Are Argentines worried about a Possible Bank Run (Corralito 2.0)?

[Darksider415]

This happened to a girl I went out on a date with last weekend. She told me she went to the bank to withdraw some cash. They asked her where the funds came from that she deposited into her own bank! She did some funds with the amnesty and filled out all the required forms. They told her to come back the next business day which was Monday. Then she got there and they gave her all old $100 bills. She asked for new ones because she wouldn't be able to exchange these. They didn't care. I told her I will change them when I go to the US.

Banks here sound desperate if they are doing this to everyone. @Darksider415 have you tried to withdraw USD in BA? Do they give you older bills too?

I haven't gone yet this month, but I've only gotten cara grande with the occasional blue bill. The oldest I've gotten were the series 1996, but those are "cara grande" and my landlord still accepts them.

 

[Wally]

I haven't gone yet this month, but I've only gotten cara grande with the occasional blue bill. The oldest I've gotten were the series 1996, but those are "cara grande" and my landlord still accepts them.

Any time I get older bills we just deposit them in the bank and withdraw later and in the past have gotten newer bills but lately they are giving older bills probably to try to discourage withdrawals. Trump is going to tank the markets which won't be good for Argentina. Bad timing.

 

[VINO]

I haven't gone yet this month, but I've only gotten cara grande with the occasional blue bill. The oldest I've gotten were the series 1996, but those are "cara grande" and my landlord still accepts them.

A few friends that went this week were told they were out and to come back Thursday. And they did not have big amounts. Just a few thousand bucks. You have to be totally mad to keep any large balances.

 

[Darksider415]

I think it probably helps that I only put a few hundred in once a month and I pull that few hundred out within a few days. I don't think anyone is going to give me a hard time about wanting cara grande bills for only $600ish.

That said, I keep my actual money abroad.

 

[Larry]

So, my case is slightly unusual because I have a good-paying startup gig that pays me en blanco, depositing the dollars in an account across the river in Uruguay...

I only transfer enough into Argentina to cover expenses and I only put enough dollars in the local account to pay any USD expenses on my local credit cards + pay my rent. All of my actual savings either stay in Uruguay or get sent from Uruguay to one of my US accounts.

Very wise to avoid banks in Argentina! Nothing but trouble dealing with them over the years.

I think it probably helps that I only put a few hundred in once a month and I pull that few hundred out within a few days. I don't think anyone is going to give me a hard time about wanting cara grande bills for only $600ish.

That said, I keep my actual money abroad.

This is what I do Darksider. It is convenient only to exchange pesos because rate is good. But I am guessing we wee another Corralito in a few months before the election.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

have both peso and dollars

how'd you get a USD account with a Precaria? this would be a huge update, right?

@Darksider415 have you tried to withdraw USD in BA? Do they give you older bills too?

i take out USD all the time in Mendoza from a Santander ATM - 90% of the time they are crisp and new. the other older ones or stained/bent ones i try to use for routine stuff when paying locals or businesses in Dollars. can take out 1,000 bucks at a time no issues



i don't know much about the Corralito so i asked Grok (twitter/X AI, which has become my new Google search homepage for 95% of info), here: https://x.com/i/grok/share/kERB4jlU800KRrpZTpaAz00iA

 

[James Bond]

how'd you get a USD account with a Precaria? this would be a huge update, right?


i take out USD all the time in Mendoza from a Santander ATM - 90% of the time they are crisp and new. the other older ones or stained/bent ones i try to use for routine stuff when paying locals or businesses in Dollars. can take out 1,000 bucks at a time no issues



i don't know much about the Corralito so i asked Grok (twitter/X AI, which has become my new Google search homepage for 95% of info), here: https://x.com/i/grok/share/kERB4jlU800KRrpZTpaAz00iA

Thanks. I did not know X had a free AI. I asked what the likelihood of another corralito and it said 30%.

 

[Wally]

how'd you get a USD account with a Precaria? this would be a huge update, right?


i take out USD all the time in Mendoza from a Santander ATM - 90% of the time they are crisp and new. the other older ones or stained/bent ones i try to use for routine stuff when paying locals or businesses in Dollars. can take out 1,000 bucks at a time no issues



i don't know much about the Corralito so i asked Grok (twitter/X AI, which has become my new Google search homepage for 95% of info), here: https://x.com/i/grok/share/kERB4jlU800KRrpZTpaAz00iA

Usually when you withdraw you get newer bills but lately in BA the times I have tried last week it was empty. Today I got some older bills. Do the locals accept these stained or bent bills @StatusNomadicus in Mendoza? Here no one will take them.

 

[CecilM]

The economic situation is definitely complex, but calling it a Corralito 2.0 seems exaggerated. Unlike 2001, banks today hold much higher levels of dollar reserves, and deposits are mostly backed in cash rather than government bonds. The demand for physical dollars is a response to uncertainty, which has existed for years, not just under this administration. The real challenge is restoring confidence in the peso and implementing long-term structural reforms to stabilize the economy. Let’s see how things unfold in the coming weeks.

 

[Colin]

i take out USD all the time in Mendoza from a Santander ATM - 90% of the time they are crisp and new. the other older ones or stained/bent ones i try to use for routine stuff when paying locals or businesses in Dollars. can take out 1,000 bucks at a time no issues

Wow I have a dollar account at Galicia but I didn't know you could take out that much at once. So you just go to the ATM and no problems taking out $1,000 USD at once? I will have to try this.

I am not sure if Galicia's withdrawal limit is that high.

 

[JonJLA]

It would be silly to keep more than a small amount of money in a dollar account. Will be interesting to see how the gross reserves from people that deposited Dollars is up until the election. Probably will keep going down.

 

[Avocado]

It would be silly to keep more than a small amount of money in a dollar account. Will be interesting to see how the gross reserves from people that deposited Dollars is up until the election. Probably will keep going down.

I went today to take out ALL my dollars except $1,000. Interesting there was line of people and it seems like they were all waiting in line to take out their cash.

 

[Uncle Wong]

how'd you get a USD account with a Precaria? this would be a huge update, right?


i take out USD all the time in Mendoza from a Santander ATM - 90% of the time they are crisp and new. the other older ones or stained/bent ones i try to use for routine stuff when paying locals or businesses in Dollars. can take out 1,000 bucks at a time no issues



i don't know much about the Corralito so i asked Grok (twitter/X AI, which has become my new Google search homepage for 95% of info), here: https://x.com/i/grok/share/kERB4jlU800KRrpZTpaAz00iA

Do you keep large amounts of cash in your account @StatusNomadicus ? Have any worry at all about it getting stuck? I guess smaller amounts are ok but reading a bunch of stuff on X and it doesn't sound like there could be another corralito if the IMF funds don't come through. I thought it was a slam dunk but read about some conditions about dropping relationship with China which seems crazy!

I went today to take out ALL my dollars except $1,000. Interesting there was line of people and it seems like they were all waiting in line to take out their cash.

Why now? What made you feel like you couldn't trust it now? Just the instability with the financial markets?

 

[Darksider415]

I haven't gone yet this month, but I've only gotten cara grande with the occasional blue bill. The oldest I've gotten were the series 1996, but those are "cara grande" and my landlord still accepts them.

Update fwiw: I withdrew several thousand from my local USD account to buy a car earlier this week, and all but $500 were blue. The remaining were cara grande. I don't think I've ever seen a cara chica in-person in Argentina, tbh. At least, my bank doesn't keep them around.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Update fwiw: I withdrew several thousand from my local USD account to buy a car earlier this week, and all but $500 were blue. The remaining were cara grande. I don't think I've ever seen a cara chica in-person in Argentina, tbh. At least, my bank doesn't keep them around.

Can you ask them to change for cara grande if they are not? What kind of car did you buy? Do you have parking? How much is a parking garage spot? I heard about $100 USD per month? What made you want a car @Darksider415 ? It seems like it would be worth more of a hassle in BA with lack of parking and expensive parking. Ubers are cheap!

 

[StatusNomadicus]

Do the locals accept these stained or bent bills @StatusNomadicus in Mendoza? Here no one will take them.

i only pay with decent ones because i can just turn around and deposit any USD bills (even a $20 last week) at Santander Rio, immediately credited to my account (have to deposit with a human teller). so then i can just go back to the ATM and withdraw 100 bucks to see if it's new/crisp, then withdraw 9 more if needed

i try to only pay with nice ones, in the few occasions i pay in USD, so i can't answer for sure on this. i'm sure it's pretty Argentina-standard, though

So you just go to the ATM and no problems taking out $1,000 USD at once? I will have to try this.

yep, at least in Mendoza Capital there is a specific ATM at Santander that everyone gets their 100 USD bills from. you can't deposit USD at an ATM, yet.

it says the limit is 1200 USD a day, but in reality it usually is a number just over 1000.

Do you keep large amounts of cash in your account @StatusNomadicus ? Have any worry at all about it getting stuck?

well i need some at times to show for Rentista residency. and i don't like having thousands in my safe at the house, because although banks have risks, so does theft and fire and all that, when holding 100-dollar physical bills. i don't spend much, so i have about 2000 in the safe and 3000 in the USD account, and i can live off that for 6-12 months it looks like, very easily. as with anything, never good to commit 100% - always better to keep your eggs in multiple baskets and hedge against all possible risks

 

[Bharat]

well i need some at times to show for Rentista residency. and i don't like having thousands in my safe at the house, because although banks have risks, so does theft and fire and all that, when holding 100-dollar physical bills. i don't spend much, so i have about 2000 in the safe and 3000 in the USD account, and i can live off that for 6-12 months it looks like, very easily. as with anything, never good to commit 100% - always better to keep your eggs in multiple baskets and hedge against all possible risks

This is a good point I can't emphasize enough! My last trip to BA I am embarrassed to admit this but I picked up a girl at a club. She must have put something in my drink. I woke up and all my things were taken. My laptop (a MacBook ), my iPhone, my watch and all my cash from my wallet and somehow she managed to open my safe. I had about 4,000 dollars.

I think maybe my Airbnb owner was in on it. I went to a bar they told me for meeting girls and someone was all too friendly. Be careful with cash at home. These safes seem very easy to break into. I looked on google and see very easy!

Risk risk with cash. So maybe bank will steal but other people too.