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> that even US citizens can't pull out USD Did I miss some weird constitutional amendment that American citizens have super-duper special status at overseas AT

> that even US citizens can't pull out USD Did I miss some weird constitutional amendment that American citizens have super-duper special status at overseas ATMs? The fact of US citizenship is entirely irrelevant to what notes come out of an ATM.

fragmede 4y ago
Are ATMs mysterious black boxes that dispenses random amounts of paper to random people, at random times? Of course not! The person standing in front of the ATM is entirely relevant to what comes out of the ATM. First check is that there's enough money in their bank account, but other bits of information, like their citizenship status are relevant to the transaction. American citizens typically have US bank accounts with US dollars in them, and the super-duper special status that they have; the privilege that US citizens enjoy, is that the US government has no currency trading control. As a US citizen you're allowed to trade away all of your USD for whatever other currency you want. If you had the luck to be born in a country with a strong currency, like Sweden, you're also blessed with this privilege, but if you're from a different country, like say, Argentina, then you're only allowed to trade a certain amount before you're cut off, which the bank, and by extension the ATM will check. It's less about US citizens having some super-duper special status, but that they have rights that people that only have Argentinian citizenship don't have. Of course, being a US citizen isn't going to magically turn the bills inside the ATM into USD, but prior to the currency controls, Argentinian ATMs had USD to dispense, to both Argentina and US citizens, as well as citizens of other countries. The stated goals of Argentina's currency controls was to stop the out flow of Pesos to USD. An American tourist visiting Argentina is going to spend their money in Argentina while they are there, which, no matter how you denominate it, which would be an inflow of money to Argentina. When the controls were announced, the banks went overboard implementing their blocking, which also prevented this inflow of money into the country. Which is why it's remarkable.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  > but other bits of information, like their citizenship status are relevant to the transaction. No, it's not. Your card issuer and the ATM owner participating in compatible interbank networks is what's relevant. Seriously, "even a US citizen couldn't get USD out of an Argentine ATM" is a massive distraction to the point you're trying to make.
  - fragmede 4y ago
    Your card issuer cares a lot about who you are. Your US citizenship status was asked about when you created an account with them. Some smaller banks won't even give non-citizens accounts because they can't handle that.

fragmede 4y ago

Are ATMs mysterious black boxes that dispenses random amounts of paper to random people, at random times? Of course not! The person standing in front of the ATM is entirely relevant to what comes out of the ATM. First check is that there's enough money in their bank account, but other bits of information, like their citizenship status are relevant to the transaction. American citizens typically have US bank accounts with US dollars in them, and the super-duper special status that they have; the privilege that US citizens enjoy, is that the US government has no currency trading control. As a US citizen you're allowed to trade away all of your USD for whatever other currency you want. If you had the luck to be born in a country with a strong currency, like Sweden, you're also blessed with this privilege, but if you're from a different country, like say, Argentina, then you're only allowed to trade a certain amount before you're cut off, which the bank, and by extension the ATM will check. It's less about US citizens having some super-duper special status, but that they have rights that people that only have Argentinian citizenship don't have. Of course, being a US citizen isn't going to magically turn the bills inside the ATM into USD, but prior to the currency controls, Argentinian ATMs had USD to dispense, to both Argentina and US citizens, as well as citizens of other countries. The stated goals of Argentina's currency controls was to stop the out flow of Pesos to USD. An American tourist visiting Argentina is going to spend their money in Argentina while they are there, which, no matter how you denominate it, which would be an inflow of money to Argentina. When the controls were announced, the banks went overboard implementing their blocking, which also prevented this inflow of money into the country. Which is why it's remarkable.

EdwardDiego 4y ago
> but other bits of information, like their citizenship status are relevant to the transaction. No, it's not. Your card issuer and the ATM owner participating in compatible interbank networks is what's relevant. Seriously, "even a US citizen couldn't get USD out of an Argentine ATM" is a massive distraction to the point you're trying to make.
- fragmede 4y ago
  Your card issuer cares a lot about who you are. Your US citizenship status was asked about when you created an account with them. Some smaller banks won't even give non-citizens accounts because they can't handle that.