As far as banks, I just opened an account at Banco Galicia, but I did so because my lawyer has a deal with one of the guys there to get his clients banks accounts if they are going through the process for their DNI. So far, it's got nice online banking features and enough locations where I need them to suit me. I don't know yet if I'd recommend it or not yet. The only thing I've hit that I don't like is an $800 peso sale limit on POS purchases. Even though a "ticket comun" can be up to $1000 pesos.
One thing to think about with the bank choice is what discounts you get paying with the account's debit cards. Many supermarkets will have general discounts on certain days for all debit or credit cards, but some places have special deals with the banks for certain discounts on certain days.
Santander Rio is a big bank and seems to have a lot of adds for discounts. HSBC also. Look around and see who seems to offer the best deals.
As far as transferring money in, I think it will be difficult for an Argentine to receive wires from outside, maybe even impossible. Banking regulations are pretty strict on that kind of thing. One way to do it would be to become a Monotributo (Argentina's version of a contract worker). I think the current limit is something like $72,000 pesos before you have to form a corporation. Taht limit is supposed to rise significantly, from what I understand. A monotributo pays a set tax based on the amount of income. They are qualified to bill international companies (I don't remember if they have to pay the 3% export tax that companies pay). They have to create invoices and do accounting.
Otherwise, I have heard that AFIP takes 33% on a transfer like that to an Argentine citizen. I could be wrong about that, I have not researched it.
There is another possibility to get money into the country. There are wire transfer services in the bigger cambio houses that will accept foreign "accounts" to receive money. They charge anywhere from 1.5% to maybe 5%. It used to be fairly easy to get an account set up with one of the houses, but AFIP cracked down on the practice last year. One of these houses can be good for wiring something like $3000 to $5000 (US) a month.
There are other ways to get money into the country.
The question is, having the account in your wife's name, and her being an Argentine citizen, I don't know what tax liabilities you may be creating. I don't know, for example, that you would want to put all of even $3000 US in your account every month.
That might attract attention. I don't know enough about that to advise, other than to say talk to a local accountant and find out what your best options are on geting money into the country.
