Banking How to access money when travelling to Argentina?

[DavidPost]

Hi Everyone,

I live in the UK and I'm travelling to Buenos Aires soon, and after that I plan on doing a lot of travelling around Latin America for a while. Maybe for as long as a year. I was just wondering what people recommend as the best thing to do in regards to money.

Is the best thing to simply withdraw cash from your home account at ATMs? Do you loose a lot of money that way?

Or is it better to take a wad of money with you to exchange while you're there?

Is it feasible to pay using your UK debit card? Do you loose much money through charges and exchange rates that way?

Any other useful pieces of advice would be much appreciate.

Thanks,

David

 

[CariBean]

Carry a wad? no. Each country is different. ARG....use WU cash pickup......no using card for cash... Costa Rica....debit card works fine (from U.S. account?) Mexico....wire transfer like WU.....Dominican Republic I think WU.

You can use a card in ARG for purchases.......from the U.S. and get a preferred rate...from the U.K...????

 

[MarksIa]

There are a lot of questions here and most are beyond the scope of an Argentina-based forum: each Latin American country you encounter will be different. For now, let's stick to Argentina and the UK.

Do you have a paid-for bank account in the UK or do you enjoy free banking? If you are paying a monthly fee there is a possibility you get free overseas transactions on your cards and maybe free travel insurance. If it is free banking well, added foreign fees and exchange rates are part of the way they make their money from you so you need to study your own bank's terms and conditions. Then you can work out for yourself whether using your bank cards in Argentina represents good value compared with the other ways of obtaining money.

There is a lot of help about money in Argentina on this forum and there's a reason why the threads on Western Union, MEP CCL and so on have run to so many posts and there's a wealth of information and you can search through it and find out what you need to know to meet your personal circumstances.

Do not use your UK bank cards to withdraw money from cash machines in Argentina: as well as the probable overseas charges from your own bank there are huge withdrawal fees administered locally.

If you buy things locally with your UK bank cards you will be charged the MEP rate of exchange which is a few pesos light of the best exchange rates but may be more convenient to you than carrying a lot of paper around.

US Dollars are always good. That applies elsewhere in Latin America too, but in Argentina to obtain the Blue rate, they really only want clean, new, unfolded USD100 bills and will mark down the exchange rate considerably for anything else - if they will even accept them at all. Personally, I buy my dollars before I leave the UK. In my home town I have built up a relationship with one of the exchange houses who understand my need of clean bills and because I'm a regular customer and buy a fair amount of currency from them they go to the trouble of getting me what I want.

Western Union is good and can be relied on in other countries too - but thoroughly research what the requirements are elsewhere and whether it offers the same value to you in the other countries you will visit that it may in Argentina. Read the WU threads on this site - they are invaluable. It may be worth your while to set up your WU account and get your identity verified etc before you leave the UK if you haven't already done so.

One other thing about Argentina. This is an election year so everything you are learning about money in this country could be overturned in the space of just a few days. Make sure you have a plan B.

 

[ThomasTo]

Some credit cards waive international transaction fees. I just used my Costo Citi VISA card on my recent trip to Argentina and I paid no transaction fees. The transactions were charged in dollars at a rate a bit lower but close to the blue rate. So, US VISA and Discover cards waive international fees. Discover is part of the Diner's Club network and before I left they told me that it was well accepted in Argentina, but I did not have that experience.

I also tried Western Union but was only partially successful with that because the transfers took several days to clear. I understand it depends on whether you pay with an ATM card or your bank account as the funding source.

Another thing I discovered is that some cuevas exchange USDT for dollars (probably for pesos, too). The rate of the exchange ranged from 3 to 5%.

El hombresinnombre is right that in Argentina US$ bills that are not new and crisp, unfolded and do not have the president's big face on them are not desirable and usually rejected or exchanged for fewer pesos. I had a US$ 50 bill rejected because it had a tiny bit of writing on one corner. It was otherwise in great shape, but it was turned down.

 

[earlyretirement]

Q: Is the best thing to simply withdraw cash from your home account at ATMs? Do you loose a lot of money that way?

A: No, the best thing is to carry cash US $100 bills (make sure they are brand new). If you use your ATM card you will have to pay whatever your bank charges back home plus you will only get 7% less than the MEP rate listed on this website: https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/dolar.html


Q: Or is it better to take a wad of money with you to exchange while you're there?

A: Yes, this is the best way and if you do you will get about the "Blue market rate "on that website - https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/dolar.html

Q: Is it feasible to pay using your UK debit card? Do you loose much money through charges and exchange rates that way?

A: Same thing. You can easily use your credit card but you will lose some % vs. bringing cash. But it's far more convenient.

Q: Any other useful pieces of advice would be much appreciate.

A: You can just send a Western Union to yourself and ensure you get an awesome exchange rate. I sent several thousands of dollars to myself while on my trip and never had issues. Sometimes there is a line but the office in Palermo Soho near Armenia/Guatemala is very large and there is about 5 tellers always working.