What is required to set up a checking account at one of the local bank?

Hi Evert.We have our account with MCB which also has on line access to your account for bill paying. Simply drop by the branch, bring money to deposit or a check & your passport. That should do it.

Thanks Vince, I thought I had read somewhere that a letter from your bank was required....maybe I have that mixed up with applying for residency.I assume once you have an online account with MCB you can link to another online accounts like INGdirect for transferring funds into MCB.

you must have two letters from a Bank or other reference attesting to your good standing with your home bank

Hi Everett.. Michael is correct. Between you & me I completely forgot about that requirement. Why don't you just send an e mail to MCB & advise them of your intentions. They will respond back..
http://www.mcbbonaire.com/new/

We just opened an account and needed 2 banking references from home (originals, they don't accept faxes) and a copy of our passport notarized, which you can do with the notary on Bonaire, but much easier if you do it at home ahead of time.

If you want online banking, that's a whole other story. We were told they can't start that process until the account is set up. Then you have to physically be there (or appoint someone local) to pick up your PIN information.

when you get the letters from bank make sure they are addressed to the bank you are opening the account at. RBTT wouldn't accept a letter addressed to "whom it may concern"

The laws are pretty strict here since money laundering at one time was an issue for off shore banks. It would be best to contact the bank here that you are going to open an account with and have them supply you with their requirements. If you are going to become a resident, a dollar account has some pretty interesting charges and rules. It may all become moot once we switch to the dollar for all transactions.

Thanks everybody, I appreciate all your input. I did send an email to MCB but never heard back from them. So when you say 2 letters, would that be 2 signed letters from my bank or a letter from the bank and reference from another source.

We supplied a letter from our bank and the other was from our investment broker. We only use one bank so the second one was a bit tough. But they accepted the investment firm.

We included: how long account was in place, type of account, and that it was current and in good standing.

We also just opened an account with MCB- we had our two letters and were told that we needed a third, local reference as well. (that we were upstanding people etc.)this is apparently something that even residents of the island are being asked for. MCB said that they were going to mail the PIN- its been three weeks.....(but they DID say that it would take a few weeks.) and we did have to wait a few days for the account to be opened before we were allowed to deposit money.

Check to see where the pin was mailed to..Sometimes, they send it to your home country address...

Michael- that is where we are hoping they mail it to! We got our bank cards already. I guess I just want to remind Americans that they will NOT have "same day service" and we are glad that we had two weeks. It just takes time but the bank person was very helpful and nice and yes, patient with the Americans!

Just remember, once you have a foreign bank account and the balance of all your foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 anytime during the year, Americans are required to file a Foreign Bank Account Report, Form 90-22.1 with the Department of the Treasury in Detroit. Failure to file can bring some stiff penalties. They are really stepping up enforcement of this requirement after being "shocked" to find that people had opened accounts in Switzerland and Lichtenstein and weren't reporting the income!

Trying to get your bank to write a letter of recommend on their stationary is next to impossible,or at least with the institutions I deal with. Chase and Smith Barney both said no way, citing fraud as a reason why they no longer write letters. The best I can do is print outs that show accounts,date open,balances,etc. Maybe I should see if they'll write me a letter stating why they can't write me a letter.

Spoke with MCB and what they need is a letter stating that MR X had had an account with Bank for X number of years. It should be addressed to the bank that you are asking to open the account in...It is not a letter of recommendation, just a statement of facts