Not for me! I have a US Citi Bank Debit Card. I got 0 (zero) out of the Citi ATM at their branch in Recoleta ... and no help from them "... we have nothing to do with Citi Bank USA..."
Went to a small bank next to Citi and got money from that ATM. I believe it was Banco Galicia, but not sure.

Strange... did you perhaps get an ATM with no cash...?

I'm not surprised at this. Many expats have been advocating the Schwab card since the company started waiving foreign ATM transaction fees several years ago . However many of these people seemed to be merely transferring funds from other banks into their Schwab accounts solely for the purpose of ATM withdrawls.

I've had a Schwab platinum account for 25 years, and have made a lot of ATM foreign withdrawls without ever encountering a problem.

John

Same for me with a New Zealand account. Limited to 320 pesos per transaction. USD 8 charge. Almost 10% surcharge! :mad:

Cash is king..... perhaps Travelers Checks are again interesting...?

I know that this http://www.swissbankers.ch/index.php?id=309&L=3 was a TC replacement but the Swiss Bankers Travel Cash Card doesn't make sense for use in Argentina when the limit on withdrawal using a foreign card is AR$300 and the fee charged for each ATM withdrawal is 3USD/EUR/CHF.

Back to a bygone era indeed.

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)

Arent Amex TChecks a decent option....?!?

I don't understand why many travelers to Argentina are averse to carrying cash. Presumably most tourists are charging their hotel to a credit card, so that meals, taxis and incidentals shouldn't account to a huge amount.

These same people have no problems with carrying expensive electronics into the country, but not cash.

The buy/sell spread at Banco Nacion is tight, so the optimal strategy now appears (assuming you don't have a bank that reimburses foreign ATM charges), is to exchange dollars/euros at BN when arriving at EZE, and exchange any excess back when departing.

If you need more pesos during the trip, any retail bank will give a better rate considering the new ATM charges. You will just need to learn a few words of Spanish to ask for what you want, and show your passport with a tourist stamp that is still valid.

Some restaurants and retail stores will allow you to pay in dollars (and sometimes euros) at a very competitive rates.

John

Depositors are permitted to take cash from savings and current accounts without limit, although there are restraints on withdrawals from some other deposits, such as those that require advance notice.

The restrictions, known as the "corralito" or "little fence", were imposed in 2001, amid a deepening financial crisis (Argentina defaulting on its debts and devaluing the currency, the peso).

When I visited BA, I had no problem with cash (withdraw at Citi bank and BNP Paribas with my Visa Platinum)

I withdrew money only twice in 10 days (life is very cheap in BA) and I paid almost everything with my Amex.

Things may be a little more difficult in smaller towns.

Pickpockets and robbery, both of which are not frequent and of course not restricted to BA, are two main reasons. Most people just feel more comfortable when they aren't holding onto a lot of cash. If you are staying in a hotel room without a safe, or which feels at all dodgy, you don't have great choices.

For exchanging at Banco Nation, can you be more specific about the mathematics of it? For people who travel to Europe, it's so rare for a bank to offer a good retail exchange rate that they probably never consider it elsewhere.

I have had two petty theft of cash incidents over several years in hotels in South America - one around US$50 when I wasn't carrying a whole lot anyway, another around US$200 skimmed out of an envelope containing several thousand dollars - both at high-end but small places - and both when if I had really been paying attention, I could have avoided, but got caught out because I either wasn't thinking about small amounts of cash in some coat pockets in my room, or I thought I was safe enough leaving a large amount of cash tucked inside a bag that also had computers and other electronics in it, and which was "safely" locked in my room (but not in a safe). These weren't dodgy places at all - and I'll be the first to admit I let my guard down when I should have been thinking in terms of one safe to the next.

Cash is an easy target - once you steal it, it's very hard to get caught unless the rightful owner has recorded bill numbers or something. The two incidents I mention also share a common pattern of "skimming" a little bit away from a larger amount, so unless you're constantly counting, you won't notice it missing until you've already moved on. A computer is rather more easily noticed, and more easily attributed to its owner if found in a search.

As for a reason why I also generally worry less about electronics - claiming insurance reimbursement for lost/stolen electronics is not very hard. I don't really know any insurers who would touch lost cash claims.

These are all reasons I hate carrying large amounts of cash around. That said, I've carried significant chunks of cash in from the US many times in order to pay the cash apartment rentals common in Argentina, but I'd really rather not unless there's just no viable alternative.

Back on topic, I am quite concerned about this fee, and specifically to see whether the network HSBC uses (Banelco) will cause even HSBC customers from other countries to pay a transaction charge. I'm an HSBC Premier client - and became so specifically because it allows me to withdraw funds at any HSBC ATM around the world without the normal 2-3% forex fee most banks charge; I spend quite a lot of time in Argentina, and if I start getting hit with US$3/transaction on hundreds of small transactions, well it's going to change the picture for getting cash quite dramatically.

Just to clarify... the Corralito was lifted years ago, and there are currently no (zero) restrictions on what you can withdraw from your bank account**.... the only exception would be a time deposit where you have a certain maturity date - and even that you can change if you agree to forfeit interest, etc. etc.

(**) ATM issues aside

There are no special mathematics involved... the BNA will post what the buy/sell rate is for both Dollars and Euros... its actually very plain vanilla. All you need to do is present your Passport and execute the trade... unless you are dealing in more than USD10,000 (or its equivalent in other currencies) there is nothing more to it.

I found this here:

http://www.bna.com.ar/

I guess, number 1) Is the conversion for ATM, transfers etc. (in German DEVISEN KURS)

And number 2) is the conversion when you buy (or sell) (ARS paper) notes. (in German SORTEN KURS)

CORRECT?

Does BNA (or any other bank) charge a fee on top of this?

Thanks

Can I go to a Major Bank branch in BA and get a cash advance/withdraw (in converted Pesos) from my US Visa debit card ? If so, this will allow me to withdraw up to $500 US.