Extra ! Extra! Read all ´bout it !!

[iStar]

My Canadian bank Scotiabank allows me to send myself up to $999 via western-union using internet banking. The fee I paid was $9CAD now if I were to try and withdraw the same amount using the ATM's here, I would have paid more than $30 that.

 

[Moonwitch]

The fact that there is a charge is a complete joke. Sheer greed.

 

[SaraSara]

I leave (again) for BsAs in May. I'm opening up the Schwab account now.

Someone posted about that - apparently Schwab charges 1%.

 

[Liam3494]

Until a year ago I paid no fees whatsoever for ATM withdrawals in Uruguay or Argentina, although I did pay a fee in not-my-bank ATMs in the States. That free lunch is over now.

Last Friday I was charged 1% of my withdrawal - I checked my account on the web.

Liam, what does "front loading your credit card" mean"? Carrying a positive balance? If so, that's a great deal.

Yep, that is exactly what it means. Certainly with my Irish based banking. If I use my ordinary bank ATM card from my current (checking) account, I get charged the fee here, as well as my own banks charges - When I questioned his with my bank, they advised me to use my credit card - Transfer money from my checking account into the credit card account, thereby meaning a credit balace (front-loading), and not only do I avoid my own banks charges, I don't pay the Argentine ATM fee....

As I said, I don't know if this is a loophole in the system, and one that the Argentine Banks will close soon, but I drew money out last week, and no fee, and on numerous other occassions since I worked out the system.

Hope that helps......

 

[totus]

Someone posted about that - apparently Schwab charges 1%.

Just to clarify, Schwab only charges a 0.1% foreign currency fee. I have a Schwab account and just withdrew $990 (ARS) from an HSBC ATM. I was charged an additional $15.50 (ARS) access fee, bringing the total to $1005.50 (ARS). When I checked my account online, there was a withdrawal of $260.59 (USD) -- reflecting an effective exchange rate of 3.85855 ARS to 1 USD.

The live ARS-USD exchange rate from XE.com is currently 3.86450 ARS to 1 USD. When you do the math, the difference between what I'm getting via Schwab vs. the "live" rate is about 0.15% (which more or less corresponds to their stated 0.1% fee).

In my experience, Schwab automatically refunds most ATM fees at the end of the month. For most ATM withdrawals from the states, fees are easy to identify (for a $202.50 withdrawal, it's pretty easy for tell that the $2.50 was the fee). For foreign transactions, since the transactions are rarely round numbers due to the conversions, not all of them get credited automatically. Just keep your ATM receipts and you should be able to email them the scans to get your refunds if they don't automatically post.

I only just arrived in Argentina so I'll let you guys know if I get my ATM refunds automatically at the end of the month or whether I had to followup with my receipts.

 

[totus]

Quick update... I ended up making 3 withdrawals from ATMs with my Charles Schwab card in March and each time was charged the $15.50 (ARS) "access fee". This morning, I checked my online statement and saw that my account was automatically credited $12.06 (USD) in ATM fee rebates. For any US expats spending a significant amount of time in Argentina, I'd highly recommend looking into getting a Schwab account.

 

[SaraSara]

According to this on Schwab's banking webpage, ATM refunds are topped at nine dollars a month. But people seem to be getting more refunds.


http://www.schwabbank.com/checking.do

I'd be in the States next month, and could open a Schwab account. However, it does not seem worth doing it to save only nine dollars a month.

Am I looking in the right place? Can anyone clarify this?
Thanks....


"* We do not charge any fees for use of any ATM. If you use a machine that is not a Schwab Bank ATM, you may be charged a fee by the ATM operator or any network used. This may include a fee for a balance inquiry even if you do not complete a withdrawal or other monetary transaction. We offer a rebate on these fees assessed by others: For Interest Checking, Regular Checking, and Basic Checking up to first 6 transactions not to exceed $9.00 per statement period. Schwab Bank reserves the right to discontinue or modify the ATM Fee Rebate program at any time. Please see your Schwab Bank Deposit Account Pricing Guide for details."

 

[sesamosinsal]

Even if it's topped out at $9.00, that's still not a bad deal. I got my account stuff in the mail yesterday. With my other bank account, I'd be charged the $4.00 machine fee and then $1.50 on top of that. For my purposes, I only need to withdraw (980+980) twice a month anyway. If I have to do more than that, I'm saving $11 USD a month, $132 a year. I think it's worth it.

Can anyone else substantiate a previous poster's claim that the conversion rate is .1%? I can't seem to find any information about this in the bazillion "welcome!" packets they sent...

 

[bengodfrey]

Well if anyone wants pesos I can exchange for you below everything you are paying....

 

[mini]

Steve, who often encourages getting a Charles Schwab account, does not have a checking account. I think he has a brokerage account.