They're taking a cut of around ~7% on top of whatever your issuing bank charges (often between 0 and 3%). This is why I say for people who can send dollars from WU Europe/Canada/etc. that don't have ridiculous fees, it's still better to do so, while for people with US cards specifically, it may make sense to use their card, especially if they have a 0% forex fee.
Foreign credit cards purchases at MEP rate
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Hiders-yews
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I am using this now by default -- did a couple of experiments, showing the same, it's around 305 payout.
Today I did MERCADOLIBRE (!!!) and it works great. No more picking up and/or schlepping cash to PagoFacil.
1. The net-net is it was about a $135 purchase. This is with this MEP foreign debit card rate floating around 301-305 (?) or so at the moment.
Had I gone to western union, I would have netted a few more percentage points, even after fee. Maybe 311 or so. So I did "lose" a little on this transaction.
2. The difference between card and WU was about $6.xx, per my calculations, on this transaction. Would have been $129 paid in WU cash instead of $136 on card (contrast that with that it would have been $260+ last week on card).
Again - this was for a somewhat larger purchase. So do with this what you will.
3. To me to save time dealing with Western Union plus dealing with mercadolibre payment, the extra $6 = worth it. Might not be worth it to others. But this would have been $260+ transaction at prior card rate and I love doing it all from the comfort of my living room (you know, like most of the rest of the developed world
)And then of course for a medialuna and cafe the difference will be 6 cents -- well worth not having to deal with the winding serpent of pedestrian death.
Completely and utterly agree. The time and hassle saved from WU, and the benefit of not having money enter the Arg banking system under my name, makes it totally worth it. Not the best rate, no. But the easiest by far.I am using this now by default -- did a couple of experiments, showing the same, it's around 305 payout.
Today I did MERCADOLIBRE (!!!) and it works great. No more picking up and/or schlepping cash to PagoFacil.
1. The net-net is it was about a $135 purchase. This is with this MEP foreign debit card rate floating around 301-305 (?) or so at the moment.
Had I gone to western union, I would have netted a few more percentage points, even after fee. Maybe 311 or so. So I did "lose" a little on this transaction.
2. The difference between card and WU was about $6.xx, per my calculations, on this transaction. Would have been $129 paid in WU cash instead of $136 on card (contrast that with that it would have been $260+ last week on card).
Again - this was for a somewhat larger purchase. So do with this what you will.
3. To me to save time dealing with Western Union plus dealing with mercadolibre payment, the extra $6 = worth it. Might not be worth it to others. But this would have been $260+ transaction at prior card rate and I love doing it all from the comfort of my living room (you know, like most of the rest of the developed world
And then of course for a medialuna and cafe the difference will be 6 cents -- well worth not having to deal with the winding serpent of pedestrian death.
doomgeneration
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If I use a Canadian master card here, do I get the good exchange rate?
I noticed that Rappi charges to my card are giving me an exchange rate well above 300 ARG/1 USD so just wondering if anyone is aware whether this would apply to Mercado Libre as well. In the past I had to send myself the cash to buy things otherwise I'd end up paying a fortune, but I'd heard that the government fixed the rate higher as of late (something about encouraging tourism and whatnot). Just wanted to verify this is the case though before taking the risk of buying expensive mics/sound equipment...
antipodean
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Tried my EUR Visa for curiosity at a cafe yesterday.
ARS 1440 for EUR 6,69. Rate of 215 - versus the Visa rate of 322 or official rate of 185.
It is still showing as “pending” so assume in 5 days or less will be adjusted to the visa rate, but am curious as to why the rate applied at time of purchase is neither here nor there especially when my bank has zero FX commissions or fees?
ARS 1440 for EUR 6,69. Rate of 215 - versus the Visa rate of 322 or official rate of 185.
It is still showing as “pending” so assume in 5 days or less will be adjusted to the visa rate, but am curious as to why the rate applied at time of purchase is neither here nor there especially when my bank has zero FX commissions or fees?
Redpossum
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darachu
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Checking in on this, is the consesus that our US Visa card will give us close to the MEP ? does it always come as a refund? I was gonna do a small purchase to test it but am suddenly finding myself in desperate need of a Tv set... Appreciate any info, thanks!,
Exchange Rate Calculator - Currency Converter
Exchange Rates & Currency Conversion Calculator - Use the converter to get an indication of the rate you may receive when using your Visa card. Learn more.
their conversion rate as of today is 320:1. i think visa is just processing the transactions directly, it just might take longer to post. i'm actually still waiting for a transaction to post that i made on the 16th of dec.
