Credit Cards and ATM's in S. America
 

On a trip from the USA to Panama, I found that Cirrus ATM cards worked well with the exception of Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, where the Plus ATM system was used. Visa worked in every country for everyday use, while in the above 3 countries MasterCard was not widely accepted.

As I am beginning to plan a trip to South America, can anyone help me with similar info for the S. American countries, particularly Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil?

Hi Andy

Thanks for the info, we appreciate it a lot. At least in Argentina and Chile you don't have any problems with credit cards using the cirrus system. For the other South American countries I don't know!

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net

We are using our Credit Card just with ATMs here. Visa works in most Banks in Ecuador and Peru. In the main cities no problem at all. Cirrus is well known in the main banks. Some smaller Towns with very local banks it is a little difficult. But we never encountered a problem getting cash.

Martin

hello,
you can use cirrus-ATM in colombia,equador peru,chile,argentina and uruguay.
visa is accepted everywhere as well.
I don't know about brasil and bolivia(haven't been there).
bye,
Mark.

Beware that in the north of Brasil you can easily end up out of cash and a long, long way from an ATM that will take your card - Banco do Brasil machines do not accept Visa/Cirrus cards and they may be all you'll find in smaller cities. Keep this in mind since long days in the saddle + high gas prices gobble your money supply surprisingly fast.

Suerte,
James

I used Visa with no problems in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Venezuela. A friend with MasterCard, however, was often foiled in those nations. MasterCard's not worth the hassle.