Which bank?

Thanks for asking this question!  I am buying two condos in Cabarete, and will close end of July 2021.  Will vacation rent starting in September.  I am coming down Aug. 1 thru 15 to set it all up and also need a bank account.  If any members are interested in having a beer on North Coast while there, let me know.

Savings accounts are the norm - I don't know anyone with a personal checking account here. You can pay most of your bills (electric, internet, mobile phone, rent, insurance, etc.) with an online transfer. We also have debit cards, but typically don't use them as anything other than ATM cards!

You will likely want at least two savings accounts - one in USD where you should keep the bulk of your money here, and one in DOP for transfers and withdrawing cash. We bank with Banco Santa Cruz and they have both an app and an online platform that makes it super easy to transfer money between the two.

We use our US credit cards for larger purchases, including most grocery store trips - we want the miles/points/cashback!. We always try to use cash at smaller mom & pop stores and restaurants, even if they accept credit cards. I'm sure the fees they pay for credit card processing are best avoided.

For sberger50 in particular, Popular has a great online platform, but a nightmare to get an account at.  The branch in Sosua is awful, Cabarete is better.  Santa Cruz was a breeze, online platform is ok, but both Sosua and Cabarete branches are good.  I would imagine these carry across to other towns as well, from what I've heard.  Planner in particular has had some struggles recently.

Proximity is one thing to consider.... nearby & accessible

Ban Reservas has too many crowds & lines - not them.

All online platforms are good.
I am at Scotia - both chequing and saving
If you need to pay staff or other services -  chequing is handy.

Banks here are  all bad. Its about degree of bad. They are a nightmare of rules and stupidity. Their customer service as a general rule sucks.

For me the worst is Banco Popular, they dont  care about service at all! 

I am now using a smaller bank,  Bancamerica. Their platform is good, their fees are reasonable and I get  fabulous customer service. Their issue is  being smaller they have fewer branches so far. Once an account is open you can use any ATM  up to 5 times a month  fee free! 

If you do not have a cedula all banks require you to apply for an account within your  30 days window on your tourist visa! IF you are apply for residency then you are okay!

Hi there! Will be in Sosua/Cabarete in 3 weeks and will also be needing to establish a bank account. I'm inquiring what documents exactly is needed. Looking for clarification. Also I've been reading in other forums and chats that they must translated in Spanish? We are looking specifically at Banco Santa Cruz and Scotia. If anyone has any suggestions elsewhere that maybe easier to open appreciate that as well. Thank you I'm advance!

Hi, on SantaCruz I have USD, Euro and Peso accounts only with my passport. There was no problem. Visacard is only for peso Accounts possible.

Chris

Banco Santa Cruz did not require any of our documents to be translated. We had three months of statements and a letter from our primary bank stating we were in good standing and had accounts with them for XX years.

Different banks, and sometimes even different branches, will have varying requirements. If you can contact the specific branches you want to visit, you should get accurate information.

My wife and I had a local lawyer setup a business for us, then transfer it, including the bank account. When we went to Banco Santa Cruz to perform the transfer, they required our passport. It seems their system registers us as individuals with control over the business account. Once we are in the system, I'm pretty sure it's easier to get additional accounts.

I *HIGHLY* recommend that if you have a similar situation where you need to fill out paper forms, then the person will type them into the computer, you ask to check every single box, every number, every comma and decimal point. I probably caught about 20 or 30 mistakes and some of them were the same mistake twice in a row. After correcting mistakes, they would print out a paper copy of their work and have me sign. I would then check every number, letter, comma and decimal again to be sure that nothing else changed which was not supposed to. I also suggest you walk out with a copy of every document you signed or filled out. Lastly, any document they're willing to send you an electronic copy may help if you need additional help translating them in the computer as typing them all out might be tedious.

I know it's not that fun to "be serious" and check everything so thoroughly, but imagine if your money is at the bank, then at some point, you have a problem due to some minor typo and you are separated from your money with weeks or months of anguish hoping to get it back. There are some spectacular Dominicans who are awesome at their job. Do not rely that you will get one who is tasked with being a human photo copier to copy your paperwork into the computer.

Also, there is a form with all the fees. Take time to learn it, otherwise, you will be unhappy when you learn about fees suddenly.

Pnaylandr wrote:

Hi there! Will be in Sosua/Cabarete in 3 weeks and will also be needing to establish a bank account. I'm inquiring what documents exactly is needed. Looking for clarification. Also I've been reading in other forums and chats that they must translated in Spanish? We are looking specifically at Banco Santa Cruz and Scotia. If anyone has any suggestions elsewhere that maybe easier to open appreciate that as well. Thank you I'm advance!

Banco Santa Cruz in Sosua was very easy and straight forward. Translations of documents were not required. Passport; second piece of ID; SSN (if US person); and three months of previous bank statements.

This thread has been dead a couple of years but, I now have this same question and wanted to see what the current situation is. 

From the above posts in July/August of 2021, it appears most people are happy with Banco Santa Cruz in the Sosua/Cabarete area.  Is this still the case?  Any new banks in the area that might be better?

For Santa Cruz, the speed of service in Cabarete is better than Sosúa. Usually a line at the one in Sosua. For sure stick with Cabarete for Popular, the one in Sosua is a nightmare for service and long lines.

Often which bank you use depends on your need. 

For a typical " retired to DR" Santa Cruz seems to be good. 

For paying all local bills online and other things I like Banco Popular.

For ease of payroll no one is better then Banreservas!

I am a US citizen, no tourist visa required, but have overstayed the 30 day period. I need to open a a bank account and Santa Cruz seems to be the best for me. If you have overstayed, can you pay a fee to the bank to open an account....if that is not an option, will a quick trip to Puerto Rico? I have heard that you must return to your country or origin and then return

A trip to Puerto Rico will reset your tourist card

Take the ferry honey!

@planner that's what I was thinking

I just wanted to provide an update on my experience with opening an account at Banco Santa Cruz in Sosua in case anyone else is in this same situation and wondering:

I have applied for a pensioner's visa here which requires that my retirement pay be deposited into a DR account. Therefore, opening this account was necessary.

Checking accounts are normal in the US and possibly in other countries. Not true here. Ask to open a Savings account.... it's the same as what we think of as a checking account.

When I went to the bank, they gave me a list of required documents in both English & Spanish. This list is directly from the paper the bank provided. The requirements are:

• original passport (they will scan/copy at the bank)
• - if your passport indicates that your place of birth is different from that of your nationality, it is necessary to provide your second passport. If you do not have it, it can be your birth certificate translated into Spanish.
• - the last entry to the country cannot be more than 30 days
• a second ID of your country of origin (driver's license, identity card, insurance card, birth certificate) I used my US driver's license.
• bank reference letter. (this document was needed as part of my visa application, so they were able to use it. It's simply a letter from my US bank stating I have an account there since a specific date with a balance of a specific amount.)
• Letter of a personal reference in the country. (I did not have this. However, they accepted a letter from my attorney - Lishali Baez - which stated she was helping me with my visa/immigration.)
• Job letter or job information. (again, this was part of my visa application... a letter stating I am retired and drawing a specific amount of money per month.)
• First deposit for opening the account: US$500, RD$3,000, or Euro $500.

You can choose to open an account in pesos OR in US dollars. If you open an account in pesos, you will get a Visa debit card for use at businesses and the ATM. You also get online banking. If you open the account as a USD account, you must go into the bank to a teller to withdraw cash, and I believe you do NOT get online banking access. For the pesos account, any pays deposited from the US will be converted to pesos by the bank... they quoted me what I thought was a reasonable rate (55.5 at that time). Also, when I went in to open my account, I only had pesos with me, but she said if I wanted to open it in USD, they would convert my pesos to dollars. I had enough pesos to meet the USD requirement.

None of the documents I provided needed to be translated into Spanish. My bank letter was in English, while my retirement pay letter and the reference letter from Lishali were in Spanish. No problem. The lady made copies of everything for their files and returned the originals to me.

I was not asked to provide 3 months' worth of bank statements, but some people may be doing this when they don't have a bank letter. I don't know.

In Sosua, you have to make an appointment with one of their account specialists to set up the account. These are the ladies sitting at the desks along the left side when you walk in (the branch on Pedro Clisante). It takes about an hour; hence, the appointment.

If applying for a visa, you will need a confirmation letter from the bank addressed to direccion general de migracion. You need to specifically ask for that at the bank... they will not automatically provide it, and you cannot use your other bank documents in lieu of - it costs RD$200. At this point, my account was opened, so I just had it deducted from my balance.

As one person stated, the lines in the bank can be quite long, as I saw on my three trips there. Most appeared to be expats who were withdrawing cash at the teller. I opened my account in pesos so I would have easier access to it (online, local businesses, ATM, pay rent), but I can open another account later in USD if I want.

My question would be: is this the best way (a pesos account vs. a USD account)? Should I have my retirement pay going into a USD account, and require me to go into the bank to withdraw cash at a teller? The pesos account seemed the better option for it's accessibility, but I would like to hear from other people their Pros and Cons for a USD account vs. a pesos account. My main use of this account will be to pay rent, electricity, and cell phone. Do most landlords want rent paid in cash? Credit card? Still figuring this part out.

@SandyS_retired We have both USD and DOP accounts with Santa Cruz. You can easily transfer between the accounts using their app or online banking. We deposit our pension in USD to our USD account, then transfer it to our DOP account as we need it for cash withdrawals or to make payments.

As a non resident foreigner, if I want to open a bank account do I have to be there physically or is there a way to do it remotely (like some banks in Puerto Rico).

As far as I know, all require you to apply in person with all your documentation

No bank here will open accounts without a personal visit