Bancomer, Banorte or Banamex?

Bancomer, Banorte or Banamex...that is the question.

These giants in Mexico are what Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase are to the USA.  The important question of the day is who has your loyalty?

While in Mexico last month, I got my fair share of banking horror stories which is what inspired this post.  My husband is client to both Bancomer and Banorte.  When you read this post please keep in mind that I am only sharing my experiences so far and that it all may or may not be as bad as it seems.

BANCOMER:

I would call this bank a good middle man meaning they don't rank too bad and not too good either.  My experience with sending money to a Bancomer account has been limited to one method, XOOM.com.  This method of sending money does so directly to our bank account so we have not had to worry about receiving money by using a pin.  I don't have too many bad things to say about Bancomer other than a lot of people bank with them and so the banks are always full of people.

In our visits to Bancomer, we have been very well attended to and when making changes to your account, you will have minimal problems.  The plus to banking at bancomer are the prizes they offer as incentives.  For example I have received a dish set for depositing a certain cash amount of money to my account. And more recently I recevied a 3pc set of pots/pans for keeping a specific amount of money in my account for a period of time.  If you've pissed me off in the past this is a good way to try and make it up to me...FREE STUFF for being your client and putting up with you.

BANORTE:

After Don Humberto passed away, the family had to address his estate in regard to his bank accounts.  In tackling this task at Banorte we found that trying to close out an account and change the primary account holder was no easy task.  We kept being sent over to a branch where the general account was initally opened and then to another branch where a CD account was opened.  We were unable to handle any changes to these accounts at one single branch. 

You can imagine that this was most inconvenient.  As most of you may know, when traveling to the centro of any major city, using a car is not the best way to go.  I compare it to being in San Francisco in that parking is very limited and in most cases non-existent.  So to get between the two Banorte branches we did alot of walking and taxis. 

Aside from being sent back and forth between the branches we had to wait up to 3 days of which we had to return to the bank in order to move funds or because a certain employee was not readily available.  This was particularly frustrating because we had to take my suegra (she was listed as beneficiary) and she was not feeling all that great considering the circumstances.  Also, that meant paying to use the autopista (nice freeway) to go and come from Tepic which is $47 pesos each way which totals to about $8 USD each trip. 
When I suggested someone from the bank give us a call in order to confirm that we were going to be able to get things done on a particular day, they said no you give us a call.  I was so frustrated. 

Most likely you may never have to do any of these major movements to your bank accounts but to sum up my ranting, in my opinion, Banorte is not properly linked to its other branches.  I am certain minor transactions are safe but anything beyond that you may have to visit a specific branch which can be very inconvenient.

The whole reason we started banking at Banorte is because my bank has a program called Safe Send for sending money to Mexico and Banorte is one of the banks listed in the program.  The guidelines for Safe Send are as follows:

- It's FREE
- You can send only $3,000/mo.
- Up to 3 transactions per mo.
- You can send up to 1,500 per transaction
- You can send money directly to a Banorte bank account or to a person and they'll use a pin to receive the money.
- If you send directly to the account it takes up to 2 days. Using a pin it takes 2 hours.

When receiving money at Banorte without banking at Banorte, you must provide a copy of your ID (they will not make a copy of it for you).  You can only receive money 2-3 times a month otherwise you must open an account.

When changing Dollars into Pesos, you must do the transaction as a deposit to your account and then pull the money from your account. 

BANAMEX:

Despite not being a client with Banamex, I still have an experience or two to share with you.  One day we had a check to cash that was issued by Banamex.  So, off we go to take care of business. 

Upon walking into the bank, a woman greeted us and asked what we wanted to handle that day.  She provided us with a number and directed us to where we were supposed to get in line.  I have to admit, that I do not understand why we still had to get in line if we were given a number but I guess it is to avoid any confusion as to who is next?  The seating area was large and thus there was plenty of seating for waiting for the tellers and for personal bankers (there was a separate seating area).  Also, there was a neat display of art to pass your wait time. 

I liked that there was plenty of space for seating and that we were given a number because my experience in other banks has been that people cut in front of you when waiting for personal bankers and they hover.  Two things that really piss me off especially if you've been waiting for what seems like forever.  And when I say hover I mean no privacy.  You can be with a banker and the next person knows where you live, what you have in your bank account and who is going to get the money when you die. 

I always thought that perhaps it was the character of Mexican people to be all up in your bank business but no, correction, it's the way banks handle business.  It's like they need one of those signs from Kaiser that say stand behind the yellow line to respect patient privacy.  After being cut in front of at Banorte, I can understand whey everybody hovers, it's to make sure they get attended to next.  I don't blame them.  However, Banamex seemed to me to be a little more keen on this than other banks.

Perhaps because the Banamex branch that I visited was large that is why I had such a good experience but regardless, it made me want to bank with them.  When I get all of my papers situated/ID's (that is another post entirely) I plan on becoming one of their clients then perhaps I'll be able to share the good with the bad. 

Perhaps you have a bank horror/good story of you own to share?

Maybe you can set me straight about Banorte and tell me it isn't all that bad or that Banamex isn't as great as I think.