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Banking — Santander USD (Renfroe Hospitality Group, Mexico)

Account snapshot

  • Holder: Renfroe Hospitality Group SA de CV
  • Account name: Cuenta Dolares Morales
  • Number: 82-50113846-7
  • CLABE: 014694825011384677
  • Currency: USD
  • Status: Dormant — zero operating activity since inception
  • Accumulated pending penalties: $950 USD as of Mar 2026 (growing at $50/month)
  • Statements reviewed: January 2025 through March 2026

Activity

Nothing. No deposits, no withdrawals, no commercial use. Only line items are the bank's own $50/month penalty fees for not maintaining the required $1,000 USD minimum average balance.

Important nuance: the penalties are "Comisiones pendientes de pago" — pending charges, not yet actually debited to the account. The account balance is $0.00 and has been throughout. The $950 is a liability Santander is tracking, to be collected when funds arrive (or via legal action).

The description text on the penalty line changed from "COMISION MANEJO DE CUENTA" to "PENALIZACION NO MANTENER EL SALDO PROMEDIO MINIMO MENSUAL REQUERIDO" starting Nov 2025 — likely Santander tightening the framing but no change in substance.

Decision — still open

Three paths:

  1. Close the account and settle $950. Simplest. Reduces FBAR/8938 reporting surface. If RHG ever needs a USD account in Mexico later, open a new one cleanly.
  2. Fund $1,000+ and stop the bleeding. Keeps optionality. May become useful for the intercompany framing if guest USD ever gets routed directly to a Mexican USD account (though that's a big operational change).
  3. Do nothing. Continue accruing $50/month. Eventually Santander forces the issue.

Austin has not made this decision yet. The correct time to decide is once the intercompany services agreement is drafted and we know whether the structure needs a Mexican USD receiving account. For now, it's costing $50/month to defer.

Related: the alternative Mexican banks worth comparing if RHG does want to open a new USD account at some point are Intercam, Bx+, and Multiva for SME USD banking — better reputation than Santander for dollar-denominated SME accounts.

Log the decision in decisions/log.md when made.

  • Companion MXN sub-account Inversión Creciente (66-50994620-9): dormant zero-balance, no fees, leave alone
  • Operating MXN account (65-50994620-9): banking/santander-mxn.md