Using Ria Vs. Xoom

[Joe]

Ok, so an update to this thread. To send money to my landlord I used Ria via the "bank account" option whereby the fees were minimal. I DO NOT recommend this as it make the transaction take up to 3-4 business days to process. I am still waiting for this money to be deposited--there is some hang up with my recipient's bank or the third-party (Argenper) and my recipient. I have no idea why the funds haven't yet been deposited, but it seems to me that the communication between Ria and Argenper is sub-standard.

However, I did choose to do a small transfer to myself again to see how it would work using the debit card feature. In this case it was a $100 USD transfer from me to me, with a $5 debit card transaction fee. THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT. The funds were confirmed within the hour, and the transfer was completed in under 2 business days. Quick note: on the Ria site it says I was supposed to receive $1,164 ARS, but in reality I received $1,160. Probably some admin fee. However, considering the ease of the transaction, quick turnaround, better exchange rates, and lower fees, I am going to try again with a more significant amount.

Hope this thread is helping you out there.

This is interesting because some people have said you can't send funds to yourself. Also you can't send funds from outside the US. The latter I am sure about. My account was locked for this.

So I assume you are using a VPN. If Ria is checking to see if the sender and recipient are the same (same name) then they would halt the transfer and probably lock your account. Perhaps you have two identity documents with different names. Or you are sending it to your wife?

Or can you say I initiated the transfer in the US and then hopped on a flight to Argentina to collect the money?

***

My landlord refused to allow me to send her a Ria payment - obviously she wants to avoid getting on the AFIP radar.

 

[agape4argentina]

Joe--you are right. I am using a VPN and am careful to sign in at all times with this (just in case big brother is watching). I also tried sending money to myself before, and my transaction was promptly cancelled without explanation. When I asked the operator for a reason she merely said it was flagged by the fraud department and she couldn't give me any more information. My guess is that this transaction was too small to worry about, but also I did use a debit card this time--the fees were more but the funds were also verified more quickly. Perhaps this had something to do with it.

To be clear, I sent from my account in the States to my account here using the EXACT same name. My wife's name is not on the account. Like I said in my previous post, I am going to test this out again in a couple of weeks when I get paid again with a larger amount. I will update you on how it goes using the debit card verification.

Also, FYI, when I did a live chat with an agent, she told me sending money to myself should be no problem. Strange. Bottom line, it's worth this effort as Ria's exchange rate is about 15% higher than xoom presently.

 

[Joe]

Maybe one of your accounts has your middle name and the Ria profile has no middle name (or vice versa)? Maybe the check is computerized looking for exact name matches.

So you are saying that using a debit card is better than a bank account or better than a credit card?

Also, you could theoretically send the money from the US, get on a plane and be in Argentina the next day and collect it the following day. Or say that is what you are doing.

 

[agape4argentina]

If my account in the US does have my middle name (which is possible) I still didn't register it with Ria that way. I suppose someone could do that scenario--but it's not me...I've been living here for 17 months now.

 

[agape4argentina]

Just by way of updating this thread (and closing it out), as most of you know the xoom rate is now better than Ria, so that pretty much sums up the thread. That being said, I never was able to send myself a significant amount of money w/o the website canceling the transaction. I'll stick with xoom for now.

 

[steveinbsas]

I was unable to send funds to myself IN Argentina FROM Argentina using RIA. I haven't had that problem with XOOM.

RIA does not charge a fee but it can be much slower than XOOM. I know of RIA transfers that took over two weeks while RIA's Argentine partner needed to contact the recipient by phone before releasing the funds and the sender had not correctly entered the recipient's phone number. My XOOM transfers usually take three days to be completed (after "speeding up" the transfer by entering the actual amount deducted for the bank account).

Since my first transfer in 2013, XOOM's Argentine partner occasionally asks for recent bank statements and an updated "origin of funds" declaration. I don't worry about AFIP because the funds I am sending to myself are not subject to income tax in Argentina.

 

[jantango]

Since my first transfer in 2013, XOOM's Argentine partner occasionally asks for recent bank statements and an updated "origin of funds" declaration. I don't worry about AFIP because the funds I am sending to myself are not subject to income tax in Argentina.

I hadn't read your post before my visit yesterday to collect pesos for my XOOM transfer in BsAs. This is the first time since June 2013 that I've been asked questions about the source of funds and completed the declaration stating it's all from social security benefits I receive in the United States. When I do the next transfer, I'll have to provide a bank statement for a couple months showing my income source and withdrawals.

A friend from the USA arrived on Thursday and exchanged money at a cueva for 13.80 I got 12.9515 with XOOM.