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to open a bank account you need to find a residence and provide either a lease contract, signed lease or letter of agreement with a person you will be living with.   also need a bill from the water or electric company with the name of the owner of the apartment on it.  copy of drivers licence or passport is also good.

We're moving WHERE? wrote:

to open a bank account you need to find a residence and provide either a lease contract, signed lease or letter of agreement with a person you will be living with.   also need a bill from the water or electric company with the name of the owner of the apartment on it.  copy of drivers licence or passport is also good.

I thought we couldn't sign up for electricity without a deposit and bank account?

Yea you can, they will need the physical address but you can have any mail address for the account. I have my house utility bills directed to my address in Texas. Also you can pay all the utilities thru the web. You can even open an account with Banco Popular on line. I open my account with Claro for the internet from Texas.

As for the deposit, it can be paid in cash, CCs or checks. We never got ask for a bank account.

As to bank accounts in PR.
During my July trip I stopped at Santander Bank, I figure it was the same as the US bank by the same name. It turns out that as of now they are not the same and can not simply exchange money. I was planning on opening an account with them in the US and withdraw it in PR using the same checks, but that does not work.

So I asked about opening a PR Santander checking account, they said they could not do it because I do not have an address in PR, that I needed proof of address. So I walked away.

It is like the chicken and the egg, which do you do first (get a bank account, rent/buy property, setup utilities, get a driver license)?
Looks like the right order is rent/buy property (Cash or Certified Check), then setup utilities and wait for the bill or get some paper from the renter / home purchase papers to prove address, then with SSN card, address proof, and US state driver license go get the PR license and create a bank account.
Seems to be more complicated that it needs to be.

You can open an internet account at Banco Popular and you wont need proof or resident. You will get an ATH that can be used in PR as well as in the US.

Banco Popular have offices in Florida and NY.

It sounds like I will want to open up an account at Banco Popular and hopefully leave my current bank, Wells Fargo, in the dust!!!

purplesugar wrote:

It sounds like I will want to open up an account at Banco Popular and hopefully leave my current bank, Wells Fargo, in the dust!!!

I have both, that way I can transfer money to my account in BP and keep my current bank account in the states.

adlin20 wrote:

purplesugar wrote:

It sounds like I will want to open up an account at Banco Popular and hopefully leave my current bank, Wells Fargo, in the dust!!!

I have both, that way I can transfer money to my account in BP and keep my current bank account in the states.

Is there a fast and free way to transfer money?

You can transfer up to $2K a week from one account to another, this was how we pay our contractor. We transfer the money from our account (US bank) to his account (PR bank), free of charge. Even today, we have a local account with BP and we transfer money to it so my sister in law can pay for the house maintenance.

Here is their web site:

popularcommunitybank.com/

You do not have to have a PR bank account your USA account will do fine I still have a credit union account in the USA and I have no problem with my account, have been in PR for 11/2 years. So relax your debit / visa from your bank will be fine

We have an account in PR so my sister in law be able to take money out and pay stuff in the house. Out debit card for our US bank works fine every time we go back home.

I recently opened an account with Banco Popular.   

When I asked the bank mgr if they could send a fax for me ( it was to transfer money into my account with Banco Popular, I was told that it was against bank policy to send a fax for a customer.

I had to go the  pharmacy  and pay to send the fax.

After the transfer was complete, I noticed a charge of $15 on my account to receive the transfer!

Maybe not so popular?