Chile Forum

Hello all,

I had been reading about the sort of issues foreigners experienced when trying to open an account in Chile, but now I can say 'I feel your pain'...

I a Chilean (Permanent resident in the US) who has recently returned from the states after staying almost a decade over there.
I went to the bank and tried opening a bank account (really just looking for a checking+debit account) and failed miserably.
Apparently, I can only open an account of this type if I can demonstrate income in Chile and they assured me that no amount of paperwork, initial deposit, etc could replace the local income requirement.

So, now that we are all in the same boat, can you guys recommend any banks that might be willing to open an account for me?

I am not really interested on a line of credit I just need a checking account and a debit card (hopefully a visa/mc I can use on the internet) associated to it...

I also wanted to invest on a property, but I guess that is off the table until I get a Chilean job!

The main issue is something that is of little importance in the US “writing cheques”, in Chile they are contracts and a bad cheque can put you in jail as if you robbed the store or restaurant you wrote it to, so they want a long history of credit worthiness before they give you a cheque book or credit card. I would think a savings account with a debit card would be easier, but for some twisted reason they see a debit card as a credit card, I see it as “if there is no money in the account it is useless”, but the banking system in Chile sees it differently. I know a couple of professionals that only deal in cash and must have giant mattresses at home (well walk in safes at their offices), they don’t trust the banks which is very odd but, hey it’s Chile. With the payment kiosks all over the average person doesn’t need cheques to deal with day to day payments like electricity, water etc.

nwdiver wrote:.... in Chile they are contracts and a bad cheque can put you in jail ....

Not any more, the law changed a few years ago. I still have a few cheques protestados in my collection of bad debts, more trouble than its worth to try to collect.

nwdiver wrote:I know a couple of professionals that only deal in cash

Very common, they do it to avoid paying the taxman. especially recently since banking secrecy was rescinded to comply with OECD norms.