fiona

Am I missing something or is just going to cost an arm and a leg to get money sent to and from BA? The two brokers my apartment rental management company recommends are charging minimum 30$ a transaction plus $200 annual fee; or the second one is $50 a transaction. As the transactions are of $350 a time, its a hefty fee.

Gaucho100K

Yes.... it can cost a lot of $$$ to transfer funds, especially if the amounts are small and you dont have an Argentine bank account.

If you care to explain in a little more detail what it is that you exactly need to get done, with details on the timeline, I (and the other board regulars) will be happy to assist you with tips and ideas.

fiona

Thanks!
Reynolds is managing my apartment rental in BA. Initially I have to send them $300(asap) and after that, they would be sending me approx $350 ( after fees, VAt etc). This would be monthly, although perhaps I should ask them to pay quarterly rather than monthly, as the broker fee is the same.
Trust me to invest just before the downturn

HIDDY

Thankfully our apartment in BA is rented out to the daughter of a local landowner who comes to the house every month to pay.

I have heard from expats of a HSBC International bank account which is supposed to be the best when dealing with foreign transactions....perhaps someone else with more knowledge can comment.

fiona

thanks Hiddy. I will phone HSBC on Monday. I can't find the information online. I think for the moment I will bite the bullet and send out the money I need before they start to rent the apartment out. Then I still have time to sort out how to get rental money over. I think I will ask for quarterly payments. To be honest, I would even be happy with less frequent payments. Let's face it, its not like I would be losing out on much interest in the UK!
Meantime- I'm still hoping to get a redemption flight to BA- some hope

SoFlyOn

Fiona, check out moneygram. You can check the fees and locations for sending/receiving on the web page to see if it is convenient and gives a better rate than what you have been quoted.

I don't believe there is any way you can use HSBC to do an inter-country transfer without incurring substantial costs and paperwork (despite what your bank in the UK may tell you).

Reynolds has a reputation of being very expensive for the services they provide.

John

ULDB65

I don't think HSBC will help you if you don't have an account with them. And even if you do, there is a bit of paperwork and expense involved.

Considering the small amounts, if you can open an Argentine account, if may be better to have them deposit your money locally. Then you could simply withdraw the cash on your next visit, even if it is only once a year.

Another option if you have an account is get a Visa/MC with it- then you could use the card wherever you are, and pay it by transferring online from your local account- effectively spending the money overseas without needing to come here.

Schultzois

From what I know of HSBC, it's only helpful if:
(1) You have (or can open) an HSBC account in each country, and
(2) You have an HSBC Premier relationship (generally a balance of US$100,000 or more in checkings/savings/brokerage accounts with HSBC).

If you meet both of these, then what you can do is transfer funds between your personal accounts in each country without any transaction fee, and at the spot rates to buy/sell between the currencies involved. Getting the funds into another person's account may still have some cost associated, and the international transfer is only without charge if you actually hold HSBC Premier accounts in each country (and make the transfer using HSBC Online banking, which will need to be set up for each country's account and then linked).

If you're going to be making transfers frequently, or making large transfers (such as to make a major purchase) then it will probably be worthwhile, but for single-use there's not much advantage.

Gaucho100K

The above info on HSBC is spot on. The balance requirement mentioned is for the US/UK based account. An HSBC Premiere account in Argentina has no such requirement, you will just have to pay a monthly service fee which is approx. AR$250+VAT (21%).

As noted above, if you will use the local accounts it may be a good deal, as you will be able to enjoy discounts and the zero interest installment plans for purchases, but if you will have only a small amount of movements then it will end up costing quite a bit.

Tenerife

I apologize for hijacking the thread, but just a short question:

I am on the other side of the fence from the OP, and have rented a short-term stay apt. from apartmentsBA (arrival next week). With the rental contract was the option to pay the security deposit via Paypal. Now it seems that apts. BA is no longer working with paypal and wants the security deposit to be paid to their new partner, Luxuryretreats. O.K. so far, (although not exactly brilliant reports on this company). But, with using a credit card for the deposit, they are also requiring us to also send a photocopy of both sides of the credit card as well as a photocopy of the passport. I do not want to include these documents in the fax but am certainly prepared to present them when we arrive at the apartment. Alternatively I can either do a bank transfer via HSBC (costly for the relatively small amount) or bring the entire amount in cash. I am not thrilled about carrying more cash than necessary from Germany during the trip.

Any suggestions??

Gaucho100K

Sorry, but... can you explain why you are worried about sending copies of your passport and credit card...? If your credit card details get 'stolen', you are covered by insurance and the fraud detection systems of the issuing bank which are quite efficient these days. With simple, un-notarized copies of your passport, aside from folks commenting on your hairstyle... what else could they do...?

Im playing with a little humour here, please dont take this the wrong way, but today, when you use a credit card and are not present at the point of transactions, many companies will want copies of the card and proof of identity via photo-ID. I dont think one has to be surprised about these things.

I would just send them the paperwork.... but thats just me.

Tenerife

Sorry, but I see it a bit differently. We will be travelling for several weeks, and if my credit cards get "compromised", I won't be in much of a position to take care of the details easily. As for the passport, I've lived in Germany for over 30 years but still have (and can only have) my U.S. passport. I have no NIE or I.D. from any other country. I don't want to encounter a possible problem of either not being easily able to enter either Germany or the U.S.

And, yes, I had the problem of being held at the airport in Antalya, Turkey -- presumably because my passport would have been a valuable commodity (We'll never know the real reason!). Sitting overnight with police machine guns pointed at us until my husband and I could be sent back to Germany the next day was not exactly my idea of fun (or vacation)!

So, maybe I am a bit cautious...

Gaucho100K

Look, Im not trying to convince you otherwise, but here are some additional facts to weigh in on this situation:

a) your cards (plural) will not be compromised, as you say you have to provide a copy of only the card you will use. If anything were to happen, it would be to 1 (one) of your cards. I must assume you carry more than one card as you are using the plural.

b) if the card you use is compromised, most all card issuers, and Im guessing all German Banks (I assume you carry German issued cards) have an emergency replacement service that will either Courier (FedEx, DHL) you a replacement card or you will be given a local office where you will be issued replacement plastic.

c) under extreme cases of urgency, many card issuers will let a hotel or establishment process a charge to a card even with no plastic present, a phone line and being able to speak to the owner of the credit card account will suffice to get charges posted and have emergency services and/or sometimes even emergency cash offered. Yes, this does vary from bank to bank and from account to account, but these pieces of plastic that we all carry on us have many more services and features than we usually know about

d) Sorry to hear about your Turkey experience, but I dont see how that related to the issue at hand. Was a copy of your passports also in play in Turkey, or did you lose your passport (was it stolen?). Again, they are not asking you to mail in your original passport, they only want a copy faxed or scanned over. For anybody other than the person to whom the passport belongs, the uses that a simple copy of a passport can provide are quite limited. I dont see how an apartment rental agency having a copy of your passport compromise your entry or departure at any airport... you will continue to have physical possession of your original passport with you... so I dont understand the concern, unless you are afraid that these people would have an interest and be able to "clone" your passport.

e) No, Im not saying that it is 100% safe and secure to send over a Passport Copy.... but then, its not 100% safe to get out of bed in the morning. Yes, Im using an extreme example I know....

Again..... please dont get this the wrong way, Im not trying to convince you and have no horse in this race, I just think you are being overly cautious with something that perhaps doesnt merit this degree of caution. The company that purched ApartmentsBA is a large company (If Im not mistaken they are US/Canada based), and while they seem to have had service issues, I think its a long shot to assume that sending them the things that they are requesting will somehow compromise you.

In any event, I hope you are able to resolve this to your satisfaction and hope you have a good trip !!! ^

fiona

sorry to take so long to acknowledge posts but I didn't email notification this time( unless its in the spam folder).
Moneygram - looks a good option.It does actually do a quote for Argentina to the UK. Interchange, who I use for other places, can send money to BA but can't receive money. Like the idea of the credit card and local account.
I had looked at HSBC after it was suggested but I'm not making a fortune unfortunately!
Thanks everyone. I know have a few options to explore fully.

ULDB65

Actually, HSBC Argentina also has a minimum balance requirement to avoid the fees, something like $100,000 pesos, which for many is no big deal. I don't remember the requirement exactly, but I haven't ever paid the fees. And also, once you have premier status, if it valid for all of your accounts around the world. Premier only has to be earned once, in one country.