Carrying large sums of cash - how to

[citygirl]

Banks here are totally separate from their global parent - I can't withdraw money *in* a Citibank, except via ATM even though I have a Citi account. I believe it's the same with HSBC.

 

[BlahBlah]

Good luck - it's not easy Unless you have a local account, you can't just go in to the bank to withdraw money. If you bank with an international bank (Citi, HSBC, etc) you *used* to be able to take large amounts out of the ATM at once (Citi was 3.000 pesos a day). Lately however, I haven't been able to do this.

If your rent is large, plan on several trips to the ATM to get it all out.

It all depends on your bank, you can't talk for others

 

[NoVegetables]

Well i can't do it over the counter in the HSBC here, my spanish is limited but the 'no' came across clearly. It seems the HSBC here is not linked to the HSBC in the US. I am charged to withdraw money from the ATM of an HSBC branch here even though i'm using an hsbc debit card. This sucks. I'll be paying rent for the next six months to a year, i don't really want to have to make multiple trips to an ATM, i get charged twice, once here and once back home for each transaction.

What is the story about opening a local account with only a tourist visa?

 

[John.St]

... What is the story about opening a local account with only a tourist visa?

Realba's article: http://baexpats.org/newcomers-forum/486-dni.html#post1616
- disregard title, it's about CDI, not DNI.

 

[John.St]

Hey Guys,

If you needed to get large amounts of cash from a US account, say to pay rent, while you are here in BA, how would you do it? I know the ATMs have a very tight limit. Can I just go to any bank around? Have any of you guys done this?

I use Western Union, but the fee is steep.

They have a staircase fee (xx to yy plata cost zz). For me the optimums are 13,500; 17,500 and 20,000 DKK = USD 2,500; 3,300 and 3,775 - all charged an additional 4.6%, so I am definitely going to try Realba's advice (link above).

 

[citygirl]

Blah-Blah, I was sharing my experience. And I have never heard of anyone being able withdraw large sums in the bank here (not an an ATM) with an international bank account. My experience is that unless you have a local bank account, you can't use the bank (again, you can use ATMs, just not account services inside the bank). That includes premier banking accounts from the UK, US, etc. Per every major bank I've talked to, Argentine banks are NOT part of the parent company and they can't access your account there from here.

 

[BlahBlah]

Blah-Blah, I was sharing my experience. And I have never heard of anyone being able withdraw large sums in the bank here (not an an ATM) with an international bank account. That includes premier banking accounts from the UK, US, etc. Per every major bank I've talked to, Argentine banks are NOT part of the parent company and they can't access your account there from here.

Like I told you your experiences are not universial.

I can withdraw in one time untill my 500 euro daily limit, if I go right before 19.00h I can withdraw 2 times 500 euro.

If I withdraw with my creditcard I can withdraw another 1000 euro or so, but there is a charge for that. If you talk to your bank you can also up your limit to a couple of 1000 dollars/euro's a day but that's not for everybody. Personally I am not uncomfortable with a limit of 5000 euro a month

 

[citygirl]

You can withdraw from the ATM correct? Not from inside the bank. Please read that I was differentiating between the two.

And if you can pay your rent with 1 trip to the ATM, kudos to you. I couldn't, even with a 3.000 peso withdrawal.

 

[esllou]

I could pay two months of rent from the ATM....







....if I slept in Parque del Centenario with the pigeons.

 

[BlahBlah]

You can withdraw from the ATM correct? Not from inside the bank. Please read that I was differentiating between the two.

And if you can pay your rent with 1 trip to the ATM, kudos to you. I couldn't, even with a 3.000 peso withdrawal.

Then you should confront your US bank with your problem or try more different ATM's. The casino ATM for example does also allow 1000 peso at a time, where most Banelco's only allow 300 or 600 peso.

The citybank where I go does not have a limit, the only limit there is the limit of my bank(500 euro daily)