Can one open a bank account in a Belize bank prior to actually moving there?
Which of the 5 or so banks has the best reputation and services?
Can you have a check, such as Social Security, deposited directly into the Belize bank once you actually live there?
Anything else one needs to know about banking before making the move?

There are only four "real" banks in Belize -- the two local banks, Atlantic, Belize, plus the branches of the international banks ScotiaBank and Barclays. Provident is just an offshore bank connected to Glenn Godfrey.

First thing to understand about banks in Belize is that you don't want to put more in a Belize dollar account than you have to. The Belize dollar is worthless outside of Belize and can't be converted. Most folks keep their money outside of Belize or at least in a U.S. dollar account in Belize.

You can have SS deposited directly into a Belize bank, but as of a few months zero Americans were doing that, according to the U.S. gov'mint.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First Magazine http://www.belizefirst.com/

exactly how " safe " are the Belize banks vs Provident Bank? Is the only worry that the currency will be devalued? Or just that it is hard to convert quickly? And just what banks in the US are willing to "work" with a Belize bank for monthly living expenses?

The two international banks, Barclays (U.K.) and ScotiaBank (Canada), are huge, long-established banks with branches around the world.

The two Belize banks, Atlantic and Belize Bank, are small, about the size of a small bank in a little U.S. town. Both banks have international ownership. I'm not going to comment on their safety but certainly one would be well advised to look at what safeguards and recourses for depositors are in place when depositing money in any bank, especially one outside the U.S. or other money centers. Only a fool would not do due diligence. Provident Bank I would not comment on -- again, one should do due diligence.

Any U.S. bank should be willing to transfers funds to a bank in Belize (or anywhere else in the world) on whatever basis you set up. Of course there is going to be a wire charge and other account charges.

--Lan Sluder

To correct myself, Glenn Godfrey's offshore bank now does have an actual office in Belize, Alliance Bank.

We actually ran a blurb on this a few months ago:

>>Alliance Bank, part of the growing Glenn Godfrey business empire, has opened, with a temporary office on New Road in Belize City. It has plans to move to new offices on Barrack Road. This makes five full-service bank companies operating in Belize. The other four are Belize Bank, Atlantic Bank, Scotia Bank and Barclays.<<

--Lan Sluder