Argentine Bank Accounts

[Moore]

I've had an account for several years with Santander. It was easy to open with DNI and worked very well for paying bills online.

It was also good because I could keep balances in pesos and USD. These days that's not so useful since if you convert USD at the bank it will be at the official rate.

The monthly fee is now 62 pesos.

Of course I would never keep more than a month or 2 living expenses in any Argentine account.

But I'm going to keep the account. May come in handy some day.

[Dickhead]

Dickhead, your comment about opening a checking account in Argentina was great. With your permission I would like to use your comment in the future.

Actually, I stole that from Michel de Montaigne. He said, "Marrying your mistress is like shitting in your hat before you put it on your head."

[Woah123]

For instructions go on baexpats and search "uruguay account".

[Woah123]

I went in the bank yesterday to ask and it reminded me of the DMV back home. Nope. Uruguay is the answer bros!!

[DavieW]

Here's a little heartwarming story for you all...

I went into my bank a few weeks before leaving the country to try and close my account. I had a bunch of cash on me to pay off my Mastercard and Visa credit cards.

After about an hour of being sent from one place to another and being told "it's not as easy as that", I gave up. I went back again a few days later when I had more time and met with the same nonsense. I was eventually given a bunch of forms to fill out, which I sat down and completed. But they still said they couldn't take the cash off me and close the accounts.

So I had a re-think and resorted to Plan B.

I said "fcuk you, you morons", went out and maxed out the credit cards and left the country with no intention of ever coming back.

:-D

[Gandolf50]

Why would you want to in the first place? First off there is NO customer service. The monthly fees are very high. There is a "transaction fee". There is a tax on all deposits over 1 k pesos. There is a tax on all checks you write. And then if you don't do enough transactions monthly so that they can make some money off of you they "invent" fees or charge fees on transactions you never made. And when you go to make a complaint you waste one or two hours and in the end you decide its not worth it for the lousy 100 pesos the stole from you. But the theft goes on, month after month after month. And then, on the day you really need a extra 500 pesos because you just stumbled on the most delicious little creature that you really want to do, you go to the ATM and either the system has crashed or your card no longer works! The banks here are the worst of the worst!

[HotRod11]

Dickhead, your comment about opening a checking account in Argentina was great. With your permission I would like to use your comment in the future.

[Dickhead]

Opening up an Argentinean bank account would be like shitting in your hat before you put it on your head.

[Daddy Rulz]

Is it possible (or even worth it?) to open an Argentina bank acct on a tourist visa? What about Chile or Uruguay tourist visa dollar accounts? My chica don't work for free haha. Thanks.

No you can't. As mentioned before part of getting residency used to be getting a bank account and el jeffe speaks about getting one through his attorney.

If you're trying to transfer money to some chica when you're not here, you can use Xoom.

[Woah123]

Is it possible (or even worth it?) to open an Argentina bank acct on a tourist visa? What about Chile or Uruguay tourist visa dollar accounts? My chica don't work for free haha. Thanks.

[Gandolf50]

This part isn't true. I opened my first (very basic) account in Banco de la Nacion as soon as I got my Residencia Precaria (5 years ago). Admittedly I did have a carrier bag with USD90,000 in it from the sale of a house! Then I got my 'proper' account (with credit cards etc) with HSBC 3+ years ago, opened with my passport and rental contract. They still had my passport number as my reference number until quite recently when I finally got round to giving them my DNI.

e2a: Of course, the 'rules' could have changed a dozen times in the last 3 years!



The rest is absolutely spot on!

You are right, with a precaria you can open a account today. Before you did not need any thing but your passport (years ago!) After all a "precaria" is a "preDNI" .

[DavieW]

Without a DNI is is impossible.

This part isn't true. I opened my first (very basic) account in Banco de la Nacion as soon as I got my Residencia Precaria (5 years ago). Admittedly I did have a carrier bag with USD90,000 in it from the sale of a house! Then I got my 'proper' account (with credit cards etc) with HSBC 3+ years ago, opened with my passport and rental contract. They still had my passport number as my reference number until quite recently when I finally got round to giving them my DNI.

e2a: Of course, the 'rules' could have changed a dozen times in the last 3 years!

Even if you had one, you would not like the high charges and outright theft of the banks. I got tired of spending 4 hours every month fighting over phantom service fees etc. And finally just canceled. You pay to put money in (over 1000 p) they charge you for withdrawals, they charge you if you use the card, they charge you if you don't use the card. The lines go around the block, the ATM's never have enough cash. I could go on and on but I imagine you get the idea.

The rest is absolutely spot on!

[Jackson]

Without a DNI is is impossible. Even if you had one, you would not like the high charges and outright theft of the banks. I got tired of spending 4 hours every month fighting over phantom service fees etc. And finally just canceled. You pay to put money in (over 1000 p) they charge you for withdrawals, they charge you if you use the card, they charge you if you don't use the card. The lines go around the block, the ATM's never have enough cash. I could go on and on but I imagine you get the idea.

I agree.

I opened a bank account in Argentina approximately 5 years ago as a requirement for my residency (I had to show that I had a way to get my money into the country to support myself, jajajajaja). I deposited $1,000 ARS ($350 USD when the peso was at 2.80) in Banco Galicia. I never used the ATM or otherwise withdrew any finds, and yet my monthly maintanence fees alone consumed the entire balance within a year.

I called one day and inquired about maintaining a minimum to avoid monthly fees, but apparently no such concept exists in Argentina.

Thanks,

Jax.

[Tres3]

Unfortunately, Argentina is mostly a cash economy. Most merchants do not want your checks and you take a haircut on the credit / debit card exchange rate. I do not know how much you plan to spend each month, or how long you will be in Argentina, but if you have a source of USD and do not want to bring a lot of USD to Argentina I recommend that you look into XOOM. Once you have jumped through all of the hoops for large transfers, XOOM is pretty painless, and lets you keep your money in a USA bank. The exchange rate is a little lower than what you can get from a cueva, but that is the price one pays for piece of mind, and the exchange rate is much better than the "official" rate that you get for credit / debit cards.

[Gandolf50]

Hello I am trying to open a bank account.

I do not have the necessary papers they usually ask for.. DNI, utility bill.

Does anyone know of a bank branch that would open account without the papers usually required.

Thanks for your time and information.

I am a USA citizen.

Without a DNI is is impossible. Even if you had one, you would not like the high charges and outright theft of the banks. I got tired of spending 4 hours every month fighting over phantom service fees etc. And finally just canceled. You pay to put money in (over 1000 p) they charge you for withdrawals, they charge you if you use the card, they charge you if you don't use the card. The lines go around the block, the ATM's never have enough cash. I could go on and on but I imagine you get the idea.