Mastercard at ATMs and banking in Uruguay

ATMs are very hit and miss. I think it has something to do with the wind direction and moon phase but I couldn't even withdraw over the counter at a branch of my own bank. I brought a year's supply of cash when I arrived here last year and now use World Remit for cash pick up while l wait for my Uruguayan birth certificate which will enable me to open a bank account. I looked at an expat account with HSBC but the clerk informed me that I needed US$100,000 which she clearly thought was beyond my means.

A year on from my last post and here I am still without a bank account. My partida arrived last December (2020) but when I went to DNI for the full cedula needed to open an account, they noticed an anomaly on the partida. I am still waiting for the corrected partida. The last I heard was that the lawyer at DNI didn't know how to resolve the issue.

Now this is getting critical because I had been remitting myself through World Remit but I received an email from them saying 'Good news!' From January, transaction may only be made via the mobile app which isn't available here. I was hoping to build up a reserve but when I went to collect, I was told that the local intermediary, More Money, had denied payout. I asked World Remit what the problem was and they blamed More Money. More Money, of course, blamed World Remit. Eventually WR said I had to submit id and acknowledged receipt saying 'Thanks for submitting your document(s). We'll send you an email as soon as we've verified your identity. It usually takes 5 minutes but sometimes can take us up to 48 hours.' but today they are saying 'We have received your email. Unfortunately, we have not received a copy of your ID yet. Could you please upload it by using the link we have sent you via email. Thanks'.

So now I am going to have to use an ATM which my bank assures me will be ok.

If you should read about an ex pat found to have starved to death whilst having a large sum of money, you will know why.

As a footnote, HSBC seems to have disappeared.

Banking is expensive but not that difficult in Uruguay.  You can open one with a foreign passport even and very quickly.   But you need proof of where the funds come from and references in Uruguay help greatly, as does a Uruguayan Address, even if it is only that of a friend of yours, lawyer, some banks even take a bnb.  Just make sure that your funds documentation is very believable!

The banking machines are another thing.  Never mind using a foreign credit card, I even sometimes have problems with my Uruguayan debit cards.

Good if HSBC has disappeared.  It will safe a lot of people from having a lot of trouble!

@ Alexis Mandrake

If you have not solved your problem yet, I hope you have not starved yet but had a very blessed Christmas and a good start into the new year.  Please send me a private message if you want to benefit from my experience.  Perhaps it will help you

A good 2024 to all!  May the world become a safer place for all of us again.

Armin

I found this information very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to write it. I do have a US Bank account. When I lived in Belize about eight years ago, I was able to use my debit card at an ATM and take out as much money as I needed. This was just as a visitor. I was hoping the same situation would exist in Uruguay. are these requirements in place for visitors?

@jasm332 When I arrived here, I brought a year's supply of cash in GBP and USD. You have to declare anything over USD10,000 and I showed the till receipt from my bank so all went well. When I was at migraciones, we talked about income and they suggested that a debit card would suffice. I haven't used it at an atm since I have been here and haven't tested someones's assertion that you can always get money from a casino's atm.