Western Union money transfer

[dsp27]

If I transfer from my US bank account to my AR bank account are there "retenciones" and is BBVA gonna ask me for some sort of proof of funds? I m basically transferring from own US account to own AR account, this is presuming I have no glitches like artisans did. I just don't want to have to deal with the funds being stuck/retained by BBVA for some banal reason.

Also, does the WU money arrive from an Argentine WU account in Argentina as a CBU or as an international SWIFT transfer? Does you bank, say BBVA/Galicia, etc. charge you a fee? Retention etc?

Thanks!

 

[steveinbsas]

If I transfer from my US bank account to my AR bank account are there "retenciones" and is BBVA gonna ask me for some sort of proof of funds? I m basically transferring from own US account to own AR account, this is presuming I have no glitches like artisans did. I just don't want to have to deal with the funds being stuck/retained by BBVA for some banal reason.

Santander Rio has never asked f any kind of prrof of funds for any transfers I've made since I started using XOOM at least six years ago.

As I've previously psted, you will be asked to register with Rapipago within 90 days of your first transfer or before the third transfer can be completed, whichever comes first. It's very easy to complete and submit the form online (gracielle has also posted about this).

Also, does the WU money arrive from an Argentine WU account in Argentina as a CBU or as an international SWIFT transfer?

The CBU is used to make the transfers. I did not provide a SWIFT routing number for my Argentine bank account.

Does you bank, say BBVA/Galicia, etc. charge you a fee? Retention etc?

Santander Rio has never charged a fee, or retained any portion of the funds, but I signed a W-9 about four years ago and I don't know if that makes a difference.

What more can I say? Oh, yeah, Spin the Western Union Wheel of Fortune (credit to artisans for that expression) and see what happens to you (and your money).

 

[dsp27]

If I use WU it'll be my first contact with AFIP since I got my DNI. I have no income in Argentina. Is there any risk that AFIP will try to tax the funds I transferred? my US account? US income?

I am wondering the same thing. No income here in BA, and no economic activity.
Although technically, every operation, even a cash pick-up is recorded with your passport number or DNI/CUIT, so presumably it leaves a paper trail for AFIP/AGIP regardless. I have done several XOOM and Azimo cash pick ups over the years sending myself cash from my own US and EU accounts. So far no AFIP letters haha.

I am gonna try to do US to AR bank account with WU next week. Will probably do a large move of a few thousand USD, I think 83/1usd won't last long unless the s*ht with the deuda hits the fan. I can always deposit whatever I don't need in "plazo fijo" for 30-60 days and yank out 4-5% a month, or an effective exchange rate of 86-87ARS/usd after a month or two. So as long as the "dolar liqui" (the rate WU uses) is below or around 86/usd in a month or two there should be no "opportunity loss" pe se.

 

[dsp27]

Santander Rio has never asked f any kind of prrof of funds for any transfers I've made since I started using XOOM at least six years ago.

As I've previously psted, you will be asked to register with Rapipago within 90 days of your first transfer or before the third transfer can be completed, whichever comes first. It's very easy to complete and submit the form online (gracielle has also posted about this).



The CBU is used to make the transfers. I did not provide a SWIFT routing number for my Argentine bank account.



Santander Rio has never charged a fee, or retained any portion of the funds, but I signed a W-9 about four years ago and I don't know if that makes a difference.

What more can I say? Oh, yeah, Spin the Western Union Wheel of Fortune (credit to artisans for that expression) and see what happens to you (and your money).

Hi Steve, so presumably the money came as a local domestic transfer from WU local branch? If you don't mind me asking, what was the "sender's" aka WU's information-- that shows up on your Santander statement or home banking? Was just wondering is it's recoded as a "transfer", "deposit" or a" payment"...

 

[steveinbsas]

As of this morning, the WU rate is $80,87 ARS to one USD.

WU opened (and I believe also closed) yesterday at $83.02

It's now $83.76

The dollar blue is $74.25

 

[dsp27]

WU opened (and I believe also closed) yesterday at $83.02

It's now $83.76

The dollar blue is $74.25

Yes, it’s following the dollar "Contado con Liqui" [http://www.dolarhoy.com] with one day delay and a small margin probably due to averaging a three day period (similar to how Visa determines their rates). The liqui was at 84.7 yesterday but went down slightly today. So tomorrow’s rate would likely remain about the same as today...

A data point. I managed to initiate a WU using ACH bank to bank transfer with zero fees, from my US to my AR bank accounts. I still have not received the money since I initiated the transfer yesterday afternoon but the USD have been debited today as an ACH from my US checking account.

Here’s the process:

1. Sign up for WU. Either online on their site (US or whatever country is the sender initiating the transfer from) or their app.
2. If recipient is receiving the pesos to their bank account, use the CBU and fill in all the bank and personal data.
3. Very importan, as already mentioned, under nationality one must put ARGENTINA. Otherwise the system yields an error message. No phone calls with Customer Service will resolve the issue — I tried and was told that the error message means that the system does not recognize the bank details as valid and they cannot manually override it. So regardless of nationality, put Argentina for the system to work. Sometimes you may have to delete the saved recipient info and reenter it again if you had received an error message previously. This seems to reset it and fix the problem.
4. After I submitted the order it went into pending. I received an email immediately, saying the transaction will be reviewed and within 30 min I would either receive a confirmation or a call by an agent to ask me some questions. I did not wait and picked up the phone and called myself. Within 1 min I was on the phone with a very nice lady who asked me a few simple security questions and approved the transaction. Asked me if the transfer was for myself and what I needed the cash for -- I said yes and that it's to pay some bills. Done. She said that it would take up to 4 business days to receive the money but sometimes it arrives faster…but the deadline is 4 business days, she said.
5. So hopefully, I’ll get the funds credited by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.

 

[steveinbsas]

Hi Steve, so presumably the money came as a local domestic transfer from WU local branch? If you don't mind me asking, what was the "sender's" aka WU's information-- that shows up on your Santander statement or home banking? Was just wondering is it's recoded as a "transfer", "deposit" or a" payment"...

Here is exactly what appeared on my recent Santander Rio bank statement (followed by a lengthy transaction number):

"Pago proveedores interbanking exte Western union financial servi"

 

[lost]

I still have to give WU a try (bank to bank). So, does the first transfer go through directly or do they hold the funds while some verification process takes place? Had that happen with another service during the last cepo ...

Also, I made a smaller transfer using Bitcoin today (using Coinbase Pro to buy and Ripio on the argie side to sell). I got effectively an exchange rate of 84.20 out of it (incl. Coinbase and Ripio fees).

 

[AFVA]

A scenario:

I send U$D1,000 from my US bank account to myself through WU, go to a branch in BA and they give me $83,200 pesos.

Then I walk over to an 'oficial' exchange office, and turn my $83,200 pesos into U$D1,434.

Could I then go to a cueva and use the blue rate sell dollars for pesos, and just keep flipping the money over and over? What am I missing here?

 

[lost]

A scenario:

I send U$D1,000 from my US bank account to myself through WU, go to a branch in BA and they give me $83,200 pesos.

Then I walk over to an 'oficial' exchange office, and turn my $83,200 pesos into U$D1,434.

Could I then go to a cueva and use the blue rate sell dollars for pesos, and just keep flipping the money over and over? What am I missing here?

You are forgetting the 30% PAIS tax when buying USD with ARS.