Question about taking large amounts of money to mexico?

Question

My hubby and I are going to visit his family in mexico in december. We plan on staying for two months. I'm saving up most of my money right now in a bank account and we plan on taking about 10,000 dollars with us. How should we do this? Should I transfer it to a bank account there or should I get traveler's checks??? His family lives in a little town so using our bankcard isn't really going to be an option. Thanks!!

Answer 1

An ATM card is useless with that amount of money since the maximum withdrawal daily is usually $5000 pesos or $470us.

Nothing is easy in Mexico but I would transfer money bank to bank (if they have a bank account) but it has to be initiated from the US - not requested from Mexico.

Second option would be a cashiers check

Third would be travelers checks (overall cost)

If you are near a Walmart ... check with them for inter country transfers. There are Walmarts here

Ask the family what they think

Answer 2

very carefully, firstly keep some money with you such as $500 and keep $1500 in travelers checks but leave the rest in your bank account, if you get robbed or shaken down for a donation you won't lose out entirely and your vacation won't turn into a major problem, now it's not to say Mexicans are all thieves but you are going to a poor country and flashing will get you unwanted notice, the minor inconvenience of driving to a near by town is a small price to pay for the security of most of your funds, also let your bank know in advance of your vacation plans so they won't freeze your account if they see money withdrawals from abroad, and check the daily limit of money your bank will allow you to withdraw and plan accordingly. happy trails.

Answer 3

If the town is so little you cannot use your bank card, travellers checks are sure not a good idea...they are actually not a good idea anywhere except very large cities...they are a real pain to get cashed.  Ask his family if there is a "cajero" in their town...an ATM machine.  Or if their little town is close to a larger town where there are ATMs.  That is really the best way.  You will not be able to open a bank account in Mexico with just a tourist visa, and carrying  that much cash is very dangerous.Is that money a gift to his family?  Surely you don't plan on using that much money there in 2 months in a tiny town.  Most little towns do have ATMS or are close enough to another town that does....so ASK.  IF you carried $10,000 in U.S. cash, you would have to go to a town with a bank to exchange it anyway...so no sense in taking cash.  And no place but a  very large bank will take travellers checks.  Also, it is VERY wise to have TWO bank accounts with ATM cards that you can use in Mexico...in case you lose a card, or have trouble with it, or need to get out more money in one day than one card wil let you. I have known Americans who only had one card with them and had big problems.

Answer 4

All above are right that it's not a good idea to carry huge amounts of cash, but I've done it myself with no problems. But do not--DO NOT--try to take more than $10,000 cash across the border without declaring it. It is illegal and if you are caught the money will be confiscated.

Also, I agree that Travelers Checks are not a good idea if you are not going to be near a large city. They are extremely difficult to cash in much of Mexico. Very few businesses will accept them.

If the money is a gift for the family, a better option might be a program Bank of America has. It is called "SafeSend." You open a BofA account in the US and can then send up to $1500 at a time to anyone in Mexico, for FREE. It can go to BanNorte, Santander, Serfin or a few other large banks as well. The recipient does not need a bank account to get it. You simply tell them the access code, they go to the bank, show some ID and give the code and they can pick up the money. I used it just last week, and it worked very well.  

And, as I said, it's free. Most other bank transfers can get pretty expensive.

Answer 5

10,000$?!! why unless your buying a house you wont need that much. good luck with that