Credit cards in Argentina for temporary residents

[dsp27]

Anyone had any luck getting a credit card with a temp. residence DNI? On top of this I don't have a job in Argentina, as I get paid in my foreign account and then just transfer funds here. I did get a certificarte of ingresos from my accountant here for my citizenship application showing my income based on my western union transfer to my checking account but that might not be enough...any advise? I am also not sure if not being inscripto with AFIP would be an issue?
I'd like to have a credit card here to be able to put some larger purchases and not have to constantly worry if i have enough pessos or not. It's just for convenience. Cheers!

 

[antipodean]

These days next to impossible unless you have a company here, you can get a company card in your name. Other option is as a supplementary card holder of an Argentine if you have a friend or significant other. Officially and according to BRCA rules, only permanent residents and citizens may have access to financing (credit) inside the financial system. This seems to be more strict now days than a few years back. A year or two back Brubank or Willo (I forget which) offered credit cards with microscopic credit lines to non residents but they since pulled the product from the market.

 

[dsp27]

These days next to impossible unless you have a company here, you can get a company card in your name. Other option is as a supplementary card holder of an Argentine if you have a friend or significant other. Officially and according to BRCA rules, only permanent residents and citizens may have access to financing (credit) inside the financial system. This seems to be more strict now days than a few years back. A year or two back Brubank or Willo (I forget which) offered credit cards with microscopic credit lines to non residents but they since pulled the product from the market.

Thanks, I have "history" with Itau having had an account with them for 2 years. Should I even try go and beg them jaja?
Are there credit bureaus in this country? How is credit worthiness established? How can I "build my credit" ? In the US you can get a credit line in 30 sec applying online based on the credit reports. What is the situation here? I am registered with Veraz which seems to be a credit bureau of sorts I guess. I had to register with hem because Itau would not approve my bank account application otherwise.

 

[jblaze5779]

Tried it before. Was told no. I thought it would be great to just charge everything monthly and make one pesos transfer at the end of the month. Would make life simpler.

 

[antipodean]

Thanks, I have "history" with Itau having had an account with them for 2 years. Should I even try go and beg them jaja?
Are there credit bureaus in this country? How is credit worthiness established? How can I "build my credit" ? In the US you can get a credit line in 30 sec applying online based on the credit reports. What is the situation here? I am registered with Veraz which seems to be a credit bureau of sorts I guess. I had to register with hem because Itau would not approve my bank account application otherwise.

I’ve been there done that in the past, also deployed personal friends and contacts inside various banks to give it an “extra push” and came up with same answer each time. And that was as an owner of local businesses that have a lot of movement and spotless history with the banks beyond my humble personal affairs.

Here there are also other factors beyond just consumer credit history that matter to banks, you essentially need government “permission” from ANSES and BRCA for various things which make it virtually impossible for non PRs or citizens. I have been told the best way to pass eligibility thresholds for banks here once a PR and eligible for credit products is to file regular tax declarations with AFIP - the only thing that really matters to them is your dealings “en-blanco” and inside Argentina.

 

[lunar]

I'd like to have a credit card here to be able to put some larger purchases and not have to constantly worry if i have enough pessos or not. It's just for convenience. Cheers!

I think you should just plan better your purchases and make Western Union transfers in advance. An attempt to get a credit card will create much more complications than give you advantages.

Most of the brick and mortar banks will not even open you a savings account (caja de ahorro) if you don't have a regular job. Well, they will probably do it if you threaten to go legal on them, but they do not like to deal with unusual situations.

If you desperately and irrationally desire a local credit card, you can probably sign up as a monotributista, collect proof of arg tax payments for 6 (or 3?) months and approach something like Tarjeta Naranja. Or you can try to make a special deal with some bank, asking them to give you a credit card in exchange for a big dollar deposit. But seriously, it is not worth the trouble.

And by the way, it is usual for credit cards here to require hefty monthly maintenance fees. So it is difficult to justify having one unless you are hunting for special bargains and paying in quotas.

 

[dsp27]

I’ve been there done that in the past, also deployed personal friends and contacts inside various banks to give it an “extra push” and came up with same answer each time. And that was as an owner of local businesses that have a lot of movement and spotless history with the banks beyond my humble personal affairs.

Here there are also other factors beyond just consumer credit history that matter to banks, you essentially need government “permission” from ANSES and BRCA for various things which make it virtually impossible for non PRs or citizens. I have been told the best way to pass eligibility thresholds for banks here once a PR and eligible for credit products is to file regular tax declarations with AFIP - the only thing that really matters to them is your dealings “en-blanco” and inside Argentina.

Thanks. Actually, I will probably skip permanent residence and just get the citizenship as things look at this point, I might be citizen within 6 months if my application keeps moving as fast as it has been lately. Fingers crossed.

A side question. I have an Argentine friend who always complains that everytime he receives transferencia bancaria his bank retains a certain percent as part of his "local tax" even if I am the person sending him the money. Any idea what that is? It sound really weird...

 

[antipodean]

Thanks. Actually, I will probably skip permanent residence and just get the citizenship as things look at this point, I might be citizen within 6 months if my application keeps moving as fast as it has been lately. Fingers crossed.

A side question. I have an Argentine friend who always complains that everytime he receives transferencia bancaria his bank retains a certain percent as part of his "local tax" even if I am the person sending him the money. Any idea what that is? It sound really weird...

Strange... have not encountered this myself. Will check it out for curiosity sake. He is set up as monotributista perhaps or gets a lot of undocumented transfers? Then again there are tax related changes and new limits happening for things like Mercadopago etc recently to “crack down” on potential undeclared income so would not be entirely surprised.

 

[dsp27]

I think you should just plan better your purchases and make Western Union transfers in advance. An attempt to get a credit card will create much more complications than give you advantages.

Most of the brick and mortar banks will not even open you a savings account (caja de ahorro) if you don't have a regular job. Well, they will probably do it if you threaten to go legal on them, but they do not like to deal with unusual situations.

If you desperately and irrationally desire a local credit card, you can sign up as a monotributista, collect proof of arg tax payments for 6 (or 3?) months and approach something like Tarjeta Naranja. Or you can try to make a deal with some bank, asking them to give you a credit card in exchange for a big dollar deposit. But seriously, it is not worth the trouble.

And by the way, it is usual for credit cards here to require hefty monthly maintenance fees.

Well, baby steps. When I first moved here in 2015, I arrived with 8.000 dollars in freshly minted 100 dollar bills. And was making regular trips to the cueva for a wad of Evitas. I think the blue was 9 pesos per 1 usd. ah!.Making all my purchases in cash, which had the added "benefit" of not being able to make spontaneous purchases unless I had the cash on me. Then with Macri the blue rate disappeared (sort of) so I was just using my US credit card when large purchases were due but still needed cash for most of my day to day life. It's been more than 2 years that I have been a resident and had a bank account and a debit card, mercado pago, etc. It does make your life easier, especially with the added bonus of just using WU and direct deposits to my account. So yea I don't really need a credit card here but it would be nice...I do have like 10 credit cards in the US. Although I use just one (Chase Sapphire Reserve).

 

[dsp27]

Strange... have not encountered this myself. Will check it out for curiosity sake. He is set up as monotributista perhaps or gets a lot of undocumented transfers? Then again there are tax related changes and new limits happening for things like Mercadopago etc recently to “crack down” on potential undeclared income so would not be entirely surprised.

He is not monotributista. He lives off of his rent from owning various properties.