Banking and paying in Costa Rica: what the bank must ask, the 22-character IBAN and SINPE Móvil

Yes, you can open an account in Costa Rica, and under the supervisor's rules even before you have the residence card: the guidelines under acuerdo SUGEF 13-19 name the passport as valid identification "for non-resident foreigners", and the DGME document for whoever is a resident. What it costs, the bank decides. The trap is the difference between what the rules require and what a bank asks out of its own policy: the first is a fixed list, the second differs per institution, and both are legitimate. Whoever knows the fixed list knows what to bring — and knows when a refusal is policy and not law.

Which identity document counts?

The guidelines name four valid documents for a natural person, and all four must be valid on the day of use:

Who	Document
Costa Rican	the cédula of the Registro Civil
Foreigner with residence permit or special category	the DGME identity document, the DIMEX
Member of a diplomatic or consular mission	the foreign ministry's document
Non-resident foreigner	the passport

In the months of waiting for the DGME you fall in the last row. That a bank in practice often waits for the DIMEX is therefore policy and not rule; ask further, and ask at more than one bank. As soon as you have the card, your category changes and the bank wants to update the file — article 13 of the regulation obliges it to keep your data current throughout the relationship.

What must the bank know about me?

Article 7 of the regulation obliges every supervised institution to identify all its clients; article 9 to apply a Conozca a su cliente policy from the start of the relationship, according to the client's risk; article 10 to collect and verify the prescribed information — and "the information it considers necessary under its own policies". That is the room in which banks differ from each other.

What is fixed is in the guidelines: besides your name, identification, nationality, date and place of birth and home address, the bank wants your country of residence, your occupation and activities, the name of your employer or the nature of your own activities, the purpose of the relationship, the expected monthly amount, and a description of the origin of your money with supporting documents. Bring those documents — a pension statement, the deed of sale of your Dutch house, an annual statement — rather than sending them on. The form is called Conozca a su cliente and you sign it at the start; a non-resident often also provides a copy of every passport page.

How do I pay?

With an IBAN. Costa Rica uses for every account a single number of 22 alphanumeric characters under ISO standard 13616 — the number you use on your bank card, in the app and for every transfer, also from the Netherlands.

With SINPE Móvil. The central bank describes it as the system for small payments with which clients of the financial system transfer money "to accounts linked to mobile phone numbers", from any channel of the bank: SMS, app, online banking or a cash machine. Condition: an account in colones at a participating institution, and you arrange the link at your own bank. In practice it is how you pay the gardener, the market and the restaurant; a phone number is the account number.

With the card. Withdrawing and paying with a Dutch card works, at the cost of your Dutch bank; in the waiting months that is your bridge.

Only move your pension once the account works. An account still in the identification phase can hold an incoming transfer from the Netherlands until the origin has been shown. Let a small amount come over first, see what the bank charges in rate and fees, and only then redirect the monthly payment. You keep your Dutch account: that is where the tax return and the refunds arrive.

Dollars or colones?

Costa Rica counts in two currencies side by side: rents and property often in dollars, groceries, wages and the Caja in colones. SINPE Móvil hangs on a colones account, and a rent in dollars you may under the tenancy law pay in colones at the central bank's selling rate. Whoever keeps both currencies asks the bank for two accounts under one file — then you only do the identification once.

What isn't here: which bank is best, and the tariffs. Those differ per institution and per year; ask for them in writing, and then read this list once more. The order with the rest of the arrival is in the article on DIMEX and registration.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Costa Rica or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.