Argentina Exchange Rate for Tourists: Card vs Cash vs Western Union (2026)

Last checked on 30 Oct 2026.

This page is general information, not financial advice. Rates change every day: always check your own card statement.

How this page is made: researched and drafted with AI tools, fact-checked against the linked sources, and checked by a second, AI-assisted editorial review before publishing. See our editorial policy.

Quick answer

• A foreign-issued card is usually the easiest way to pay, but it may not get you the best rate. Cards issued abroad (Visa, Mastercard, Cabal and Discover) get a special rate for non-residents, and the shop still charges you in pesos (Payway). Visa says its rate is set “slightly lower” than the MEP dollar (Visa Argentina). Since currency controls ended in 2025, that can put the card rate below what a bank pays for cash. Payway listed ARS 1,476.054 on 26 Oct 2026 (Payway, checked 30 Oct 2026). Each figure carries its own date, and rates may have changed since. Use a card with no foreign-transaction fee.
• When the terminal offers your home currency, choose pesos (ARS). Visa says that if a merchant or ATM offers to charge you in your own currency (dynamic currency conversion), that price “includes exchange rate and additional fees” (Visa).
• Keep some cash as a backup. If you change it, use official exchange bureaus (casas de cambio), as Canada’s government advises (travel.gc.ca). How to pay for the ride from the airport is in our Ezeiza airport guide.

Exchange rates on 30 Oct 2026

Every row comes from the source linked in that row. “Buy” is what you get for each US dollar you sell. That’s the number that matters when you turn dollars into pesos. Times are Buenos Aires time (UTC−3); DolarApi reports UTC and we converted it.

Western Union doesn’t publish a fixed rate: it says fees, exchange rates and taxes “may vary by brand, channel, and location”. Get the quote on the WU converter on the day you send.

Ignore the “dólar tarjeta”. Argentine news sites list a “tarjeta” (card) dollar. On 30 Oct 2026 it was selling at 2,028 (DolarApi). That rate adds the 30% tax prepayment that Argentine residents pay on card spending abroad (ARCA RG 5617/2024, arts. 1(b) and 6). It is not the rate a tourist pays with a foreign card.

Pesos you get for USD 100, by method

The cash rows don’t include any commission an exchange bureau may charge. We left out MEP (tourists can’t trade at that rate), Western Union (its fees and rates vary by channel and location) and ATMs (fees depend on your bank and the ATM’s bank).

Not from the US? BCRA rates for your currency (29 Oct 2026)

These are central-bank reference values; your card statement will differ.

How the peso moved recently. The BCRA’s daily US dollar quote went from 1,525 on 20 Oct to 1,542 on 28 Oct and 1,539 on 29 Oct 2026 (BCRA API). Under 1% in nine days: how you pay matters far more.

Official, MEP and blue: what each one is in 2026

Official. The rate banks quote, with the central bank’s reference as the benchmark. On 11 April 2025 the BCRA lifted most currency controls (“cepo”) for individuals, effective 14 April 2025 (BCRA Com. “A” 8226; Boletín Oficial). Since then the rates have moved close together: on 30 Oct 2026 the official retail and MEP selling rates in our table were less than 1% apart.

MEP (“dólar bolsa”). The rate implied by buying an Argentine bond in pesos and selling it in dollars, a legal operation published daily (Visa Argentina). Tourists can’t use it without an Argentine brokerage account; it matters only because Visa sets its card rate slightly below it.

Blue. The informal street rate. Aggregators list it (DolarApi), and it’s useful as a market thermometer. Canada’s government advises using official exchange bureaus and warns that criminals sometimes wait outside ATMs and exchange bureaus to follow people (travel.gc.ca).

Paying by card

Which cards get the non-resident rate. Payway, an Argentine card-payment processor, says the special rate applies to Visa, Mastercard, Cabal and Discover cards issued abroad, and that the merchant still charges you in pesos (Payway; the page has no update date). Its rate page listed ARS 1,476.054 on 26 Oct 2026 (Payway, checked 30 Oct 2026). The central-bank rule behind the scheme doesn’t name brands. Since 4 November 2022, payments for purchases made by non-residents with debit, credit, charge or prepaid cards issued abroad have been exempt from having to be settled through Argentina’s official exchange market (BCRA Com. “A” 7630). The communication doesn’t set or mention a rate.

Amex. Amex isn’t on Payway’s list, and we found no current source on how Amex cards are treated.

Visa. Visa says the rate covers credit, debit and prepaid Visa cards issued abroad, from 15 December 2022 “during the term that this system is in full force and effect” (Visa Argentina). The same page still says the rate is “about 70% more” than the official one. That line comes from an example dated 15 December 2022 (ARS 289 vs ARS 166 official), when currency controls were in place. It doesn’t describe today’s rate.

Is it still a “good” rate? Not necessarily. With official, MEP and blue within a few percent of one another, a rate set “slightly lower than MEP” can end up below what a bank pays you for cash (see the quick answer). Check your statement.

Three card rules

1. Use a card with no foreign-transaction fee. Your bank’s fee comes on top of whatever rate the network uses.
2. Choose ARS, not USD/GBP/EUR/CAD/AUD, on the terminal. Visa requires merchants and ATMs that offer dynamic currency conversion to show the amount in both currencies, the exchange rate and any markup, and to let you accept or decline. If you don’t see those details or feel pressured, Visa recommends declining (Visa).
3. Carry ID and keep your card in sight. You may be asked for photo ID, such as a driver’s licence or a copy of your passport, when paying by credit card. Ask restaurants and bars to bring the card machine to your table (travel.gc.ca).

Cash: bringing US dollars

• Change it at a bank or an official exchange bureau. Use bureaus and ATMs indoors, for example inside hotels or supermarkets, and avoid ATMs at night (travel.gc.ca).
• Ask before you hand over old or small bills, or before paying in dollars. We haven’t found an official source on how exchange bureaus treat bill condition, or on shops and restaurants accepting US dollars, so ask about the rate first.

Customs limit. If you arrive carrying cash in any currency (pesos included), bearer instruments such as traveller’s cheques, or precious-metal coins worth a combined USD 10,000 or more, you must declare them to Customs on arrival using form OM 2249-A. Exactly USD 10,000 counts and has to be declared. Below USD 10,000 needs no declaration. The limit is per traveller. For children under 16 who are not emancipated, it’s USD 5,000. Other currencies are converted at Banco de la Nación’s buying rate at the close of the previous business day (ARCA General Resolution 5659/2025, arts. 1 and 5; ARCA travellers’ page). The other entry rules are in our Argentina entry requirements guide.

Leaving Argentina. You can carry foreign cash out only if the total is below USD 10,000. From USD 10,000 up, it has to leave through an authorized financial institution, for example as a bank transfer (RG 5659/2025, arts. 2–3; ARCA).

Western Union, step by step

Western Union lets you send money to yourself from home and collect it in pesos in Argentina. The steps below are from WU’s US page (Western Union US); if you send from the UK, Canada or Australia, check the requirements on WU’s site for your country.

1. Create a profile. From the US, you’ll need your full name and address plus a US driver’s licence, passport or other government-issued ID.
2. Choose how to pay. Bank account, debit card, credit card, a WU prepaid card or cash at an agent. If you pay by credit card, your card issuer may charge a cash-advance fee plus interest; WU suggests using a debit card to avoid that.
3. Choose how to receive. Bank account, mobile wallet or cash pickup at an agent location. Payout partners include Banco Santander, Banco Galicia, BBVA, Banco Nación, Banco Provincia, Banco Macro, Pago Fácil and Brubank.
4. Collect. WU asks for the receiver’s “full name (as it appears on their ID)”, so use the name on your passport, and keep the tracking number (MTCN) WU emails you. WU’s page doesn’t say which ID agents in Argentina accept from foreign visitors, so ask in advance.

How WU prices it. WU says fees, exchange rates and taxes “may vary by brand, channel, and location based on a number of factors”, and that it “makes money from currency exchange”. A promotional rate applies to your first online transfer up to USD 1,500, and the no-fee first-transfer offer isn’t available when you pay by credit card (same source).

Work out your real rate before you send:

Effective rate = pesos received ÷ (amount sent + transfer fee)

Compare that number with the card row in our table. Check WU’s converter for the current rate.

ATMs

Canada’s government warns that ATM withdrawals with foreign cards have low limits per withdrawal and per day, and that substantial service charges may apply. Check with your bank before you leave (travel.gc.ca). Use ATMs as a backup, not as your main source of pesos.

VAT refund on accommodation

Foreign tourists can get the VAT (IVA) on accommodation refunded. Hotels, inns, guesthouses, motels, campsites, apart-hotels and similar places can apply it, as can travel agencies licensed by the national tourism authority, as long as they’re registered for VAT (ARCA). The refund covers lodging, and breakfast if it’s included in the room rate (RG 3971/2016, art. 2).

What you need to do to qualify:

• Pay with a card issued abroad, or by a transfer from a foreign bank. Cash doesn’t qualify (ARCA, class “T” invoices; RG 3971/2016, art. 2).
• Show your foreign passport (or foreign ID) at check-in (RG 3971/2016, art. 5).
• Have your immigration entry record handy. The hotel may ask for the “comprobante del último tránsito” that shows when you entered Argentina. It’s emailed to you when your passport is scanned at the border, and you can also download it at migraciones.gob.ar/transitos (ARCA).
• Ask for a “factura T”, the class “T” invoice used for this refund (ARCA).

Airbnb and apartments. ARCA’s list of places that can apply the refund doesn’t mention apartment rentals or platforms such as Airbnb, so don’t count on it there; ask the host before you book. It’s a common question: 24.9% of non-resident tourists who arrived through Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports in the third quarter of 2026 stayed in a rented house or apartment (INDEC, international tourism statistics, Sept and Q3 2026, PDF).

Related guides: Buenos Aires budget per day · Argentina eSIM and SIM cards · Argentina entry requirements · Ezeiza airport to Buenos Aires

Methodology and sources

• When we checked: 30 Oct 2026, Buenos Aires time (UTC−3). Each row in the rates table shows its own date and time. DolarApi’s UTC times are converted to Buenos Aires time.
• Official data: BCRA’s public FX API (reference rate, Com. “A” 3500, daily table, USD series). The daily table has two dollar values: the Com. “A” 3500 reference (1,539.593 on 29 Oct) and a rounded “USD” quote (1,539.00). We use the reference rate for calculations.
• Market references: DolarApi, an aggregator, not an official source. We use it only as a reference.
• Card rates: Payway, Payway rates (30 Oct 2026), Visa Argentina, Visa on dynamic currency conversion, BCRA Com. “A” 7630, InfoDolar (secondary).
• Western Union: WU US, send money to Argentina and WU converter.
• Rules: ARCA RG 5659/2025, ARCA, cash in and out of Argentina, BCRA Com. “A” 8226, ARCA VAT refund, ARCA class “T” invoices, RG 3971/2016, ARCA RG 5617/2024.
• Statistics: INDEC, international tourism statistics, Sept and Q3 2026.
• Government travel advice: travel.gc.ca, GOV.UK.
• How this page is made: researched and drafted with AI tools, fact-checked against the sources above, and checked by a second, AI-assisted editorial review before publishing. See our editorial policy.

This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. Rates change daily: check your own statement and the official sources before you act.