Xoom to Arg Bank = Pick Up In Dollars?

[domthegreat]

So I am wondering about any way we can get dollars from our banks in the US here. For example, I know that we can use Xoom to get a great exchange rate here, but we cannot pick up dollars.

What about using Xoom to transfer dollars to my girlfriend's (she is Argentine) bank account, could she then go to the bank and withdraw dollars in cash? CAn she only do that if she has a BBVA Frances account?

Also does anyone has experience using Wells Fargo money transfer? My roommate has called them 3 times and specifically asked if he can transfer dollars from his Wells Fargo account to Argentina, to be picked up at the local BBVA Frances in dollars...Does anyone know if that will actually work ?

 

[Sleuth]

You're not going to get dollars from Xoom or Western Union. They may have this information on their website but it is no longer accurate. You can only get pesos.

 

[domthegreat]

What if you send it to an Argentine bank account? Since the transfer is in Dollars, can't Argentines pull Dollars out of their account as long as they have them in there?

 

[surfing]

What if you send it to an Argentine bank account? Since the transfer is in Dollars, can't Argentines pull Dollars out of their account as long as they have them in there?

You can only withdraw dollars that are already in the account. Any transfers into the account will be automatically converted to pesos.

 

[jimdepalermo]

You can only withdraw dollars that are already in the account. Any transfers into the account will be automatically converted to pesos.

Surfing is correct.

I have Argentine bank accounts, and I regularly transfer funds from the US. The only way this is permitted is that the transfer be in dollars. The dollars are then converted to pesos on arrival here, at the lower compra rate, before the funds are credited to my account. I once erroneously selected pesos for the transfer, and my US bank bought pesos in New York and transferred them here. But my Argentine bank reversed the transfer, as against BCRA rules. (Both banks are Citibank, btw.)

I needed some dollars here a while ago, well before the current controls started accumulating, and I asked my bank officer about opening an additional, dollar-denominated account and transferring dollars directly into it. I expected the dollars would arrive without any currency conversion, less a transfer fee.

Instead, the officer explained that according to BCRA requirements, the procedure would involve a double conversion. First they would buy pesos at the compra rate with the inbound dollars, and then they would use these pesos to buy dollars at the venta rate to credit the account.

 

[domthegreat]

Sounds like the normal bureaucratic beauty we should all have come to love and enjoy here in Argentina...

Thanks for the help!