# Newbie back from 1st Visit



## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

First I'd like to thank all for the advice which helped a lot ! Good advice will save you a lot of grief and money !

I'm single,59 from Canada and was in the Phils from March to April 2015. I accomplished (with your advice) to open a bank account without the immigrant card and returned to arrange currency transfer directly from my Canadian bank to my Philippine bank (RCBC).

The cost was $22 Cdn for the wire transfer and 100 pesos for the deposit fee at the other end. The conversion rate was better than the banks rate. I have now set alerts so that when the rate is good I'll be advised by email. Historically January and Februsry give you the best rates.

I plan on returning in October and staying until March for my second time.

My question is Is it better to carry a bank transfer or do the wire transfer ?


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

It's best to keep the bulk of your money in your own country and only have in your Philippine account enough for your day to running.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Gary D said:


> It's best to keep the bulk of your money in your own country and only have in your Philippine account enough for your day to running.


Considering the level of protection against loss from banks failing, this is some good advice. Considering also the current status of worldwide economy, I am beginning to wonder if one might be wise to withdraw and keep some money under the mattress. There is a short news article that a newly married Greek couple on their honeymoon in NewYork had their Credit Card refused because of the current situation in Greece. They are just trying to survive until friday for their scheduled flight back to Greece. Any foreign Country is NOT the place to be without readily accessible funds.

Fred


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

Adlan said:


> First I'd like to thank all for the advice which helped a lot ! Good advice will save you a lot of grief and money !
> 
> I'm single,59 from Canada and was in the Phils from March to April 2015. I accomplished (with your advice) to open a bank account without the immigrant card and returned to arrange currency transfer directly from my Canadian bank to my Philippine bank (RCBC).
> 
> ...


How did you open a Philippine bank account without an I-Card?

Tony


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Phil_expat said:


> How did you open a Philippine bank account without an I-Card?
> 
> Tony


It's possible although pot luck finding a bank that will. If a bank won't try another until you are lucky, even a different branch of the same bank can have different policies.


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## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

I tried about five different banks. Eventually my 3rd last day before returning home I found a branch of a bank that did it . 

I was glad it worked out ! I really didn't want to carry $2,000 around with me. I didn't want to leave it in my room. The other option was leaving it in someone else's ank account.

I hate ATM charges so transferring $$$ for day to day needs via wire transfer seemed the best.


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## Lanhawk (Feb 25, 2015)

What I do is leave my money in U.S bank then I have a vpn service which connects me to U.S server ( San Francisco so when I transfer money it occurs instantly cause it appears I am still in that states. The best advice I got from this forum was to just write a check and put that in your Philippine account, it will take about three weeks to clear but that is the cheapest way to transfer money. You just have to plan for the three week wait ahead of time.


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## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

Absolutely thats the best...if you have US $ account. Its very easy to transfer from the US to the Phils.

Unfortunately the Cdn $ I would lose money on the X-change to US $. Although I could set up a US $ account, for us Canadians we have a weak currency. I try to transfer at the best time when the X-change is good at the cheapest cost.


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## Palawenio (Mar 4, 2014)

Adlan, here is what I do: while in Canada, I go to the nearest money remittance company that sends money only to the Philippines. They are usually Filipino companies. There are lots of them in Canada. 
Google > money remittance philippines. 
The fee, per transaction, ranges from C$ 6 to 10. They can transfer your money straight to your bank electronically, meaning it is instant transfer. Some has a 1 day transfer. They can tell you the many different ways to send money to PR (Philippine Republic) for a very reasonable fee. All OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) send money through those companies. I do not use Western Union as their fees are much higher.
:welcome:


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## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

Palawenio said:


> Adlan, here is what I do: while in Canada, I go to the nearest money remittance company that sends money only to the Philippines. They are usually Filipino companies. There are lots of them in Canada.
> Google > money remittance philippines.
> The fee, per transaction, ranges from C$ 6 to 10. They can transfer your money straight to your bank electronically, meaning it is instant transfer. Some has a 1 day transfer. They can tell you the many different ways to send money to PR (Philippine Republic) for a very reasonable fee. All OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) send money through those companies. I do not use Western Union as their fees are much higher.
> :welcome:


Thanks its worth a try.....If I get a money transfer its free if mailed. The wire transfer was $22 for 1,000 in Cdn in pesos. I'll find out what the fee scale is.lane:


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

Leave your money in your Canadian bank and carry a VISA/MASTERCARD ATM Debit Card with you. Usually your ATM card has a limit on amount taken out daily, but word to the wise, never carry large amounts of funds on you and never go out alone while in the Philippines, especially at night. You also might consider an ATN card, VISA/MASTERCARD, that gas no limits and you can keep up with all transactions online. This is great for large purchases, i.e., airline tickets. When you do a funds transfer, you could use this card. I had to transfer funds fast before my last and final return trip to the Philippines. I could deposit up to $950USD per day. I could also direct deposit funds into my wife's bank, cheaply and within 4 days time. Remember, too, that you do have a limit that you can have in a Filipino bank account.


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## conroe301 (Jun 15, 2015)

Adlan said:


> First I'd like to thank all for the advice which helped a lot ! Good advice will save you a lot of grief and money !
> 
> I'm single,59 from Canada and was in the Phils from March to April 2015. I accomplished (with your advice) to open a bank account without the immigrant card and returned to arrange currency transfer directly from my Canadian bank to my Philippine bank (RCBC).
> 
> ...


I've been traveling to the Philippines since 2001 and I've always used my ATM card, but keep in mind to always use ATM at a bank, observe that there are no added additions to the ATM or around it. To be safe, use those ATM's in the daytime. Only use your card at stores that have cameras around the checkout, otherwise, go to the ATM first. Most banks there have security 24/7 and some don't. I just returned on May 22 and I'm looking forward to next May when I retire and will be moving there. I hope you enjoy all your visits there as I have.


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## justice (Nov 26, 2012)

Adlan said:


> First I'd like to thank all for the advice which helped a lot ! Good advice will save you a lot of grief and money !
> 
> I'm single,59 from Canada and was in the Phils from March to April 2015. I accomplished (with your advice) to open a bank account without the immigrant card and returned to arrange currency transfer directly from my Canadian bank to my Philippine bank (RCBC).
> 
> ...


which bank did you go to open your account without immigration card ? Thanks


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

justice said:


> which bank did you go to open your account without immigration card ? Thanks


You will need to walk around and try a few as it's pot luck. Every day in the Philippines is a different day so where you were succesfull one day will be different the next.


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

justice said:


> which bank did you go to open your account without immigration card ? Thanks


I opened a USD account for BDO bank at a remittance center in Chicago at a uni-mart store. 
we deposit money in are account here and withdraw it in dollars while in the Philippines.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Rogdas said:


> I opened a USD account for BDO bank at a remittance center in Chicago at a uni-mart store.
> we deposit money in are account here and withdraw it in dollars while in the Philippines.


How did you open the account in the Philippines, did you do it in Chicago at the same time as you opened the US account.


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

Gary D said:


> How did you open the account in the Philippines, did you do it in Chicago at the same time as you opened the US account.


We opened the account in Chicago.


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## justice (Nov 26, 2012)

Rogdas said:


> I opened a USD account for BDO bank at a remittance center in Chicago at a uni-mart store.
> we deposit money in are account here and withdraw it in dollars while in the Philippines.


Thank you, thats the answer I was looking for ...


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## JShannon (Jan 28, 2014)

justice said:


> which bank did you go to open your account without immigration card ? Thanks


Metrobank for me, just my passport.


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## ROUNDHEAD1952 (Aug 18, 2014)

Adlan said:


> First I'd like to thank all for the advice which helped a lot ! Good advice will save you a lot of grief and money !
> 
> I'm single,59 from Canada and was in the Phils from March to April 2015. I accomplished (with your advice) to open a bank account without the immigrant card and returned to arrange currency transfer directly from my Canadian bank to my Philippine bank (RCBC).
> 
> ...


If you can get one month ahead on your budget, you can open a dollars account and write a check for deposit. It will be credited in 25 banking days and no fees are involved on either end. Ah, you are from Canada! I am not sure if that would work the same for you.


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## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

Yeah ....we can't open a Cdn $$$$ account unfortunately.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Adlan said:


> Yeah ....we can't open a Cdn $$$$ account unfortunately.


This is more of a question than an answer, if you were to right a cheque in Cdn $ would it not eventually just turn up in you peso account in pesos.


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## galactic (Dec 2, 2014)

Adlan said:


> Yeah ....we can't open a Cdn $$$$ account unfortunately.


Echoing a previous comment, why don't you just open a peso account? Is the bank exchange rate for CAD to PHP that miserable?


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## JShannon (Jan 28, 2014)

galactic said:


> Echoing a previous comment, why don't you just open a peso account? Is the bank exchange rate for CAD to PHP that miserable?


Since you ask, yes, the exchange rate from CAD to PHP really su**s. Quoted rate is 37 or 38, after the fees of transfer you can take 2 PHP off that so 35 or 36. That is because the CAD is trading low compared to the USD.

I have done straight xfrs from my CAD bank to my peso account here and also have used Forex in Canada. The charges are basically the same so I just Xfr direct from my bank account. Using Forex they are the middle man, 1 extra step with no gain.

I also looked at converting CAD to USD then sending it here. No gain there either because of the exchange rate. 80 cents US to the CAD.

I would not recommend trying to deposit a CAD cheque here, it would take a long time to clear would be my opinion but I have never tried it. But once it cleared maybe you would get the exchange rate minus the comission, worth checking into but I would give yourself a lot of time for it to clear. The banks here will accept CAD CASH as a deposit into a peso account.

With PCF it is $30 for a xfr up to 30k CAD I believe then it increases from there. 

TD will not do it over the phone, don't know about others, those are the 2 I deal with, need to go into a branch in Canada to do the paper work. PCF being a virtual bank allows you to do it over the phone from there or here.

The other option is to withdraw up to 30k pesos a day via you banking card from Canada. But you will pay or I paid about $7 per transaction from fees here and at your home bank.

Cheers


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## Adlan (Jun 11, 2013)

Thanks Jshannon you have done more research than I have. I thought a Cdn $ account might be the answer. But it will lose on transfer time and x-change. Cdn $ are losing value everyday. The only option I figure is to do the transfer on-line when needed. I'll pay the $22 for the wire and have it the next day.
I never tried using my debit card in the Phils. I use it only as a backup. So far I've never needed it. I have coverted Cdn $ in cash in the Phils. Its what I used before I got my bank account. I just didn't like keeping cash around with no place to put it. Hotels and room safes are not secure. I tried to keep it at the front desk where at least you had a box with a sign in and out.
Not being able to use travelors cheques, having conversion rate issues and credit card surcharges makes for real issues....


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## Palawenio (Mar 4, 2014)

You have a Peso bank account in the Philippines, right? You are good to go. Find a money remittance in your area in Canada specializing in transferring money to the Philippines (you can google this). Go there, pay the $10 fee, give them your money, and it is wired instantly to your bank account in the Philippines. You're out of there in 8 minutes.


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