Cayman Living Question

[caribbo]

Hi,
Can someone please tell me what American banks have branches in the Caymans?
Thanks,
Bo

[mshah1]

I dont think there are any american banks here..although i could be wrong..but I've looked and havent found any. There are some canadian banks here..like scotia bank and royal bank but i think thats it besides the cayman island banks. Alot of students use either Bank of Butterfield or Cayman National bank. I personally like Cayman National better because they are cheaper for withdrawls and things of that nature plus..you dont have to wire your money here...they can pull money off your US card and put it in your cayman bank account here without incurring any fees outside then norm of using your debit card. I think it's the same for most students...or at least that is how it is for my roommates and I....but dont hold me to the details...

Anyhow, generally the res hall has the banks come out and the cell phone people for the first frew days when you move in....or so it was a few semster ago..not sure how it is working these days

Hope that helps

[Jeep23Guy]

I don't think there are any American banks down here. I know there are some Canadian banks. The most common banks are Bank of Butterfield and Cayman National. Scotia is also around. I know that if you have a Bank of America account, you can use the Scotia ATMs without being charged.

When you get here, I would open an account with Bank of Butterfield. The school has a deal with them so you can open the account from the lobby of the dorm or even on campus the first day. Even if you don't want to keep a lot of money in it, it's worth having because it's pretty difficult to get an offshore account.

[sinchu77]

Citibank does have a branch there but its strange, they will do nothing with your account for the US. I am not sure why.

Anyways, Cayman National is great and besides, you get to brag to your friends that you have money in your "Cayman Account." Sounds like a bigger deal that it actually is.

[Jeep23Guy]

Even if there are companies with the same name here as in the states, often it's a separate company. For example...My wife and I had cingular phones in the states. It is not possible to transfer your cingular service from the US to Grand Cayman (even though there is cingular here). Also, there is a Fidelity company here that is the same company as the Fidelity in the US, but they are run as separate companies so that you must open a new fidelity account if you want one on Grand Cayman. Anyway, I suggest that you open a Bank of Butterfield account and get a Digicel prepaid phone. I suggest getting Skype (internet phone service). Skype is 2.3 cents/minute to call land lines in the US and 2.7 cents/minute to call US cell phones. If you're planning on making a ton of calls to the US, maybe you should get vonage. (also, skype is about 40-50 cents/minute to call the caymans, so it's not worth it for local calls)

[mshah1]

Hey,

The prepaid digicel is good to have for just island use and I use Vonage for my phone service...It's 24.99 a month for unlimited calls to US and Canada and 13 cents a mintues to cayman numbers. And if you sign up through someone you can get two months free and the converter box free...I signed up through my dad b/c originally they wanted to charge me for the box...but if someone refers you then you can get it free. Vonage works great for us about 95% of the time....of course when it storms and the internet goes out..it doesnt work b/c it is a VOIP. If you are goign to do something like vonage..u need to sign up soon to give yourself enough time to get the box. They only ship to a US address and it takes about 3-5 days to get it.

Anyhow, hope that helps