Banking in Argentina

[Adios_USA]

I am now in posession of Argentine Permanent Residency & DNI and am considering opening an Argentine bank account. I want to know if it is possible to get a bank account here with a VISA or Mastercard debit card that I can use to buy items abroad in dollars (like on Amazon.com) and pay for them in Pesos from my Argie bank account and get the legal Pesos to Dollars exchange rate? If this is possible, are there any banks here that are trustworthy and worth doing business with?

 

[mrporoto]

Trustworthy banks?if you believe in miracles,go find!!!! why not go into any bank and ask them your question?

 

[Davidglen77]

In theory you are supposed to be. However credit cards drawn on Argentina banks (VISA, AMEX) do work. However debit cards DO NOT work outside of the country as far as I have been told. You using a "debit card" to make a purchase in a foreign country is considered currency exchange, according to Argetina. It's awful because if you don't have a credit card from a bank here, you can not spend your own money outside of the country. You should speak to the bank though, some say you can USE debit cards outside of the country, however I have been told by several people that they DO NOT work, not only can you NOT withdraw your money, you can't use them for purchases either, even if they have the VISA or MASTERCARD logo on them. It's awful.

 

[EricM]

With the recent rules you will be taxed 15% for any foreign credit card purchases, plus you will be sending AFIP all of your credit card data to verify against your reported income.

 

[sleslie23]

You should speak to the bank though, some say you can USE debit cards outside of the country, however I have been told by several people that they DO NOT work, not only can you NOT withdraw your money, you can't use them for purchases either, even if they have the VISA or MASTERCARD logo on them. It's awful.

They used to work in foreign ATMs with no problem.

With the new rules on currency exchange I don't think they work at all. I have heard if you have an account in dollars you can withdraw from that account, but I wouldn't want to rely on it.

 

[ElQueso]

I've written about this before, but I'll put a brief synopsis. This is from our Santander Rio account. I'm not 100% sure that all banks have the exact same procedures, but certain things are covered by law here and think it's very similar at least at other banks.

When you first open a bank account (savings account - you can't open a checking account at first) you get a debit card. That debit card only works in local stores to make purchases and even make interest-free loans with the store where you are buying. You can't even buy anything online with it. It will have a Visa or Mastercard symbol, but it doesn't matter. The expiration date is something like 10 years in the future.

After you have some history with your account (6 months for us), you can get a real credit card. Ours is Amex. This works online, in stores and internationally. You have a balance to pay every month, but you can roll that over into credit payments at a high interest rate.

Finally, after something like a year or eighteen months (don't remember which it was now) you may be offered a real checking account. With that comes a real debit card (as you are used to thinking about one) with the Visa or Mastercard logo, a normal expiration date, etc. That can be used internationally. Also, with our checking account came an $18K line of credit and a loan ceiling of up to $50K pesos.

With the currency restrictions, I don't know what problems you may have in this day and age making international purchases. I've heard mixed stories, but we haven't had occasion to use either of our cards internationally since things started getting controlled earlier in the year. The 15% charge by AFIP, I know, is indeed accurate though.

 

[PhilipDT]

In theory you are supposed to be. However credit cards drawn on Argentina banks (VISA, AMEX) do work. However debit cards DO NOT work outside of the country as far as I have been told. You using a "debit card" to make a purchase in a foreign country is considered currency exchange, according to Argetina. It's awful because if you don't have a credit card from a bank here, you can not spend your own money outside of the country. You should speak to the bank though, some say you can USE debit cards outside of the country, however I have been told by several people that they DO NOT work, not only can you NOT withdraw your money, you can't use them for purchases either, even if they have the VISA or MASTERCARD logo on them. It's awful.

Just texted Gf who is abroad at the moment. She condirmed that as of this morning argentine debit cards can be used as normal overseas

 

[Canick]

amex used to have a hassle free "moving to a new country" offer. not sure if you still can do that today. when i moved here officially in 2010 amex issued me an argentine card without having a bank account set up yet. my limit was 15k pesos. for me to get this I just needed a new local address and my old card info according to the website. in reality it took me a few days of calling my amex in canada and having them talk directly to amex argentina to issue it. was a pain, but i did get that card within a few weeks of moving here.
i later opened an account at citibank when i got my dni and eventually got a visa card from them.

 

[ElQueso]

Just texted Gf who is abroad at the moment. She condirmed that as of this morning argentine debit cards can be used as normal overseas

I really depends on WHICH debit card it is, per my post. The one that you get at first doesn't - we tried it in Paraguay when we first got it on a trip there. The bank told us specifically that those cards are meant for people who work for a company, get paid directly into the bank by that company, and can use those cards for local purchases and to get cash out of Argentine ATMs.

It's the later debit card that can be used anywhere..

 

[Adios_USA]

Thanks to everyone who shared their experience with Argentine debit & credit cards. I greatly appreciate it!​