Online Wire Transfers in Ajijic, Lake Chapala

For those of you who have bee arounf for awhile you might remember the tedious and time consuming chore of trying to effect a wire transfer to or from your bank in Ajijic, Lake Chapala.

I remember having to go to the bank in Chapala with, what was hopefully, all the correct and required paperwork and try and get money from an account here to an account up north.  The tellers did not speak English in those days and most of them had never heard of a wire transfer let along know how to execute one.

There was one lovely young man in Chapala who, with me, was determined to get this accomplished.  You needed the name and address of your bank, your account# and transit # (critically important), the SWIFT code and the ABA # for your bank.  Naturally, you also need your passport as no other picture identification would do.

Having tried a number of options we kept getting a bank in New York which was not what we were looking for but finally, close to 2 hours later we hit on the correct SWIFT code and ABA # and the transfer was made and receipts handed out.  You then had to anxiously wait while your money floated around in cyberspace hoping it would eventually end up in the designated account.

Sometimes it did and sometimes it did not and would bounce back into your account here and you would then have to repeat the process.

You may think I am exaggerating but I am not.

You can imagine my joy when I learned that now you can not only transfer money between accounts at the same bank or to other banks but you can also make International wire transfers online.

All you need is your name, account # and SWIFT code of the bank into which you wish to make the transfer. I m sure every bank is different but I had the choice of the US and Puerto Rico or other countries and Canada.

I am not saying this did not take a few phone calls to my bank executive but I did, however, make the transfer and 3 days later it was, in fact, in my account up north.  I was giddy with glee.  This is true progress.

I know this may seem like a small victory but, believe me, it is not. My bank up north told me the money would never get into my account without a Transit # which was never asked for online and the bank customer service phone # here said it could take as long as 5-6 days and the Transit # was not necessary.  He was the only one that made me feel better.

It is always wise to alert your bank that a wire transfer is en route and give them all the details so they can watch for it for you and make sure it gets deposited into the correct account.