Surely in your home country you can open a bank account in foreign currency or even a multi-currency account. In Mexico things are different.
As an individual, you can only have a foreign currency account if you live in an area bordering the United States. In this case, the account currency can only be US dollar.
There are no exceptions. It does not matter whether you are a Mexican citizen or resident, or whether you have a source of income in foreign currency or not. You can only open a foreign currency account if you live near the border. In Tijuana — yes, in Cancun — No. The residential address must be confirmed, as usual, with recent utility bills.
In addition, maintaining a dollar account will cost money. In particular, at the largest bank in Mexico, BBVA, the cost of opening such an account is $50, the minimum account balance is — $300, and a monthly fee if this balance is not met — $33.
You can replenish your account by transfers from abroad or in cash dollars through bank branches. At the same time, users report that it is not possible to deposit cash dollars into an account in all branches, but in all — put pesos, which will be converted into dollars at some special rate, lower than the dollar selling rate. Withdrawing dollars is allowed in Mexico at those ATMs that issue them (otherwise the ATM will issue the amount in pesos), or in the USA with a commission of $1.5 per transaction. Map — debit only.
In general, to open any account in Mexico you need to generate the following documents and contact the selected bank branch:
- ID card or passport,
- Mexico resident card,
- RFC tax number (most banks),
- proof of residential address — electricity, telephone or water bill not older than 3 months.
Not all banks open dollar accounts even for residents of the northern states of Mexico, but only large ones: HSBC, Scotiabank, Banamex, etc.
Even if you do not have a foreign currency account, you can accept payments to it in any currency. The foreign currency amount sent using your bank details will be automatically converted into Mexican Pesos, which will be credited to your account. In other words, to purchase transfers sent in dollars, you do not need to have a dollar account, as long as you assume that you will receive the transfer in pesos rather than dollars.
Enterprises (companies) have the opportunity to open foreign currency accounts. Alone, such an enterprise must be registered in the register of exporters or importers.