Western Union money transfer

[AFVA]

Hello everyone. I'm sorry if this has been answered already but this thread is now 27 pages long and so many different ways are discussed that I'm confused. Please explain to me as if I was six-years-old:

My situation is that initally I will need to pay rent on a local apartment in USD cash. I have a Wells Fargo account in the US that will receive a monthly direct deposit. I will not have a local account for the time being.

1. Is it at all possible for me to access my account to get USD cash anywhere in B.A? Can I use xoom or TransferWise to send that money somewhere in B.A. and get *dollars*? If so, where?

2. Or do I use Western Union online to transfer the money to a WU office in Colonia and make the monthly ferry trip (which I don't mind, I won't be working)?

3. Also, now that cuevas are coming back, does anyone want to PM me an address or the name of someone you trust that I can contact when I want to sell dollars? I'll be in Palermo near the old zoo but I don't mind going elsewhere.

Thanks in advance, apologies if this has already been answered.

 

[bobsnowpuppy]

1. Is it at all possible for me to access my account to get USD cash anywhere in B.A? NO Can I use xoom or TransferWise to send that money somewhere in B.A. and get *dollars*? NO If so, where?

2. Or do I use Western Union online to transfer the money to a WU office in Colonia and make the monthly ferry trip (which I don't mind, I won't be working)? This works

if you haven’t left the states yet, bring as much cash as you can, up to $10,000.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

Wow...you are lost.....and have a lot to learn. Start with this....change your direct deposit to a Capone 360 account BEFORE you move to BA. That WF account is worthless. Some will advise a Schwab account....and good to do if you can. Actually get both. And don't tell Schwab anything about being in Argentina. Now is the time to think PRIVACY in your life.

Keep your U.S. address if you can...don't change it. (Probably stop thinking of doing any direct deposit into Argentina) If your direct deposit is SocSec don't change your U.S. address to Argentina.

Have in your possession all your bank cards...and get new ones with the farthest out expiration dates possible.

Don't think about getting dollars in Argentina. Don't exist....all transfers within the country are in Pesos. THEN you can change those pesos

Other answers to your questions are subjective...and subject to change and do change from week to week. But those that I have suggested should be written in stone. I have been out of the U.S. for 20 years.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

"if you haven’t left the states yet, bring as much cash as you can, up to $10,000".....not sure if that is right. I think you can bring $1,000,000....just declare it.

 

[steveinbsas]

Makes one feel sick , not having a relative to pay Cash at WU USA..!!

Based on my personal experience as of yesterday afternoon (1 PM Argentina time/11 AM EST), it is now possible to make a WU transfer from yourself to yourself...on line and without a VPN using the US Western Union website.

Immediately after initiating the transfer, I received a confirmation email as the sender. To my surprise it indicated the funds would be avialble by 12/23 (Monday). I was surprised as I used my debit card and the website indicated the funds would be available "in minutes." The email suggested that the recipient might have to be "registered" in order to receive the funds. I was already registered, so I thought I would just have to wait until Monday.

Then I read an email sent to me by WU as the recipient, asking me to fill out a declaration JJ.DD on line. I did so in less than two minutes and, as soon as I submitted it, I received a message indicating the form would be processed in the "next few hours," so I expect the funds to be credited on Monday.

 

[TheDonald]

Yeah, I didn't think this arb would remain open for long. I'm hearing that cueva rates are now equivalent to WU.

My guess is this arb won't open again anytime soon. WU has pulled its excess capital out of Argentina and probably won some significant market share from competitors in the process.

 

[steveinbsas]

Yeah, I didn't think this arb would remain open for long. I'm hearing that cueva rates are now equivalent to WU.

My guess is this arb won't open again anytime soon. WU has pulled its excess capital out of Argentina and probably won some significant market share from competitors in the process.

It would be interesting to know to what post you were replying when you wrote the above.

The Western Union rate as of this morning is $72.32, so I'm not sure what "My guess is this arb won't open again anytime soon. WU has pulled its excess capital out of Argentina and probably won some significant market share from competitors in the process." actually means.

If I understand correctly that the pesos being paid out by WU in Argentina, can be considered their excess capital, it appears that they still have some which they are willing to dispose of at a highly competitive rate.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but he cueva rates are useless to anyone who has dollars outside of Argentina and want to get them into the country.

Transferring dollars to a dollar account with Transferwise may still be possible, but I'm not sure. For a transfer of $1000 USD the wire fees would probably exceed Transferwise's $21.66 normal fee for the transfer.

Even after one had the dollars in hand, they would still have to go to a cueva to exchange their dollars at a rate close to that of Western Union.
,
Transferwise's rate is (as of this morning) $58,44 to one USD., so whatever an "arb" is, it looks like it's still open and WU is still going after a greater market share.

If I had used Transferwise yesterday to make the transfer of $473 USD, I would receive $27.271 ARS.

With Western Union I will receive $33.484 ARS (enough to cover ALL of my monthly expenses) and keep me from using any other service or transferring dollars to Argentina and taking then to a cueva.

 

[artisans]

Just to chime in and support steveinbsas point of view - WU exchange rate this past week has fluctuated between 75+ to today's 72+ peso rate. The ease and speed of sending yourself money using a US debit card via WU is almost shocking. Last transfer I made to myself was available for pick up here within 5 or 10 minutes. The cost without a promo code is U$0.05 / dollar. The peso upside over the standard bank rate is about U$0.20 / dollar or more. You know in advance what you'll receive, there are safe, comfortable, speedy WU pick up locations available. Unless you need to pay rent or something in USD don't see a reason to have dollars here for standard living expenses.. It's a peso economy.
If you need USD then bring them in cash or open a local bank account with a peso and a dollar accounts and wire transfer from an external USD bank account to your local bank. (the paperwork and time to complete are a pain in the ass)
There's also the possibility, via persons on BA Expat Facebook to find someone here with USD willing to exchange for pesos directly or exchange with dollars here while you deposit usd externally into their account via PayPal or US bank transfer.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Does anybody know if WU does money transfers deposits to Arg. Banks?
I was trying to do this over the phone but had the feeling that the WU Op. didn't know what she was talking abou.

 

[MilHojas]

Does anybody know if WU does money transfers deposits to Arg. Banks?
I was trying to do this over the phone but had the feeling that the WU Op. didn't know what she was talking abou.

Yes, it does.

When you send your first transfer to be deposited to a local bank, they ask you to submit a form at e-pagofacil.com. I think it is a digital equivalent of "declaracion jurada". And there may be a delay for a day or two.

After that the transfers are supposed to go right through.