Chile Forum

ee, thank you again for updating us.

I decided to give Itaú a try today and there was no fee.

GRINGA et al.....here's an odd problem I've been having with the banks (CorpBanc, ScotiaBank, Itau) along 'multi-bank' row there on Principe de Gales (Stgo.). Every one of them (I tried all three) gives me an error of rejection "card invalid for this transaction", while yesterday, down in Providencia, I had no trouble whatsoever at the Scotiabank there. Why would one Scotiabank ATM take my card but a different branch reject it?? I'm NOT requesting anything over my daily limit...so what's the deal?

@slim: I have no idea about that particular issue, but when I was in the Philippines, I came across the same type of problem often. I came to realize that it was because international connections were down. They usually didn't care too much about it so sometimes it was down for hours at a time.

I use the banks on Príncipe de Gales all the time and haven't had a problem. The CorpBanca in the Unimarc today said it temporarily could not dispense money, but I went to Itaú and took out money just fine.

RIPSIGG....you're right, not all branches of the same bank operate equally. I discovered today after speaking to the customer reps of various banks that even though a particular ATM displays the little logo emblems (i.e. Visa, Mastercard, etc.)if it doesn't ALSO show Cirrus or Plus systems-able, then that machine won't accept your card. That also explains why my bank in the States does not receive an "invalid attempt" notice from those incompleted transactions here. In short, make sure the ATM being accessed shows Cirrus or Plus or whatever electronic banking provider, is indicated on the back of your card.

January 14 withdrawl from Corpbanca resulted in $5 charge on our Scotia Acct. January 22nd withdrawl from Scotia in La Reina, no charge here or in Canada. Guess I'll stick with the Scotia from now on

See end of thread for current list.

Thanks again, eeuu. Your work is appreciated.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Yes
Banco de Desarrollo - 2500 pesos
Scotiabank - 2500 pesos
Reports that Canadian Scotiabank accounts may be exempt from the fee at Banco de Desarrollo and Scotiabank.

I use my Scotiabank card at the Banco de Desarrollo in San Antonio regularly and have yet to be charged. Was there a couple weeks ago and the machine wouldn't let me take out a larger amount like usual (200 000 pesos) and it was only giving out 2000 peso bills, so went in and asked the guy what the deal was as I am a Scotiabank customer from Canada. He apologized and said that they'd been having problems with the machine and to try withdrawing a small amount (20 000 pesos) up to 4 times, and on the off chance I incurred some sort of fee because of this, he said to bring in my statement and they would refund me. So I did it, all the while worried I'd get dinged for using my card that many times in one day or because the machine didn't like me and the sky is blue (it's Chile, right?)... anyhow am happy to report NO FEES. None on either end. So for Canucks with Scotiabank accounts, Scotiabank and Banco del Desarollo are fee free and well aware of their policies for their international customers. Makes things much easier.

I used a Banco de Desarollo in Castro several times last week. Even though the sign now says Banco de Desarollo de ScotiaBank, they haven't instituted a fee yet. There were no CorpBanca or Itaú banks there, so if you can't use Banco Estado it appears to be the only option to avoid the fee.

Thanks gringalais for the report and I also want to thank all those who take the time to report or let us know you are paying attention.

This is a strange one as I was using them for a while as they were the only ones in this area on the exception list taking PLUS system cards. As soon as the merger or acquisition with Scotiabank occurred, I received the warning for the fee. So if this has changed, need confirmation from other locales! OK, so I have an excuse to get some exercise and hoof it into to town to confirm, check out any new developments at the Mall and maybe get some fresh seafood.