# Keeping money in Philippine banks



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

I am just wondering if there are any expats that keep large sums of money in the local banks? I was afraid to keep much money in the bank there since they don't have a large government guarantee in case someone takes it. I was even told by a BDO bank employee not to use a safe deposit box. I will be back there again in about 4 weeks. I will use BDO again.

What are the thoughts on this subject?

thanks

art


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

There have been quite a few threads in the past on the subject of how the different expats handle their funds. Each has their own thoughts on this subject. As you mentioned, the Govt does not have a high assurance of safety of deposits. That along with the way each branch of banks seems to be an individual franchise, my thought is to keep only operating expenses plus some cushion in the local institution and keep my regular accounts in my home country to allow deposits from my pension & SS to be deposited into and to transfer funds out of to a local bank here by the use of checks written on said accounts each month or so. That said, at present since I have not been issued a permanent ACR card(should be forthcoming later this month), and have no local account opened because of this lack of ACR Card, I have just been utilizing the PBI ATMs and withdrawing operating funds using my Debit Cards on banks in the US.

Fred


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey Fred

I am hoping BDO will reopen my bank account without the ACR card. I had my account with them before I left to go back to the states. I will be going back to same branch as before I left. My old ACR card has expired. I don;t know if the banks there keep records on accounts that has been closed. If they won't then I will have to wait until I am there 59 days to apply for new ACR card. 

thanks

art


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

Philippine banks accounts are covered for P500,000 under PDIC. Understand anything over $10,000 total at anytime in banks overseas will/can require additional reporting to IRS/Treasury.

Chuck


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey Chuck,

I know if deposits are made over $10,000 they report to IRS but I didn't know they report accounts that have a total funds that are more then $10,000. I won't keep anymore then that is covered by the banks. I will keep it under the $10,000 limit.

thanks

art


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

Art,

You are required to report that you had a total amount over $10,000 cumulative anytime during the year. You can have 6 accounts(same bank/different bank) all at $2000 and would have to report that you had over $10000 during that year. It is my understanding that if you transfer funds say a couple of thousand at a time once it adds up to $10001(both USD and PhP combined) even for just one day you will report it for that year. All foreign accounts no matter which banks/countries are added together for the combined total. 

Chuck


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## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

I don't even use my account here anymore. I use my ATM card to get my monthly allowance. I keep a small stash in my safe. I figure my safe at home is at least as safe (or safer?) than a PI bank. 

I started with a BDO account but they nickel and dime you to death with fees. I switched to BPI and liked them better. All the banks here are like mom & pop franchises. Plus,my US bank refunds the ATM fees, so I quit using the banks here completely. I built a house a couple years ago just using the ATM ha ha... I just don't see any need to bank here.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

If/when a bank fails you can wait forever for the government compensation.


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey Tukaram

I know what you mean about the banks nickel and dime us to death. I will keep most of my money in my bank in the states. I just worry about something happening in the states and I am out of the country but I am sure it is safer there then in the Philippine banks. I am having my middle name changed legally to Worry. hahahaha


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Hey Gary D

I am not worried about one of the major banks failing like BDO or BPI. I just worry about someone hacking into an account. I have no ideal how long it would take the Philippine government to reimburse the lost up to the maxium secured limit of 500,000 pesos. I am sure the odds of this happening is very rare. I was also told by the bank employee there is no reimbursement like in the states on credit cards. She told me it was the card holders responsibility to keep card safe from users. I will just keep my credit cards like American express and discover to use there plus my bank cards. I would just like a local account there so I can right a check from my account to the BDO account with no charge. I know it takes about 3 weeks to clear but that doesn't bother me.

art


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## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

I was keeping $500 in the bank for emergencies, but I got plenty of available credit for emergencies. Pretty much every business (and hospital) takes Master Card & Visa. The Discover and American Express... not so much... 

I could put a new house on my credit cards, but I won't ha ha.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

I keep 2 months living expenses here just to be safe. Also Have a BDO Visa credit card with Php 200K limit for emergencies, plus BoA account were most is maintained plus US MC/Visa credit cards. The US MC/Visa credit cards wont cover the house/lot in Tagaytay that I really want because that is Php 10M.:fingerscrossed:

Chuck


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## redeye51 (Aug 15, 2017)

Reading all the comments about how "unsecure" funds can be in a Philippine bank account
can be has me worried, I'm retiring to Phil in February/March next year and will have close to
Aus$70,000 I was thinking of transferring to an account, yet to be opened.
At the moment I am rather confused at what I should do, money will be used to purchase a small
house for myself and my girlfriend.

I would be grateful on any advise that can be given.

Roger


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Hey redeye51

Not to scare you but I know in the philippines there is not must guarantee to get any money back if it is fraudulently taken. When I had my bank account with BDO before I even had the employee that opened my account to advise me not using a safe deposit box. I also was told if your account is hacked that the 500,000 pesos that is secured by government might take forever to get it back. Also, I was going to get a credit card from BDO but they said if it got stolen or someone hacked into it the bank will not reimburse the lost like here in the states with visa and mastercard. 

I am still deciding on how to handle my money situation this time. If I leave a lot of cash in a safe deposit box here in the states then I have to have someone to have access to it so if I would need more money I can have them to take out and deposit it. I am not a fan of keeping large amount of money in checking or saving accounts not even here in the states especially if I am living in another country.

art


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

I think if you are wiring a large amount to buy a house you would probably be ok, having a large amount just lounging in an account I'd leave it in your home country.


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## redeye51 (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks for the advice Greenstreak1946 and Gary D, I have to think about if it is worth the 
bother of opening a bank account in Phil, not sure how I will receive my Australian pension, I arrive in Manila on December 15 for a one month stay, will talk to a contact I have about the process of buying a property in Philippines.

Lots to do and think about before I make the move.


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

Redeye51, I moved here from the states almost 15 years ago and have and keep our funds in Philippine banks only.
In your case opening an account (passbook savings) here might be the way to go. Then when ready just transfer the needed cash for the home and monthly needs after that. Our main bank is Metrobank and they require only P2,000 ($40.00 US dollars) to open a savings account. To each their own I suppose and ya have to do what you feel the most comfortable with.


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## redeye51 (Aug 15, 2017)

Thank you for the positive reply Asian Spirit, I was looking to open an account with Metrobank, I usually use their ATM's while on vacation in Phil. If I decide to open an account it will be definitely be with them. I feel a bit more confident from your reply.

Roger


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

I do have an account in Philippines, which I opened on my last trip there in October. I don't plan on keeping a very large amount in there, not just because of security concerns, but also the difficulty of transferring funds out of the country should the need arise.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

hogrider said:


> I do have an account in Philippines, which I opened on my last trip there in October. I don't plan on keeping a very large amount in there, not just because of security concerns, but also the difficulty of transferring funds out of the country should the need arise.


Transferring money out is not too difficult although you will probably need to convert to US dollars first. This will have exchange rate consequences though.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Gary D said:


> Transferring money out is not too difficult although you will probably need to convert to US dollars first. This will have exchange rate consequences though.


Yep, couple years ago I bought some car parts from a company in Japan. They said they preferred to be paid by Western Union. Okay, no problem, mistake. WU required to change from PHP to USD to transfer, then change from USD to JYen to payout so got hit twice on exchange rate plus paying the WU fee to send. Now when I need parts I deal with a different company still in Japan but accepts creditcard to order with only one hit for the exchange rate besides not paying the WU fee to send money.

Fred


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

Gary D said:
Original Post
Transferring money out is not too difficult although you will probably need to convert to US dollars first. This will have exchange rate consequences though.

How does one transfer from the Philippines his money out?
There no such a thing period!
At least according to my bpi rep!

Besides, banks in the PH have this ?dormant? account clause. They, the banks, would confiscate any dormant account ?

Don?t keep any money that you will cry on, in any Philippines entity!


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/1/694/international-wire-transfer


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

Thanks!
But these are just what they say they charge or used to.

They might say, ?oh ... we used to do this some 3 years ago?. What?s you, the Kano, going to say? Where you are going to go?

My info is just two weeks ago from their own site cos my bank didn?t bother to reply 

Dude... you are at the mercy of slanted eyes no matter how you cut it. 
They will and can say anything!!


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

pronse said:


> Thanks!
> But these are just what they say they charge or used to.
> 
> They might say, ?oh ... we used to do this some 3 years ago?. What?s you, the Kano, going to say? Where you are going to go?
> ...


Well I am glad I have BDO dollar account since I can wire transfer with it to my bank in the US. If I remember correctly a friend has a BPI account and he has wire transferred from them also.

Learned a long time ago here that a lot of the bank employees are not very knowledgeable about all the transactions that can be performed. That is why I deal with the branch manager directly and even they sometimes have to check to make sure of the process.

As far as making the wire transfer it can only be accomplished via on line banking with BDO.

Dude.....not all the people I deal with here have slanted eyes, some actually look European due to the Spanish/Portuguese, etc ancestry. If I worried about being at the mercy of the slanted eyes, I probably would have not moved here or married one.


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

So, if you ONLY have a BDO account ?

What if BDO says sorry poe ? How you are going to enforce the law? Ops ... does such a thing exist even?


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## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

pronse said:


> So, if you ONLY have a BDO account ?
> 
> What if BDO says sorry poe ? How you are going to enforce the law? Ops ... does such a thing exist even?


I guess that's the chance you take. How many people do you know that have been ripped off by a bank here? Probably zero. 

We are only suggesting to keep a minimal amount here anyway. Not sure who would keep there life savings here if they have options of another country.


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

You said it. Don?t keep a lot ?

Regarding not being ripped off by a bank. Did you see on tv about a lady who logged on to her account, after 3 years of not using it, to find out it was zero? 
At least she was able to logon 

Another poster her said he was advised not to keep a Safet Deposit Box cos it?s not safe ?


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

pronse said:


> You said it. Don?t keep a lot ?
> 
> Regarding not being ripped off by a bank. Did you see on tv about a lady who logged on to her account, after 3 years of not using it, to find out it was zero?
> At least she was able to logon
> ...



Darn when I read my BDO contract, the part about accounts being dormant for 2 years was included. Maybe people need to read contracts/disclosures when they open accounts. I did? Oh wait that takes time doesn't it? Were there fees monthly on the dormant account taking it a zero balance? Need to see the contract/disclosures to know.

As far as the safe deposit box could that be because the employee did not want to fill out the paperwork? Don't know I was not there but it is a possibility.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

We have had a PNB account for over 20 years with very little use, just kept it above the minimum required. Not rocket science.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Sorry, if I'm hijacking the thread. Mods please remove if so.
Just found out today that I cannot transfer bank to bank from my account in Dubai to my account in Philippines. No reason given other than "it's our policy". Probably related to money laundering. Previously I've made transfers using exchange places with very favorable rates, but of course that won't be an option once I move to Fils full time at the end of the year.
I've heard mention of "Transferwise" as a means of transferring funds. Anybody here any experience of that?


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

TransferWise is good for large amounts of meaty .... smaller you may use Remitly.

I had used both. First one to Australia and second one to Philippines ...


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## pronse (Apr 3, 2009)

What are you going to policy, ha?
A policy that changes overtime is not a policy ?

Their policy changes on a whim!


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

hogrider said:


> Sorry, if I'm hijacking the thread. Mods please remove if so.
> Just found out today that I cannot transfer bank to bank from my account in Dubai to my account in Philippines. No reason given other than "it's our policy". Probably related to money laundering. Previously I've made transfers using exchange places with very favorable rates, but of course that won't be an option once I move to Fils full time at the end of the year.
> I've heard mention of "Transferwise" as a means of transferring funds. Anybody here any experience of that?


Use Transferwise monthly to send money(Php) to our account. Less than 1% cost per transfer using the current XE mid market rate. Only thing cheaper I have found is writing checks to our dollar account and waiting for them to clear.

Chuck


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Tukaram said:


> I don't even use my account here anymore. I use my ATM card to get my monthly allowance. I keep a small stash in my safe. I figure my safe at home is at least as safe (or safer?) than a PI bank.
> 
> I started with a BDO account but they nickel and dime you to death with fees. I switched to BPI and liked them better. All the banks here are like mom & pop franchises. Plus,my US bank refunds the ATM fees, so I quit using the banks here completely. I built a house a couple years ago just using the ATM ha ha... I just don't see any need to bank here.


Late into the foray Tukaram but we hold 2 accounts with BDO for 4 years plus and never a cost or fee charged to these accounts as long as we maintain 2KPHP in each. Internet transfers always work and being diddled at an ATM was twice refunded quickly when the clever machine failed to dispense the cash, just an inconvenience.

Cheers, Steve.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

hogrider said:


> Sorry, if I'm hijacking the thread. Mods please remove if so.
> Just found out today that I cannot transfer bank to bank from my account in Dubai to my account in Philippines. No reason given other than "it's our policy". Probably related to money laundering. Previously I've made transfers using exchange places with very favorable rates, but of course that won't be an option once I move to Fils full time at the end of the year.
> I've heard mention of "Transferwise" as a means of transferring funds. Anybody here any experience of that?


Research Dave as we do. Our bank manager BDO told us never to transfer more than 10K AU into either of our accounts daily. Doesn't take long to shift funds if you have foresight,
big purchases transferred to realestate agent went through without a hitch. We used WorldFirst and very happy, there are plenty the same out there.

Your bank may need a little coddling, talk to the manager, best face to face. Banks/conglomerates appear to be governed by the manager within that branch, been there etc. "It's our policy rings true when talking to the workers" Learnt finally to build a relationship with a/the manager.
Good luck. 

Cheers, Steve.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

An update, Transferwise cannot remit money from UAE Dhs to Php, at least not at the moment. World Remit will only transfer max Dhs5,000 approx £1,000. Checking other options.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

hogrider said:


> An update, Transferwise cannot remit money from UAE Dhs to Php, at least not at the moment. World Remit will only transfer max Dhs5,000 approx £1,000. Checking other options.


Interesting, just checked out WorldFirst's site and appears to be the same or nil. Perhaps Dave log into their site and ask the question/s as they have live chat available.
As for keeping large amounts of money in PH? Spread it across multiple institutions to lower your exposure or as others say keep 1,2 or 3 months ready cash with your chosen bank in PH. We all know the market and or lack of opportunities within our home countries, why risk your money in a single bank, no different to other countries, hedge your bets, spread the losses/gains etc.
Good luck with your searches.

Cheers, Steve.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

*Transfering Funds to Ph*



hogrider said:


> An update, Transferwise cannot remit money from UAE Dhs to Php, at least not at the moment. World Remit will only transfer max Dhs5,000 approx £1,000. Checking other options.


Hogrider, I’ve been using TransferWise for some time now to send funds from my UK bank to Ph and I’ve been very impressed with their service. Based on your post, I sent them an e-mail enquiring if it was only AED (dirhams), which they couldn’t send from UAE. In other words, can they transfer funds from a US$ account in the UAE to a Peso account in the Philippines? I recall reading in one of your earlier posts that you already have a US$ account in UAE. As the AED is pegged to the US$, you would be able to conduct an online, internal transfer from your AED account to your US$ account which should be free of charge and devoid of exchange rates. Perhaps you could then use TransferWise to send the funds from your UAE $ account to the Philippines. Just another angle to try.

TransferWise 1st reply was as follows:
_“Yes, it is possible to send us USD from UAE, however, we do not recommend it. The reason is because the money from UAE will come to us via SWIFT transfer. SWIFT transfers are usually expensive, thus: not meeting the primary objective of TransferWise, and along the way, intermediary banks may take some handling fees, which will result in receiving less amount than what you had sent. If you’d still like to proceed with this, please let us know by replying directly to this email and we can guide you on the steps to set up the transfer.”_

I’ve asked TransferWise if they can provide an example of costs to transfer say US$1K up to US$10K including the costs of the intermediary banks. However, as the intermediary banks are out of their control, I’m not optimistic they’ll be able to provide that information. I still felt it was worth following up the enquiry as SWIFT would be one of the standard methods available to you for transferring funds out of UAE and no doubt you're well aware of the intermediary fees when you transfer funds back to your UK account. Clearly you would have no problem sending funds to the Ph from your UK £ account via Transferwise but I appreciate that you're probably trying to avoid too many exchanges of currency by sending your funds direct from UAE. 

TransferWise’s 2nd reply has just came in as I’ve been writing.
_“We do not recommend the SWIFT transfer to TransferWise due to the hassle our customers may experience along the way. The most economical way to send us USD is if the customer has a USD bank account in the U.S, then money comes easily to us and in most cases, there are zero fees for sending the money to us.
If customers are based outside the USA, then they have only the SWIFT option unfortunately. When funds are sent to us via SWIFT and they arrive short of the original amount, it is not a good thing for customers, so we tell them beforehand about what may happen along the way. The fee for sending us money via SWIFT varies bank to bank, and we cannot really give an estimate beforehand. This is something they will need to check with their bank and to know more about the fees with intermediary banks’ fees before setting up the transfer.
However, to have an overview about our USD transfer and fees, you can click on this *Page* to enter the amounts and currency routes, then you can get an overview of the fees. Please let us know whenever you need more help or have other questions.”_

Not sure if any of that is of much help at the end of the day but it may clarify some points and there is some useful info there for members from USA. Let me know if you require any further follow up.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

pagbati said:


> Hogrider, I’ve been using TransferWise for some time now to send funds from my UK bank to Ph and I’ve been very impressed with their service. Based on your post, I sent them an e-mail enquiring if it was only AED (dirhams), which they couldn’t send from UAE. In other words, can they transfer funds from a US$ account in the UAE to a Peso account in the Philippines? I recall reading in one of your earlier posts that you already have a US$ account in UAE. As the AED is pegged to the US$, you would be able to conduct an online, internal transfer from your AED account to your US$ account which should be free of charge and devoid of exchange rates. Perhaps you could then use TransferWise to send the funds from your UAE $ account to the Philippines. Just another angle to try.
> 
> TransferWise 1st reply was as follows:
> _“Yes, it is possible to send us USD from UAE, however, we do not recommend it. The reason is because the money from UAE will come to us via SWIFT transfer. SWIFT transfers are usually expensive, thus: not meeting the primary objective of TransferWise, and along the way, intermediary banks may take some handling fees, which will result in receiving less amount than what you had sent. If you’d still like to proceed with this, please let us know by replying directly to this email and we can guide you on the steps to set up the transfer.”_
> ...


Pagbati,
Much appreciate your efforts in researching this, which confirms my own findings so far. 
I have checked with Al Rostamani Foreign Exchange, a UAE based exchange establishment which I use regularly for transferring funds from Dubai to Philippines. They cannot set up an account to make regular on line transfers, but they will transfer upon receiving an email instruction from me. So far this is the best that I have come up with. I will make a trial transfer based upon an email and see how that works out.

Thanks to all for your inputs.


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