#908 – Episode 908: Banking, Mail, and Financial Security in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right Let's talk about banks specifically banks as it pertains to using them in Latin America and transferring money back and forth from another country to Latin America But first let's talk about how Latin American banks and I suppose banks everywhere can steal your money

[00:45] If you don't have any activity for a while now I've had a variety of bank accounts in different countries in Latin America and most of the times at least in the last couple of years if you don't have any movement that is you haven't withdrawn a buck or Deposited a buck or any amount at all in six months You'll find if you use your debit or credit card, you'll get locked out now that doesn't mean you lose your money It just means they've deactivated your credit card or debit card So that's one thing you have to remember if you open up a bank account in Latin America And I really suggest you do and of course these days you'll need a Latin lawyer to help you do that Because there's practically no way to open a bank account in any Latin country without a local Professional reference like a lawyer or accountant or doctor. That's what's called a fiat or the adore

[01:34] But you know if you're new in a country or even if you've visited gone on vacation there a while You're probably not gonna be able to find a professional like a doctor or accountant who will stick his neck out for you And be the so-called Theodore, you know your reference, but for lawyers, that's part of their job That's how they help gringos and expats out So just remember you'll need a lawyer or a fee adore They call them a local character reference to open a bank account these days That is unless you've already got residency in your country But you won't be able to get residency without having a bank account Which makes the whole thing kind of a cash 22 and why you want to have your lawyer help you out with it Yeah, I know. I know it's getting more complicated by the minute It's why you have to get that plan be going now get the hell out of Dodge or make plans to get the hell Out of Dodge, you know have an insurance policy

[02:19] So when the feces hits the ventilator, you'll have a definite plan and won't get trampled physically or financially in the chaos That's sure to follow Just think about how your friends and family are gonna feel when the next big crisis comes and it surely will chances Are they're gonna call 911 and panic when no one answers? Meanwhile, you'll gather yourself and a few select family members together Pick up some plane tickets and head off to that nice tropical plan B destination You've been setting up for yourself for the last couple of years. Sure. You'll feel the panic. You'll feel the urgency You'll see normalcy slipping away, but the big difference you'll have a plan and they won't at least I hope you have a plan. That's why you're listening to the show, right? In any event, you'll have to get some of your dough down to your Latin destination before the next crisis

[03:08] The only way to do that is to carry some of your assets down and that's difficult or do a crypto transfer Most commonly use a bank that's why I'm gonna start the show today by reading some excerpts from an article that Mel sent me Thanks for that Mel title is under what circumstances can a Mexican bank account be considered abandoned and the money Seized by the bank it starts like this Recently, I was talking with a friend of mine in Mexico a fellow expat from the US and he was telling me about a problem He had with one of his Mexican bank accounts He said when he first moved to Mexico several years ago He opened a checking account at two Mexican banks because he wasn't sure which one would work best for him for international transfers and online payments After using them both for a short time He chose his favorite bank and used that account for all of his banking needs

[03:56] Then instead of closing the other account which had a little less than a thousand bucks in it He decided to hold on to it just in case Recently, my same friend used his ATM card to check that the old account still was available and it didn't work When he went to the bank to inquire He was told the account had been abandoned and the funds had been transferred to a general fund in accordance with Mexican federal law of account Abandonment in fact, it's called article 61 of the law institutions del credito and according to that law if there aren't any deposits withdrawals or transfers that is Movement for a period of three years. The financial institution is required to transfer the funds to a global account However, it says the financial institution is required to notify the account holder by mail 90 days prior to transferring out their money

[04:50] Alright me Johnny just a little comment here. You know, the mail sucks in Latin America So don't count on ever getting prior notice 90 days before they're gonna take your money from your account Unless when you open those bank accounts you make sure you put down your lawyer's address as your mailing address That's another reason you really have to have a good relationship for your lawyer then you can use his address as your mailing address because mail will always get to an attorney's address because he's usually located in a Business district and mail does get through that is snail mail in every business district throughout Latin America But as far as counting on the mail that is snail mail actually getting to a home address Well, good luck with that unless again, you live in a gated guarded high-rise residential tower

[05:38] That's well known or a very high-end neighborhood because you know where the wealthy cats live That is the wealthy in the upper middle classes. The roads are always nicer. The yards are always cleaner The neighborhoods always safer the cars are always newer and better and the mail almost always gets through Which is not at all true for the other 80 to 90 percent of Latin America Oh, it'll get through once in a while, but you can't count on all of it getting through That's why lots of gringos and expats will sign up for a service like mailboxes Etc or any of a number of private mailbox services in various cities in Latin America In other words you sign up for maybe 25 to 50 bucks a year They've got rows and rows of mailboxes there You get your key and you come in and pick up your stuff

[06:23] And it'll always get through and these days at least a lot of those companies will send you an email telling you When something's arrived in your box, but you know, if you have a good relationship with your lawyer You can use his address for all your official mail. That's a step that's highly recommended and it makes you quite anonymous Meaning it lowers your profile and footprint tremendously, which brings us to those Miami Mail for winning services I talked a lot about those in past shows I have one myself in fact to most by the way are free You sign up and register on the internet and you pay whatever the shipping would be when you pick up your items You know the drill then you can have places like Amazon eBay and any other mail order product service Receive whatever you're buying online because they think Miami is your mailing address and it is sorta though

[07:09] It's an intermediary mailing address because then they stick it on a plane send it to your Latin country They shoot you an email saying it's arrived and how much you have to pay in shipping charges and you can either go and pick it up there at their office, which is almost always near the airport by the big cities and They've got little satellite offices in the other cities in your country or you can pay an extra buck or two Yep, that's all it is and I'll deliver it right to your door on a motorcycle And if it's too big for a motorcycle, well, it'll come in a truck But I don't recommend any of that stuff because why should you let everyone know where you live? That's one of the unsung advantages of having your plan B in Latin America Once you've bought or rented a place you really don't have to divulge that information to anyone Not banks, credit card companies, Amazon, even your mail forwarding services Of course, when you sign up, they'll always ask you for your address

[07:57] But all that's really required is you give them a real email address So they can notify you when your mail or your parcels have arrived I mean, look, why should you get right back into the surveillance cycle by giving out your address and your email addresses to everyone like you did in the States When once you get down here, you could pretty much wipe the slate clean If you prepare ahead of time and know what to do Like, for example, just the other day, I walked into a pharmacy As soon as I got to the checkout window, they asked me for my email and my address So I gave my decoy email, one that I have at start mail that I can eliminate at any time And the address to an apartment I no longer live in I do that all the time In fact is, you know, even if you're using Uber, you have to sign up with a Facebook or email account, right? I always give them a decoy

[08:43] And I know eventually they're going to sell my data to all kinds of advertisers And when the junk mail starts coming in, I just delete that email address That's the beauty of start mail You can have 10 decoys And then you keep a couple forever, the ones you might be needing For example, if you're doing business or talking to family members Or moving important documents back and forth And then you get your throwaway emails Like, for example, when you sign up for free reports or information on the net Or even subscribing to newsletters or services Once the junk mail starts arriving, you could just delete those email addresses And that stuff's gone forever And it's also an easy way to figure out which jerks you gave your email address to Are the ones that are selling off your data to the highest bidder, too That's the scam they use, you know

[09:28] Suppose you have just a Yahoo or a Gmail address, right? And you see a report on how to buy and sell gold Trade options, flip real estate, whatever Well, the first thing they're going to do is ask for an email address And then they're going to send an activation link to that email address You go to that email, you hit the link and you're in You get the report, yeah? But now you're going to get all kinds of junk mail Because they're going to sell that off to anyone and everyone And if you don't have a decoy email address You're on the junk mail list in your main email forever Alright, so maybe I'm beating a dead horse here But still, I know most people aren't doing that I get hundreds of emails In fact, I deleted 10,000 just about 3 weeks ago I'm talking about my Gmail account That's the one I'm stuck with Because when I first started up the Expat files 9 years ago now

[10:16] There were no anonymous email services But that's alright because I don't do any sensitive or critical things Through the Gmail account But as for you guys sending me all those emails I noticed that probably 80% of them are coming from Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail That means you guys aren't using anonymous email accounts Right? Well, all I'm saying is that if you really want to unclog your life Get yourself an anonymous email account Doesn't have to be start mail, could be hush mail or proton mail There are a lot of them up there But the good ones are going to cost you Probably 30 to 50 bucks a year But man, it's worth it Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to beat a dead horse Well, I guess I beat two dead horses there Anyway, to continue on about the things you didn't know About Latin American banking You heard me say that the law in Mexico anyway

[11:02] Says they have to notify the account holder 90 days before the three year period of inactivity Before they transfer your money out of the account and it's gone Well, surprise, surprise, guess where that money goes It says here, and I'm reading this directly From the statute, translated into English It says, after three years The account balance that will be transferred to the global account If it's equal to or lesser than 300 times the official Mexican minimum wage It will be transferred to another fund called the public fund Beneficencia publica Then the money in the Beneficencia publica is used to pay for health related services and programs Operated by the Mexican secretary of health And in case you're wondering how much 300 times the Mexican daily minimum wage is

[11:50] Well, that works out to around 1600 bucks right now And the rest of the absconded or stolen dough that came out of your inactive bank account If it's more than 300 times the Mexican minimum wage It goes into the Mexican so-called global account For what that's worth, because once it's gone you'll never get it back Though the official law claims you can Hmm, insert manic joker laugh here By the way, are you getting this? If you've had no movement in your account for three years They steal your money But they take a portion of it And they say it's going for the general good You know, for public health and all that rot Of course, this is Mexico and there's no skim, right? Now if you believe that You'll also believe that when the Kardashians die and go to hell

[12:36] It won't smell a bit like burnt plastic Right? You know, it just goes to show how government can complicate the simplest of things However, it does say there is some recourse in getting your money back Let me read this It says If the money has already been transferred to the Beneficencia publica It's gone for good However, if it's still in the global account It can be reclaimed by the account holder by filling out some forms Of course, I don't know anybody that's ever been able to accomplish that successfully But let me read on it says If for some reason things do not go smoothly at your bank After you fill out those forms You can turn to the Mexican government agency tasked with protecting account holders It's called Conducef For assistance C-O-N-D-U-S-C-F

[13:22] So anyway, according to the Mexican official government website It says you should be able to get your money back After the government steals it from your account Insert cynical joker laugh number two Well, just to show you what a load of crap the Mexican government's handing you When they say you have a way of getting it back Let me read you a little part of an email from Donna M She says About five years ago when I was establishing myself in Mexico A co-worker gave me advice based on experience When her retired US citizen father passed away in Cancun Leaving a condo, a car and a bank account She sent me a long detailed email saying that essentially She was able to sell the condo and the car But lost all of the $10,000 US dollars in the bank

[14:10] Because of no activity For what she said was only six months And then you'll find out if you bank in Mexico Or any place in Central or South America Because of the narcos and the drug corridor thing They have very strict money laundering laws now But in reality, because again the government wrote them All they do is hamper the regular citizens And expats and gringos who try to move money around I'm talking legally Still drug lords and politicians are forever hauling around Suitcases, garages and containers full of cash And they rarely get busted or raided And when they do, they don't do time Meanwhile, if you try to transfer some money down from the states Even if it's a small amount You have to jump through all kinds of hoops Like for example, Kathy J writes this

[14:57] I found out from my bank in Mexico, Banamex That there's a government law called 115 Where they have to verify your information on any wire transfers Where you live, where your money comes from How much and how often you plan to put the money in your account So anyway, I opened the account Not thinking about things like that And two months later The bank sent me a request for that information and more Warning me that if they did not receive the information In a certain amount of time They would close my account So I did everything they requested Twice And you know what? They even sent a person to physically verify That I live at the address that I gave them Meanwhile, you've got politicians stealing and skimming billions And narcos with huge mansions, estates, yachts and private planes

[15:44] But when a working or retired American tries to transfer down 5,000 bucks He's the one that gets the third degree and gets investigated To the tune of sending someone out to investigate where you live All right, me, Johnny, here again You know what that reminds me of? An article I just read that said Each year 30 tons of cocaine Slips through the US-Mexican border Through legal checkpoints Along with 5 tons of methamphetamine And 3 tons of fentanyl Hmm, how's that happen? Well, obviously the border guards on both sides Are on the take Meanwhile, you try to get on a plane with just one joint They'll sniff you out and you're going to jail Even if you're in a state where marijuana is legal The federal rules apply at airports And you know the feds According to their books, they still say it's illegal However, as far as these banking regulations

[16:30] The best thing to do is to have some movement in your banking Or checking or credit card account I'd say at least once every 3 months Now, you might wonder if you're up in the States Let's say for 7 or 8 months Before you make a trip back to the Latin country Your choice, how are you going to do that? Well, they've all got online banking now And all you have to do is move a little dough Even a buck or two From your dollar account to the peso Or boulevard, cologna, quetzal, limpietta account Whatever funny money your chosen country uses You see, the good thing about every bank in Latin America now You can open a dollar and a local funny money account And you can access your accounts online So just move a little from one to the other Every couple of months and you'll be fine Or even just go to an ATM and withdraw 10 or 20 bucks

[17:18] Alright, now since we're speaking of banks, credit cards, wire transfers, etc I just got this email from our good friend Mr. B You know, the guy that makes over 20 bucks an hour Teaching English to Chinese kids anywhere in the world Of course, he's located here in Guatemala Because as it turns out, Guatemala is his favorite country If you want to find out all the multiple reasons why Come on down to my January 2020 Expat Insider Seminar Alright, Mr. B will be giving a little spiel on how you can do that too That is, make 20 bucks an hour or more Just sitting at your computer teaching English to kids in China Now, admittedly, 20 bucks an hour doesn't sound like much When you're living up in the States If your rent's 1,000 or even 1,500 a month But here in Latin America, remember For 500 bucks a month, you could have a nice house with a yard

[18:05] In a good safe area As long as you're not smack dab on the tourist trail that is And even then, you could get a nice single bedroom apartment for 500 a month Something that would cost you at least 1,500, even 2,000 a month Where I come from in Chicago But you knew that already, right? Anyway, I just got this email from Mr. B Talking about problems with banking issues here in Latin America And I suppose anywhere And after reading this, I totally get his point And that's another reason why I just hate banks and love cryptocurrency In fact, the sooner cryptocurrencies wipe banks off the face of the Earth, the better Though, as you know, they're not going down without a fight In the end, it's a fight they're going to lose But I digress as usual I want to read Mr. B's email And here it is He titles it ridiculous

[18:51] Johnny, I tried to make a purchase online with my Chase Bank card My purchase was denied and a pop-up window said I have to call Chase Bank in the US I called Chase Bank and the automated phone system said my card had been restricted I was transferred straight to the fraud department They asked how they could help me I explained what happened They said they were going to send a message to my mobile phone number that was on file I explained to them that I had not been in the US for over a year And therefore do not have a US phone mobile number They said that was the only way I could truly identify myself to them They said the message has to be sent to the mobile number on file I said the number you have on file is not a mobile phone number It is a home phone number that I have not been in for over two years

[19:40] Obviously, she wanted proof that I was me I then told the lady that I have a TWIC card That's a Transportation Worker Identification Credential All right, me, Johnny here He's talking about a card that truck drivers carry to prove their credentials Mr. B, back in the States, was a truck driver So he's got a TWIC card And that's what he's talking about Anyway, he says I told her I have a TWIC card And you can only get a card like that with the approval of the Department of Homeland Security I further told her I have a commercial driver's license with a hazmat endorsement Isn't that not enough for you? Then I said I have that commercial driver's license with hazmat endorsements And I have a passport book and a passport card too I also have a Social Security and birth certificate

[20:28] Will that do, I hope? She said sorry, I cannot unblock your card Unless I send you a message to a U.S. mobile phone line number we have on file Then she asked if I had another Chase Bank card in my possession I said yes, my wife is here, and she has her card Then the operator repeated pretty much the same thing and said I have to ask you again Do you have any other Chase Bank cards in your possession? I repeated yes, my wife is here, and she has her card And then I said but I do not personally have a card It's her card Well, Johnny, I knew then or at least I had the suspicion that if I said I have my wife's card They just might restrict or block her card too So I was getting nowhere, no dice, Johnny Then she told me the only other thing I can do is go into a Chase Bank

[21:17] Or have a Chase Bank employee who knows me verify who I am I then explained I had not been in a Chase Bank personally in over five years I do not know any Chase Bank employees Nor do I have a U.S. mobile phone number She said sorry, those are your three options and we do that for your security Then I tried to explain once again All the documents I have, the TWIC card, the passport The passport card, the commercial driver's license, the hazmat endorsements, the yada yada Social security, bird certificate Then I said to her You mean you're telling me that if I had a U.S. mobile number Something I can get at Walmart for 35 bucks or less I can get back the use of my Chase card? Yet you're telling me my six federally approved documents are not enough?

[22:07] Then finally Mr. B says I keep a U.S. account because I'm not sure if I would ever need it But I will never try to use it again, I can assure you So that's how it went, Johnny Mr. B signing off, see you at the seminar Alright Mr. B thanks for that revolting little piece of news But it just shows you things are getting harder and more complicated And of course with more and more purchases being made online It's necessary to have some kind of credit card Although more and more outfits are now taking cryptocurrencies Even travel agencies are taking them now And even though Amazon's not taking cryptocurrency directly as payment You can buy Amazon gift cards with crypto And buy anything you want just as if you were using a credit or debit card Same thing with eBay and a lot of the other big box stores

[22:52] So slowly but surely the cryptos are filling that niche Now there is one positive thing when you open a bank account here in Latin America You get a debit or a credit card in U.S. dollars And of course the local funny money too, so you get two cards Then if you want to buy something online, let's say from Amazon You use the U.S. dollar card Works just as well as any card coming out of a bank from the States The only difference being that in most cases Your billing address will be different from your shipping address Because let's say you have a bank account with Banco Culo Amorillo in Panama Well your billing address is going to be your place in Panama But let's say you're ordering something from Amazon SearsOverstock.com or eBay You'll want the merchandise shipped to your name In your Miami forwarding company address

[23:39] Which will then within a couple days or a week Forward it to the pickup location in Panama So when you make the original order on Amazon There'll be two addresses Your shipping address and your billing address No problem, just check the box that says they are different addresses And you're off to the races By the way for the record I hate Amazon and everything they stand for But I love that you can get practically any product fast and cheap and easy Anyway, so Mr. B got himself caught in a catch-22 That happens to lots of gringos and expats It's happened to me too Worse yet, you call a US bank or a company You ordered something from in the States And they put you on hold for 20 minutes And probably half the time it's on your dime In fact, I can't tell you how many times I've been on the phone with an airline Trying to change a reservation, a date or something or other

[24:25] And I've been waiting on hold for 10 or 15 minutes And suddenly the phone cuts out completely Then you call back all pissed off And go through the same routine of press 9 and 6 and 3 For this or that or whatever With the synthetically happy robot lady Voice at the other end You just wanna strangle Tays or Yanker wires Only to wait for 20 minutes to get a live representative Then having to go through the whole damn story again with that person I found out the hard way The first thing you do when you get a live operator is to say Look, you got a pencil? Write my phone number down If we get cut off, call me right back Because if we do get cut off I know you're in a call center And there are probably 300 sweaty Pakistanis Sitting next to you in the same room If I get cut off and have to call back I know I'm never gonna get you

[25:11] The guy I've already explained three quarters of the story to So first things first If you're in Latin America, dialing outside the country When you get a live person, instantly get his name and give him your phone number By the way, that's one thing I like about Alibaba Do you ever order from them directly from China? They're, you know, the wholesale providers to the world That's where I ordered my latest portable solar system from And guess what? They work through WhatsApp Which is basically free phone, audio, and video That's one huge advantage to using Alibaba over Amazon That means you can always talk to someone right away about your order Oh, and you'll also find the Alibaba price is much cheaper than Amazon However, the shipping is higher because it's coming directly from China So it's a balancing act But if you do order anything in quantity Alibaba is the place to go Why? Because there's no middlemen

[25:57] For example, I bought my portable solar unit through Alibaba for 650 bucks Along with two portable solar panels, 200 watts each For another 400 bucks total around a grand However, shipping was close to 500 bucks So the whole works around 1500 But you see, if I had to order 10 units I'd have paid the same shipping, 500 bucks Because you see, it doesn't matter to them If it's one unit or a pallet full of units That's why Alibaba is great for quantity orders In other words, if you're starting a business here in Latin America And have to order multiple items You really should look into Alibaba And once again, if what you've ordered is not too big and heavy Have them ship it to your Miami forwarding company Oh, and get this, Alibaba will diddle with the invoice They'll mark it down for you You just ask them

[26:43] They'll change an invoice for a grand to 300 Just so you don't have to pay the Adwana charges When it lands in your country Whereas with Amazon, you're stuck with the original invoice Now, I'm not advising you to do anything illegal here I'm just telling you with smart and astute gringos and expats often do Oh, and by the way, you'll learn a lot of those tricks in person If you come down to my Expat Insider Seminar You'll also meet our brilliant crypto guys Oscar Miner And of course the famous Bitcoin Dan And Mr. B So for all the info and sign up details And to get in on those early bird discounts Go to www.theexpetfiles.com and click on the seminar link Or go to www.theexpetfiles.com slash seminar And remember, repeat offenders, you get $1,000 off And if you're coming down as a single looking to save $750

[27:53] Just let me know, I've got some people looking for roommates We'll finish late