hello we are going to cancun next week and was wondering if anyone has any info about location of citi bank and whether it is safe to use any atm machine at the hotel or any of the places or should we find a bank instead? also do they use american express credit card at many places or its better to bring master card
Atms are just as safe there as they are at home. But, remember that you will be charged exchange rate by your bank at home. If you are going to use anything i suggest useing credit cards. If there is fraud they will take care of everything for you, banks are sometimes a little harder. Just a suggestion.
There are no Cicibank branches in Cancun. Banamex is part of Citigroup but there is absolutely no account sharing or communications between the two. ATMs are everywhere. Normal non-client fees apply as do daily maximum withdrawal. You should iron out any details with your bank before coming down. You can get daily amount caps modified, etc. One caveat from personal experience: My wife was using a Banamex ATM in Wal-Mart. The machine decided to reboot, swallowing her card. A call to Banamex produced the statement that if she waited by the machine, sometime within the next 8 hours the security team that restocks the machine would return her card on proof of identity. Since remaining in Wal-Mart any longer than absolutely neccessary is a violation of my Geneva Convention rights, we opted to cancel the card and have Citi Fedex a new one. Since then, we try to use ATMs located in bank lobbies during banking hours on the presumption (probably wrong) that somebody could help us in case it happened again. Also, Banorte has ATMs that are swipers instead of inserters, so you never loose control of your card.
HeeHee! I couldn't agree more. They should pay me to shop there. If you plan to use a credit card while in Mexico I advise you to tell your credit card company about that before you get here. I have several cards with Chase and they are pretty careful about charges in Mexico because there is so much credit card fraud here. If I plan to make a big purchase I always call them first to let them know. AmEx, apparently, used to be the card of choice in Mexico (according to old timers like my Mexican husband), but now I think more places take Visa than AmEx. When I was in retail we did not take AmEx because they charge vendors higher fees than Visa or MC.
I don't know if it is true at all bank ATMs but in the US a card that does not eject from a Bank of America ATM cannot be retrieved. It is immediately shredded inside the machine. Bank of America customers can use Santander ATMs in Mexico with no additional fees. BoA also has a convenient service call SafeSend that allows an account holder to send money to Mexico by phone to be picked up at any bank branch of your choice or deposited directly into a Santander account in Mexico. There is no direct fee, although I'm sure it is in the exchange rate. They tell you when you call exactly how many pesos will be received for the dollar amount sent.
Your BoA ATM card can also be used at Scotiabank as well, with no fee. And the exchange rate will be better (at least it is here in Veracruz) than what you see posted in the banks.
