AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Bank Account in Belize, but don't live here?

Cooper you are absolutely correct. RESPECT is all it takes. It is Belize if you put up an angry Gringo front then you get the cold shoulder.

Every "local" account opened by a non-resident needs the approval of Central Bank these days. Nice or not nice, friendly local staff or not - the regs take all these accounts to Central Bank. Sometimes Central Bank staff is sensible and sometimes not.
I saw a denial letter issued to a property owner - stated reason was that they did not have a significant investment in Belize. On appeal the account was opened for them - eventually.

To clarify what Central Bank is - and is not. Central Bank is not a bank like Atlantic or Scotia, dealing with retail banking - it's the entity in control of the ebb and flow of currency in Belize. In this respect it is lIke the Federal Reserve Board in the US. They are also in the business of overseeing the compliance of local banks.

Diane has pretty much layed it out; the fact that there are varied experiences should be a clue in itself. There are quite a few threads about bank accounts, good, bad, and ugly. Maybe give it a go and do a simple search if you want to read more tales of the token.

Boy times have changed in 2003 I walked into My
bank back then it was easy so easy I had my copy of my tittle to my condo ,phone bill.and
brought two letters from two banks in the states saying I was a very nice man plus also said
Jerry MC Dermott sent me In and that was it got a check book the same day LOL.
[ AND I GOT LIKE 7.5 % percent intrest on the savings and
6 % on the checking ] Those where the days LOL.
I Can still call the bank and they give me info on the phone LOL.AND A SMILE WHEN I WALK IN .
BUT NOW THEY HAVE FLASHING SIGN BLOCKING THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET .LOL.

I actually had and have an excellent relationship with the banker who opened my account. I agree that being rude or impatient is a good way to not get something done quickly in Belize but it's misleading to imply that getting an account will be easy if you are pleasant. As Diane said, the hoops US citizens (not sure if they also apply to other foreigners) have to jump through are due to pressure from the US government, not the bank or the banker you are dealing with.

If you can develop a good relationship with the banker, at least the two of you can laugh at the hoops as you jump through them together.

As Diane stated you can easily open a personal or corporate international US$ account with British Caribbean Bank, Atlantic International and a few others here on the island and in Belize City. You don't need to be in Belize to do this.

Opening local accounts come with varied challenges, but possible.

Offshore, onshore, corporate or personal will depend on your goals.

Please PM if you need additional information.

You can also try the Credit Unions, they are far far easier to deal with.

Thank you everyone for the info and your experiences.

Chris I PM'd you.

DC

I have a friend from Canada who opened an Atlantic Bank account here with 2 bank letters from Canada, she did not own property.

The fact that every time she came here it was to volunteer or bring donations worked in her favor.