Foreign credit cards purchases at MEP rate

[Quilombo]

Shock for visitors hoping for new Argentine exchange rate

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Visitors to Argentina are still not receiving a more favorable exchange rate when paying with credit and debit cards days

ktar.com

A high-ranking Central Bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak on the record, said such problems were due to companies adjusting to the change.

“The norm allows credit card operators from abroad the possibility to (offer a better rate), not the obligation,” the official said. “They have to adapt their systems to be able to do that and I imagine it will take a few days.”

He predicted the new rate was likely to be applied by the end of this week because “if they don’t do it, they’ll lose business.”

On Wednesday, the official exchange rate was at 159 pesos per dollar while the rate that foreign credit card companies can use for their foreign clients was 293.

Credit card and payment processing companies directed all inquiries to the chamber of credit card companies, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Odds of it being implemented is seeming less and less likely IMO. This government will try and heard cats before admitting that the dollar is truly worth double the BCRA exchange rate...

 

[antipodean]

A high-ranking Central Bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak on the record, said such problems were due to companies adjusting to the change.

“The norm allows credit card operators from abroad the possibility to (offer a better rate), not the obligation,” the official said. “They have to adapt their systems to be able to do that and I imagine it will take a few days.”

He predicted the new rate was likely to be applied by the end of this week because “if they don’t do it, they’ll lose business.”

On Wednesday, the official exchange rate was at 159 pesos per dollar while the rate that foreign credit card companies can use for their foreign clients was 293.

Credit card and payment processing companies directed all inquiries to the chamber of credit card companies, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Odds of it being implemented is seeming less and less likely IMO. This government will try and heard cats before admitting that the dollar is truly worth double the BCRA exchange rate...

This sounds like the foreign tourist bank account all over again, "the law allows banks to do it, but not the obligation" .... and given the private investment and effort involved to make it happen, no one actually bothers and given no one goes first, no one else follows.

Will be interesting to see if the presumed extra effort and risks involved on the part of credit card companies to carry and liquidate transactions made in Argentina by foreign cards is a natural barrier to them actually wanting to encourage or simulate additional volume by foreign cardholders. The silence of the credit card and payment processing companies already speaks volumes.

 

[lunar]

The silence of the credit card and payment processing companies already speaks volumes.

Say, you are in the business of selling short-term loans to the public, giving them pieces of plastic that fit into their wallets. Somebody wants to spend 3000 peso. He can owe you 20 dollars (official rate) or 10 dollars (MEP rate). Which one would you prefer?

 

[Pete275]

I spent 300 pesos at the verdulería yesterday with the blue "travel rewards" visa from bank of america (payment through Mercadopago, very fast with contactless reader), got charged 1.8 usd. I kind of agree with the others, the banks are always trying to screw you with the exchange rate, usually it's 5% away from the market rate, this is their opportunity to take 95%, at least for a while until people call them on it

 

[sneakrnet]

Say, you are in the business of selling short-term loans to the public, giving them pieces of plastic that fit into their wallets. Somebody wants to spend 3000 peso. He can owe you 20 dollars (official rate) or 10 dollars (MEP rate). Which one would you prefer?

La expectativa oficial, según indican fuentes del Ministerio de Turismo, es que a partir de esta medida, por este rubro ingresen unos 2.000 millones de acá a fin de año, teniendo en cuenta que son meses de alta temporada. Con la medida también se equilibra la balanza turística ya que es deficitaria. (Ambito, 2 November 2022)

This is the amount that the government is trying to tell the card issuers that is at stake. Do they believe it? Is it worth it to them? Seems like the answers so far are "No."

 

[antipodean]

Say, you are in the business of selling short-term loans to the public, giving them pieces of plastic that fit into their wallets. Somebody wants to spend 3000 peso. He can owe you 20 dollars (official rate) or 10 dollars (MEP rate). Which one would you prefer?

As a card company like Visa or MasterCard, whatever is cheaper for me to handle - the money and interest charged belongs to third party banks - the costs and efforts of facilitating that $20 or $10 transaction are bourne by the issuer (including the risk of inflation and FX fluctuations etc come settlement time) which is an entirely different business than lending.

 

[NoSoyDeAqui]

From La Nacion, link below.
Basically, no timeline yet...credit card companies and the Central Bank are working out how to implement the conversion to MEP rate

El dólar tarjeta para turistas sufre demoras de instrumentación

Las marcas, junto con las procesadoras y otros actores de la industria, están trabajando para adecuar la regulación

www.lanacion.com.ar

 

[jblaze5779]

This is a dud. Enough to make some headlines and truck tourists into using credit cards here.

 

[Quilombo]

It's incredible, like Lucy and Football, except Argentina is both of them lol

 

[Lost Pilgrim]

Implementing this would take several months. I don't see this happening before 2023 if ever.

Paid with my USD credit card and got a 160 peso rate! Luckily I first tried with a small charge. Back to the cueva gauchos!