# Using Wise (Formally TransferWise) Whilst In Philippines



## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Hi guys, 

As part of the preparation for my up and coming 6 month move to the Philippines (going to be doing 6/6) I have opened an account with Wise (formally TransferWise). I'm going to have this as part of my back up strategy for accessing my cash in case there's problems with my debit cards.

I was wondering if anyone has used Wise to transfer money to themselves whilst they have been in the Philippines rather than in their home country. 

I've registered on the Wise UK website and the mobile phone app.

If I ever needed to transfer money to myself is it a case of simply either logging onto the Wise website or app and going through the transfer process.........Has anyone has any issues with making the transfer whilst out of your home country?

The reason I ask is because I've seen a YouTube video where an British expat couldn't use his Remity account to transfer money because the IP address was showing he was not in the UK, where he initially registered the account and therefore Remotely wouldn't authorise the transfer. I wondered if Wise would be the same? 

Many thanks.


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## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

hey scoot65

I never used Transfer Wise but used Xoom before. Remember it takes sometimes 2 or 3 days to get funds. so don't wait for the last minute to get money. I am not sure how transfer wise do it sending money to yourself.

Art


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Good questions Scoot. I suppose a lot depends on where your base will be.

When I first came here 11 years ago I relied on my debit cards x 2 for hole in the wall cash as well as my Amex and credit card for hotels and flights. Eventually leased a condo and paid the owner 12 months in advance and saved 5K per month, negotiated and transferred the money directly from my bank in Oz to their account, no problems except a one week delay. (notify your bank of your travel itinerary so they don't block your cards or accounts).

I was based in Manila as well as travelling (leased a condo for 12 months) and found that every time I withdrew PHP 10K (the max with most banks) I was slugged with a 200 peso fee. HSBC (not many branches) allowed me to draw 40K with a 200 peso fee.
I lived like that until I got my ACR card and tried to open a bank account,,,,,,,, 4 BDO bank branches later? Even though I had a 12 month lease, ACR etc. I finally succeeded but was a slog to different branches, others simply open an account with little bother, welcome to the Philippines. Point is It probably took me 6 months to finally open a bank account here but then I could electronically send funds from bank to bank at a good exchange rate, mind you 200 pesos would disappear with every transfer, eventually a few of years ago we confronted the manager over this charge and he claimed it was not the bank but some intermediatory taking those funds,,,,,,, Bank to bank electronically I asked, yes sir.
I said to the manager that someone is skimming and if it happens again I will move banks. Guess what? no more 200 peso deductions.

OMO Scoot but until you can open an account here best to use your inhouse debit and credit facilities. Hope you fare well mate.

Cheers, Steve.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Scoot65 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> As part of the preparation for my up and coming 6 month move to the Philippines (going to be doing 6/6) I have opened an account with Wise (formally TransferWise). I'm going to have this as part of my back up strategy for accessing my cash in case there's problems with my debit cards. I was wondering if anyone has used Wise to transfer money to themselves whilst they have been in the Philippines rather than in their home country. I've registered on the Wise UK website and the mobile phone app. If I ever needed to transfer money to myself is it a case of simply either logging onto the Wise website or app and going through the transfer process.........Has anyone has any issues with making the transfer whilst out of your home country? The reason I ask is because I've seen a YouTube video where an British expat couldn't use his Remity account to transfer money because the IP address was showing he was not in the UK, where he initially registered the account and therefore Remotely wouldn't authorise the transfer. I wondered if Wise would be the same? Many thanks.


One of the most important things to do as soon as you get here is to open a local bank account. There’s a whole range to choose from. BDO are one of the largest but also at the higher end regarding fees and charges. BPI are more reasonable.
When we first got here, we had to use our UK debit cards (Lloyds and Barclays) to withdraw funds. Local banks limit how much one can withdraw and it’s often only ₱10,000. The fees we encountered when we used a UK debit card at a local ATM in the Ph were as follows:
Local bank fee for using a foreign card at their ATM - ₱200/ £3
Barclays non-sterling transaction fee - £4.50
Barclays non-sterling ATM fee - £1.50
Total: approx £9 to withdraw approx £148

You only find out about the UK charges when you get your statement. Quite simply, there’s a name for what these UK banks charge customers using their debit cards abroad and it’s called ‘daylight robbery’. 

We switched to using Wise about 7/ 8 years ago and have never had a problem. They used to take a few hours for the transfer. For the last 3/ 4 years, from the minute we press the button to electronically transfer from our UK bank to Wise, the funds are in our Ph bank within minutes, usually two or three and we are kept informed with e-mail messages. If you were to transfer £1,000 by Wise today (₱67,398) it would cost £6. So, a no-brainer! We use both Wise App and their website from a laptop.

Some members will recommend having an account with HSBC as they are large on the international side and allow one to withdraw more funds at their ATM’s. Unfortunately, they don’t have too many ATM’s here. We used to have an account with HSBC many years ago but found their fees/ charges to be astronomical in comparison to other banks. Like most things in life, there’s usually pros and cons. 

With regard to IP addresses, we opened our Wise account in the PH but as a matter of course, we always use a private internet access when conducting any form of banking matters. That means we usually use a UK PIA IP address. There have been one or two occasions when I forgot to use the PIA so my IP address showed as being in the Ph. Still no problem. 

So, to summarise, never had a problem with Wise; they are quick, efficient and very affordable. Avoid using your UK debit cards at ATM’s in the Ph as soon as you can unless you can live with the fees.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

Wise can ONLY be sent to a Peso account! Transfer can be almost immediate to a few days. Depends on banking hours in each country and holidays. Best XE rate I have seen. My total transfer cost using USD is less than 1%.

Chuckrhan


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

So can I ask? If you use Wise or Remitly etc. where do you pick up your funds? Where do you send them? I see W/U have branches everywhere but I am sure you pay for that with lower EX rates.
From my bank in Oz I can send pesos direct to my accounts here and between .12 to .14 lower than the bench mark on the day, I have 5 seconds to click yes or no and always based on the RX rate.

We have a new BDO branch in my local town now but if I want to deal with them I have to open a new account, why?
Had to do that moving from Manila to SFC La union and now again? Franchised BDO branches?
Most countries banks when you have an account can be accessed and transacted anywhere in the country, not here.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

bigpearl said:


> So can I ask? If you use Wise or Remitly etc. where do you pick up your funds? Where do you send them? I see W/U have branches everywhere but I am sure you pay for that with lower EX rates.
> From my bank in Oz I can send pesos direct to my accounts here and between .12 to .14 lower than the bench mark on the day, I have 5 seconds to click yes or no and always based on the RX rate.
> 
> We have a new BDO branch in my local town now but if I want to deal with them I have to open a new account, why?
> ...


Wise is only deposited in a peso account! XE rate changes continually during the day, transfer is mid-market rate.

Chuck


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

So you need a bank account here? Or am I reading wrong?

Cheers, Steve.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

bigpearl said:


> So you need a bank account here? Or am I reading wrong?
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


Correct need local bank account!

Chuck


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

I never used the OP's stated services Chuck so please excuse my ignorance. So for the OP? He/she needs a bank account here in PH to send funds through those mentioned medians?

Cheers, Steve.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

bigpearl said:


> I never used the OP's stated services Chuck so please excuse my ignorance. So for the OP? He/she needs a bank account here in PH to send funds through those mentioned medians?
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


Funds are sent to Wise then Wise sends funds to a peso account here. The account need not be the senders.

Chuck


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Best to get your own bank account or trust the recipient.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Yes Wise is my first choice but currently Wise do not transfer to outlets to pick up the cash. If the OP is doing 6-6 then can we assume he's married, if so a bank account should be no problem.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies. Very much appreciated!

I have three UK bank ATM cards where the banks do not charge any foreign transaction fee (Starling, Virgin and Chase. I'm aware that Pinoy ATMs will charge me a fee for using a foreign bank card.

The Wise option is only a back-up in case of a major problem with my bank cards. Well, least until I have a bank account and then I'll look at using Wise for sending money and using a local bank card at ATMs 

Gary D assumed correctly, I am married. 
My wife had a bank account with MetroBank but it was closed due to lack of use / dormancy (she's been in the UK 12 years). We're going to look into her opening another bank and also I'm going try my chances also. So that could be an option to use for transfer from Wise. Also, if needed we could use Wise to transfer into my wife's daughter's bank account and access the money that way.

Thanks again, lots of good info in the replies!


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## KatanaDV20 (Mar 27, 2020)

UK here too and a newbie to all things Philippines , still learning every day thanks to the people on here.

I want to thank the OP and everyone who replied to this thread as it as very useful and valuable information for me too  Bookmarked it.

I dont know how useful you'll find this info but when in the Ph and I need a chunk of cold hard cash I use Western Union to send it to my gf. She then tootles over to the local Palawan remittance place and collects it.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Scoot, if your wife is a Filipino national or dual citizen she can open an account as soon as you hit the Philippines over the counter in your preferred bank and branch.
Then easy to send funds from Wise or your own accounts in the UK.

Hope it all works out mate.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Again, thanks for the replies.

Steve, my wife is a dual citizen. Good point, we'll definitely going to be visiting banks when we're in country to get an account opened in her name at least.


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## grahamw57 (May 27, 2018)

I use Azimo.

I send money to my Mrs (with whom I live, here in the Philippines). The money is from my pension. 

I pay the funds to Azimo from my online UK-based bank account. They (Azimo) offer a number of delivery options. Mostly I've used 'cash-pickup' at one f the remittance.agencies here, such as M Lhuillier, but last time I had the cash delivered directly to our home, here in the jungle (better exchange rate). 

Worldremit is another organisation to consider. I used them for a few years.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks Graham for that information. I've not heard of Azimo, I'll check them out!


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## Howard_Z (7 mo ago)

I suggest planning for several way to get money, because you never know what will really reliably work.

For example, I went in person to one of my banks. Sent me a non-visa atm card they said would work in Philippines to access only my Savings account, and will have no fees from my bank, though there will likely be fees from the Philippines ATM. Well, turns out it did not work, and I have tried a few times.

Fortunately, I purposely brought another bank's ATM card - I had called them to check for no ATM fees and no Foreign %fees if using it as a visa card. This card worked. A decade ago, in Israel it also worked with no fees.

Then I have my Costco VISA card. No visa foreign transaction fee. If used in ATM 5% fee. I notified dates of travel so it will not look suspicious. I use card almost every day. Good currency rate, no fees. Not all places here take VISA.

Have at least 2 ways of getting cash.
Have at least 2 credit cards.
You never know for sure what will work here.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Ain't that the truth Howard with most things third world.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

I use Wise fairly often.

I'm in the Philippines, but use it to send money from my Singapore bank account to my Australian bank account.
The rates/fees can't be beaten.

I haven't applied for one yet, but you can also get a Wise Debit Card that can be used anywhere a VISA Debit card can.









Currency Card | UK Multi-Currency Card


Pay like a local in 200 countries. Spend right away with Google and Apple Pay. Have access to over 50 currencies in your pocket. Control your fx card security and spendings with Wise.




wise.com


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## amcan13 (Sep 28, 2021)

Wise has a lot of services. I just started using it sending money from USA to Philippines. I disagree with the statements about only sending peso's to bank in Philippines. I have an Philippines ATM peso account and a dollar account. Wise will allow you to send different currencies to the Philippines. I can send peso to ATM account and dollars to dollar account. I can even send dollars to peso account, the Philippines bank does the conversion. 
Wise is very clear on the fees they charge and the exchange rate they provide. They do seem the best of the other big players. 
You have a choice of loading an currency account in Wise then using to currency where you want. You can also skip the loading part and do the two step money move as a single transaction not loading the currency account. 
They offer direct deposit and wire options. You pick how to do transactions, there is a cost vs speed consideration. Also larger transactions tend to use wires. 
They have multifactor authentication and require a password and a code sent to a US Cel phone as SMS. I didn't see an option for a foreign Cel but you do establish your home country when you setup account. Perhaps someone else knows how to use a Cel not in the home country. 
I am happy with the low fees and high exchange rates so far. 
I am not a fan of using my US ATM card in Philippines, my bank in US has high fees. I stick with credit cards from US, money transfers to banks (Local ATM) and Gcash loads to have cash availability.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks again for the posts. I appreciate it! As I said, I intend the Wise account to be a back option for accessing cash.


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