ATM in Uruguay for dollars

[Sleuth]

Be very careful with Schwab. Repeated large US dollar withdrawals in Uruguay will run a very high risk of getting your account closed by their compliance department.

Why is that? Do you have any evidence to back this up? Repeated withdrawals in other countries are ok? I've used my Schwab card all over the place and never had any issues.

 

[Sleuth]

What kind of rate are we talking about?

Most likely an Argentine who needs to get cash out of the country:
Transfer USD to his account in the States. Pick up USD cash from him here.

Can work out very well for everyone once you get over that first level of trust.

 

[ndcj]

Why is that? Do you have any evidence to back this up? Repeated withdrawals in other countries are ok? I've used my Schwab card all over the place and never had any issues.

Personal experience.

I withdrew a fair amount of money by asking to have the ATM daily limit increased for single days over the space of a couple weeks, and withdrew dollars in Uruguay. I promptly received a letter from Chuck to say "we're closing your account" due to "a business decision".

I called them and spoke to them and they wouldn't confirm the reason, but when I asked is it because I withdrew a bunch of cash in a fiscal paradise, the woman said "mmhmm, but I can't confirm that".

I would assume once you cross the threshold for IRS reporting, possibly with the implication of structuring, they will look at your account closely. If you have huge brokerage balances with them or something, maybe they don't mind too much, but if you're leaching the ATM fee waivers, then be careful.

 

[el_expatriado]

If you have huge brokerage balances with them or something, maybe they don't mind too much, but if you're leaching the ATM fee waivers, then be careful.

This is pretty common with any institution that is geared for "savings". Someone needs to pay the ATM fees. So if you have an ATM fee waiver, you are generating more costs to them than your account generates in profits. No savings bank is going to hold on to unprofitable customers.

Any account that is going to have rapid turnover (money in, money out type activity) should be a checking account at a commercial bank. A savings or investment bank is going to ask you to close the account if you use it to turnover your money quickly and don't keep increasing your balance over the long term.

 

[ndcj]

This is pretty common with any institution that is geared for "savings". Someone needs to pay the ATM fees. So if you have an ATM fee waiver, you are generating more costs to them than your account generates in profits. No savings bank is going to hold on to unprofitable customers.

Any account that is going to have rapid turnover (money in, money out type activity) should be a checking account at a commercial bank. A savings or investment bank is going to ask you to close the account if you use it to turnover your money quickly and don't keep increasing your balance over the long term.

Just to be clear, this was an account where the cash withdrawals were peanuts relative to the total account balance. The clear implication for the reason that the account was closed was large cash withdrawals that, I guess, looked to them like structuring.

These were ATM withdrawals that did not have any ATM owner fee (BROU has no ATM Fee), so reimbursing hard money was not the issue.

 

[earlyretirement]

Just to be clear, this was an account where the cash withdrawals were peanuts relative to the total account balance. The clear implication for the reason that the account was closed was large cash withdrawals that, I guess, looked to them like structuring.

These were ATM withdrawals that did not have any ATM owner fee (BROU has no ATM Fee), so reimbursing hard money was not the issue.

Absolutely this happens. Schwab also closed my account a few years ago. I had a very large balance with them but they still closed it. I was pulling out cash almost daily out of the ATM's and I'm sure that is why they closed it. I also had another bank that waived all ATM fees and reimbursed any charges and that bank also shut down my account after repeated withdrawals.

As Expatriado mentioned, the bank is paying for these fees. With interest rates at almost nothing, these banks even if you have big balances, will still close them down if you are withdrawing too many times overseas.

 

[surfing]

Absolutely this happens. Schwab also closed my account a few years ago. I had a very large balance with them but they still closed it. I was pulling out cash almost daily out of the ATM's and I'm sure that is why they closed it. I also had another bank that waived all ATM fees and reimbursed any charges and that bank also shut down my account after repeated withdrawals.

As Expatriado mentioned, the bank is paying for these fees. With interest rates at almost nothing, these banks even if you have big balances, will still close them down if you are withdrawing too many times overseas.

I am curious as to what might be considered "too many times" or too much money. Any ideas?

 

[ndcj]

I am curious as to what might be considered "too many times" or too much money. Any ideas?

My account got closed by their compliance department, which I suspect means that it has nothing to do with the ATM rebates and everything to do with a series of withdrawals in a relatively short period of time (a couple of weeks) in a fiscal paradise that may have looked like a "structured" transaction to avoid IRS reporting.

 

[surfing]

My account got closed by their compliance department, which I suspect means that it has nothing to do with the ATM rebates and everything to do with a series of withdrawals in a relatively short period of time (a couple of weeks) in a fiscal paradise that may have looked like a "structured" transaction to avoid IRS reporting.

Yes, thanks --- I got all that from your previous posts. What I was wondering is what kind of amounts we are talking about.

 

[French jurist]

Update: Withdrawing USDs from ATMs in Colonia.

My account is in USD, my daily withdrawal limit is 2.500 USD and today I was able to withdraw 8x300 USD from ATMs in Colonia.

So there's no real change compared to a month ago.

It's likely better to go on a tuesday/wednesday (when the ATMs are refilled after the weekend).