Chile Forum

I would not front my "clean" US bank account and mail address for a foreign friend or family member and their personal PayPal account.

Good luck if you try that route and if successful, it is probably better that no one knows about it.

E: you are right. I just spent a couple of hours reading Internet forum posts from non-U.S. people about the said card. It seems that some of those who use the card -- they do use "friends" to open the account, and send the card by mail. But, what if some shit happens to the account? And it will, sooner or later. Who would deal with the PayPal? Friends? Think about that.

Has anybody been able to get paid through Pay-pal without having a credit card in Chile? Once an international client sent me a pay-pal payment and it had to be returned because I could not get it here without a credit card. Also, my brother gave my mother a pay-pal debit card and was never able to use it here in Chile, to the event that he now always sends it through Western Union. If anyone knows something about this, I would really appreciate an answer. Thanks!

Do all online accounts mentioned charge 3% when taking money out of an ATM?

I know at least Scottia Bank does not charge on their ATM for taking money out, but I am still paying 3% of everything I take out to my bank (BoA).

Well...I realize this is an old post...but I figure it was worth some updated info if anyone wants to know. I just looked up on Paypal's website, under the Worldwide section....and they have Chile listed on there as being a country that can...

Send. Receive. Withdraw to a U.S. Bank Account, a card, or via a Check.
Send and receive payments in these countries. Withdraw from your PayPal account to a U.S. bank account or request a check from PayPal. In addition, withdraw to a credit or debit card in countries marked with a (†).

Chile has that (†) symbol next to it.

Also, I used to use Xoom to send money to Marco here in Chile from the U.S. when he was struggling to pay his internet bill....it was a hell of a lot cheaper then MoneyGram or Western Union. 2 years ago, I was able to transfer money from my U.S. checking account to Xoom....they would send Marco an e-mail notification that the transfer was in process....and then one of the pick-up locations in Viña del Mar would call his cell phone to let him know that the transaction had been processed and that his money was ready for pick-up. This would usually take less than 24-hours for the transaction to complete. It's been a long while since I've had to use Xoom...so I read on their website that now you can transfer money to a bank account here in Chile...and they have several Chilean banks listed on their site. And you can transfer money from either a U.S. based checking account, credit card, or debit card. The fees are low for transferring from a checking account...but are a bit higher when transferring from a credit or debit card. Anyway...just throwing that out there if anyone is curious.