical.
Time frame was a max of 9 years with a large balloon payment at the end.
Down payment was a minimum of 40%

Priscilla wrote:

Which bank in Belize is the most popular or accessible for expats regarding loans?

Atlantic International Bank Ltd.
I suggest googling their website for current information.

Priscilla wrote:

Would you normally require the services of an accounts manager at the bank in order to facilitate the process of taking out a loan? Is this service free of charge?

Unknown.
At the Placencia branch, they have had only three employees plus two guards when I have been in the building. I have not been to the bank headquarters in Belize City, but I do know they control everything the branches do.

Priscilla wrote:

What would happen in the case of an unpaid loan if you have to repatriate back to your home country or move somewhere else?

Unknown, but the banks do have many repossessed properties in inventory. How many of these are from expats vs Belizions is unknown.

Priscilla wrote:

Are there any other options for loans aside from the bank in Belize, such as taking out a loan from your bank in your home country, or other types of companies not affiliated with banks, that give out loans?

I did not find any American banks that will even consider a loan on properties in Belize.
Their are a few Credit Unions in Belize that are popular with some locals. I do not know what their eligibility requirements or types of loans are.

CA$H is King for Properties and Vehicles in Belize

Hi great accurate answers. The credit unions would only even consider an expat loan if the person was a legal resident. The local banks will all be more amenable once that status is achieved.
Otherwise only the International banks will work with expat loans. No US based bank will give a loan on a residential property in Belize, but some may consider Business loans Purchase for "well established profitable business" in Belize (like those come up for sale sooo often) Do not know if the foreign property loans for Belize  would be treated any more favorably by the banks in Europe, and/or UK.
Hmm going over for a family  wedding and little vacation soon might pop into our UK bank and ask a few questions.

Atlantic International Bank is very expensive and unusable for every day banking (payment of bills online etc. ), maybe only for money transfer. Opening an account in Belize is an adventure with a lot of waiting time and a lot of paper. The staff is mostly very young and inexperienced. We have a negative experience with Scotia Bank and now want to try with Heritage Bank

hushiar wrote:

Atlantic International Bank is very expensive and unusable for every day banking (payment of bills online etc. ), maybe only for money transfer. Opening an account in Belize is an adventure with a lot of waiting time and a lot of paper. The staff is mostly very young and inexperienced. We have a negative experience with Scotia Bank and now want to try with Heritage Bank

Agree the fees for EVERYTHING at Atlantic International Bank make it almost unusable, good for just having a place to keep money rather than having cash at home. Nor can they offer debit cards or checking to non residence.  I think that is the case for all Belize international banks.

Scotia is or has closed several branches recently because their policies and attempts at automation POed way too many people.

I will be interested in hearing about your experience with Heritage Bank. They have a branch across the lagoon from me in Independence. The few google reviews for them do not look good,
It looks like the only Heritage International Bank office is in Belmopan.

Changing banks within Belize as a non legal resident expat  is as onerous as getting the original account. We changed and the changeover  took as long to go through with allt he same red tape  and paperwork as getting the original account that we were unhappy with. Banking is much simpler if you have the legal residence seal of approval.

Will The Old wrote:

I will be interested in hearing about your experience with Heritage Bank. They have a branch across the lagoon from me in Independence. The few google reviews for them do not look good,
It looks like the only Heritage International Bank office is in Belmopan.

International Banks such as Atlantic or Heritage are not good for every day banking (online bills payment, checking etc.). When you are living more than 6 months in Belize should you open a "normal" banking account. However until now I have no face to face experience with Heritage. But a lady gave me a good feedback about.

Belize Central bank controls who can open an account in any Belize bank. About  two years ago they started dening all non resident American's  domestic accounts. I don't know about commonwealth citizens. I posted the details of my ordeals and adventure back then along with others. Use the search feature to find these posts. Heterage bank is the only new info. Most of the rest is just a rehash.😀

It is anyone regardless of original citizenship. Unfortunately. We all have to go through through the seemingly  endless loos of red tape.

Will The Old wrote:

Belize Central bank controls who can open an account in any Belize bank. About  two years ago they started dening all non resident American's  domestic accounts. I don't know about commonwealth citizens. I posted the details of my ordeals and adventure back then along with others. Use the search feature to find these posts. Heterage bank is the only new info. Most of the rest is just a rehash.😀

that's right, Belize Central Bank has to approve all applications and very often they refuse because they are afraid about USA and Europe Union (money laundering?), but an employee of Atlantic Bank told us that an application does not have to be approved if you already live at least 1 year in Belize.

However the new rules didn't help us, because he realized that we in the meantime were in Mexico for a few hours... :-(

No all local banks need approval if you are not yet  a" legal" resident.
  But once you get that big red seal in your passport it is a much simpler process.
Also if you do get approved for an account there are strict rules as to the type of account. 
Non interest bearing savings accounts only.
yup so if anyone was looking to get a local bank  account  to hopefully get a mortgage or car loan no chance at any interest rate.
I believe there are better accounts available if you can get a Business account, even as an expat, But do not know enough about that area.

By the way this all came about by the US requesting their cooperation  to help combat money laundering.
Once Belize said OK  the Banking system became this mess, and  major US banks stopped being correspondent banks for them making wire transfer near impossile to get through.  Countries that did NOT say yes to that US request still have decent banking for expats with the Major US correspondence banks.  As it is now so much more difficult  for the Belize banks to track monies going through Belize, the Money Launderers are not impeded at all, Just the law abiding expat citizens wishing to invest in Belize.

Terrific:

From my perspective over the last 2.5 years, is who can/cannot open what type of account has been watching the "Goal Posts" move. If i had started a couple of months earlier, as an American I could have opened both a checking and savings account with Atlantic Bank (domestic). I know two Canadians that opened  domestic accounts a couple of months after I was turned down. I think your saying that even Canadians are now being turned down. In all cases i am talking about non-residence.

I realized early on I would never be able to become a resident (legally)  because of the 14 total day restriction on leaving during the qualifying year. And I am OK with that, because I enjoy both my homes In Texas and Placencia and bounce back and forth between them. I am just trying to keep up with info on the ever moving Goal Posts in case they happen to move back into my favor. 

As far as blaming the USA for how Belize chose to implement the new rules/requests, I think both governments bear responsibility for the current situation. It does seem that Belize overreacted by cutting off non-residence.

I think Belize could have complied if they had just limited the total amount a non-resident could have in one domestic account, and/or how much could move each year through the account. Say in the $5,000-10,000 range. That would make it too small to be of use to the criminal element, and large enough to allow non-residence to pay bills, contractors, buy local goods etc. without having cash sitting around the house.

The biggest problem was the big US banks deciding if they were going to have to tighten up their own rules to work with the small caribbean  banks it was not a profitable enough sector to bother with, so just cut them all off.  Most of the caribbean had the same problems but I don't know how they solved them.
Belize then of course thrown into somewhat of a panic. first asked the US government to TELL  the banks to reopen the system and were told,  cant do that as US banks are private companies and government can't tell them what to do.
So Belize being Belize took its subsequent dramatic measures,  which has ended up to no ones advantage.
Scoitia bank still has a correspondence arrangement with Chase, and some banks have them with european banks but that doesn't work  from US bank accounts, you need to have a european bank account.
Last I heard some pressure was being put on the central bank by the tourist board to allow QRP applicants to open local accounts, as it is part of the process that they need to get the monthly deposits into the Belize economy.