ATM Limits and Best Banks. LOST

[citygirl]

Can we all have a bit of a reality check here? 2500 pesos is a monthly salary for at least 30% of the workforce en blanco...do you know of any country in the world that lets you extract a full monthly salary in one go from an ATM?

I have alreday posted on my own experience re fluctuating ATM withdrawal fees so I wont repeat myself but just want to ensure we stay in touch with where we live lest any Argentine member will think we all earn 20k pesos a month and that 2500 is small change..which it isnt for me at least...

Good point but in most cities, you don't have to pay your rent in cash and for the majority of tourists, pay a premium rent for a furnished apt.

So if your rent is 800 USD a month (which is quite common), you're going to need at least 3200 pesos. Which can be tricky to get as you either need to make multiple trips to the ATM or find one where you can get it in one shot (and then pray you don't get mugged leaving the bank)

I don't know any expats that are running around taking out thousands for fun - usually it's to pay rent.

 

[SaraSara]

Good point but in most cities, you don't have to pay your rent in cash and for the majority of tourists, pay a premium rent for a furnished apt..

Also, in Argentina you can't open a bank account unless you are a legal resident, so permatourists must depend on ATMs.

 

[fifs2]

Also, in Argentina you can't open a bank account unless you are a legal resident, so permatourists must depend on ATMs.

Really? I have 2 local accounts opened with nothing more than a 3 month tourist visa..however that was in 2003..oh the good old days of Argentina!
Anyhow point taken on the rent payment thing..but as my withdrawal limit used to be 300 a day I am ecstatic it has reahed the dizzy heights of 1500 so find it hard to sympathise when you citibankers have access to 3000 per day you cunning swines!

 

[Quinn]

For the benifit of other readers you should be specific and say which two banks refund ATM fees.

I can share my experience:

Schwab: no currency exchange fees, no ATM fees

I had no reason to look any further. I signed up for the account online, printed out the form I needed to sign, faxed it to the US location. Card sent in the mail to my US address. Called and said I lost my card and was on vacation and had them send it to BA.


I did the same thing for a CapitalOne credit card (no international exchange rate charge like most do at 3%)

 

[Roxana]

Today I spoke to a bank officer at Banco de Galicia, who told me the daily limits to withdraw from the ATM depend on the agreements (she said 'convenios') between the foreign bank and the local bank. Therefore, I suggest you to visit a branch of any local bank and ask the officer how to change the daily limit.

 

[darmanad]

Yeah, usually I get 2500 out, but I needed to move some money around today so only got 2000.

I learned about citi here on this site, i figured it was common knowledge

The Banelco or Link system charge is about 15.9 pesos now regardless of amount. Does Citi still charge an additional fee for non Citi cardholders over and above this 15.9?

 

[tez]

I recently had to take out a large amount of cash for a large cash purchase (just finished taking it all out yesterday), and here is some information followed by my experiences:

-I have Schwab which thankfully refunds all my ATM fees~ priceless! I also used to have a Chase bank card (which doesn't refund anything and they charge USD$3 on top of all withdrawals plus a 3% international charge--ouch!!). I don't have the Chase card since April 2010
-With Schwab I was only getting ARP 1000 per withdrawal
-With Chase I could get ARP 3,500 from Citi or HSBC. (citi used to be without the fee, but not it looks like they have it)
-With Schwab, I can't even withdraw from Citi ATMS (anyone else have this problem?)
-I called Schwab to up my daily limit and ask about Citi. Their answers: my daily limit is actually USD$1000 (much more than the ARP 1000 I am "allowed"), but I still asked to up it for 24 hours. They couldn't figure out why Citi doesn't let me use their accounts, nor why I am only allowed to take out ARP 1000. They say "each ATM network has different rules, and it must mean that the Argentina side isn't letting me take out more.
-This network idea made me think, so I went to Banelco, took out 1000, then 1000 again, then tried 1000 again but it said no. It did let me take out 900 though. So ARP 2,900 from Banelco. I then went to a Link ATM and was able to take out another ARP 1000. So in total, ARP 3,900 per day and a large pain in the butt. Having my daily limit upped had no effect on how much the ATMs here let me take out.


I am interested in knowing more about going to the bank teller and getting money with my ATM card and passport. Has anyone actually done this? What are the steps, exactly? This is what Schwab recommended me to do, but to be honest I didn't think it was even worth trying.

 

[Saturnine]

The Banelco or Link system charge is about 15.9 pesos now regardless of amount. Does Citi still charge an additional fee for non Citi cardholders over and above this 15.9?

Yeap, it does. However, Banelco does not charge me a 15.9 pesos fee. I can't remember exactly how much it was - tried it one time, as I got confused once and went to the Banelco ATM inside CitiBank -, but it was at least double. So I stick with Citi ATMs and their 15.9 pesos

Can we all have a bit of a reality check here? 2500 pesos is a monthly salary for at least 30% of the workforce en blanco...do you know of any country in the world that lets you extract a full monthly salary in one go from an ATM?

Oh, could we really? Aside from the common "pay rent" scenario others have mentioned already, here's my take on things: I prefer to withdraw larger sums and make fewer and safer trips to the ATM. If I carry cash and get mugged, at least it's just cash, but I'd rather not be left without the card, as getting a new one would require my physical presence at my home bank (unless I send a legal authorization that someone else would have to translate, authenticate and so on). I've done some traveling and, in Europe at least, the only limit for ATM cash withdrawal is the one set by your bank. It's rather absurd, really, to think you wouldn't be able to cash in your salary in one go, especially when you're talking about an average monthly pay. I mean, why the on Earth not?

 

[dennisr]

All payments of an amount more than ARS 1,000 must be carried out through a bank account. The statute includes debit cards/credit cards, thus the 1000 peso limit at (some) ATMs. If you have a bank account, ie Citi you qualify to exceed the 1000 peso limit, I think? Like everyone knows, nothing is black and white in Argentina.

The 1000 peso limit may be leverage for those tyrant landlords demanding US dollars?
http://www.practicallaw.com/9-502-1408
All payments of an amount more than ARS1,000 (about US$261) must be carried out through a bank account (National Act Nbr 25,345).
http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/marco/iprevencion de la evasion fiscal.PDF

 

[katti]

All payments of an amount more than ARS 1,000 must be carried out through a bank account. The statute includes debit cards/credit cards, thus the 1000 peso limit at (some) ATMs. If you have a bank account, ie Citi you qualify to exceed the 1000 peso limit, I think? Like everyone knows, nothing is black and white in Argentina.

The 1000 peso limit may be leverage for those tyrant landlords demanding US dollars?
http://www.practicallaw.com/9-502-1408
http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/marco/iprevencion de la evasion fiscal.PDF

I get my money (pesos) from the ATM machines, from a foreign account. A bank that has nothing to do with Argentinian banks