Recovering Frozen Money in Costa Rica: A Banking Nightmare Explained
Buenos Diaz from Costa Rica. So, we are here trying to recover thousands of dollars that have been stuck in a bank account for over a year now. This is my third try to get it out.
The problem that we have right now is that I am unable to check the bank account balance of my new bank account in Costa Rica to see if the frozen money was sent to the new bank account. So, that is our plan for today. We're going to go to the two banks where I have accounts open, Bank Costa Rica and Bank, and we're going to find out if there's any money in them and if I can get it out.
So, let's head to the Bank Costa Rica first and see if I can get my accounts reopened, get a new debit card, two new debit cards, and also get access to my online banking. And then we'll go to another bank, which is my backup account, and see if we can get that one open.
You know that I succeeded at opening accounts here in Costa Rica, which was a nightmare. Once I got back to the United States, those accounts got closed again for various reasons that I'm not really sure about. But something because one was inactive for too long before they reopened it, so they closed it again.
Then I sent my lawyer back. He got me new account numbers. So, during all this process, my debit card stopped working and my online banking stopped working. So, you know, never a dull moment in Costa Rica. Things are not easy here. So, I'm prepared for a slightly challenging day. How challenging? We're gonna find out. So, let's go. But hopefully, we have a good end to the story today.
All right, we made it. Multi Plaza. Let's see what happens.
Okay, it has been three hours, and I've left the Bank of Costa Rica, and I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is, drum roll please, the money was in my account.
So, the 6 million guaranteed colon were in my colon account, and another part of the balance was in my dollars account. So, I have received the money that has been promised to me from Desipine with my new account numbers. And after 3 hours of sitting in the bank, I was able to reactivate those two accounts, and I have been able to successfully transfer that money to my US account.
I'm using Wise to receive the money because they charge the lowest incoming transfer fees. I've been using them since 2012. I was one of the very first customers on Wise, so I highly recommend them.
It was very impactful to see how slow the banking transactions still are here. For example, the executive had to go to the manager for approval for an international wire transfer, and he was eating lunch. So, that's why it took extra long.
But something that I can do in just a few taps of the app in a few seconds on the Wise app here could take easily an hour or an hour and a half and cost $90. Yes, they charged $90 in wire fees and SWIFT fees, which I didn't even know there was such a thing as a SWIFT fee to send.
Even Bank of America might charge like $15 to $30. So, I've never seen a $90 outgoing wire transfer fee, plus all the hoops you have to jump through, filling out paperwork by hand.
That is done. But the bad news is that my dollar debit card won't be here until Thursday morning, and I leave on Thursday. So, I'm having it sent to a branch closer to me in the center of San Jose because this one doesn't open until 11:00.
And hopefully, I can get it before I leave because there's still a chance that more of the money gets released sometime in the next few months or the next year. So, I want to make sure that my accounts remain active here.
So, in order to keep those accounts active, you do have to use the cards once in a while. You have to keep a minimum balance in the account, or they will go inactive again, which we don't want.
My plan is to go back to La Fis Bank, which I tried to open an account with the last time I was here, but I didn't finish the opening of the account because it had to get approved with the central bank. So, I'm going to go down the street to Santa Ana and see if I can finish opening that account.
Because if I can get that account opened, and if DesiFi gives us more money in the future of the like 54% that's still stuck, then I can receive it to La Fis, and then I can send it to myself online with their international wire transfer option.
So, we're so close, guys. We really are. I feel like a huge hurdle has been overcome today to actually get a big portion of the money and, you know, send it to my account in the US. So, I'm just going to be watching and waiting for that money to hit my US account, and then I think I'll feel extra relieved.
Let's continue on to Santa Ana, see if I can officially open that other account, and then have a bit more flexibility and a plan B in case this account goes inactive again or something happens.
All right, let's go.
Okay, just leaving Vancola Pis, and success. We have a debit card in dollars and colones. They're not going to be active for 24 hours, but that was actually a pretty easy experience.
I was maybe only in there for an hour. Had to fund each account with $50, so $50 US and $50 equivalent in colon. And actually ended up having to use my US debit card because even though I just had all this money in my Costa Rican accounts, I took most of the money out of the colon account, and I didn't have the debit card for the dollars account.
So, I had to pay like a $10 ATM fee to withdraw the money from my Bank of America debit card, which is ironic.
I can log into my internet banking tonight, and then I'll be able to do international wire transfers with this account. So, the good news is that if I get more money from Desipin, they can send it to this account instead of the BCR account, and then I can just transfer it to myself online with their international wire feature.
So, it's really important when you're opening bank accounts in different countries to understand what type of accounts are available and what the benefits are of those accounts and what the features are of those accounts. Because you could end up having to wait in line for an hour or so to send a wire transfer by hand from one bank to the US for $90, or you can do it online with another bank.
So, I'm really glad that I got this account open, and now I feel like it was a surprisingly productive day. I got everything done that I wanted to.
Wait I'm at a different bank.
Yep. And the reason that I'm at this other bank is because when I got home last night and went to log into my internet banking, it didn't work. No, the password didn't work.
So, I came all the way to the bank today before it closed at 5:00 p.m., and I found out that I had to put a space in my username between the name and the number. You need to put a space there. So, it actually did work.
So, I got it working, but then it had to send me an SMS code to my old Costa Rican number. So, I ran across the street to the Fresh Market. I got a new Costa Rican cell phone number. I called from the bank, activated it, and waited until it was active, and then was able to log in to the online banking and receive the code to my phone.
Related
