Chile Forum

Had to finally eat the fee (Banco Condell is a non-ATM branch in San Antonio).

So now the strategy is finding the correct dollar amount to take out at any relative time in relation to the fee and the projected future movement of the exchange rate. For me, this was taking out a total that would amount to less than 2% in fees including the 1% on my card.

I hope to receive a BankDirect CIRRUS ATM card in the near future to see if BancoEstado remains fee free.

So the Chilean banks stick it to the gringos and this gringo will now buy less fresh fish, clams, mussels and smoked fish at the local artesanal fish market.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:the correct dollar amount

Should it read, "the maximum one-time dollar amount allowed"?..

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:projected future movement of the exchange rate

If I don't post a smilie here, then who else will?..

RuneTheChookcha wrote:

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:the correct dollar amount

Should it read, "the maximum one-time dollar amount allowed"?..

That is the hard part. I believe my max is 6 to 700. But I would not want to w/d max if the projected exchange rate will be swinging 2% + on it's own in that time period. Remember, my time machine broke and SEREMI DE CABEZASDENTRODESUSHOYOS won't let me fix it

Maybe you could withdraw $100 and then use your antimatter button to cause massive deflation and do your monthly shopping...?

another point of view.....for a long time we had free access to our cash in the US, and now the banks are charging a fee for the service they provide. the fee isn't out of line. for a withdrawal of 200K, the fee is 2.5K, or 1.25%. If we wire money from a bank in the US to a bank in Chile, the percentage is based on the amount we send, but it is in the same neighborhood, .75 to 1.25%. i don't like the ATM fees, but i don't see them as unfair or excessive.

The fees may not be excessive, and everyone is allowed to make a profit providing a service, but nobody wants to have their balances chipped away especially with the USD in such great shape. We are forced to pay for a service due to the paralysis of the Chilean banks.
If one Chilean bank was astute and bold enough to allow a foreigner to open a bank account with a minimum of hassle, the loyalty in the form of deposits (and profits) it would receive would far outpace any income they earn from an ATM fee.
Does the holder of a Chilean bank account usually pay a fee to use an ATM? In the USA you generally pay a fee only if you use an ATM not owned by your bank, and some banks refund that fee to certain depositors.
Maybe the admin can gather some statistics from us and his clients about potential deposits and make a presentation to a bank he does business with.

I don't think my girlfriend pays a fee when she uses the ATM with her Banco de Chile account. As I recall from the US, the fees were generally in the 1-2% range, which I thought was too much...I mean...it's not like they are providing any kind of international service.

The fact that the dollar is also falling against the CLP is co-incidental and it compounds the losses when we shift funds. The good thing is....you can find houses at 20% of the cost in the US, and the cost of living is generally quite a bit lower here, so the dollar still goes a long way. Best solution: find a way to make money here, so that the issue of transferring funds from the US becomes irrelevant and the US based resources don't trickle away.

May not be unfair or excessive but when these things get started, they have a way of expanding over time. Since it is charged in CLP, the exchange rate can also expand the hit as this was introduced when the CLP/USD rate was 565ish so just a move to 465ish makes it $1 more with no increase in the flat rate CLP fee.

I am flexible, thus I pay minimal fees to the US banks because I play the game strategically. In this case, there is a nothing a traveler, non-official resident or official resident earning in USD (yes there are a handful here) can do on their own to avoid this fee (assuming Banco Estado and Corp Banca also go to the darkside) except have a PLAN B and C in things that move in the opposite direction as the USD falls or better yet are largely outside of the entire paper game. Of course, I know nothing of what those can be

NIA, TINSTAAFL, YMMV

Well CorpBanca is still good as of yesterday. I was going to try Banco Bice, which I don't think has been mentioned before, but the ATM was out of order.

I am considering a Plan B too. If they start charging, I will look into opening an account here. In the end it will depend what fees are incurred receiving wire transfers here, and whether that would end up being more than the ATM fees. My husband put me in touch wih his account executive at Banco de Chile a while back to see about an account, and it seemed like they would give me one, but I never followed through. I could have an occasional transfer to my US account to pay anything I need to there.

CorpBanca was still good yesterday.

See end of thread for current list.

No problem, it definitely affects me since I get my pay deposited in the US.

It may be a few weeks before I can update again. I am waiting on a payment and for now I am going to have to use some of my savings here until that arrives.