Banking In Mexico, Mexican Banks
Mexican banks are mostly international banks today
Most Mexican banks have been sold to foreign firms. Banamex is now Citigroup; Bancomer is now BBVA; SERFIN is now Santander; Inverlat is now Scotiabank; Bital is now HSBC; etc. Before they were sold, they changed a lot of their customer service methods and are now similar to those in the United States. I highly recommend Scotiabank and HSBC since they work well with foreigners. Avoid Citibank and BBVA; they are huge banks and the lines take forever. Deposits of Mexican checks from banks other than your own will take twenty-four hours to be credited, and from the same bank will occur instantly. However this can still vary from bank to bank. Sometimes a Mexican check can still take three to ten days to be credited. Count on waiting a week or two for U.S. checks.
For sending money to Mexicans, or to relatives on a regular basis, see this entry.
For Americans who need to cash a check in U.S. dollars, they can change it at a casa de cambio. They might charge a small commission but will give you a good rate. The best exchange rate can be obtained from ATMs, so I always recommend to my clients withdrawing money from ATMs. With the international exchange fee of 1-2 per cent, they are less attractive than they used to be, but less hassle than changing cash at banks. Some Mexican banks won't even change money for you unless you have a Mexican banking account with them. And you can't get a Mexican bank account without an FM-3.
I'm afraid that Canadian checks are still problematic to cash. Allen W. Lloyd has offered banking and investment services to foreigners for more years than I can remember and is a company I would recommend for assistance.
The banks (all of them) will nickel-and-dime you to death with incomprehensible service charges. You certainly don't want to borrow any money from them because interest rates, which vary, are currently around 20 percent! During the crisis of 1995, they were as high as 140 percent! Of course, the other side of that coin is that you can garner some hefty interest on your own shekels by getting a cuenta maestra, which pays you interest and allows you to write checks and use a debit card.
You can invest your money in CETEs, or twenty-eight-day certificates of deposit. The same as in your country, there are longer term certificates, up to 180 days. The days of 30 percent and higher returns on your money are gone, for now. You'll get a bit more than you would in the States or Canada at the moment, but who knows what the future holds. Mexico's central bank raises (or lowers) interest rates periodically, just as in any other country.
Again, the easiest way to get money is to use your debit card from your home bank at an ATM machine. These are everywhere. Cirrus is the most popular, followed by Pulse; Visa Plus is sometimes accepted. You can also use your Visa or MasterCard for cash advances at the ATM. (If you go to a bank to use them, you will have to show a passport.) You know, of course, that there is a hefty fee for this service. Unfortunately, ATMs in smaller towns always seem to be out of cash. If you have an American Express card, you can go to any American Express office and get up to $500 in American Express traveler's checks.