Setting Up Banking, Internet & Utilities in Cabo: The Post-Closing Checklist

After you close on a Cabo property, the next 30 days are about plumbing your new life: a Mexican bank account, internet that actually works, CFE in your name, water you can trust, propane on auto-delivery, and a Telcel SIM. Done right, your total monthly utility budget lands between $400 and $900 USD.

1. Mexican Banking for Non-Residents

Opening a Mexican bank account is the single highest-leverage move of your first month. You do not need it to own the property — but paying recurring bills, receiving rental income, and avoiding $35 wire fees on a $25 propane charge makes it essential. Four banks dominate the foreign-owner market in Los Cabos, and your choice depends on whether you have an RFC tax ID, how often you will be in country, and how much hand-holding you want in English.

The four banks worth opening at

• Intercam Banco — the foreigner-friendly default. English-speaking staff at both Cabo San Lucas and San Jose branches, no Mexican RFC required for basic accounts, and a dollar-denominated option that lets you hold USD inside Mexico. Account opening takes 60 to 90 minutes if your paperwork is right. This is the bank most relocating Americans land at first.
• BBVA Mexico — the largest retail bank in the country. Best mobile app (BBVA Mexico), thousands of ATMs, and strong fideicomiso services. Will ask for an RFC for full-service accounts but will open a basic Cuenta Express on passport alone.
• Banamex (Citibanamex) — owned by Citigroup, useful if you bank with Citi in the US — limited cross-border transfer benefits remain. Strong branch network, mid-tier app.
• HSBC Mexico — if you already bank with HSBC in the US or UK, account linking is real and useful. Smaller branch footprint in Los Cabos but premier banking benefits travel.

What documents you actually need

1. Passport — original, not a copy. Make sure it has at least 6 months of validity.
2. Immigration document — your FMM tourist permit (the slip the airline hands you on arrival) is fine for basic accounts at Intercam. For BBVA, HSBC, and any account above ~$50K in deposits, an FM3/Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente card is usually required.
3. Comprobante de domicilio — proof of Mexican address. A CFE electricity bill, Telmex bill, or Oomsapas water bill in your name, less than 90 days old. Until you have one in your name, banks will sometimes accept a notarized escritura (deed) plus a utility bill in the prior owner's name, but this varies branch by branch.
4. Minimum opening deposit — typically $1,000 to $5,000 MXN in cash or USD wire.
5. RFC — required for BBVA full-service accounts and for any account that will collect rental income.

RFC: when you need a Mexican tax ID and how to get one

The RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes) is Mexico's equivalent of an SSN/EIN. You need it if you plan to collect rental income, run a business, deduct property improvements on a future sale, or open a full-service bank account. Get one by booking a Cita SAT appointment online at citas.sat.gob.mx, showing up at the La Paz or Cabo San Lucas SAT office with your passport, CURP, comprobante de domicilio, and the digital appointment confirmation. You walk out with a printed cedula the same day. Cost: zero. The bottleneck is appointment availability — book three to four weeks ahead.

Wire fees and online banking

Sending USD from a US bank to a Mexican account costs $30 to $50 per outbound wire on the US side, plus $10 to $20 on the receiving side, plus an FX spread of roughly 1 to 2 percent. Once your Mexican account is live, all four banks offer solid mobile apps for paying CFE, Telmex, Oomsapas, propane vendors, and any service with a "referencia" (reference number) — usually printed on every Mexican bill. BBVA's app is the strongest, followed by Intercam.

2. Internet: Telmex, Megacable, Totalplay, Starlink

Internet quality in Cabo varies street-by-street more than any other utility. A condo in Marina downtown might have 500 Mbps fiber for $35/month while a Pedregal cliffside villa 800 meters away has no last-mile copper at all. Pick the wrong provider and you spend three weeks waiting for an install that never quite happens. Here is what actually works in 2026.

Telmex Infinitum (fiber) — the default

Telmex is the incumbent and covers the broadest footprint in Los Cabos. Their Infinitum fiber product delivers up to 500 Mbps in most Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo neighborhoods. Plans run roughly $25 USD per month for 100 Mbps and $40 for 500 Mbps. Install takes 5 to 10 business days if there is fiber on your street. According to Telmex's residential portal, coverage maps for individual addresses are checkable online before you commit. Walking into a Telmex Tienda with your comprobante de domicilio in hand is faster than the phone hotline.

Megacable (cable) — speed king where available

Megacable runs hybrid fiber-coax with 1 Gbps tiers in parts of El Tezal, downtown Cabo, and central San Jose. Pricing is competitive with Telmex but speeds can be higher. Customer service is more inconsistent. Best for: heavy streamers, large families, or anyone running multiple 4K feeds.

Totalplay (fiber) — newer subdivisions

Totalplay has been aggressively wiring newer developments along the Corridor and in San Jose. Where available, their 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps fiber product is excellent, with bundled IPTV and phone. Their footprint is narrower than Telmex but worth asking about.

Starlink — the fix for everything else

For Pedregal cliffs, hillside Palmilla, Costa Palmas, East Cape lots, Cerritos Beach, Todos Santos outskirts, or any property without last-mile copper or fiber, Starlink is the answer. Residential service in Mexico runs roughly $110 USD per month with no install fee, and the dish ships in 1 to 2 weeks. According to Starlink Mexico, the standard residential plan now delivers 100 to 250 Mbps with low latency suitable for video calls. Many remote workers in Cabo run Telmex as primary and Starlink as failover — total cost ~$145/month for bulletproof uptime.

3. CFE Electricity and the DAC Trap

Electricity is the single biggest utility variable in Cabo. The Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is Mexico's national power utility, and they price residential service on a tiered tariff system that subsidizes low users and brutally surcharges anyone who crosses the high-consumption threshold. According to CFE's residential tariff page, Tarifa 1F applies to most BCS households, but crossing roughly 500 kWh per month over a sustained billing window pushes you into the DAC (Doméstico de Alto Consumo) tariff — and DAC pricing can triple your bill overnight.

What your CFE bill actually looks like

Season / Usage	Monthly kWh	Tariff	Typical Bill (USD)
Winter, minimal AC	150–300	1F subsidized	$40–$100
Shoulder season, occasional AC	300–500	1F subsidized	$100–$200
Summer, 24/7 AC, no DAC	500–800	1F upper band	$200–$350
Summer, large home, DAC tripped	1,000+	DAC	$400–$900

How to avoid DAC

• Inverter mini-splits in every bedroom. A 12,000 BTU inverter unit costs roughly 60% less to run than a conventional AC. This is the single biggest lever.
• Pool pump timers. Run the pool pump 4 to 6 hours overnight, not 24/7. Saves 100 to 200 kWh per month.
• Propane water heaters and stoves. Electric resistance water heating is a DAC fast-track.
• Solar PV. A 5 kW rooftop system installed in Cabo runs $8,000 to $12,000 USD and pays back in 4 to 6 years. CFE net metering is functional in BCS.
• Read every bill. CFE bills are bimonthly. The line item "DAC" appearing on your bill is the warning. Once you trip DAC, you have to stay under threshold for 12 straight months to drop out.

Transferring CFE into your name

At closing, your notario typically initiates the CFE name change, but you should follow up the same week. Walk into the local CFE office (Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo) with your escritura, passport, RFC if you have one, and the last paid CFE bill from the seller. Cost: under 200 pesos. Timeline: 1 to 3 weeks for the new bill to arrive in your name. Pro tip: set up auto-pay (domiciliación) from your new Mexican bank account on day one to avoid a missed bill triggering a service cut.

4. Water, Propane, and Trash

The "boring" utilities — water, propane, trash — are where new owners get the most surprises. Confirm the source of each before you close so there are no January phone calls about why the kitchen tap is dry.

Water: Oomsapas vs. pipa truck

Oomsapas (municipal water) serves most of downtown Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, La Playita, El Tezal, Cabo del Sol, and Club Campestre. Bills run $20 to $50 per month and are paid bimonthly at the Oomsapas office or via your Mexican bank app. Pressure and reliability are generally good but can drop during dry-season peaks.

Pipa truck delivery serves many hillside Pedregal homes, parts of Palmilla, rural East Cape lots, and any property with a private cistern not connected to municipal lines. A 5,000-liter pipa fill runs $30 to $60 USD; most families need one to two fills per month. Set up a regular vendor with WhatsApp ordering — same-day or next-day delivery is normal.

For drinking water, everyone uses garrafones. 19-liter jugs of purified water (Ciel, Bonafont, e-pura) delivered to your door for roughly $2 USD each. Even on municipal water, no one drinks straight from the tap.

Propane (gas)

Mexican homes run on propane for stoves, water heaters, dryers, and pool heating. You either have an estacionario (stationary tank) outside the house that gets refilled by a tanker truck, or smaller cylinder tanks you swap out. Major suppliers: Gas Imperial, Gas del Pacifico, Z Gas, Tomza. Sign up for automatic delivery on a schedule — they will read your tank gauge, refill at 30%, and bill your registered card. Typical monthly cost: $40 to $80 USD for a household; $100+ if you have an electric-resistance avoidance setup with propane water heat and pool heat.

Trash collection

Municipal trash pickup runs once or twice a week in most Cabo neighborhoods at no separate charge — it is bundled into your property tax (predial). Many luxury communities (Pedregal, Palmilla, Diamante) layer on a private service through the HOA for daily or every-other-day collection. If your HOA does not include trash, expect $20 to $40/month for a private service.

5. Phone and Mobile

Mobile is the easiest utility to nail. Three carriers cover Baja California Sur, and one dominates.

• Telcel — best coverage by a wide margin, especially on the East Cape highway and in Pacific Side villages. Sin Limite postpaid: unlimited minutes/texts and 30 to 60 GB data for ~$25 USD/month. Prepaid Amigo plans from $10/month. According to Telcel's plan portal, postpaid setup requires an ID and proof of address; prepaid SIMs are sold at every OXXO with just a passport.
• AT&T Mexico — solid second. Bundles with US AT&T plans (free roaming both directions on the Mexico Unlimited plan). Coverage is strong in towns, thinner in remote stretches.
• Movistar — coverage trails in BCS. Skip unless you have a specific reason.

If you split time between Cabo and the US, the cleanest setup is a US plan with international roaming (T-Mobile, AT&T, Google Fi) on your iPhone or Android primary, plus a $10/month Telcel prepaid SIM in a cheap second handset for purely-Mexican services that require a Mexican phone number (banking SMS codes, food delivery, ride share).

6. What Your HOA Already Covers

HOA inclusions vary wildly. Some Cabo communities bundle so much into the monthly fee that your standalone utility bill drops by 30 to 50 percent; others bundle almost nothing. Always read the HOA disclosure during due diligence — not the morning after closing.

Common HOA inclusions in luxury Cabo communities

• Water — common in Palmilla, Diamante, Costa Palmas, Maravilla. Municipal or community-well water bundled into dues.
• Trash collection — almost universal in gated communities.
• Basic cable / IPTV — included in some master-planned developments (Cabo del Sol, Quivira, some Pedregal subassociations).
• Common-area landscaping and lighting — always included.
• 24/7 security — always included, often the biggest single cost driver.
• Beach club and gym — Costa Palmas, Diamante, Maravilla, Chileno Bay.

Almost never included: CFE electricity (always individually metered), propane, internet, phone.

7. Realistic Monthly Utility Budget

Here is what to budget for a 3-bedroom Cabo home for a couple living there full-time, broken down by category. Numbers are 2026 USD.

Category	Lean	Typical	Heavy AC / Pool / Remote Work
CFE electricity	$80–$150	$200–$350	$400–$600
Internet (Telmex or Megacable)	$25	$40	$145 (Telmex + Starlink)
Water (municipal or pipa)	$20	$40	$80
Propane	$30	$50	$100
Drinking water (garrafones)	$15	$25	$30
Mobile (Telcel)	$10	$25	$50 (2 lines)
Trash (if not HOA)	$0	$25	$40
Monthly Total	$180–$275	$405–$555	$845–$1,045

If your community HOA covers water, trash, and basic cable, knock $50 to $150 off the top. For broader cost-of-living context across housing, healthcare, and groceries, see our cost of living in Cabo San Lucas 2026 breakdown.

8. Your Month-1 Setup Checklist

Run this in order. Each step unlocks the next.

1. Day 0 (closing): Get the seller's last paid CFE, Telmex, and Oomsapas bills handed to you at the notario. Confirm the notario has initiated CFE name change.
2. Day 1–3: Walk into Intercam Banco (Plaza del Mar in Cabo or downtown San Jose). Open a basic account with passport, FMM, and the seller's CFE bill plus your notarized escritura as proof of address.
3. Day 3–5: Book a Cita SAT appointment online for your RFC. First available is usually 2 to 4 weeks out.
4. Day 5–7: Visit the local CFE office to confirm name transfer and set up auto-pay (domiciliación) from your new Intercam account.
5. Day 5–10: Schedule Telmex Infinitum install. If your address has no fiber, order Starlink Residential same day — kit arrives in 1 to 2 weeks.
6. Day 7–10: Walk into a Telcel store with passport and comprobante. Activate a Sin Limite plan. Use that Mexican phone number for everything downstream.
7. Day 10–14: Transfer Oomsapas water (if municipal) or contract a regular pipa vendor on WhatsApp. Set up auto-pay for Oomsapas.
8. Day 10–14: Schedule a propane provider site visit (Gas Imperial or Z Gas). Sign up for automatic refill at 30% tank level.
9. Day 14–21: Attend your RFC appointment at SAT. Walk out with your cedula.
10. Day 21–30: Upgrade your Intercam account to a full-service tier now that you have an RFC. Order a debit card if you want one.
11. Day 21–30: Confirm everything is on auto-pay from Intercam: CFE, Telmex, Oomsapas, propane, mobile, HOA. The whole system should now run without your attention.

9. Where to Go From Here

If you have not closed yet but you are working backward from "what will my life actually look like," start with our how to move to Cabo San Lucas guide. If you are budgeting the full picture — not just utilities — read the cost of living breakdown. And if you are already in the property search, our community guides note which neighborhoods are on municipal water, which require pipa, and which have HOA-bundled utilities.