Western Union money transfer

[ventanilla]

The fee doesn't have anything to do with Argentina, Western Union outside the US has mostly always had fees to send to Argentina. I think this is a change on the US Western Union end.

 

[jblaze5779]

So now I guess you have to try to make the least amount of transfers per month....

 

[jblaze5779]

The fee doesn't have anything to do with Argentina, Western Union outside the US has mostly always had fees to send to Argentina. I think this is a change on the US Western Union end.

I've never paid a fee to wu for bank to bank transfers. In almost 2 years of doing this.

 

[Stantucker]

PS to my previous post:

Cash pick up in Argentina is now slightly cheaper if the fends are sent from the bank or using a debit card.,

For a transfer of $500 USD the fee is $25 USD if sent using a debit card and $28 if sent from the bank account.

The fee to use a credit card is higher: $40.50.

But it looks like the fee if payng cash in the USA to send to a bank account in Argentina or for cash pick up in Argentina is only $8.00 USD

Just tried setting up transfer via WU paying cash in US and sending to bank account in Argentina and it won't let me past the page where it asks me to verify my identity. I tried using my US passport and my US drivers license. I also tried putting in Argentina as my country of birth and my DNI but that didn't work either.

 

[sneakrnet]

By my calculations as of today $1000 USD sent by Western Union for cash pickup gives you $1947 USD worth of Pesos at the official exchange rate. Seems worth the fee to me.

If you think that getting 6% less pesos for your dollars today than yesterday is a good deal, I imagine math was not your strongest subject.

Yesterday, transferring US$1000 would have given you 192,000 pesos. Today you would receive 181,700.

You've been registered on this site since 2010 and you're talking about the official exchange rate? Do you live here?

 

[jblaze5779]

If you think that getting 6% less pesos for your dollars today than yesterday is a good deal, I imagine math was not your strongest subject.

Yesterday, transferring US$1000 would have given you 192,000 pesos. Today you would receive 181,700.

You've been registered on this site since 2010 and you're talking about the official exchange rate? Do you live here?

Good deal or not I don't know if there are any better alternatives.... Definitely not as easy or convenient

 

[sneakrnet]

yeah not sure how exactly people can just boycott it and use a cueva unless you travel a lot to withdraw dollars

I guess not everyone is in the same situation. I couldn't imagine living here without having some dollar reserves here in Argentina to fall back on, with all the crazy things that go on here. (Like a sudden 6% transfer fee, out of the blue [no pun intended].)

 

[rickulivi]

Yes! It seems to have started today (Oct 18). I did a transfer yesterday bank to bank with no fee. Today I made a transfer and there was a US$6.00 fee! (I cancelled it.)

I tested a new transfer with various amounts and it seems to always be 6%.

This changes the very nice rate of 193.30 pesos to the dollar to 181.70 pesos to the dollar!!!

Back to the dollar blue, cash and cuevas. (Maybe, depending on how the rates evolve.)

Time for a boycott of Western Union.

I noticed the same while trying a new transfer. They have never before charged me from bank to bank transfer. Too bad.

 

[sneakrnet]

Good deal or not I don't know if there are any better alternatives.... Definitely not as easy or convenient

As long as the WU rate is significantly above the dollar blue rate, even with the 6% fee, it's competitive, but that can change quickly. Just 2 months ago, the WU rate was 9 pesos/dollar below the dollar blue rate. If the 6% fee were in place then, WU would have been 20 pesos/dollar below the blue. That's a lot. More than a 10% difference! For me, ease and convenience aren't worth that much.

Based on the other comments, the credit card option seems promising. My card expired last year when they couldn't send me a new one because of covid flight restrictions. It's time to call the bank and get the card.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Wouldn't using a CC (at least one issued in the U.S.) have it count as a cash advance, which, depending on the card issuer, is subject to fees and often immediate assessment of interest?