Banking in Costa Rica

In the last few days, I have been given a crash course on this.

I use the Wells Fargo bank in the States. This where my brother, who has a better feel for money - does his banking. My Social Security annuity, gets deposited there, on the third of every month.

I spend a lot of my income online, mainly at Amazon - and I use my Wells Fargo debit card for that. I also use my debit card down here, to get the Costa Rican money (Colones) - I use to buy everything down here. Plastic money is being used down here more and more - but paper money is still more convenient. Each store has a ultraviolet light they use to see if the money is not counterfeit.

Banco National is the National bank here (as its name implies) and it has offices everywhere. I used to take my Wells Fargo card to the ATM here, and walk off with cash in my pocket - a nice feeling!

Until last week, when the ATM gave me nothing! I tried in another location - same thing. I asked Wells Fargo what was wrong - they didn't know, and didn't seem interested in finding out.

So today, I used the little machine provided by Scotiabank - a Canadian bank, that also operates here - that was located on the premises of the Walmart supermarket, in the nearest large town (Cartago) where I go shopping once a week. No problem! It changed me three dollars for their service, but gave a stack of the local money.