TransferWise comes to Argentina

[Phatbuddha]

And at what point would AFIP be involved ? Would there be a monthly limit

 

[jlynch]

in mid 2016 MORE had a soft limit of 60,000 ARS in one year where they requested proof of origin of funds. 15 pesos to the USD back then.

 

[Sojourner]

in mid 2016 MORE had a soft limit of 60,000 ARS in one year where they requested proof of origin of funds. 15 pesos to the USD back then.

Anyone have further (current) information on this?

 

[quilleroarg]

Not sure if this is something that interests people, but you can use Transferwise to transfer dollars from a US bank account to a US$ denominated account in Argentina. I needed to get dollars down here, but my bank does not make international wire transfers. I reached out to Transferwise and they gave me a solution.

I sent $2,300 US dollars for a total cost of $3. Meaning I received $2,297 US dollars in my account. Super cheap!! Note many banks charge SWIFT transfer fees and some have to use an intermediary bank which charges its own fee. SantanderRio actually told me their intermediary bank (Wells Fargo) would charge $50, but no end bank receiving fee from SantanderRio. I did not get charged the $50. Why? I'm not 100% sure but I think Transferwise deposits the funds at WellsFargo for US user borderless accounts (I can't confirm this though). So my money didn't end up going through an intermediary bank. It went straight from Wells Fargo to SantanderRio. Google how SWIFT works if this seems confusing. Here are the steps for those interested:

First you need to open a Transferwise borderless checking account. It's super easy, and I did it right through my regular Transferwise profile. It took about 24 hours in total to open it. Next you need to contact Transferwise support and ask them to enable the feature that lets you send USD from a US account to a foreign account denominated in US dollars. They responded within an hour and activated it immediately.

Next transfer USD from your US account to the borderless account. Transferwise uses an app/interface that links directly with your online banking to make the transfer (for banks that support this). The app is called plaid and built directly into Transferwise's interface. It took 24 hours for the transfer to go through.

The money is sent to Argentina using the SWIFT system, so you need to go to your bank and request the details about how to receive a SWIFT payment from abroad in US$. SantanderRio has a page they print and give to you. You really just need the bank's SWIFT code and your account number (note account number is different that CBU). Once I sent the money US$ arrived in my account 24 hours later.

This is absolutely the best moment I have experienced until now in BA. I have been using TW for about a year now and it did not cross my mind to transfer USD to my Argie USD account!!!
I have 2 USD denominated accounts, one with Banco Patagonia and one with HSBC. I am inclined to use the one in Banco Patagonia though, since HSBC gave me some SWIFT instructions that stated receiving USD to the Caja de Ahorro in USD would cost me US$100 whilst Banco Patagonia would charge $25 for receiving up to US$500...
I guess I'll have to visit Santander Rio to see if I can open up a Checkings and USD accounts with them.

One question @cafeamericano, what is SWIFT did you use when adding the receipent in your TW account?
I downloaded Santander Río's transfer instructions, see attached

 

[Fooze]

Have any of you used TW to receive money from somewhere else? I'm thinking about setting up one of their "borderless accounts" (they give you bank information to get payments in different countries) to receive payments from entities in Europe and then transfer them back to my US bank account and, of course, probably transfer some from there to myself here in BA as well.

Have any of you done this? Or are you all just sending money to yourselves from your own bank accounts?

 

[TWB103]

Can Transferwise now send money out of Argentina? Someone here a couple of months ago said TW were working on it.

 

[Idois]

Have any of you used TW to receive money from somewhere else? I'm thinking about setting up one of their "borderless accounts" (they give you bank information to get payments in different countries) to receive payments from entities in Europe and then transfer them back to my US bank account and, of course, probably transfer some from there to myself here in BA as well.

Have any of you done this? Or are you all just sending money to yourselves from your own bank accounts?

Yes, you can send EUR using both your TW personal account and TW business/borderless account to the US accounts in your name or other people's names. The receiver in the US receives USD.

 

[TWB103]

Yes, you can send EUR using both your TW personal account and TW business/borderless account to the US accounts in your name or other people's names. The receiver in the US receives USD.

Converting my dollars into euros in Argentina will be expensive. They make you convert to pesos first..

 

[iamfinn]

Can there possibly be a problem with a transaction from an European bank account to an Argentinian one? I have heard from people that if you are going to send money to someone's account then you need to have a good explanation on where the money is coming from and what is the money.

I don't have an account myself so I would need to send it to someone else so could there be any problems with that?

 

[Kaminoge]

Am I correct in thinking that I can't use Transferwise to send pesos out of Argentina?

Could I use it if I transferred my pesos into USD (in the Argentinian bank) and then transfer those?

If not does anyone know anything about the fees associated with transferring money out of an Argentinian bank account (to an Australian one)? Supposedly it's possible but I haven't met anyone who has actually done it. (and I don't speak Spanish so I'm limited to asking people who speak English which is why I'm asking on the internet).