Bank and payments in Panama: dollars in the account, euros on your AOW

Can you open a bank account in Panama? Yes, but the bank decides: the regulator, the Superintendencia de Bancos, confirms that a bank may require a minimum deposit, and the state banks state in their product descriptions that foreigners come to the branch for the document list. The finding at the source is the rules that protect you: a savings account may not be charged for little or no activity, and a complaint the bank does not resolve within thirty days may go to the regulator. The pitfall is on the Dutch side: your AOW arrives in euros in a dollar account, and the exchange happens at the rate and margin of the receiving bank.

What may a bank do and not do?

Rule	What the Superintendencia de Bancos says
Minimum deposit	the bank may require it for a current account
Charges for low activity	prohibited on a savings account (Acuerdo 4-2011)
Closure for inactivity	allowed after five years without movement (Acuerdo 5-2009)
Interest change on a loan	only after written notice with percentage and effective date
Complaint	first at the bank's Sistema de Atención de Reclamos, which has thirty calendar days; then at the regulator
Law 6 discounts at banks	complaints about them go through ACODECO

The Superintendencia keeps a list of licensed banks on its site, and that is the first test: an institution not on it is not a bank. Finance companies fall under the ministry of commerce, not under the banking regulator.

What do the state banks ask?

Panamá Digital describes the products of two state banks. The Banco Nacional opens a current account with chequebook from a deposit of B/. 300 for a natural person, on presentation of a valid cédula, proof of income and two verbal personal references. For foreigners, including residents and holders of a work permit, there is one sentence: come to a branch for the requirements and documents, and the bank reserves the right to ask for additional papers based on your profile. The Caja de Ahorros opens an ordinary savings account from B/. 2.50, the lowest amount in the system, with a passbook, a debit card on request and a seizure-free amount of B/. 10,000; the Cuenta Dorada asks B/. 3,000 and allows four withdrawals a month.

What you read from that: the account itself is cheap, the admission is the work. Take your residence card with you, proof of your pension or income and proof of your address, and expect an interview. Anyone who does not yet have a card is asked at most counters to come back once they have it; that is why in this journey the card comes before the bank.

How does your AOW arrive?

The SVB also pays the AOW to a foreign account, in most countries in euros. Only those living in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Morocco, New Zealand, the United States or South Africa get that country's currency. Panama is not on that list, so your AOW arrives in euros in an account in a dollar country, and the receiving bank converts. Anyone with a low AOW can have it paid quarterly or yearly to save bank charges; you arrange that with the SVB.

A weak euro is a direct loss of purchasing power. In Panama you pay everything in dollars, while your income arrives in euros. Work out your monthly budget at an unfavourable rate, not today's, and ask your bank beforehand which rate and which margin it applies to an incoming euro payment. Keeping a euro account in the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe keeps the choice of when to exchange with you.

Which discounts apply at the bank?

Law 6 of 1987 also works at the counter: 50 percent discount on the closing costs of loans, one percentage point on the interest of a mortgage for your own home, and 15 percent on personal and business loans. You show your cédula or pensionado card, and if the bank refuses, the counter is not the Superintendencia but ACODECO. The full list is in the pensionado discounts.

What do you arrange on the Dutch side?

Keep a Dutch or European account for your AOW, your pension and the Tax Administration; outside the EU a bank has no duty to keep you as a customer, so report your move and ask about the policy beforehand. How you keep that line and your DigiD open is in keeping a bank account and DigiD. The order of card, bank and the rest of the first weeks is in the step-by-step plan for Panama.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Panama or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.