[Tango-L] ATM Issues in Buenos Aires

[Thorsten Zörner]

Dear Rick, dear all,

this is Thorsten from Duesseldorf, Germany, writing.

I've been to Bs As last December and I had minor ATM problems once in  
a while:
Obviously there were peak shopping/money withdrawal times during the  
weekends prior to the holidays
and some banks seemed to have run out of money... well, their ATMs I  
mean.
Banco de Galicia - for instance at Scalabrini Ortiz y Cordoba, couple  
of blocks from Canning -
always seemed to have enough money though - they were almost always
a save bet for me. Maybe this works for you guys, too.

Ah, right, and I used a Maestro debit card,
which doesn't charge me extra for cash advance,
like a credit card normally does.

Oh, and I lost my debit card two years ago,
when I got confused about the different "workflow" of Argentinian ATMs:
In Europe - and as I remember also in the US - you will always get  
your card back first
and then receive the money.
In Bs As you'll get your money first - if you get it, followed by  
your card some seconds later.

Have a great stay in Bs As,
cheers,
Thorsten.



http://www.TangoDuesseldorf.de/ --> Learning Tango with a smile.



On 21.02.07, at 00:27, Rick Jones wrote:

> My wife and I, who live in Buenos Aires, started
> experiencing some ATM problems this past weekend.
> Specifically, we were both precluded from withdrawing
> more than $100 pesos from the ATMs at Banco Boston and
> HBSC using our various VISA cards.
>
> Today on the Yahoo! BANewcomers group, the issue came
> up.  It would appear a lot of people (foreigners) are
> experiencing this down here.
>
> Someone on BANewcomers stated that BANELCO, the force
> behind the ATMs, I guess, has instituted this in the
> name of protecting tourists in case their credit cards
> get stolen.
>
> Other than the fact that my wife and I cannot
> withdrawl more than $100 pesos at a crack, I don't
> really know what's behind this or why, and how it's
> going to play out or for how long.
>
> What I do know is this: I still get charged $2.64 USD
> (total) for each ATM  transaction here.  If I can only
> withdrawl $100 pesos (about $32 or $33 USD, I am
> losing close to 9% of my currency.
>
> So before you come to BsAs on your tango vacation or
> whatever, you might want to inquire as to the status
> of this issue, and how people are coping.  For all I
> know, there are other ways to use the ATMs...there are
> other ways to get money...whatever.  But in the
> meantime, it is surely vexing for us, and I wanted to
> pass it along to those of you who are thinking about
> coming down anytime soon.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Rick Jones
>
>
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