Best bank for low international atm fees?

[Lala]

Lala, you mentioned that you get paid in local currency. Do you have a bank account in Argentina that your company directly deposits your pay checks? If so, is one able to open a bank account with only a tourist visa or is a work visa required for that?

Thanks

Actually, the bank my job uses (Santander Rio) didn´t let them open a salary account for me when I started because I had not yet done the tramite for the DNI (although I had my work visa), so no, I do not have a local bank account. I get paid by check which I can cash with just my passport at the issuing branch, which has worked fine for me. As far as I know, it´s not easy to open an account, although I believe some members of this site have made it happen with just a tourist visa. If you do a site search, I know there are threads where various people have shared how they did it. Sorry I can´t provide more useful details here.

 

[philamote]

Has anyone managed to open and fund a Schwab account from Argentina and then use their check card at ATMs here? I remember reading previously that Schwab prefers to see some account activity in the US before international transactions are OK'd, just as a security measure. (I would imagine most banks think this way.) Does this match with anyone's experience, or can you use your ATM card at international ATMs from the get-go?