Banking ATM Maximum Withdrawal Limit with Foreign ATM card

[earlyretirement]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been to Buenos Aires since last year. Can anyone tell me with all this turmoil, what's the maximum amount you can withdraw from the ATM's these days with a foreign ATM Card (from the USA)? Thanks in advance.

 

[RichardOne]

For Banelco ATM's $2400 pesos by extraction .. I hear ... twice a day from any US Bank account Credit or Debit. Fee $120 pesos or more

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks Richard. Ok, that seems the same as last year. Only now it's 50% less pesos. As always I will bring cash but was just curious. I heard there were lots of protests today.

 

[FeedLaps]

I've withdrawn 6000 at once from Banelco ATMs. I see no reason to assume you couldn't get more. Whether I withdraw 1k, 2k, 4k, or 6k, I have never once been rejected with my international debit card.

The current fee is $319 pesos per withdrawal.

 

[RichardOne]

I've withdrawn 6000 at once from Banelco ATMs. I see no reason to assume you couldn't get more. Whether I withdraw 1k, 2k, 4k, or 6k, I have never once been rejected with my international debit card.

The current fee is $319 pesos per withdrawal.

Thanks ... If you are a customer of a local bank your limit could be set much higher.... ?

 

[FeedLaps]

Thanks ... If you are a customer of a local bank your limit could be set much higher.... ?

My card is Australian, maybe US cards are set lower?

 

[earlyretirement]

So I was in Buenos Aires for the past week and almost every single machine limited me to withdrawing 4,000 pesos at a time. Then it charged 400 pesos for each withdrawal. (Only BBVA allowed me to withdraw 5,000 pesos). I didn't care about the $10 US charge (400 pesos) because my banks reimburse me for any ATM charges. But I'd never have withdrawn if I had to pay that fee. 10% to withdraw funds is crazy. I could only withdraw twice (4,000 2 times or 8,000 pesos total) with my ATM card from the USA even though I have a $1,500 US dollar daily limit.

Many ATM machines didn't have any cash at all. Especially at shopping malls. The most annoying thing is that they only dispensed 100 peso notes which are almost worthless now. Only the BBVA had 500 peso notes.

The positive thing is I was getting the actual exchange rate or about 38 pesos per $1 US.

 

[SometimesX]

Can we get another ATM update - trying to decide if visitors are better of bringing dollars or using ATM. Dolar blue buy rate is below official these days....

 

[AntoniDes]

Can we get another ATM update - trying to decide if visitors are better of bringing dollars or using ATM. Dolar blue buy rate is below official these days....

visitors are always better bringing cash - they can exchange it in banco de nacion if the blue is lower. still beats the nuisance of finding a machine that works and paying ATM fees.

 

[earlyretirement]

visitors are always better bringing cash - they can exchange it in banco de nacion if the blue is lower. still beats the nuisance of finding a machine that works and paying ATM fees.

I do agree that visitors are smart to bring cash. Still, if you have a bank that reimburses ATM fees then it doesn't hurt to bring your ATM card as well. All of my banks reimburse me for ATM fees so typically when I travel even in Argentina I use my ATM cards. You talk about the nuisance of finding an ATM machine but you still have to think about time and hassle of exchanging money.

Hassle either way. NO WAY I'd use ATM machines if my bank didn't reimburse me. Crazy 380 pesos per withdrawal fee for withdrawing no matter how little you take out.

 

[FeedLaps]

I do agree that visitors are smart to bring cash. Still, if you have a bank that reimburses ATM fees then it doesn't hurt to bring your ATM card as well. All of my banks reimburse me for ATM fees so typically when I travel even in Argentina I use my ATM cards. You talk about the nuisance of finding an ATM machine but you still have to think about time and hassle of exchanging money.

Hassle either way. NO WAY I'd use ATM machines if my bank didn't reimburse me. Crazy 380 pesos per withdrawal fee for withdrawing no matter how little you take out.

Yep, has to be the highest ATM fees worldwide?

 

[Mortiny]

Following Earlyretirements experience, yesterday I withdrew 7,000 pesos in one transaction at BBVA. 6,500 came in 500 peso notes and 500 in 100 peso bills. A couple of weeks ago I withdrew 6,000 pesos from the same bank and got all 500 peso notes. Next time I may try 8000 pesos to see if that works.

 

[earlyretirement]

Following Earlyretirements experience, yesterday I withdrew 7,000 pesos in one transaction at BBVA. 6,500 came in 500 peso notes and 500 in 100 peso bills. A couple of weeks ago I withdrew 6,000 pesos from the same bank and got all 500 peso notes. Next time I may try 8000 pesos to see if that works.

Hi Mortiny. Yes, I tried several ATM machines at various banks to experiment and BBVA always had the highest withdrawal limits.

 

[CarliNeces]

I do agree that visitors are smart to bring cash. Still, if you have a bank that reimburses ATM fees then it doesn't hurt to bring your ATM card as well. All of my banks reimburse me for ATM fees so typically when I travel even in Argentina I use my ATM cards. You talk about the nuisance of finding an ATM machine but you still have to think about time and hassle of exchanging money.

Hassle either way. NO WAY I'd use ATM machines if my bank didn't reimburse me. Crazy 380 pesos per withdrawal fee for withdrawing no matter how little you take out.

Inspired by this post, I used ATM machine for the first time in BA since 8 years. I went to BBVA and I was able to withdraw 8000 pesos in one shot with a penalty of 376 pesos. This penalty will be reimbursed to me by the bank. So nothing to worry about. If not, i would never use the ATM.

The reason for using the ATM machine was that i forgot that I had run of out of pesos and its a long weekend..

 

[earlyretirement]

Inspired by this post, I used ATM machine for the first time in BA since 8 years. I went to BBVA and I was able to withdraw 8000 pesos in one shot with a penalty of 376 pesos. This penalty will be reimbursed to me by the bank. So nothing to worry about. If not, i would never use the ATM.

The reason for using the ATM machine was that i forgot that I had run of out of pesos and its a long weekend..

That's awesome Ceviche that you were able to take out 8,000 pesos. I was going to go back and try 8,000 so great to know that it works. Did you try to withdraw more than that first? I know people always say cash is king but for a while there I was getting more withdrawing at the white rate than even going to a cueva and exchanging at the blue rates plus less hassle.

Hopefully we find some more banks that start increasing the limits. I think BBVA is smart to do that and hopefully will drive other banks to increase their withdrawal limits.

And for those of us that are fortunate enough to have banks back in the USA that reimburse all ATM fees, I don't see any downside to this method as long as it's available and the spreads remain competitive.

 

[SometimesX]

How in the f*ck is it possible these banks get away charging $10USD + for an ATM withdrawal? I thought the $2 fees at no-brand ATMs was bad back in Australia.. Does anyone have an update with the latest charges/limits for different ATMs using international cards?

 

[Cameler]

How in the f*ck is it possible these banks get away charging $10USD + for an ATM withdrawal? I thought the $2 fees at no-brand ATMs was bad back in Australia.. Does anyone have an update with the latest charges/limits for different ATMs using international cards?

A captive audience? Where else is a tourist going to go for cash? "Cuevas" probably scare the hell out of most tourists. I assume the $10USD charge only applies to foreign cards - not local accounts.

Another factor maybe that some US bank accounts reimburse you for ATM fees, so in those cases the fees are basically being paid from the US banks to the argentine banks.

 

[SometimesX]

A captive audience? Where else is a tourist going to go for cash? "Cuevas" probably scare the hell out of most tourists. I assume the $10USD charge only applies to foreign cards - not local accounts.

Another factor maybe that some US bank accounts reimburse you for ATM fees, so in those cases the fees are basically being paid from the US banks to the argentine banks.

The blue rate is worse than official these days which makes it even worse. Lets be honest the banks here are on the gravy train milking the economy for everything it has. They get paid 70-80% by the central bank on bonds and then loan out at 20-40% to the public. Its ridiculous they get away with such theft - I thought banks were bad elsewhere but the ones here are criminally bad. $10 USD to withdraw cash must be the highest in the world - can anyone find a country with more theft practices? It wouldn't be so bad if businesses here accepted cards universally instead of all taking cash only to avoid paying taxes.

 

[earlyretirement]

The blue rate is worse than official these days which makes it even worse. Lets be honest the banks here are on the gravy train milking the economy for everything it has. They get paid 70-80% by the central bank on bonds and then loan out at 20-40% to the public. Its ridiculous they get away with such theft - I thought banks were bad elsewhere but the ones here are criminally bad. $10 USD to withdraw cash must be the highest in the world - can anyone find a country with more theft practices? It wouldn't be so bad if businesses here accepted cards universally instead of all taking cash only to avoid paying taxes.

I don't know of any city that charges higher ATM fees. I've been all over the world and travel very actively all over every year. I saw last week several tourists complain about the highway robbery rates they charge. I'd NEVER withdraw if I was really paying myself but as others mentioned, the Argentine banks are milking the system.

Many USA banks reimburse all ATM fees so I regularly use it to withdraw pesos. It's especially nice as the white rate is higher than the blue rate the past few months.