Argentine Credit Card System

[PhilipDT]

The higher people think the real inflation rate is, the more likely they are to use the card to benefit from it; more card use means more consumption; more consumption means more inflation... it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I don't buy that at all.

While it's true that consumption and inflation are related, I don't think there is that much of a relation to credit cards. 12 cuotes sin interes etc is promotional pricing. Just like the 20% of with club la nacion

 

[MDZ]

Has anybody experience with cards such as Nevada? Are they easier to get once you have permanent residency?

 

[Davidglen77]

Citibank I can say not true for us -- we get extremely good service there -- when we send ayuda familiar to Canada they give my husband the same rate as they give the bank employees (there's even another level of exchange rate apparently, official, blue, and "in the circle"). They usually get the transaction through by end of day and don't waive him any additional fees. My husband's used their concierge service for when he's needed to take clients out (I think they set up dinner reservations or hotels etc, I've not used it before). We have absolutely no complaints about Citi, they've been great, a million times better than Santander Rio who's staff know nothing. We have the American Airlines credit cards from Citi.

I guess it's like everything here, service is probably better at one location than another, even though it's the exact same company. Regarding Citibank I had a business account with them, they made a mess of things and then they were hounding me for my US social security #, which they say is a "requirement" of the ARG Banco Central when you open an account here in pesos. I was never asked for my US social security # in ARG before, not even at migraciones. I never gave it to them and then found out that there is no such requirement. All you need to have happen is AFIP get a hold of that number and run a credit / asset verification on you.....if you are a permanent resident, and I don't mean only having a permanent DNI, if you live in Argentina more than 180 days per year, for ARG tax purposes you are considered permanent AND you will be required to pay "bienes personales" taxes on your worldwide assets and income. Not a pleasant thought especially if you are already paying taxes in the US. Bienes personales is levied at either 0,05 or 1,2 % of the value of your total assets, even if you never earned money or worked in Argentina. So be careful with Citibank.....

 

[PhilipDT]

Has anybody experience with cards such as Nevada? Are they easier to get once you have permanent residency?

I have no personal experience with applying for one but they should be. They're exactly what the people who hate credit cards imagine when they think of them.

Minimal requirements, targeted marketing to the poor, high fees, huge punitive interest rates.

 

[MDZ]

I have no personal experience with applying for one but they should be. They're exactly what the people who hate credit cards imagine when they think of them.

Minimal requirements, targeted marketing to the poor, high fees, huge punitive interest rates.

... plus they send you a monthly magazine full of advertising that you have to pay for.

 

[sleslie23]

The most basic point re Argie Credit cards, is by law you are required to be a permanent resident to get one....that means a DNI, and not a temporary one, but a permanent one.

I think this depends on the bank and/or type of account you have. As soon as I got my temporary DNI, my company opened a bank account for me and I was immediately sent both a Mastercard and Visa (which I didn't want). Sadly, this also meant that they started paying my salary in pesos.

Of course, this was 2007. Things may have changed.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

The higher people think the real inflation rate is, the more likely they are to use the card to benefit from it; more card use means more consumption; more consumption means more inflation... it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In Argentina, everybody is a prophet, at least when predicting inflation.

 

[steveinbsas]

Amex card anual fees are steep, $4300,but they don't have monthly nor transaction fees. Just don't carry a balance or they'll kill you.

Is the annual Amex card fee really $4300 pesos or was that a typo with an extra zero?

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the "interest free" cuotas is that, unless you pay all of the current charges each and every month, the interest free purchases suddenly become subject to the insanely high annual interest rates until the balances are paid in full.

 

[MDZ]

Is the annual Amex card fee really $4300 pesos or was that a typo with an extra zero?

Looks like that is the fee for the platinum card:

https://www.americanexpress.com/ar/content/the-platinum-card/

The same card in the US is $450 USD per year.

 

[Alicia karr]

Things changed around 2012. Before then the banking and credit card stuff was a bit easier. They then implemented the PERMANENT DNI requirement, which eliminates a lot of people.
And for the record, I never had to give, or would, my SS# to anyone....