Chile Forum

I have a large sum of money stowed away for my future,, because of stock problems in US I currently dont have it invested at the moment. I know nothing of banking and investing,, if i have it in a US bank can i use debit card in Chile? can i withdraw cash from it in Chile? What if i need a large sum to buy a car or down payment on real estate? Should i have my fiance open an account in chile and western union cash to her?

Garry wrote:if i have it in a US bank can i use debit card in Chile?

Yes (no payment by installments, it has to be all at once)

Garry wrote:can i withdraw cash from it in Chile?

Yes (your bank may have a agreement with some Chilean bank, e.g. BofA has with Santander, to waive the ATM fee)

Garry wrote:What if i need a large sum to buy a car or down payment on real estate?

Pass (but I think there is some info on this in the forum, try searching)

Garry wrote:Should i have my fiance open an account in chile and western union cash to her?

Question doesn't parse You WUnion to a person, not a bank account. And it's expensive, and WUnion will take your transfer hostage if you trigger some unknowable limit and make you answer lots of nosey questions before they free it. I'll never use them again. Wire transfer to banks in Chile works fine, takes approx. 4 working days.

FrankPintor wrote:(your bank may have a agreement with some Chilean bank, e.g. BofA has with Santander, to waive the ATM fee)

Can anyone double confirm this so I can put it into the ATM fee thread? Are you saying both the BofA $5 ATM fee AND 1% exchange fee AND the Chile-side Santander $2500 peso fee are all waived?

Search this forum for "vale vista" to learn how to handle sums larger than the cash you're comfortable withdrawing from ATMs.

tyvm,,, the one i forgot to ask was the wire transfer,, i will dedicate my time to reading all this forum has to offer in hopes it sheds light on all i need to know ty again

On a related note could anybody please confirm if withdrawals can be made with a MAESTRO card in Chile?

I searched the MasterCard Global ATM Locator but found no hits for Chile.
However it also did not show any hits for India or Japan ( both places in which I have used the Maestro card).

Please note that my question is specifically and only aimed at the MAESTRO card.
Thanks.

You are searching the answer to the wrong question. Look for the CIRRUS or PLUS symbol on your card. Some Chile ATMs take both, a few, only one or the other.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:You are searching the answer to the wrong question. Look for the CIRRUS or PLUS symbol on your card. Some Chile ATMs take both, a few, only one or the other.

No I definitely mean MAESTRO.
I have another card with CIRRUS together with MAESTRO on it.
But my question refers to on MAESTRO solo.
Anyone ever seen the MAESTRO (not Mastercard) logo at any ATMs?

I'll take note next time I'm out.

As far as

What if i need a large sum to buy a car or down payment on real estate?

is the debit card a debit card mastercard or visa? I.e. not a credit facility, still debit, but able to use it where visa or mastercard is accepted. In that case, you can use it freely. I used my Aussie debit card Mastercard for the first year I was here and paid the deposit for my car with it.

I have seen the symbol on Banco Estado machines. As I've written elsewhere, their ATMs are CIRRUS-only. Reading wikipedia on the subject, Maestro is associated with MasterCard which is associated with Cirrus. Doesn't confirm anything because in my years of experience here, the only thing that ultimately matters at a Chile ATM is Cirrus or Plus.

Just read the "Redbanc" topic in Wikipedia and found it erroneous.

(1) Just because an ATM is on the Redbanc network does not mean it takes Cirrus AND Plus. This is bank specific.
(2) Also false is the claim that all ATMs in Chile are on the Redbanc system. Utterly untrue.