ATM Withdrawal Fee Rises to 15.50 Pesos
Local banks are now charging foreigners a whopping 15.50 pesos (US $4) for ATM withdrawals.
The fee also applies to Argentines and anyone else who uses a local ATM to get cash from a foreign bank.
In July 2009 banks banks in Argentina started charging a US $3 fee on ATM withdrawals from foreign banks.
The only way to avoid the fee seems to be to use Citibank’s proprietary ATM machines. All other ATMs, as far as I know, charge the fee.
The Argentine Central Bank has said it has nothing to do with the fees, while spokesmen for banks haven’t wanted to talk about the issue.
In a statement last July, Banelco said both it and Link started charging a US $3 commission on every cash withdrawal using foreign cards. The companies, which work as networks representing Argentine banks, said the practice is the same as has been applied in other countries “for more than a decade.”
But the discriminatory application of a fee only on foreign cards doesn’t seem comparable to the fees commonly charged in most countries. Representatives from Banelco and Link have declined to answer questions about this or discuss the motives behind the fees.
However, for the reasons mentioned above (the withdrawal limits and the discriminatory application of a fee only on foreign cards) , the commission doesn’t seem comparable to those charged in most countries. Banelco declined to answer questions about this or discuss the motives behind the new fee.
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Yes, I noticed this about three weeks ago, but I thought it was because I was using a bank I don’t usually use (Patagonia). I expect any day now there will be a fee to leave my apartment.
I spend a lot of time in Argentina so I opened up a schwab checking account a few months ago to get around these fees. Schwab reimburses all ATM fees back to your account at the end of the month.
I’ve been using the Schwab checking account since July. It is great. They do reimburse the fees quarterly. It’s a nice little surprise (amounting to $20-30 for me each quarter). To think over a year, that’s about a 100 bucks
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Good to know! Will pass on to expat friends, who probably have not realized this!
Fair enough, all over,banks are charging a fee, however, last I was there I noticed that the maximum amount one could hope to withdraw was a meager 300 pesos, and given that foreigners are rutinely charged more for just about anything, not to mention the ever mounting inflation, one often needs additional withdrawls, and pay additional fees.
Not to compare, but since the banks in Argentina do, in the US banks do charge indeed, but the fee is at most two to three dollars and one can withdraw up to or sometimes more than a thousand dollars, 400 being the norm for most. I guess as in almost any case the answer is : Esta es Argentina, I guess now I can rest that I have an answer. All of this and a “few other problems” will continue to help the self fulfilled prophesy that Argentina seems so desperate to preserve.
The maximum amount you can withdraw now has raised to at least 600 pesos. I think it’s more like 900 by now.
Agree completely with “Claude”. Every day there seems to be another great idea to grab as much as possible from foreigners. It will never stop. Greed is so entrenched in this society. For many reasons, this being an additional one, I discourage all of my friends and acquaintances from visting/investing here. The reality is…..the word is out about how things are in Argentina. People aren’t being fooled about how “cosmopolitan” and cheap it is anymore and we are not even discussing the crime.
I agree with rmartin: “the word is out.”
Funny thing, one of the times I visited Buenos Aires and found things so horribly expensive somebody told me that “it’s because foreign turists come here and with all their money they buy so much stuff that things then become expensive because there’s a shortage”. I laughed so hard people can be fooled so easily. When I asked “who in their right mind would buy anything here when things cost 3 times more than in their own country, with the exception of (perhaps) food” I couldn’t get an answer.
I am paying U$S 3 for every transaction in San Francisco, California, using an Argentinean Debit Card. PLUS the conversion, plus the Argentinean Bank fee. Some ATM’s, specially those in Gas Stations, will charge you less, something like 1.75 U$S per transaction.
[...] charge for each transaction. It started at 11.43 pesos, but now it’s just over 15 pesos (in just about four months [...]
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