I have no idea but if I were you I wouldn't even think of banking there.

My experiences there have forced me to go do business with another bank.

 

for me it's great was the only bank who even allowed me to get an account (while on a FMM) deposits arrive card always works etc no issues

 

I'm sure it is very branch specific - but we did not have a very good experience with Santander Select. We could easily spend an entire morning in that bank to get the simplest things done. Way too much process.

 

I dealt with the Santander at the Wal Mart Plaza in Nuevo Vallarta and the Santander in Bucerias. Both were very painful experiences,like waiting for three hours to get a debit card to work properly.

 

i always take my mexican friend with me, lol, then people are soooo much faster.

I had to go to 10! branches to find out who can open an account with FMM, the other say no no no, that branch 10 km from where i lived said yeah sure no issues.

Usually when i was in my home country the rules should apply to every branch.

 

You can open a Mexican account without even having an FMM...

https://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/home/personal-banking/global-banking/open-account

I spoke to them when I wanted a Euro based account. I didn't like that it would have been non-interest bearing. But I believe ALL checking accounts in Mexico are non-interest bearing.

 

Not sure if that applies if you are already in Mexico ?!

HSBC (which i would have pervert) said no way without FM2 etc

 

I have had a checking account with Santander for around nine years. No problems. I don't know anything about Santander Select, though.

 

In many ways you are better off. Often we would get fed up waiting on a 'select' person to get to us and walk into the regular bank and stand in line. Much faster.

btw - their web site says you need 20 mil pesos for a select account - but if I recall correctly that amount was really 2 million pesos (but that is just what I remember).

They gave us a 'free' credit card - but they charged for it and then somewhere down the line - if we maintained our balance they reimbursed us.

They offered us free checking - but once again they charged us and reimbursed us later.

We have a very good relationship with HSBC Premier. And their balance requirement is 500,000 pesos.

 

i always payed for my credit cards in europe, not uncommon there

 

Well - if you don't go with a premium type bank account here in Mexico you will pay for your cards here as well. I guess you will feel right at home. But you should be sure to check out the cost of the various cards. They can be a bit pricey as well.

We pay for a US American Express card and a US MasterCard because they are long-standing accounts in my wife's name. So if I kick the bucket she still has credit standing.