99.999 pesos per transaction maximum?

[obiwanderkenobi]

I arrived in Buenos Aires two months ago and have twice encountered an odd problem while buying groceries with my credit card. Wondering if anyone knows if there is a rhyme or reason. In case it's relevant, I'm here on a tourist entry (no DNI), still using my U.S. passport and U.S. issued Visa card for most transactions.

On Sept. 18 I purchased a TV at Fravega for 218.999 pesos. No problems, Visa card worked fine.

On Sept. 21 I purchased 78.312 pesos worth of stuff at Easy, and 94.000 pesos worth of groceries at Jumbo. No problems, card worked fine.

On Oct. 7 I tried to purchase 159.000 pesos in groceries at Jumbo, using a regular checkout line. The cashier started ringing me up, and a little over halfway through scanning my items she informed me I had to pay before she would proceed further. My Spanish sucks, but I gathered that I was about to exceed some sort of purchase limit. So she verified my passport and I made one payment, she then scanned the remainder of my items, and then I re-verified my passport and made a second payment. Meanwhile, the locals waiting behind me in line didn't seem too amused. I thought it was odd, but I know Argentina has it's quirks, so I just attributed it to Jumbo having a weird policy and it was quickly forgotten.

Today I went to HiperChangoMâs and tried to purchase 113.000 pesos worth of groceries at the self check-out. When I went to swipe my Visa, a message came on the screen saying I needed approval from a clerk. So the clerk comes over and scans her badge, tells me I'm good to go, and walks away. I go to swipe my Visa card again, and again it tells me I need approval. She comes over and scans her badge, no success, and she proceeds to scan her badge a half dozen more times until finally calling a supervisor over. Again, my Spanish sucks, but the supervisor informed me I apparently had exceeded a maximum of 99.999 pesos. Thankfully I was just able to have them remove a single bottle of liquor to bring me under the limit, pay for the remainder, then scan and pay for the liquor in a separate transaction.

It's not a super huge deal I guess, it's just that I've not encountered a similar issue in other countries, and caught me by surprise since my larger purchase at Fravega was accepted and approved. Also, I can't imagine that hotels, airlines, etc. here have similar transaction limits. The only thing seemingly in common is that both times this happened it was at a grocery store. Obviously, I know for next time if I go to Jumbo or HiperChangoMâs, but has anyone else experienced this or know how widespread it is?

P.S. since it's also on my mind, what's the deal with "cuotas sin interes" when buying groceries and such? The self-checkout today asked if I wanted to buy my groceries in credit card installments. Obviously I've never seen anything like it in the U.S., but it had me wondering what would happen if you tried to pay in "cuotas sin interes" using a U.S. issued Visa card. Would the transaction go through, and would the card provider (Capital One in my case) actually follow the installment plan? I don't have any interest or need to pay for my groceries in installments, but was just curious since I see it almost every time I use my card here.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

I arrived in Buenos Aires two months ago and have twice encountered an odd problem while buying groceries with my credit card. Wondering if anyone knows if there is a rhyme or reason. In case it's relevant, I'm here on a tourist entry (no DNI), still using my U.S. passport and U.S. issued Visa card for most transactions.

On Sept. 18 I purchased a TV at Fravega for 218.999 pesos. No problems, Visa card worked fine.

On Sept. 21 I purchased 78.312 pesos worth of stuff at Easy, and 94.000 pesos worth of groceries at Jumbo. No problems, card worked fine.

On Oct. 7 I tried to purchase 159.000 pesos in groceries at Jumbo, using a regular checkout line. The cashier started ringing me up, and a little over halfway through scanning my items she informed me I had to pay before she would proceed further. My Spanish sucks, but I gathered that I was about to exceed some sort of purchase limit. So she verified my passport and I made one payment, she then scanned the remainder of my items, and then I re-verified my passport and made a second payment. Meanwhile, the locals waiting behind me in line didn't seem too amused. I thought it was odd, but I know Argentina has it's quirks, so I just attributed it to Jumbo having a weird policy and it was quickly forgotten.

Today I went to HiperChangoMâs and tried to purchase 113.000 pesos worth of groceries at the self check-out. When I went to swipe my Visa, a message came on the screen saying I needed approval from a clerk. So the clerk comes over and scans her badge, tells me I'm good to go, and walks away. I go to swipe my Visa card again, and again it tells me I need approval. She comes over and scans her badge, no success, and she proceeds to scan her badge a half dozen more times until finally calling a supervisor over. Again, my Spanish sucks, but the supervisor informed me I apparently had exceeded a maximum of 99.999 pesos. Thankfully I was just able to have them remove a single bottle of liquor to bring me under the limit, pay for the remainder, then scan and pay for the liquor in a separate transaction.

It's not a super huge deal I guess, it's just that I've not encountered a similar issue in other countries, and caught me by surprise since my larger purchase at Fravega was accepted and approved. Also, I can't imagine that hotels, airlines, etc. here have similar transaction limits. The only thing seemingly in common is that both times this happened it was at a grocery store. Obviously, I know for next time if I go to Jumbo or HiperChangoMâs, but has anyone else experienced this or know how widespread it is?

P.S. since it's also on my mind, what's the deal with "cuotas sin interes" when buying groceries and such? The self-checkout today asked if I wanted to buy my groceries in credit card installments. Obviously I've never seen anything like it in the U.S., but it had me wondering what would happen if you tried to pay in "cuotas sin interes" using a U.S. issued Visa card. Would the transaction go through, and would the card provider (Capital One in my case) actually follow the installment plan? I don't have any interest or need to pay for my groceries in installments, but was just curious since I see it almost every time I use my card here.

1. There’s a limit on what you can pay for food with in one transaction if you don’t supply a DNI, something to do with checking that you’re not receiving state aid for food I hear.
2. You can’t pay cuotas with a foreign card.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

1. There’s a limit on what you can pay for food with in one transaction if you don’t supply a DNI, something to do with checking that you’re not receiving state aid for food I hear.
2. You can’t pay cuotas with a foreign card.

Thanks for the reply!

1. I guess that explains why both occurrences were at grocery stores. It's weird though, because probably 30-40% of the items I purchased today were non-food items, but they're obviously still being counted against me. I wonder what would happen if I tried to buy some patio furniture, electronics, or other expensive non-food items at the same two "grocery" stores (Jumbo/Changomas), and the cost of an individual product were to exceed the apparent 99.999 peso limit. Would I need to bring cash, or are their payments systems smart enough to recognize I'm not buying food and therefore prevent the limit from applying to that particular transaction?

2. That's what I figured - appreciate the confirmation.