Exchanging Pesos in the US

[surfing]

I would really love to know if any U.S. bank will purchase pesos anymore. It would not surprise me to hear they don't.
Does anybody have any recent first-hand reports?

 

[dennisr]

4.83 BofA
Atlanta airport 5.07: last week

https://www6.bankofamerica.com/fore...currency/exchgforeigncurrency.action&state=CA

 

[davonz]

With respect, if you were in Columbia exchanging real ARS for real USD what you were really doing was changing ARS to COP (I'll take some commission in this trade, thank you kindly) then COP to USD (and I'll take some more commission here too). It's not really fair to compare straight one-to-one exchanges with this.

Actually they were trying to change ARG to COL pesos, infact they just wanted to get rid of the AR pesos... but i just used US$ so it wasnt so confusing as most people wouldnt care or know that the COL 1750 = US$1.

One UK couple i meet had problems trying to exchange in chile even.

 

[legilber]

And so has anyone had any luck or experience with travelers checks? I would say American Express ones would be the best idea, I just don't know what rate they charge.

 

[wineguy999]

I deposit/exchange many different currencies at Chase, where I have two personal accounts and a business account. They end up taking 8-10% off the XE rate for the convenience of doing the exchange. They will take many currencies (including ARS) but be prepared.

 

[citygirl]

I would really love to know if any U.S. bank will purchase pesos anymore. It would not surprise me to hear they don't.
Does anybody have any recent first-hand reports?

I can tell you that in Jan, none of the exchange places in the airports in Miami, Orlando or New York were buying pesos (we asked out of curiosity).

We asked at HSBC where I have a biz account and they said if you have an account with them, they will change them still (at least at the huge banks in NYC - don't know about small branches in other cities).

 

[starlucia]

And so has anyone had any luck or experience with travelers checks? I would say American Express ones would be the best idea, I just don't know what rate they charge.

I went to the AmEx office back in September and got a bunch of info on that... if you have a DNI, there's no charge to buy or cash them in Argentina; if you don't have a DNI, there is a fee of 1.8% per check. They use the official rate of the day, and the monthly purchase limit is (was, at that time) USD $550.

The problem with buying traveler's checks in Argentina is that you're buying them with pesos... so will you even be able to cash those in the US? It would be great if you could just purchase dollar denominations with your pesos (by having them exchanged at the cotizacion del dia), but somehow I highly doubt the Central Bank is allowing that anymore. Back in the fall you could only receive payment in pesos (even if they had been bought in USD or EUR), and I imagine things have only gotten tighter (the AmEx office has a very UN-reassuring sign notifying customers that their corporate policies yield to the Argentine Central Bank, and so to be prepared for changes at any time.) Worth asking at Banco Piano, I suppose.

 

[davonz]

I imagine things have only gotten tighter (the AmEx office has a very UN-reassuring sign notifying customers that their corporate policies yield to the Argentine Central Bank, and so to be prepared for changes at any time.) Worth asking at Banco Piano, I suppose.

I tried changing some travellers cheques in nov at banco frances, where i have been changing for 5 years now. They wouldnt change and told me the only place i could change them was at AMEX - Because of rules changes they told me. So i am guessing this will be the case with purchasing travellers cheques here.

 

[legilber]

The problem with buying traveler's checks in Argentina is that you're buying them with pesos... so will you even be able to cash those in the US?

Ahh... I had assumed that when buying travelers checks you could buy them in Dollars...

So what exactly do people do? Besides going to the black market??

 

[YanquiGallego]

So, basically, what you are saying, is that the AMEX office WILL let me buy USD travelers checks in exchange for my pesos for the official rate + their 1,8 fee?

If I am reading this correctly, this seems like an easy way around getting USD (aside from the 1,8 fee) for foreigners as I can later just cash the travelers checks and get the cash, no? Or later just deposit them into my US account?


I went to the AmEx office back in September and got a bunch of info on that... if you have a DNI, there's no charge to buy or cash them in Argentina; if you don't have a DNI, there is a fee of 1.8% per check. They use the official rate of the day, and the monthly purchase limit is (was, at that time) USD $550.

The problem with buying traveler's checks in Argentina is that you're buying them with pesos... so will you even be able to cash those in the US? It would be great if you could just purchase dollar denominations with your pesos (by having them exchanged at the cotizacion del dia), but somehow I highly doubt the Central Bank is allowing that anymore. Back in the fall you could only receive payment in pesos (even if they had been bought in USD or EUR), and I imagine things have only gotten tighter (the AmEx office has a very UN-reassuring sign notifying customers that their corporate policies yield to the Argentine Central Bank, and so to be prepared for changes at any time.) Worth asking at Banco Piano, I suppose.