15% surcharge on foreign transactions on Argentine credit cards starting Sep 1

[ghost]

Sooooooooo very happy that I'm not stuck in this back water sh@#t hole.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

My Argentine HSBC debit card has an expiration date of 07/32 which makes it impossible to use for online transactions as the expiration date options to enter online for the transaction are usually 2013 or 2014. Online transactions with this card have never worked and I'm assuming it is because of the date difference. But I could be wrong.

Isn't using my cc or debit card for off-shore transactions just another way to "buy" Dollars at the official rate? I'm incurring a debt in Dollars which I will then pay for in Pesos when my bill arrives, right?

 

[Carlosgreat]

Nope. There are several credit cards out there that don't charge any Forex fees at all. There is the Citibank Elite World Mastercard (black) that doesn't charge me any forex fees. (But keep in mind the annual fee is $450 a year). My AMEX Platinum card doesn't charge me any forex fees either. (But $500 a year fee)

Also, they just came out with a Citibank Hilton Visa card that is only $95 a year and it also doesn't charge any forex fees.

I know there are a few others out there but I have all of these above and never get charged any forex fees which is great for people that spend a lot overseas.

Well, let's find a comparable card with no annual fee then, all the one you mentioned have fees. Capital One Platinum has no annual fees.

 

[anjuna11]

Isn't using my cc or debit card for off-shore transactions just another way to "buy" Dollars at the official rate? I'm incurring a debt in Dollars which I will then pay for in Pesos when my bill arrives, right?

Yes it is, and that's why they're shutting it down.

 

[ghost]

Yes it is, and that's why they're shutting it down.

For that reason and several others.
This government is desperate. Ask the Uruguay Central Bank what happened last year when they tried to get Argentina to repatriate transaction pesos used in Uruguay. Argentina didn't even want it's own money............................

 

[genialf]

My Argentine HSBC debit card has an expiration date of 07/32 which makes it impossible to use for online transactions as the expiration date options to enter online for the transaction are usually 2013 or 2014. Online transactions with this card have never worked and I'm assuming it is because of the date difference. But I could be wrong.

I've had the same issue with my Santander Río.

 

[ghost]

I've had the same issue with my Santander Río.

Clever. There is a pattern forming.................

 

[ElQueso]

My Argentine HSBC debit card has an expiration date of 07/32 which makes it impossible to use for online transactions as the expiration date options to enter online for the transaction are usually 2013 or 2014. Online transactions with this card have never worked and I'm assuming it is because of the date difference. But I could be wrong.

Isn't using my cc or debit card for off-shore transactions just another way to "buy" Dollars at the official rate? I'm incurring a debt in Dollars which I will then pay for in Pesos when my bill arrives, right?

The debit card first issued with Santander Rio (at least, I'm not sure about other banks) does not work with online transactions. I don't remember why, but a clerk at the bank explained it to us once (it was around two years ago).

But I'm sure that the lack of ability to use the original debit card for online purchases doesn't have anything to do with the recent surcharge that has been introduced nor other currency restrictions recently implemented, since it is how the card has performed at least as far back as a year and a half since my wife got it, before all these issues began manifesting.

And yeah, it's got that crazy expiration date. I'm not sure if it's the date itself that clues whatever system that the card is not valid, or simply that the card itself doesn't work.

It doesn't matter whether the online purchase is foreign or local - it doesn't work. I tried to buy movie tickets online here with the card when we got it and couldn't Also tried to buy something online via MercadoLibre and couldn't. That was when we talked to the bank and they told us why (but can't remember now).

I just asked my wife how her account went in the beginning. After three months of having opened the caja de ahorro, she was offered an Amex credit card (I had been thinking it was between 6 months to a year, but I was wrong). She said she actually had someone from the bank call and offer it as a "promotion" - she hadn't requested it. I'm not sure now if that meant that she was actually eligible for one after three months or Santander Rio was feeling kind around that time (would have been about a year and a half ago). The Amex credit card works fine online (and as of a month ago worked internationally as well, at least in Paraguay).

We DID get a debit card that works online, etc, as expected - after 18 months with her caja de ahorro, Santader Rio called my wife and offered to convert her account to a real checking account and she was issued a Visa debit card with a real expiration date.

 

[trennod]

Such a joke, this government!!

 

[domthegreat]

Anyone know the status of the Paypal exit route?