Western Union money transfer

[SinPulgas]

Hang on, I got beaten up for suggesting a 20% margin for arbitrage was good enough (https://baexpats.org/threads/new-official-exchange-rate-800-pesos-per-dollar.46590/post-441226), and you're making out like a bandit with, what, 7.5%?

Well, I went and looked at that. I don't know if you got beaten up, exactly. There are a lot more variables than just the 20% margin. You could certainly make some money with that percentage, but the amount you could transact at that margin would be limited, at least under the previous government, before they started taking a closer look at you.

This could be an interesting topic for some people (arbitrage, carry, and other investment and risk management ideas in this crazy country), but it should probably be in its own thread.

I think the plazos fijos UVA are very interesting right now (and so do many Argentinos; they're selling like crazy). I did a transfer yesterday, received the pesos today, and immediately put them in a plazo fijo UVA. The rate right now is high enough that over the weekend I'll make up for what I lost by not waiting another day and getting another 22 pesos/dollar from WU.

 

[Jtee125]

WU showing 1634 for 1 GBP atm, seems to have gone up a lot in the last couple days. I last withdrew 10 days ago and got 1386

 

[Quilombo]

WU now at 1,295.50

Brecha approaches 50%; my bet is the 2% monthly devaluation's days are numbered

 

[hankscott]

I have an account at BancoCiudad in Buenos Aires and an account at Bank of America in New York City. Is it possible to transfer US dollars from my Bank of America account to my BancoCiudad account and then withdraw the money in US dollars from BancoCiudad. I'm asking because I'm looking for a new apartment and many landlords say they want to be paid in US dollars (but they won't accept direct transfers via Zelle or PayPal etc. to their Argentine bank accounts because they don't want to pay taxes on that income.

 

[oldgringo]

I have been having a lot of trouble trying to send to my wife's bank account as the last 3 tries have been returned. She has called WU and gotten many different excuses as to why. Missing forms, not registered, her bank santander rio, the country, haven't accepted terms and conditions even though she had. Today they told her she had to download pago facil app and then choose the Western Union option and from there enter the transfer number and then transfer those funds into her bank account. Has anybody else heard of this and what option do you put for pickup. I have been cashing in dollars, but I would like to be able to do this as I will be going back to the states . Thanks for any info on this

 

[oldgringo]

Also they told her this was new and if she was lucky it would work the first time, and if not keep trying as the site collapses a lot lol

 

[Macanudo]

Today I asked what the maximum amount of money you can receive in a single transfer is. The answer at two different locations was the same: $7500. I also asked if they usually have enough to pay that, and both locations said yes. There are no guarantees that you won't get stacks of small bills. I suspect that sometime in the near future, US dollars will be available for pickup at Western Union.

 

[retiredbanker]

I have been having a lot of trouble trying to send to my wife's bank account as the last 3 tries have been returned. She has called WU and gotten many different excuses as to why. Missing forms, not registered, her bank santander rio, the country, haven't accepted terms and conditions even though she had. Today they told her she had to download pago facil app and then choose the Western Union option and from there enter the transfer number and then transfer those funds into her bank account. Has anybody else heard of this and what option do you put for pickup. I have been cashing in dollars, but I would like to be able to do this as I will be going back to the states . Thanks for any info on this

I've been using WU to transfer from my U.S. bank to "family support" here in Argentina for the past 3 years. After the first transfer they wanted the recipient here to provide info such as DNI. The recipient here banks with Santander Rio. After the data WU needed was given to them by the recipient, there have been NO problems with transfers, which are usually credited to the Santander account the next business day.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

Today I asked what the maximum amount of money you can receive in a single transfer is. The answer at two different locations was the same: $7500. I also asked if they usually have enough to pay that, and both locations said yes. There are no guarantees that you won't get stacks of small bills. I suspect that sometime in the near future, US dollars will be available for pickup at Western Union.

Must be new? Whenever I select USD to ARS in the app it says the max is $5k.

 

[Quilombo]

I have an account at BancoCiudad in Buenos Aires and an account at Bank of America in New York City. Is it possible to transfer US dollars from my Bank of America account to my BancoCiudad account and then withdraw the money in US dollars from BancoCiudad. I'm asking because I'm looking for a new apartment and many landlords say they want to be paid in US dollars (but they won't accept direct transfers via Zelle or PayPal etc. to their Argentine bank accounts because they don't want to pay taxes on that income.

It is, but you'll need to do the following:

- Have a USD Caja de Ahorros w/Banco Ciudad
- Send a SWIFT Transfer from BOA ($45 USD each)
- Receive the SWIFT Transfer in Argentina (15% of the amount sent for Banco Ciudad)

For example, if your rent is $300/month, this would cost $390, plus you need to complete the BCRA Regulation form
explaining that it's a personal inbound transfer from a US savings account abroad.

Your best bet is likely to send yourself the money via WU, then buy dollars on Florida Street or other forum members who
need pesos.

You could also offer to pay your landlord the rent in pesos at the dollar blue exchange rate each month too.

Hope this helps