Has anyone used XOOM before?

[sesamosinsal]

So, if you bring dollars with you and change them to pesos with an intention to spend them here, it is your definition of outflow of capital, right?

If you change them at an "official" casa de cambio, then no, it would not be. Using your dollars, a casa de cambio could "buy" pesos from the BCRA. There's probably a lot more buying of dollars than pesos, but either way, it can be done.

If you change them on the black market, then yes, because those dollars don't go through official channels. They will likely never see a BCRA account.

There's no way that Xoom and its partner are going to pay a premium for U.S. dollars only to have them go through the Central Bank. When you use your ATM card, the currency -- if it's not dollars already -- is converted to dollars and transferred to the central bank of the country you're in. Essentially, if you use a foreign card at an ATM, you're buying pesos from the BCRA. Why do you think the BCRA no longer allows Argentines to withdraw foreign currencies abroad? It's because every time an Argentine withdraws pesos abroad, those pesos are then converted to U.S. dollars to pay the company that facilitated the withdrawal.

 

[Sleuth]

6,000 USD is a limit is imposed by Xoom for people with verified checking account
Lower 2,500 limit is imposed by the Argentinean government. May be it is even lower now.

The limit is definitely not $2500 because I and several other people have already transferred more than that.

 

[lucha54]

The limit is definitely not $2500 because I and several other people have already transferred more than that.

I used my bank account at Bank Of America and I had a $2500USD limit on the website when I was initiating the transfer. Maybe it depends on your bank account/ credit card in the states...?

 

[jimdepalermo]

Folks, this is all way outside Argentine bank regulations. Any limits you're running up against are set by Xoom, their local agent, or your bank.

 

[Greg2231]

The Xoom rate has jumped up to $5.3415 today, also Google for Xoom coupon codes to waive all the Xoom fees I used "speedmay" on my last transfer and it waived all the fees even when using a debit card, not sure if it is still valid.

 

[demokritos]

I contacted More MT through the email form on their website yesterday, and was able to reach them by phone today (0054) 11 4811-5532. According to them, there's a 10,000 peso threshold per month, after which they require a scan of the first page of your ID (passport or DNI or whatever), and a "Declaracion de Origen y Destino de Fondos". I'm not familiar with this bulletin board system, if there's a way to attach it to BB posts I can attach the blank form here as a PDF. This form has to be filled out and sent to xoom, then xoom passes it along with a scan of your ID along with the transaction to More MT in order to clear the limbo hurdle I and others have run into.

Xoom's customer service and compliance teams have been completely incompetent and maddening on this issue.. I've been the one having to call them, 3-4 times per day, because they are incapable of calling me back (US number and I'm available PDT work hours, which is where they're based) or emailing me. I got this info from More MT directly. Your mileage may vary.

 

[henryb]

...Why do you think the BCRA no longer allows Argentines to withdraw foreign currencies abroad?...

The key word here is "abroad". Yes, this is an example of a situation when dollars are going out, but it does not have anything to do with Xoom. In any case, if you believe in what you say, this is OK with me.

...According to them, there's a 10,000 peso threshold per month, after which they require...

Thank you. I guess it was 2500 USD, when dollar was 4:1.

 

[sesamosinsal]

The key word here is "abroad". Yes, this is an example of a situation when money is going out, but it does not have anything to do with Xoom. In any case, if you believe in what you say, this is OK with me.

Of course Xoom has something to do with it. Xoom transfers those dollars to MoreMT's bank accounts, wherever they may be. From reading MoreMT's website, they are not a regulated "money transmitter" in the U.S. This kind of thing is very bureaucratic; registration has to be done at the federal level, and in each individual state. Partnering up makes sense.

I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to dispute. If those dollars are going through the Central Bank, there's no way that MoreMT is getting to keep them. They'd be "pesified" at the official rate and added to the dwindling BCRA reserves. Thus, paying a premium for those dollars only makes sense if they never flow into Argentina.

 

[henryb]

... operations through Xoom.com are effectively an outflow of capital. I wonder how long it will last...

I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to dispute.

I am not trying to dispute anything. You do not understand the meaning of words "in" and "out". This makes kind of difficult to take your arguments seriously.

 

[sesamosinsal]

I am not trying to dispute anything. You do not understand the meaning of words "in" and "out". This makes kind of difficult to take your arguments seriously.

I said that our operations through Xoom are essentially an outflow of capital because, given the premium they're paying, one supposes that the dollars being sent through Xoom to MoreMT are no longer going through the Central Bank.

Let's imagine that I have a friend who, for whatever reason, cannot send $1,000 ARS to a friend somewhere in Europe. I could tell my friend, "Hey, you give me your $1,000 ARS. I'll withdraw the equivalent USD ($224 at official rate) from my bank in the U.S., convert it to Euros through an intermediary, and I'll send it to your friend." Instead of me using the ATM machine ($224 USD directly to the BCRA) to withdraw the $1,000 ARS, I would have received it from my friend. Those $224 USD never go through an Argentine bank; instead, they'd be transferred from a U.S. bank account to an account in Europe.

Operations through Xoom and its partner are not much different. For their clients who send funds in pesos, MoreMT probably does not have the USD to transfer them to other countries. So, they pay a premium for our dollars that end being wired to accounts in the U.S. or in some paraíso fiscal. It's essentially an OUTFLOW (no confusion between "in" and "out" -- English is my native language, thank you.) of capital, however small (or large?) it may be.