A Vocabulary Guide to Money and Finance in Spanish (2024)

A Vocabulary Guide to Money and Finance in Spanish (1)

April 30, 2021 by Luis F. Dominguez Spanish Vocabulary 0 comments

Learning new vocabulary about money and finance in Spanish is an excellent investment of your time. You’ll surely need it at some point in the future if you continue with your Spanish learning efforts.

For that reason, in this post I’ll explain why it’s so important for you to study this basic vocabulary guide about finance in Spanish. I’ll also introduce you to essential money terms, money-related slang words, and even a couple of popular phrases about money in Spanish. You’ll also learn all the currencies from Spanish-speaking countries, plus important bank and credit card vocabulary and useful terms for investors.

Why Learn About Money and Finance in Spanish?

There are several reasons to learn vocabulary about money and finance in Spanish, starting with the fact that if you ever visit or move to a Spanish-speaking country, few things are more useful than knowing a thing or two about money.

Besides, on your path of learning Spanish, you need to cover as many different areas of life as possible, learn their vocabulary and keep growing your mastery of the language. If you start by learning about math, sports, or music, one day you’ll have amassed an impressive Spanish vocabulary that spreads across all kinds of topics.

Today, that topic is money and finance in Spanish.

Money and Finance in Spanish

Money is a world in itself, and I’ve divided this lesson into different categories to make it easier for you to absorb the information and technical terms about finance in Spanish.

A Vocabulary Guide to Money and Finance in Spanish (2)

Money

Let’s start with the most basic terms about money in Spanish, some money-related slang words, and a couple of popular phrases regarding money.

el dineromoney
el billetebanknote
la monedacoin
el cambiochange
el chequecheck
el cheque de viajerotraveller check
el efectivocash
la lana (Mexican slang)money
la plata (Argentinian slang)money
la pasta (Spanish slang)money
el pisto (Guatemalan slang)money
el palo (Panamanian slang)dollar
el pagopayment
el precioprice
la cajacheckout counter
la cartera, la billeterawallet (for men)
el monederowallet (for women)
la bolsa, el bolsopurse

Now, a couple of popular phrases in Spanish about money which I find quite interesting and with great cultural value.

Poderoso caballero Don Dinero.
He’s a powerful gentleman that Mr. Money.

This phrase makes a reference to the power that money has.

Con dinero baila el perro.
With money the dog dances.

This one is a bit more vulgar. It’s an expression that means to say that with money everything is possible, even making a dog dance.

Currencies

This is an important subject that seems to get less attention than it deserves. If you’re traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, one of the first things you need to know is the currency of the place and the exchange rate.

The Spanish term for “currency” is divisa, but sometimes moneda is also used in that sense. “Exchange rate” is tipo de cambio, and a “currency exchange” office is la casa de cambio.

Here you have a list of Spanish-speaking countries’ currencies.

el Peso argentino (ARS)Argentinian peso
el Boliviano (BOB)Bolivian
el Peso chileno (CLP)Chilean Peso
el Peso colombiano (COP)Colombian Peso
el Guaraní (PYG)Paraguayan Guarani
el Sol (PEN)Peruvian Sol
el Peso uruguayo (UYU)Uruguayan Peso
el Bolívar (VES)Venezuelan Bolivar
el Peso mexicano (MXN)Mexican Peso
el Quetzal (GTQ)Guatemalan Quetzal
el Colón (CRC)Costa Rican Colon
el Lempira (HNL)Honduran Lempira
el Córdoba (NIO)Nicaraguan Cordoba
el Balboa (PAB)Panamanian Balboa
el Peso cubano (CUP)Cuban Peso
el Peso dominicano (DOP)Dominican Peso
el Euro (EUR)
(Spain uses the Euro, the shared currency of 19 countries of the European Union)
Euro
el dólar americano (USD)
(Ecuador and El Salvador use the US dollar as their currency)
American dollar

Banks and Credit Cards

When talking about money and finance in Spanish, you’ll inevitably have to deal with banks and credit cards. Let’s learn some vocabulary about them.

el bancobank
la cuenta bancariabank account
el saldoaccount balance
el depósitodeposit
la transferencia bancariabank transfer
el giro de dineromoney order
la banca electrónicaelectronic banking
la transaccióntransaction
el depósito en garantíaescrow
el fideicomisotrust
el créditocredit
la tarjeta de créditocredit card
credit historyhistorial crediticio
la tarjeta de débitodebit card
la hipotecamortgage
el préstamoloan
el préstamo sobre la plusvalíahome equity loan
la tasa de interésinterest rate
la tasa fijafixed rate
el pago inicialdown payment
el seguroinsurance
el seguro de vidalife insurance
la prima del seguroinsurance premium
la cobertura del seguroinsurance coverage
la tasa, la cuotafee
la sucursal bancariabank branch

For Investors

An important part of finance in Spanish are the series of specific terms that would come in handy to an investor. However, you don’t need to be a Wall Street broker to appreciate the importance of mastering some of these words:

la bolsa de valoresstock market
la acciónshare
el accionistashareholder
el bonobond
el fondo de inversióninvestment fund
el mercadomarket
la ofertasupply
la demandademand
la quiebra, la bancarrotabankruptcy
la garantíacollateral
las hipotecas de alto riesgosubprime mortgages
el capitalcapital
el derivado financieroderivative
el activoasset
el pasivoliability
la gananciaprofit
la inflacióninflation
el inversionistainvestor
el corredor de bolsabroker

Money-related Verbs

Finally, I want to include some important verbs related to money and finance in Spanish.

pagarto pay
comprarto buy
venderto sell
invertirto invest
prestarto lend
transferirto transfer
depositarto deposit
hipotecarto mortgage
quebrarto bankrupt
diversificarto diversify
ganarto earn
perderto lose
rentarto rent

Show Me the Money!

Now that you’ve learned this useful vocabulary about finance in Spanish, you also can say as Cuba Gooding Jr. made Tom Cruise say in the classic sports film Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money!”—¡muéstrame el dinero!

Sign up for a free trial class with one of our certified, native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala, and start talking about money and finance in Spanish today!

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Luis F. Dominguez

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Luis F. Domínguez is a freelance writer and independent journalist interested in travel, languages, art, books, history, philosophy, politics and sports. He has written for Fodor’s, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Telemundo, and Villa Experience, among other brands of print and digital media in Europe and North America.

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