Which bank should I use for a new account?

[ElLatingo]

Hi again, everyone.

I'm on my way back to Bs. As. next week (after having been out of the country for about a year) and I need to open a new bank account*. I'm planning on going to a few different banks next week but thought I'd ask the wise people on this site first to see what you all recommend.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a bank that offers:

*Automatic bill pay (to pay expenses for gas, electric, etc.)
*The ability to wire money into the account from the U.S., for times when I'm not in country and need to fund the account.

Also, is there anything I should know (i.e. I trust you all more than what I'll be told at the banks) about opening a dollar-based account instead of or in addition to one that's peso-based?

And lastly, does anyone pay his/her building maintenance through auto bill pay? (If so, which bank?)

Thanks so much,
David

*Total disclosure/TMI: I'm married to a Porteña, but we're in the process of getting divorced. She opened our current account and I now have to/want to get my own account. I have my Perm Residency and I've applied for my DNI (which I hope to get next week as well), so I fulfill the "allowed to" requirement.

 

[2GuysInPM]

We use Banco Frances. Automatic bill pay is not an issue, I think all banks have that. Wiring money from abroad is almost impossible. Government controls make it a difficult process, so we end up bringing money during trips and depositing it. For us it was easy to get both a Dollar savings account and an Peso savings account back in 2007 with residency and DNIs, but things might be different now with the new controls. We use the dollar account buy pesos, and pay bills via direct debit, pagomiscuentas, or bank transfer (for building expensas). Payment of expensas really depends on what method your consorcio accepts. Pretty much all will accept bank transfers (which can be done online), some will also accept pagomiscuentas or direct debit. You'll have to see what bank they have an account with so you can check your options. For us this works out well as we do 100% of our bill payments online.

 

[jb5]

Probably HSBC or Citi. You never want to keep much money in an AR account, and with those you can just easily transfer funds online between US and AR accounts.

 

[ElLatingo]

Thanks so much, Carlos and JB. Glad to hear that auto-pay and bank transfers are available; that'll make things much easier.

 

[marksoc]

Citibank maybe? If you use their own ATM terminals (and not Banelco) your daily extraction limit is considerable higher.

 

[KevinK]

use citi avoid any argentine bank if you can andkeep as little as need in it at all times

 

[surfing]

Citibank Argentina is an Argentine bank too.

 

[ElLatingo]

Citibank maybe? If you use their own ATM terminals (and not Banelco) your daily extraction limit is considerable higher.

The thing is, I have an apartment in Bs. As. and will need to pay the expenses, etc., but my concern has to do with not being in ARG year-round and needing to keep the payments to the various agencies/consorcio going (plus having funds in the account).

Re: Banelco, thanks for the reminder. I learned the hard way about that a few years ago; not even a warning that you're about to be reamed with a huge service fee.

 

[KevinK]

Citibank Argentina is an Argentine bank too.

damn then no place to go just keep minimum in

 

[igor]

The thing is, I have an apartment in Bs. As. and will need to pay the expenses, etc., but my concern has to do with not being in ARG year-round and needing to keep the payments to the various agencies/consorcio going (plus having funds in the account).

Find out how can you pay to your consorcio. Sometimes it is either cash, or bank transfer to their account. It may make sense to get an account in the same bank then. Normally, you can also pay them some amount in advance (pago adelantado) and they will subtract your monthly payments from it.

I believe automatic billpay here is not provided by individual banks, but by Banelco or Link - the companies that operate ATM machines. Private banks work with Banelco system, state and government banks work with Link. Both companies have online bill payment systems: PagoMisCuentas (Banelco) and Link Pagos (Link). I have experience only with PagoMisCuentas.

When you receive a bill, you can enter company name and code for electronic payment that is printed on the bill, and the system retrieves the amount. You can pay the bill from the linked banking account. After that PagoMisCuentas remembers your client id with this company and pre-sends you subsequent bills. You will receive an email notification when the next payment is due, but by default the system does not pay it automatically (unless you enroll into autopay program).