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January 2008
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Related
Articles On Argentina
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| ¨The
amount you are requesting is over the extraction maximum. Do you want to
make another transaction?¨ |
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Does
this message look familiar?? If so, you are probably a foreigner.
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Unfortunately,
over the past year, a conspiracy against foreigners seems to have been
developing in Argentina. The Argentine banks have started to fix limits
on the amount of money foreigners are able to withdraw. And these
aren’t just normal fixed limits; these are LOW fixed limits. The
current limit per withdrawal in Argentina is set at about $300 pesos (roughly
$100 US dollars). Although that will get you much further in Argentina
than in The States, it is hardly enough to cover average tourist expenses.
Some ATMs do allow you to withdraw the limit of $300 pesos three times
in one day, which will fill your pockets up to $900 pesos. However,
that means that you will still be charged the withdrawal fee THREE separate
times. This rule applies strictly to foreigners; Argentine citizens have
a much greater withdrawal limit that is determined by their specific banks.
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Why
this punishment for innocent foreigners who just want to travel and SPEND
their money in beautiful Argentina? Chile and Brazil do not have
this law. In fact, I have never heard of another country that has
imposed this rule. Who is responsible for this? Why Argentina,
and why now?
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| “The responsible
parties are the global bank networks in Argentina that control all ATM
and bank transactions country-wide”. |
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| After doing
some digging, it turns out that the culprit here is not the banks back
in our home countries nor is it the local banks here in Argentina.
The responsible parties are the global bank networks in Argentina that
control all ATM and bank transactions country-wide. All banks and
credit card companies worldwide belong to one of these networks; the two
main ones in Argentina are Banelco and Link which work with the bigger
companies Cirrus and VisaPlus. |
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There
are several theories as to why they have recently changed the rules for
ATM withdrawals in Argentina:-
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Theory
No. 1 No Money
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This
claims that Argentine banks do not have enough money to fund average foreign
withdrawal budgets. Apparently foreign bank limits are much higher
than in Argentina, so their withdrawals depleted local ATMs. Argentine
banks have a reputation for bad service for ATMs refilling, so they chose
to set a low limit to foreign accounts. This does not make a ton
of sense since Argentine people still have a much greater withdrawal limit
than foreigners.
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Theory
No. 2 Disinterest
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Perhaps
Argentine banks have no reason to be flexible or accommodating for foreign
travellers because they are not their main customers and there are no negative
consequences to the bank when there are complications with foreign customers.
As one bank representative in the US said, ¨What incentive do any of
the (Argentine) banks have to take any additional risk by dispensing more
money to non-customers?
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| When traveling
internationally there is little recourse using international authorities
if there ever was a case of fraud.¨ Is it possible that Argentina
does not care enough to help out foreigners? But why would they go
to the trouble of changing the limits in the first place? I would
like to think they are not JUST deliberately trying to make our lives more
difficult. |
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| Theory
No. 3 Crime Prevention |
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| Argentine
banks actually have our wellbeing in mind and are trying to protect the
foreign traveler and by increasing security measures. They claim
that there has been a lot of fraud and robbery in Argentina and to better
protect the foreign traveller, they limit the amount one can withdraw so
that if they are robbed it is less of a loss to the traveler. ¨The
law is in place to increase the security of the foreigner,” says a bank
official of Citibank in Mendoza. How would an Argentine know how
much a foreigner is withdrawing from an ATM? Will this really deter
thieves from robbing foreigners or stop the trend of foreigners being robbed
by locals in South America? This is a possibility.... but this gringa
is not convinced. |
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| NB: As of April 2008, legislation
has been passed to limit foreigners withdrawing more than 320 pesos (that's
about 100 US dollars or 50 GB pounds) in any one transaction. However,
if you leave your card in the machine, you can withdraw three lots of 320pesos
in a day....but of course you will be charged three separate transaction
fees! |
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| If you are
as frustrated as we are and want to do something about it, join our campaign
to raise foreign ATM withdrawal rates! We want to hear about your experiences!
Go to our website www.wine-republic.com
for more information about how to complain by contacting the bank networks
directly. We will not put up with this anymore! Raise the ATM withdrawal
limits now! |
| This article
published by kind permission of Wine
Republic Argentina |
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