Open a bank account in Argentina as a foreigner

A foreign newcomer can ask an Argentine bank for a free peso savings account using a passport or a RENAPER-issued DNI (national identity card), under the central bank’s immigrant-account policy. Brubank’s standard app account requires a DNI and an Argentine phone number, so a passport-only arrival should start at a staffed bank rather than wait for an app to accept documents it does not list.

Which identification number do you need?

Your passport or DNI proves identity; a CUIL, CUIT or CDI identifies you for a different administrative purpose. These identifiers are not interchangeable.

ARCA’s CDI procedure calls for Form F.663 in duplicate. Bring the original and a copy of your identity document to the office corresponding to your actual domicile. Its service page also sets out a remote-document route for a nonresident not yet in Argentina. Ask the receiving bank which identifier it needs for the account you want before filing for a CDI. ANSES says its CUIL application is free and can be made in person without an appointment, but its document rules depend on the applicant’s residence evidence, not simply possession of a passport. If your move includes local salaried work, the Argentine residency route for Australians is a separate step from account opening.

What can you open before the DNI arrives?

BCRA says an immigrant may open a caja de ahorro en pesos para inmigrantes (peso savings account for immigrants) using a RENAPER-issued DNI or a passport from their country of origin. Its published policy describes no account-opening or maintenance charge, and identifies a debit card, home banking and local transfers among possible services. This establishes a bank-account route, not approval by every individual bank app. The BCRA announcement dates from 2022; branch practice can differ from that published policy.

At a staffed branch, ask specifically for that peso savings account. Bring the passport used to enter, your immigration/residence evidence if you have it, and any tax or work identifier already issued. If the bank asks for an identifier you do not have, ask whether its account needs a CDI rather than applying for an inapplicable CUIL. If it refuses a passport application, ask for the reason in writing and point the staff to BCRA’s immigrant-account information. Do not base your first rent payment on an account being activated the same day.

A peso account is not necessarily a US-dollar account or an international-transfer service. Ask what the bank will actually open, whether it issues a CBU (22-digit bank-account identifier) and whether the account can receive the type of inward transfer you plan to make. For the transfer route and its costs, use the Australia-to-Argentina money transfer comparison, not a promised exchange rate from a branch conversation.

Does Brubank accept a passport?

A digital wallet’s CVU (virtual account identifier) and a bank’s CBU are different account identifiers. Wise’s published ARS bank-transfer instructions require a 22-digit CBU and an 11-digit CUIT/CUIL, alongside the recipient’s full name and address. Do not assume that an app balance or a CDI alone satisfies that particular payout route. You can compare official, MEP and card exchange rates separately from the question of whether your account can receive money.

In what order should you set up banking after arrival?

1. Bring your passport and immigration evidence to a staffed bank and request the BCRA immigrant peso savings account if you do not yet have a DNI. Ask for a CBU and for the bank’s written incoming-transfer requirements.
2. Resolve the identifier the chosen product actually asks for. If the bank requires a CDI and you have neither CUIT nor CUIL, follow ARCA’s CDI procedure. If you are starting salaried employment, use ANSES’s CUIL procedure with the immigration documents it lists for your status.
3. After residence is granted, obtain your DNI through the relevant RENAPER/Registro Civil process; then consider DNI-gated app banking such as Brubank. A provisional residence certificate is not itself a DNI.
4. Test the intended funding route against the actual account details. Wise’s ARS bank transfer has its own CBU and identifier requirements; a wallet CVU is not interchangeable with them. Obtain a current net-peso quotation rather than relying on the mid-market AUD/ARS number.

BCRA’s immigrant-account notice allows a passport or DNI. Brubank’s published app requirements ask for a DNI; do not rely on its app for a time-sensitive payment while waiting for that document.