Exchanging large amounts of dollars ====Question

Atrevido says on Nov 19, 2004, 04:54:

Credit Card You can take out cash advances against your creit card. At Bancolombia in Cali they let you get advances of 3 million at a time with just your passport. That's well under $5000 US but a few visits should get you there or multiple credit cards.

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salma says on Nov 19, 2004, 05:39:

There is a black market but they tend to buy rather than sell USD. Be careful its never nice being caught...The black market is the cheapest way to exchange when i visited Colombia i asked shop keepers (independent retailers)innocently if there was anywhere i could exchange money and either they or someone they knew were always happy to oblige

I hope this helps

God Bless
S.
xxx

God Bless S. xxx

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Hunter says on Nov 19, 2004, 09:00:

$5,000 I would take out a mixture of ATM withdrawls and cash advances over the bank counter, you should be able to convert the money in no time, also it is the cheapeast way to get the money into the Country.

Banco Conavi give me 5,000,000 pesos a time over the counter.

Hunter

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Atrevido says on Nov 19, 2004, 15:48:

Hunter I did the same with Conavi, same daily amount to by property but are you saying you did that without an account there?

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Chuck says on Nov 19, 2004, 21:50:

I guess it's easy... A few moths ago I went to the CASA DE CAMBIO at the CENTRO COMERCIAL EL TESORO in MEdellin. I was going to buy US$1000. Surprise... they didn't had enough, but the lady there told me to return in half hour. I hanged around till I saw a gringo come by and exchaged US$ for Col$. Then I asked again and now they had the $1000 I needed. The lady innocently told me the gringo sold her around US$2000.

And this all happened in a perfectly legal CASA DE CAMBIO.

You need better rates!! That's everybody's dream!

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Hunter says on Nov 20, 2004, 08:58:

Atrevido I have an account with Conavi now.

But I didn't have one, when I first started getting cash advances from them.

When you go to the counter for a cash advance, I have never been asked if I have an account there. Some branches I use the staff know me, but many of them don't, so I don't think that you need an account with Conavi.

Hunter

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British Paisa says on Nov 20, 2004, 09:05:

Hunter was the cash advance with a credit or debit card?...

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Hunter says on Nov 20, 2004, 09:27:

British Paisa With a credit card.

Hunter

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litost says on Nov 20, 2004, 18:47:

I plan on getting money from my debit card in Colombia, I know I can get it from ATMs, but if I go to the counter will I be able to get larger amounts than the daily limits imposed to ATM withdrawls? Or is the large amount of cash advances you mention only for credit cards?

Thanks.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 21, 2004, 00:17:

to all Atrevido,

This I know...the LAST thing you should do is take out cash advances on a credit card. In addition to all the other fees, there is a huge cash advance fee added on.

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And Salma, you said that the black market people tend to want to buy $$$, but that's what I am wanting to do....is to sell them dollars, so wouldn't that work out good?

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Don Negro,

No, not illegal. My friend needs to pay a dentist for dental work there...they want it in pesos. It is a big job. How could it be done electronically, and for what kind of exchange rate and fees?

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Litost,

The daily limit on debit cards is usually about $500. This is whether you go to the ATM's or go into a bank. At an ATM you can usually do about three withdrawals a day. DON't use credit cards for cash, for any amount..... the fees are huge.

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Atrevido says on Nov 21, 2004, 03:18:

Hunter Well that's something good to know for travelers. I thought they were giving me that sum for having an account with them. The maximum over at Bancolombia is only $3.000.000.

Bill I know I'm getting nicked some but my credit card is with a financial institution where I can make an instant electronic transfer from savings to the credit card debt thus paying off the advance about fifteen minutes after I take it out. Plus the institution runs "specials" regarding interest charges which is a big help if I can catch them.

I too would be interested in hearing of a cheaper way. I guess you can bring whatever you want in cash on the plane as long as you declare it but the exchange rate is low and you might spend some time in the Colombian Aduana explaining it and trying to avoid "sharing" with them in the form of some invented tax or other.

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Hunter says on Nov 21, 2004, 04:03:

A good debit card is the cheapeast way.

I only use my credit card, when I am short of pesos or pounds in my UK account, I would forget about cash, you lose about 10% of it.

litost

As to using debit cards for cash advances over the counter, I haven't tried that one.

HIDDEN COSTS

I had 6 differant types of cards on my second visit to Colombia, I went to a ATM and pulled one transaction out on each card, then I went to a internet cafe and did a quick check on where the currency was, link below:

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=GBP&to=COP&submit=Convert

I then waited for the transaction to show up on my internet statement, you may also have to wait for the cash handling charge (or others) to show up as well.

Once all the numbers are in, you can see the charges, even the ones they are trying to hide.

Hunter

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2retirensa says on Nov 21, 2004, 11:35:

Cambios Does anyone know the exchange rate $$ to cop at the cambios?
Maureen

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Christian88 says on Nov 21, 2004, 12:40:

Travelers Checks - Decent Exchange Rate Bill1234,

I had the same issue come up... I needed to have a couple of thousand in cash immediately upon my arrival to Bogota, but didn't want to carry it with me as cash. After much research, I realized the cheapest way was American Express Traveler Cheques. Most of the major banks will cash them at good exchange rates (at the time, I got 2500 pesos per dollar, compared to 2570 published peso-dollar exchange rate). Of course, ATM's give you the best exchange rate, but you can usually only pull about the equivalent of $200 per day according to Visa's international policies.

If you go with the Travelers Cheques, call around to a couple of banks for the best exchange rate - they differ quite a bit from branch to branch!

-Christian

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2retirensa says on Nov 21, 2004, 13:39:

Christian, I was under the impression travelers checks were difficult to cash at the banks. Do you know if travelers checks other than American Express are well accepted? I get them free at my Bank of America.
Maureen

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Bill1243 says on Nov 21, 2004, 15:40:

to Atrevido Atrevido,

The thing you won't be able to avoid when using a credit card to get money is the cash advance fee, which I have heard can be 3%. This is on top of all the other charges. Highway robbery!

The cheaper way is to use a debit card....period. In fact, even using your credit card for purchases of goods usually carries a 1 or 2% additional fee!

You don't have to declare cash on the plane, unless it is over $10,000. But why would you want to carry cash down there....since the exchange rate to be had is probably not that good, except in a black market place, which I avoid.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 21, 2004, 15:41:

overall I have done some more checking, and I think for large amounts it is best to just wire the money down there....but still checking on the fees and the exchange rates for doing this.

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Hunter says on Nov 21, 2004, 16:18:

Wireing money is the worst way of bringing money into Colombia, unless you really have to, because the sums you wish to bring in are very large.

You will lose out more than the average cash advance on a credit card, it costs you about 7%.

You also need a Colombian bank account to wire it to, they often reject wired money unless you have the paperwork in order.

They also regularly lose the transaction for about a month or in one case of a friend for 2.5 months.

The list goes on and on, I can give a dozen differant things that have happened to friends who have wired money into Colombia

I would NEVER recomend wireing money, unless you have a good friend in a high up position at the Colombian bank end.

Its just not worth it for $5,000.

Hunter

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Bill1243 says on Nov 23, 2004, 19:19:

Hunter Good info.... I had no idea of the high costs of wiring.

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Hunter says on Nov 24, 2004, 05:58:

Bill1243 Thats what it worked out for me, the bank at my end made a charge and gave me a bad exhange rate, the money went through two differant Colombian banks, each of them made a charge as well.

My money arrived within a few days, because of the friend that I had in the banking system, so there was no waiting around for weeks for the money, like other people I know.

Hunter

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DiegoDelNorte says on Nov 24, 2004, 10:50:

Hey, big spender :) If you absolutely can't take the time to get your money out of the ATM day-by-day, just take the cash and exchange it in any money-changing place. Just be prepared to show ID, give a thumbprint, and receive a rate less than the ATM.

Alternatively: Some banks allow you to sign a form to raise your daily ATM limit. Maybe this will help you. Mine let me bump up to $1,000 per day. Open a few accounts in the states (hassle, yes) and get debit cards on them all. Put as much of your expenses as possible on your cards while you're there, too.

Christian says: "ATM's give you the best exchange rate, but you can usually only pull about the equivalent of $200 per day according to Visa's international policies."

I routinely bust this limit with a Visa debit card at ATM's. Your mileage may vary. The ATM's may only let you take 300.000 or 400.000 pesos in one transaction, but you can do multiple transactions or go to different ATM's. I know I've pulled out over a million pesos in one day.

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