How to force a bank to release my money ?

[PaulBee]

Another odd thing about my attempted money transfer to BBVA / Banco Frances is that at the Buenos Aires end, the transfer was invisible to me. The bank didn`t notify me, the ATM didn`t show any sign of it. It took numerous phone calls to BBVA/ Banco Frances before a clerk admitted the money was in Argentina, but the bank didn`t want to deposit it. At the sending end in Mexico, they didn`t know where the money was ! It was a major international bank and they told me they didn`t know where the money went after it left Mexico ! Incompetence, I suspect. IThat`s another reason to use an alternative to bank transfers.

 

[nikad]

If you transferred dollars to an account nominated in dollars in Argentina, you should receive dollars. The bank is not allowed to convert your dollars to pesos ( unless you ask them to do so ). If you sent dollars and you did not have an account nominated in usd that could be a problem and given the recent devaluation, you would be better off returning such transfer to the originating bank, then open an account in usd in Arg and try again. I have had very good experiences with Banco Frances foreign commerce dept in the past, what are they saying that went wrong with your transfer?

 

[PaulBee]

The bank admits there is no problem with the transfer. However, for weeks we could not find any trace of BBVA/Banco Frances having received the money, which they received in ARS in June (Sorry if I gave a confusing explanation about all that previously.) My account is in ARS. In mid July, after many phone calls, the bank admitted the money was there, but they did not want to deposit it into my account. The original reason the bank gave for not puttng the money into my account is "they don`t know me." I`ve been a client for 12 years, pay services fees monthly and the account has been active. I don`t go into the branch often at all. Also, when I opened the account, BBVA/Banco Frances had (still has) only my CUIT and a foreign passport for ID. BBVA/Banco Frances agreed after discussions to deposit some money, but there would have to be some documentation done, which apparently could take a long time. Fortunately I heard of TransferWise here, and deposited the urgently needed funds into my Banco Frances/BBVA account via TransferWise. Since the original bank transfer was not going into my account soon and not needed in my BBVA/Banco Frances account any longer, it was agreed that they would return the original bank transfer if I couriered to them a letter, which they gave me exact wording for. They received that letter Wednesday, but as far as the original wire transfer being returned to me, I am told only that "I must wait". I cannot wait long, nor do I see why I should have to.

 

[nikad]

The bank admits there is no problem with the transfer. However, for weeks we could not find any trace of BBVA/Banco Frances having received the money, which they received in ARS in June (Sorry if I gave a confusing explanation about all that previously.) My account is in ARS. In mid July, after many phone calls, the bank admitted the money was there, but they did not want to deposit it into my account. The original reason the bank gave for not puttng the money into my account is "they don`t know me." I`ve been a client for 12 years, pay services fees monthly and the account has been active. I don`t go into the branch often at all. Also, when I opened the account, BBVA/Banco Frances had (still has) only my CUIT and a foreign passport for ID. BBVA/Banco Frances agreed after discussions to deposit some money, but there would have to be some documentation done, which apparently could take a long time. Fortunately I heard of TransferWise here, and deposited the urgently needed funds into my Banco Frances/BBVA account via TransferWise. Since the original bank transfer was not going into my account soon and not needed in my BBVA/Banco Frances account any longer, it was agreed that they would return the original bank transfer if I couriered to them a letter, which they gave me exact wording for. They received that letter Wednesday, but as far as the original wire transfer being returned to me, I am told only that "I must wait". I cannot wait long, nor do I see why I should have to.

As far as I know, international wire transfers are not instant. They can take anywhere from 1-5 days depending on currency, intermediary banks and country of origin and destination. Depending on the amounts some paperwork ( which can include origin of funds if the amount is large ) must be filled and submitted at the time the money is being transferred. I was told to never transfer money between accounts with different denomination ( usd to usd , ars to ars, and so on ) Basically this is to avoid problems with exchange rates between currencies that fluctuate a lot. I believe that you are going to be short of a lot of dollars when you receive this money back due to the recent devaluation: you technically ordered the bank to convert your dollars to pesos in June and if they now have to convert it back to dollars the ending amount you will get will be much less. This is just my guess, and I don't think the bank is bull***g you in this case. Did you talk to foreign commerce before initiating this transfer to get proper instructions on how to do it and what kind of account you needed to receive it along with any paperwork that they would require?

 

[nikad]

1 usd: 28 ars in June 2018
1 usd: 37.5 ars in August 2018

You will get about 33% less in dollars back plus any bank fees

 

[PaulBee]

Thanks, I know about international transfers. I can live with the usual few days for a transfer but not with a simple vague "you must wait". Yes, I will lose a lot of buying power, but I need the money desperately here in Mexico, not in Argentina. In any case, since I am not presently in Argentina, I don`t think the bank can send my original transfer to any other account. I think they can only return the orginal transfer, which has not yet been deposited, to the account it came from in Mexico. I can definitely receive the transfer in the account from which it was sent. No I have not spoken with Foreign Commerce yet. I hope I can get through to them on the phone. Thanks so much for your thoughts !

 

[nikad]

Thanks, I know about international transfers. I can live with the usual few days for a transfer but not with a simple vague "you must wait". Yes, I will lose a lot of buying power, but I need the money desperately here in Mexico, not in Argentina. In any case, since I am not presently in Argentina, I don`t think the bank can send my original transfer to any other account. I think they can only return the orginal transfer, which has not yet been deposited, to the account it came from in Mexico. I can definitely receive the transfer in the account from which it was sent. No I have not spoken with Foreign Commerce yet. I hope I can get through to them on the phone. Thanks so much for your thoughts !

Even for smaller sums ( couple thousand dollars ) it is foreign commerce who deals with this transfers. You might want to get the person helping you here to talk to them. They should be able to tell him/her right away if there is anything that needs to be done, when to expect it back exactly, etc. Best of luck, please let me know how it went when they send the money back.

 

[PaulBee]

Yes, I will talk to the person at my branch first, since I cannot contact the number shown online for Foreign Commerce (darn toll free numbers !). I will keep you posted. I am most grateful to have you and this group helping me ! If it weren`t for you folks, I would have believed Banco Frances when they incorrectly said I can`t receive international transfers since I don`t have an "international account" !

 

[Kookaburra]

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation. I had problems with an incoming wire transfer too (different bank) but eventually all was settled. From what I gather, a bank's "know your client" policy means that they are suspicious of anything that does not fit the profile of how your account normally behaves. When you are a foreigner and outside the jurisdiction those suspicions are only magnified. If you have an accountant in Argentina, you could try asking the bank if it will accept an accountant's certificate attesting to the origin of the funds. The certificate needs the seal of the economic sciences council. It's a bureaucractic runaround and there are fees to pay but it worked for me. Hang in there!

 

[PaulBee]

Hi there, sorry to hear about your situation. I had problems with an incoming wire transfer too (different bank) but eventually all was settled. From what I gather, a bank's "know your client" policy means that they are suspicious of anything that does not fit the profile of how your account normally behaves. When you are a foreigner and outside the jurisdiction those suspicions are only magnified. If you have an accountant in Argentina, you could try asking the bank if it will accept an accountant's certificate attesting to the origin of the funds. The certificate needs the seal of the economic sciences council. It's a bureaucractic runaround and there are fees to pay but it worked for me. Hang in there!

Thanks so much Kookaburra ! That is good to know ! At the moment, I wonder if the bank was just wanting to use my money to get interest. They seemed not to want me to know the transfer had arrived, but didn`t have questions about the origin of the money.