With the dollar as expensive as it is today, many take out the lucky dollar bill that they keep in their wallet to make a joke: “Now it was time to spend it” is usually the joke to lower the bitter drink due to the high price of that currency. . The truth is that this comment is not far from reality.
Today, several financial entities that operate in the country offer the option of opening a savings account in dollars through their subsidiaries abroad. Jaime Jaramillo, co-founder of Finanzas Emocionales, explains that among them are Bancolombia, Davivienda, Itaú and Banco de Bogotá.
“You go to the bank, you say you want to open a savings account in dollars, you buy the dollars at the bank, in transfer, and you tell the bank once the account is open abroad: ‘transfer me these dollars that I just bought’. It is legal, the registration is made with the Banco de la República and it has no legal consequence”, explains the expert.
The “but”, he adds, is that banks generally they ask for at least 5,000 dollars just to open the account and you have to keep a minimum amount there, so this option can close the door to most.
In Bancolombia, for example, it is observed that to open a savings account in foreign currency in Panama or Puerto Rico the minimum amount is US$5,000; and Banco de Bogotá, for its part, has the service in the branches of Miami and New York.
Jaramillo points out that there are also good options on the internet such as eToro or Insights, which offer to open an account virtually and the entire process is digital. Yes indeed, the important thing is to make sure that whoever the service provider is is regulated and supervised by the financial authority of your country, which is something like the Superfinanciera in Colombia.
And the cryptocurrencies?
Now, despite its volatility, it is no secret that cryptocurrencies also attract those looking for an alternative to build their wealth. Although Bitcoin is the most famous, there are also the stablecoins which are basically cryptocurrencies backed by real currencies like the euro or the dollar.
“They are a kind of investment in a digital dollar. Of the interesting coins in which it is worth having some investment are the USD Coin, which is from Circle, a regulated entity; the other is Binance USD, which is very regular, and other more risky ones are coming, such as USDT, or DIE, which is made up of Ethereum and USD Coin”, mentions Carlos Mesa, director of the Fundación Bitcóin Colombia.
It is that according to Bbva, the stablecoins They are also often backed by other cryptocurrencies and even material goods such as gold or real estate.
“There’s also stablecoins that are not associated with any other currency but are controlled by algorithms to maintain a stable price. The main motivation for creating a stablecoin is to try to give investors shelter in times of volatility”, explains Bbva.
Jaramillo, of Emotional Finance, details that one of the risks there is that the business is not regulated in the country and high responsibility and precision are required so that each crypto that is traded is backed by a dollar or euro. “Why buy a coin that looks like a dollar, and not better a dollar?” is his reflection.
More options
It is worth mentioning that there are options on the market to invest in dollars without the need for an account abroad. Investment funds or securities funds managed by brokerage firms, trust companies and pension funds are some of them.
“I access through these entities, I deliver pesos, and they in turn invest in dollars. There I am exposed to that risk of the dollar, if my profitability in pesos goes up and if it goes down it decreases”, specifies Jaramillo.
Another interesting offer is that of applications such as Global66, a cross-border payment fintech that allows you to send and receive money in more than 60 destinations in the world, in just minutes, with a multi-currency option.
And it is that in the end the experts consulted think that the current situation of high prices and risk of recession only reaffirms that “there are two good times to invest: yesterday and today”.
Despite the fact that the dollar fell yesterday, it is still expensive and it is time to think about the opportunities that may arise in the midst of this scenario (see “To learn more”).
