Chile Forum

As far as I understand, newcomers to Chile usually encounter varying degrees of difficulty when trying to open a bank account here.

But our experience has been quite the opposite; we have had a very good experience with the Scotiabank in Santiago. They have been exceedingly accomodating and have gone out of their way to help us "newbies" find our way through the system, even occasionally going beyond the banking business with help in dealing with getting our RUT, re-newing our visa and recently, applying for our Permenencia Definitiva, etc.

The good news is that Scotiabank has recently opened a new branch in La Dehesa, Santiago, which is completely bi-lingual (English/Spanish) . Even the guard at the door speaks English! Though we live near Curico and there is currently no branch there, we use the Scotiabank in Talca or in Santiago for our banking needs that cannot be done by the Redbank ATM system locally, not terribly convenient but we are waiting for the completion of the takeover of the Desarollo Bank at which point we (hope) that we will be able to do ALL our banking in Curico.

We visited the branch in La Dehesa last week - to get advice as to how to do our banking and pay "imposiciones" on-line - the manager of the branch (who is an Argentinian and knows the "issues" of being a newcomer to Chile first-hand) took the time to walk us through the process. Afterwards, she told us that this kind of "specialized" service, that is, the help with opening a bank account and understanding the "system", was open to any foreigner, not only Canadians, who wanted to open a bank account in Chile. For anyone who doesn't know, the Scotiabank is is an international bank which originated as the Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada, and now has branches all through the Caribbean and South America. Though they act independently of each other, the "Canadian mother ship" is still very much in the picture. Definitely not a fly-by-night organization !

So, I hope that this information will help some of the people that I have read about on this website who are having problems finding ways of transferring money to Chile to buy a car or a house.

This the way we went ... and feel very lucky to have tried Scotiabank first.

If they continue to offer efficient service to immigrants, they will very soon have the market cornered.

Many Thanks for providing this useful information..

Hello Susie Dillon,

Thanks for the useful information.

Could you please let me know the street address of the La Dehesa branch.

Thanks again,

Shilpa

Sorry to be skeptical but after dealing with just about every bank in Chile at all levels for all sorts of banking for foreign clients (including Scotiabank to a limited extent but not recently since the take over was completed), all I can say is time will tell. I seriously hope they do have their act together. Please post the contact info, or tell the executive to call me. Please also keep us updated on how service progresses.

My standing offer I have had on the forum for the last 4 years is still good. Any financial institution (or even executive) that can provide no BS consistent long-term professional and predictable service to foreigners in Chile for international banking, will get free promotion on the forum and all of my buisness and all my clients buisness.

It is just we have been down this road before in soooo many ways, just to have some executive above them suddenly decide to start reviewing what they perceive as risky accounts and close them, refuse to accept wires, fire the people that opened them, and so on. I am not talking about a few days or weeks after you open an account, but years later. Suddenly what was more or less foreigner friendly institution (relatively speaking), clams up top to bottom and refuses to do any buisness with foreigners.

I think on some level, what is even worse are the banks that are inconsistent about it from branch to branch, and executive to executive. Some will open accounts, some will not. Some months they are popping open all over the place, and the next they will not accept even small foreign transfers. If a bank just has a standing policy, that is understandable and everyone can move on. It is the waist everyone's time and money problem that is in many ways more damaging with the banks in Chile. For example, being told by the highest level of banks that they have no problem accepting a foreign wire for house purchase for a particular foreigner, just to have it rejected when it finally lands on their desk because there is more paperwork than they are trained to handle or are in the mood to handle. However, the next foreigner that does it through the exact same channels has no problem. So, consistency is critical.

Wow totally bi-lingual you really don't get that many places- seems like they are really trying to corner the foreign market. We had so many issues opening accounts we even swapped banks. I still have no idea about it all because they spoke only to my Husband as they only spoke in Spanish and really I am only a side holder not the actual holder of the accounts due to my visa.

I have used the now Scotiabank (in Canada several years ago Bank of Nova Scotia rebranded itself Scotiabank) since they were the Banco Sud Americano without problems, I continue to use them and they have no problems with cash transfers from other Canadian Banks as I deal with Bank of Montreal here. We only have 5 Banks (of course others count the handful of regional banks and credit unions) none of which have been hurt by the worldwide bank meltdown, yes some lost a few dollars but none have had a non-profitable quarter. The top management in Santiago is Canadian and they are working to become a major retail bank in Chile, they do business all over the Americas and deal with much worse regulatory systems than Chile’s.

I too hope that this is not a 'flash-in-the-pan' success story - and that they continue to give the excellent service (to everyone) that we have experienced since arriving here in 2007. BTW, it might be worth mentioning that we were not then and are still not Scotiabank clients in Canada, only here in Chile. And all our international, interbank dealings have gone smoothly... so far!

Thank you Charles, for allowing me to post the details of the bank branch that we deal with. I will also ask the manager to contact you personally as requested.

The manager's name is Lucrecia Salim Baudrexel
email: lucrecia.salim@scotiabank.cl
The branch address is:
Av. El Rodeo 12699
Lo Barnechea, Santiago, Chile
Tel: (56-2) 3931176
Fax: (56-2) 3931190

Also worth noting; if it is still the same manager that I have dealt with in the past, the branch manager in Talca speaks English.

I hope that this will be helpful to people who are not having as much luck as we have with banking in Chile ...

Say, I got a couple of questions if you don't mind. I don't mean to be overly nosy on public forum, so don't feel any obligation to answer these here (or the ones you feel comfortable answering).

What residency visa are you under? How long have you been in the country? Do you have a work contract? What sort of documents did they ask for?

What sort of account did you get? Is it a checking account or a saving account (very important distinction in Chile legally)?

Did they issue you credit cards on the account, ATM cards, or both?


Sorry, just getting my chile banking divining rods out (they work for witching wells, banks, and good food in Chile ).

We would be interested in anyone else's experience, if anyone is up to giving them a try. Feedback in volume is important with trying to figure out what banks, branches, and executives are able to do in Chile.

Have P.M'd my answers to you. Decided not to share all my banking details with the web community ... strange, I know!!!

Thanks.

I am going to have one of our junior attorneys give them a call also.

Did you guys find out anything? Did anyone get confirmation on this?