International ATM / ABM fees for Canadians

[Zissou]

I also use CIBC although my fees don't seem to be as high - maybe look into other account types you could have with them. I also can't take out $300 at a time - only 1000 pesos which is about $240 CAD.

Then again the ING solution sounds pretty good. I have also heard some type of PayPal or President's Choice cards have like zero fees and whatnot. I hate the expense but it's just easier for me to keep everything in one place -- streamlined accounting penalty, I suppose.

 

[canadien]

I also use CIBC although my fees don't seem to be as high - maybe look into other account types you could have with them. I also can't take out $300 at a time - only 1000 pesos which is about $240 CAD.

Then again the ING solution sounds pretty good. I have also heard some type of PayPal or President's Choice cards have like zero fees and whatnot. I hate the expense but it's just easier for me to keep everything in one place -- streamlined accounting penalty, I suppose.

Hi Zissou,

-I just phoned CIBC and the fees that I listed in the first post for them apply to all their accounts.
-President's choice cards also have the fees that I listed above for foreign ATM/ABM withdrawls as well.
-For Paypal, I just phoned the. They don't offer a debit card for Canadian accounts anymore.

 

[Sockhopper]

I will open an account online with ING before I moving back to Argentina.
Then , I will transfer money regularily, using the ING website, from my CIBC account to my ING account. It takes about 5 days for the money to appear in my ING account and that amount will appear on my CIBC bank account statement as a debit, along with my other regular preauthorized payments.


After you do all the above, how will you access in Argentina at an atm there the cash that you put into your ING account? With which bank card?

 

[KarlaBA]

I will open an account online with ING before I moving back to Argentina.
Then , I will transfer money regularily, using the ING website, from my CIBC account to my ING account. It takes about 5 days for the money to appear in my ING account and that amount will appear on my CIBC bank account statement as a debit, along with my other regular preauthorized payments.


After you do all the above, how will you access in Argentina at an atm there the cash that you put into your ING account? With which bank card?

ING does issue bank cards, so I suppose the OP is going to use the ING card. However, the OP should check to make sure what bank network the ING card is connected with. It may only be connected with Interact, which is useless outside of Canada. The card will need to be part of the Plus or Cirrus networks in order to be used in Argentina.

 

[canadien]

I shall be using my ING bank card while in Argentina, which is part of the Cirrus /Maestro network.

****************************************************

"11. ABM use throughout Canada and internationally
Your ING DIRECT Card is accepted throughout Canada, at more than 46,000 bank machines connected to the Interac* network. ING DIRECT will cover your Interac* fees 4 times a month; thereafter, a $0.75 fee charged by the owner of the machine applies.
Your ING DIRECT Card is also accepted around the world, at any bank machine connected to the Cirrus/Maestro* network. A $1.40 charge for USA transactions and a $4.25 charge for International transactions levied by the owner of the machine apply for the international use of the ING DIRECT Card."

 

[canadien]

I am told by another user that although ING says it takes 5 days to transfer funds from my regular bank to my ING account, it actually takes, in his experience, as little as 2 days.

 

[Vasco]

I use TD's Select Service account, which gives you unlimited foreign ATM withdrawals. With a $5000 balance all monthly fees are waived.

It does charge 2.5% forex conversion, but I also use ING as a backup and have consistently found that TD's +2.5% conversion still comes out less than whatever the conversion used by ING. ING is a solid choice, and if you want just a simple bank account with no monthly fees or balance requirements, by all means go with it. It is a great hidden-secret for Canadian expats because of their 0% forex. I use it as a backup quite happily. If you need more banking services than just a debit card for ATM withdrawals, then there is no better bank account in Canada than TD's Select Service when you're living overseas.

 

[citygirl]

My thoughts on HSBC which was mentioned above

1) AFAIK, HSBC won't open a premier account for you in Argentina unless you have a DNI, even if you have a premier account in another country. I believe that is a CB mandate now.

2) Speaking from my personal experience - I find HSBC to be the worst bank to deal with in Argentina. I have had nothing but trouble with them here in Argentina from a business perspective. I have had to escalate issues to our US relationship manager multiple times in order to get anything done, we've had 7 or 8 different relationship managers here in Argentina since we opened the account. Despite our premier status and business partnership with them, I'm actually shutting down our accounts here and switching to a local bank.

3) HSBC does not offer the promotions that other banks do so if you are here, you are well served opening an account with Santander Rio or Galicia or one of the others that allows you to get 10/15/20% discounts on your purchases.

 

[KarlaBA]

2) Speaking from my personal experience - I find HSBC to be the worst bank to deal with in Argentina. I have had nothing but trouble with them here in Argentina from a business perspective. I have had to escalate issues to our US relationship manager multiple times in order to get anything done, we've had 7 or 8 different relationship managers here in Argentina since we opened the account. Despite our premier status and business partnership with them, I'm actually shutting down our accounts here and switching to a local bank.

I've had problems with my relationship manager as well at HSBC, but as the bank is a global bank, i have been able to get satisfaction by applying pressure to other parts of the bank i interact with. After a while i discovered that the best way to solve the relationship managers problems is to deal directly with the International Banking Center for HSBC Argentina. They are staffed by expats and are super fast and competent at resolving problems. I honestly don't think that the relationship manager problems are unique to HSBC Argentina; instead i think that it is normal for any bank in Argentina.

 

[citygirl]

Glad you've had luck with them, we haven't here.

Oh and my other least fave thing about them - we use HSBCnet for all our accounts in the world. Except Argentina. Why? Because HSBCnet doesn't work here. You have to use PC banking here in Argentina.

Oh & they're getting a lot less global - they've shut down retail operations in over 15 countries in the past year or so including in AP, Europe and the AMS. They announced last month they're selling/closing their retail business in 7 AP countries which is supposedly their "hub".

And I know they're leaving Slovakia because I used them there but now have to find a new banking partner.