Doing some checking on this blog, I noticed I haven’ made a post on one of the most important things to know about Costa Rica: banks. I feel it is very important for everyone to know how banking works in this country not only for common knowledge, Costa Rica economy tends to work different than what we are used to so all we foreigners need to be on our toes.
There are two types of banking entities in Costa Rica: estate banks and private banks. The main bank is Banco Central de Costa Rica and they handle everything related with economy neutrally: nothing goes by unless it is approved by Banco Central first. This bank is located in San Jose. Costa Rica does not have any branch of this bank anywhere else in the country.
Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose.
The other estate banks are Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Banco Popular and Banco Credito Agricola de Cartago. The BNCR is one of the oldest estate banks, their main offices are located right next to Banco Central in down town San Jose and they own the tallest building in Costa Rica; these two are the most trusted banks when it comes to personal use and business negotiations. Banco Popular was created to help middle low class and low class citizens achieve their goals providing them with helpful loans and helping them with their businesses. Last but not least Banco Credito Agrícola de Cartago is also an estate entity focused on helping agriculture expand, especially in the Cartago area.
Private banking is also very common in Costa Rica. BAC San Jose could be considered the biggest one and they handled one of the most important credit card companies in Costa Rica: Credomatic (as well as American Express). Scotia Bank has branches all over the world and in Costa Rica they are well known because they provide financing choices for middle class to high class citizens for business, housing and even car purchases. Other very important private banking entities are HSBC, Banco Cuscatlan, Banca Promerica and Grupo Uno, which provide regular banking services such as savings accounts, loans, credit cards and investment opportunities, yet they don’t handle businesses as big as the other private banks.
