Receive money in USD without a local bank account

[lemontea200516]

Could I seek advice if I could receive USD from oversea bank accont in Hong Kong if i don’t have a local argentinian bank account AND I dont want it to be automatically converted to Peso?

I have HSBC Premier account which allows me transfer money (via Global Transfer) to my HSBC accounts globally for free. I have HSBC accounts in US, UK, Australia,etc, BUT not an HSBC Argentinian one. I do not have DNI or utility local address, and hence I guess I cannot open a local account(?) to receive money. Even I do, would the money be convertred to peso at the offical rate upon transfer?

Another thought was using Western Union - but I went to a WU branch in Palermo last week but they said they can ONLY give out peso if I arrange transfer to myself. Interestingly last year when my ATM card was lost in Chile, I called HSBC Hong Kong and they were able to arrange with Mastercard international in NY for emergency cash pickup within 2 hour in a WU branch in Santiago. The cash pickup could be done in USD or in chilen peso - and the WU staff told me to pick up in USD because their rate was so bad compared to the other =P. I wonder if the WU in Argentina is just different...

 

[Redpossum]

I wonder if the WU in Argentina is just different...

Everything in Argentina is just different. You must learn to embrace this in order to be happy here.

As far as your actual question - in my experience your chances of getting dollars cash-in-hand here are slim to none, and Slim left town. Pre-corona you could take the Buquebus across the river to Colonia, Uruguay and get dollars from the ATMs there with a US debit card. Now, God only knows.

I sincerely wish you good luck, and if you do, by some miracle, manage to receive your money in dollars, please post again and tell us how.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

Could I seek advice if I could receive USD from oversea bank accont in Hong Kong if i don’t have a local argentinian bank account AND I dont want it to be automatically converted to Peso?

I have HSBC Premier account which allows me transfer money (via Global Transfer) to my HSBC accounts globally for free. I have HSBC accounts in US, UK, Australia,etc, BUT not an HSBC Argentinian one. I do not have DNI or utility local address, and hence I guess I cannot open a local account(?) to receive money. Even I do, would the money be convertred to peso at the offical rate upon transfer?

Another thought was using Western Union - but I went to a WU branch in Palermo last week but they said they can ONLY give out peso if I arrange transfer to myself. Interestingly last year when my ATM card was lost in Chile, I called HSBC Hong Kong and they were able to arrange with Mastercard international in NY for emergency cash pickup within 2 hour in a WU branch in Santiago. The cash pickup could be done in USD or in chilen peso - and the WU staff told me to pick up in USD because their rate was so bad compared to the other =P. I wonder if the WU in Argentina is just different...

I don't see that happening ... I believe you will be force fed pesos.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[dsp27]

Could I seek advice if I could receive USD from oversea bank accont in Hong Kong if i don’t have a local argentinian bank account AND I dont want it to be automatically converted to Peso?

Cannot be done. If you need the money for living expenses here just use pesos. If you NEED dollars then transfer with WU / AZIMO or any comparable service and buy USD on the informal market or from friends.

 

[lemontea200516]

Thanks all, I have researching across forum in internet and everyone seems to suggest its not possible.

What if i create a bank account (assume I have DNI) or use friends account to receive USD - do they really automatically convert them into peso at official rate?

The reason is that I notice a lot of property for sales here in Buenos Aires are in USD. If the force fed things is true/conversion is required at WU, then the actual cost in peso of the property is offical/WU rate( with the spread from buying first peso and then sell it). I just wonder how people actually move USD to purchase property at the minimum cost - it’s not a small amount of money...

 

[on the brink]

I understand you can open a savings account in US dollars here.

However, in order to buy a property you'll have to supply proof of the funds' provenance: sale of another property, stocks sales, etc.

Getting the actual dollar bills in your account here is a LOOONG, complicated process, which may require the help of an accountant and an "escribano" to handle the paperwork with the bank. It can take about three or four months to get the money here, and available.

 

[antipodean]

You should be able to open a HSBC account via your premier home branch / manager. This is what was explained to me when I opened one in London. Once you are premier in one country you are premier in all countries. They may at least require you to have your precaria to be able to open it or at least a CDI (tax number for non residents that you must get from AFIP here in Argentina) and obviously you will need to demonstrate a good reason why you need the account. Obviously you will need to be in Argentina to actually open it in the branch.

I would suggest you contact HSBC and ask them directly about the opening process and also USD to USD transfers.

Unless things have changed (and I have never tried this with HSBC or any other bank myself) I understand that if you have a USD savings account here you can receive a transfer from a USD savings account abroad at the official rate and it will be deposited in USD. The account name for both sender and recover must be i d e n t i c a l for it to work. Your problem will arise when trying to withdraw your USD in cash as you will almost certainly be given in ARS at the official rate, which looses all purpose of having done it in the first place. And sending any leftover USD back in the other direction will be pretty much impossible - meaning it is probably tapped here forever or will suffer massive devaluation if you need to get it out again.

Moral of the story, never keep USD in accounts here. Just cash.

 

[lemontea200516]

Wow thanks! Managing own personal finance is quite an interesting task here. It reminds me of how things works in mainland China, where I have to plan very carefully how to move the fund or do any investment.

And yes HSBC Premier is quite useful and that was how I opened all these offshore HSBC Premier accounts in US, UK, Australia, Canada ,etc. all from Hong Kong. The local debit cards are all very handy for international travel and in fact much needed for oversea investment or moving asset offshore(lots of people are doing that given the political situation in Hong Kong). It was super easy with a international banking team who will fill the form and do the work with oversea office, and I just have to sign at the branch in Hong Kong. They even provide oversea mortage information. The problem is now i am stranded here in Buenos Aires and they need even a DNI to make an appointment.The local hotline speak only spanish which I am not very good at. Anyway, it seems to me the best is get the bank relationship manager to find out how to do it.....or simply forget about using the bank channel given only ARS at offical

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Wow thanks! Managing own personal finance is quite an interesting task here. It reminds me of how things works in mainland China, where I have to plan very carefully how to move the fund or do any investment.

And yes HSBC Premier is quite useful and that was how I opened all these offshore HSBC Premier accounts in US, UK, Australia, Canada ,etc. all from Hong Kong. The local debit cards are all very handy for international travel and in fact much needed for oversea investment or moving asset offshore(lots of people are doing that given the political situation in Hong Kong). It was super easy with a international banking team who will fill the form and do the work with oversea office, and I just have to sign at the branch in Hong Kong. They even provide oversea mortage information. The problem is now i am stranded here in Buenos Aires and they need even a DNI to make an appointment.The local hotline speak only spanish which I am not very good at. Anyway, it seems to me the best is get the bank relationship manager to find out how to do it.....or simply forget about using the bank channel given only ARS at offical

Things may have changed since I was persuaded by HSBC in the UK to upgrade my account to Premier because it would unlock banking services all around the world. Even Argentina? I asked. Even Argentina, they said.

And my experience?

No it didn´t.
I have since closed my HSBC accounts

 

[antipodean]

Wow thanks! Managing own personal finance is quite an interesting task here. It reminds me of how things works in mainland China, where I have to plan very carefully how to move the fund or do any investment.

And yes HSBC Premier is quite useful and that was how I opened all these offshore HSBC Premier accounts in US, UK, Australia, Canada ,etc. all from Hong Kong. The local debit cards are all very handy for international travel and in fact much needed for oversea investment or moving asset offshore(lots of people are doing that given the political situation in Hong Kong). It was super easy with a international banking team who will fill the form and do the work with oversea office, and I just have to sign at the branch in Hong Kong. They even provide oversea mortage information. The problem is now i am stranded here in Buenos Aires and they need even a DNI to make an appointment.The local hotline speak only spanish which I am not very good at. Anyway, it seems to me the best is get the bank relationship manager to find out how to do it.....or simply forget about using the bank channel given only ARS at offical

If you are not here permanently / for a year or more with a legitimate visa don't bother complicating your life trying to get into the system.
Just use Western Union / Xoom to get the Pesos you need to spend while you are here. You will get a rate similar enough to the blue. As far as I am aware tourists do no have any access to the banking system here (especially term deposits which for some strange reasons a few tourists get excited about thinking it translates to 30% on your USD, lol, that's what the capital controls are for.) Getting residency will buy you a hefty global tax burden - and HSBC will obviously share everything from all of your global accounts with AFIP. Income tax is perhaps fair enough, but "wealth tax"... you should be careful about.