How To Withdraw Money in Mexico

HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM AN ATM IN MEXICO

As frequent travelers, we always choose to carry minimum cash with us and withdraw money with Wise Card or regular bank debit cards wherever we go. For Mexico, our preference is the same and after all, best way to carry money in Mexico is not to carry cash at all. There are many trustworthy banks in Mexico that you can get money from. When we first arrived to Mexico, we looked at our options to exchange money in Playa del Carmen but quickly realized that money exchange in Mexico is not the same everywhere and you can lose a lot. On the other hand, withdrawing money from an ATM in Mexico is pretty easy but since there are many options, it can be confusing. If you still want to exchange USD with Mexican pesos, best money exchange in Playa del Carmen is on Avenida Benito Juarez around Avenida 40 and 45.

CAN I WITHDRAW MONEY FROM AN ATM IN MEXICO?

Yes, of course you can. The cheapest way to get pesos in Mexico is to withdraw cash from an ATM. However, always be mindful and use atm's that belong to banks, always keep in mind that stand alone atm machines are not the safest option in Mexico. We never had an experience with them but we heard so many horror stories about how they copy your bank card or force you to give away your withdrawn money. To be on the safe side, always go to a bank and use their attached atm, preferably behind closed doors. Bank atm's in Mexico are modern and easy to use. The most convenient atm in Playa del Carmen has been the Cibanco or Scotiabank atm on Avenida 10 for us. You can watch our video showing how to withdraw money from an atm in Mexico below:

HOW CAN I AVOID ATM FEES IN MEXICO?

This question depends on what your home bank offers you. It's not always about the banks in Mexico but what kind of agreements your bank has with banks in Mexico. For example, we have a Turkish bank account that has a free withdrawal agreement with Scotiabank. Otherwise, most banks in Mexico charge around 30 pesos per withdrawal. The lowest atm fees in Mexico belong to Cibanco or Santander as far as we know and it is 29 Pesos. You can use your visa debit card in Mexico to withdraw cash from an atm or other bank cards are also fine. We have heard you can use Bank of America debit card in Mexico with pretty good deals. A really good tip though, is to always decline the conversion rate of the atm when you are withdrawing money abroad. Probablyi your own bank always gives you a better conversion rate than the atm. Also atms in Mexico asks you to secure your withdraw for a price of 29 Pesos, you can also decline that because there is no need for that really.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU WITHDRAW FROM AN ATM IN MEXICO?

Mexico atm withdrawal limit changes from bank to bank. For example Cibanco allows 10000 pesos (around 500 USD) whereas HSBC allows 15000 Pesos per withdrawal. Santander atms in Mexico can give you 9000 pesos per day and Banamex atm withdrawal limit is 6000 pesos per transaction. Best bank to withdraw money in Mexico is Cibanco or Santander in our experience because they are trustworthy, central and the higher you can withdraw, the cheaper the atm fees get per transaction. Withdrawing money in Mexico is a math calculation most of the time.

CAN YOU USE US DOLLARS IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN?

Yes, you can use US Dollars in Playa del Carmen and anywhere else in Mexico. However, the exchange rate of USD to MXN depends on the shop. We saw that tour companies, Walmart and OXXO generally give a good exchange rate whereas local bottle shops or souvenir shops sometimes give a really low rate. If this is not urgent, we would advise to exchange US Dollars in a currency shop in Mexico before you purchase anything.

SHOULD I EXCHANGE MONEY BEFORE COMING TO MEXICO?

No, that is really not a necessity. You can withdraw pesos from an atm in Cancun Airport or Mexico City. You can even use US Dollars to go to the city center and then exchange money in the city center. Travel tip, don't exchange money in Mexico Airports because casa de cambios in Mexico always give a better rate in city centers.

HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM WISE IN MEXICO

Wise, formerly Transferwise, provides a really good borderless account and it is what we usually use when we travel abroad. You can also always use Wise for cheap international money transfers. Wise allows you to withdraw 200 GBP per month for free. Transferwise cash withdrawal limit is renewed at midnight on the last day of the month. In mexico, withdrawing money from an atm by Wise is really convenient, you only pay the atm fee but you pay nothing to Transferwise. You can create a Mexican Peso balance in your Wise app easily and then you can use your Wise card for shopping in Mexico. We always use our Transferwise card for shopping in Walmart in Playa del Carmen.