Argentina Banks -- Where is Customer Service?

[Content Provider]

I currently receive my American Social Security payments through Macro Bank, but I've noticed a decline in their customer service over the past few months. I'm considering switching banks and would appreciate any recommendations for reliable alternatives. Thank you!"

 

[ElQueso]

I currently receive my American Social Security payments through Macro Bank, but I've noticed a decline in their customer service over the past few months. I'm considering switching banks and would appreciate any recommendations for reliable alternatives. Thank you!"

Go to Banco Galicia. They are the best so far that I have dealt with. I have dealt with a few over the years.

 

[Content Provider]

Thanks, but I have the household checking & savings there and their customer service is not much better than a third-grader.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Thanks, but I have the household checking & savings there and their customer service is not much better than a third-grader.

Do you have to get your Social security into an Argentine bank? This seems risky in the event the sh*t hits the fan. Is that a requirement for your Rentista? Can't you just get it into an American bank account?

 

[earlyretirement]

Go to Banco Galicia. They are the best so far that I have dealt with. I have dealt with a few over the years.

I have Banco Galicia. They are just ok.

Thanks, but I have the household checking & savings there and their customer service is not much better than a third-grader.

Honestly @Content Provider I think all the Argentine banks are terrible. I was with HSBC Premier before they were acquired by Banco Galicia. I got a bit better service as I had a dedicated Premier manager I could call or email or message. But I cancelled that account long before the acquisition. I posted about it many years ago. During COVID they shut down my account and tried to keep the $20,000 USD I had in it. It took me 1.5 years to go to Argentina after COVID and they still didn't want to give me my money. I had to threatened to come back with a news crew and they finally gave me the money after 2 hours of fighting with them.

Since they closed my account and it was 1.5 years I didn't get a bank statement after they closed it. All I had was my last few statements from 1.5 years prior. They actually had the nerve to ask me to "prove that I didn't withdraw it". Crazy. Argentine banks cut differently.

 

[Peabody]

I currently receive my American Social Security payments through Macro Bank, but I've noticed a decline in their customer service over the past few months. I'm considering switching banks and would appreciate any recommendations for reliable alternatives. Thank you!"

I have found the locals banks to be deplorable! @Content Provider why not just have it in the same bank that you do all your personal banking? Is there some disadvantage to using the same bank? Thanks.

 

[CraigM]

I have Banco Galicia. They are just ok.


Honestly @Content Provider I think all the Argentine banks are terrible. I was with HSBC Premier before they were acquired by Banco Galicia. I got a bit better service as I had a dedicated Premier manager I could call or email or message. But I cancelled that account long before the acquisition. I posted about it many years ago. During COVID they shut down my account and tried to keep the $20,000 USD I had in it. It took me 1.5 years to go to Argentina after COVID and they still didn't want to give me my money. I had to threatened to come back with a news crew and they finally gave me the money after 2 hours of fighting with them.

Since they closed my account and it was 1.5 years I didn't get a bank statement after they closed it. All I had was my last few statements from 1.5 years prior. They actually had the nerve to ask me to "prove that I didn't withdraw it". Crazy. Argentine banks cut differently.

Good lord that is terrible Mike. Trust in the banking system is so vital to a functioning economy. How on earth did Argentina dig such a massive hole for itself that this kind of nonsense happens at a major banking institution?

 

[Content Provider]

I have found the locals banks to be deplorable! @Content Provider why not just have it in the same bank that you do all your personal banking? Is there some disadvantage to using the same bank? Thanks.

At the time I was told that Macro was the bank of choice for receiving SS. Since Galcia had a branch 300 feet away, what's the big deal in having both?

 

[Nasdaq]

I have Banco Galicia. They are just ok.


Honestly @Content Provider I think all the Argentine banks are terrible. I was with HSBC Premier before they were acquired by Banco Galicia. I got a bit better service as I had a dedicated Premier manager I could call or email or message. But I cancelled that account long before the acquisition. I posted about it many years ago. During COVID they shut down my account and tried to keep the $20,000 USD I had in it. It took me 1.5 years to go to Argentina after COVID and they still didn't want to give me my money. I had to threatened to come back with a news crew and they finally gave me the money after 2 hours of fighting with them.

Since they closed my account and it was 1.5 years I didn't get a bank statement after they closed it. All I had was my last few statements from 1.5 years prior. They actually had the nerve to ask me to "prove that I didn't withdraw it". Crazy. Argentine banks cut differently.

Good God! It's stories like this that make people want to keep their cash under their mattress!

 

[earlyretirement]

Good lord that is terrible Mike. Trust in the banking system is so vital to a functioning economy. How on earth did Argentina dig such a massive hole for itself that this kind of nonsense happens at a major banking institution?

Yes Craig. It's been a few times now that Argentines have lost out from banks so it's one of those fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me type things with most Argentines. Many of the young today haven't gone through a Corralito type scenario but their parents or grandparents have and will probably never trust the banks again. At least not with significant savings. Sure, maybe some amounts that aren't major but it's going to take a long time for them to trust the banks and government again.

And I'm not talking about during the corralito. I'm talking about just a few years ago during COVID when this happened. And keep in mind I was a good customer for a long time and a Premier client with HSBC in the USA, London, Mexico, etc. I depended on that account to pay bills, etc. And it wasn't like I wasn't using it so they can't claim inactivity. They just used an excuse when the country was shut down to pull this kind of tactic.

There was no way I could come to Argentina as the borders were closed and no way I was going to risk getting stuck in Argentina so it took a while to work out. But you gotta figure if it was happening to me then it was happening to others too.

That's why you will have many that don't trust the banks. Even now with the government saying to come and deposit the money no questions asked, I have heard recently from friends that had nightmare scenarios and this is just recently.

One of my best friends and my accountant in Argentina just bought a house from one of my other clients from the UK. She recently sold a property and had cash from that sale as the buyer insisted in paying cash. She double checked with her manager that she wouldn't have issues in wiring those funds to the seller's USD bank account in London. The seller flew to Buenos Aires to close the deal and on the day of the closing the bank never wired the money. They kept asking for all kinds of paperwork even though she supplied the bank with all the paperwork already. She got so frustrated with it after 2-3 days of them not wiring the funds that she just closed her account a few days later.

The kicker is that she deposited all new blue strip $100 USD bills a few days before and when she went to close her account out of frustration to withdraw the $400,000 USD they gave her all old bills. This just happened a few weeks ago. So you will understand the locals disdain for dealing with the local banking system and why Cash is king for many of them.

 

[CraigM]

Yes Craig. It's been a few times now that Argentines have lost out from banks so it's one of those fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me type things with most Argentines. Many of the young today haven't gone through a Corralito type scenario but their parents or grandparents have and will probably never trust the banks again. At least not with significant savings. Sure, maybe some amounts that aren't major but it's going to take a long time for them to trust the banks and government again.

And I'm not talking about during the corralito. I'm talking about just a few years ago during COVID when this happened. And keep in mind I was a good customer for a long time and a Premier client with HSBC in the USA, London, Mexico, etc. I depended on that account to pay bills, etc. And it wasn't like I wasn't using it so they can't claim inactivity. They just used an excuse when the country was shut down to pull this kind of tactic.

There was no way I could come to Argentina as the borders were closed and no way I was going to risk getting stuck in Argentina so it took a while to work out. But you gotta figure if it was happening to me then it was happening to others too.

That's why you will have many that don't trust the banks. Even now with the government saying to come and deposit the money no questions asked, I have heard recently from friends that had nightmare scenarios and this is just recently.

One of my best friends and my accountant in Argentina just bought a house from one of my other clients from the UK. She recently sold a property and had cash from that sale as the buyer insisted in paying cash. She double checked with her manager that she wouldn't have issues in wiring those funds to the seller's USD bank account in London. The seller flew to Buenos Aires to close the deal and on the day of the closing the bank never wired the money. They kept asking for all kinds of paperwork even though she supplied the bank with all the paperwork already. She got so frustrated with it after 2-3 days of them not wiring the funds that she just closed her account a few days later.

The kicker is that she deposited all new blue strip $100 USD bills a few days before and when she went to close her account out of frustration to withdraw the $400,000 USD they gave her all old bills. This just happened a few weeks ago. So you will understand the locals disdain for dealing with the local banking system and why Cash is king for many of them.

Wow. That will be a major problem for Argentina until they fix it somehow. In the US you will hear complaints about credit card charges like that Chase story last year, but messing with customer deposits is a huge no-no. Trudeau did it during the trucker strike in Canada and I doubt he had any idea the long term damage that caused (he was far too stupid and undisciplined to understand or even care). Biden froze the Russians' accounts in 2022 and it was like a gun going off in the gold markets, and BRICs went from a laughable association of a few countries to over 10 and gaining steam. You just don't screw around with deposits.

 

[Will I Am]

Wow. That will be a major problem for Argentina until they fix it somehow. In the US you will hear complaints about credit card charges like that Chase story last year, but messing with customer deposits is a huge no-no. Trudeau did it during the trucker strike in Canada and I doubt he had any idea the long term damage that caused (he was far too stupid and undisciplined to understand or even care). Biden froze the Russians' accounts in 2022 and it was like a gun going off in the gold markets, and BRICs went from a laughable association of a few countries to over 10 and gaining steam. You just don't screw around with deposits.

This really helps explain the mindset of the people that live there. I didn't know the history about people with cash in their accounts having problems with it. But I researched it and sounds like 2 major periods where people lost their cash during bank runs. But your situation @earlyretirement just sounds like outright theft.

 

[Dick]

Good lord that is terrible Mike. Trust in the banking system is so vital to a functioning economy. How on earth did Argentina dig such a massive hole for itself that this kind of nonsense happens at a major banking institution?

This does not surprise me. Trust in general is vital in a society and there is not much trust here. I guess after decades of cheating one another from top down (President) you would expect this kind of behavior. Probably part of the reason the banks don't work well and neither do anything else. Strange.