# Has anyone wired large sums of money to Philippines?



## fruitcop2 (Sep 1, 2016)

Well, I'm certainly not rich, but have recently sold my house and would like to wire at least $100,000 to the Philippines, to build a house. My wife is a Philippine citizen, but spent most of her life in the west, so relatives aren't an issue. I know some say not a good idea, but with the current trend of American Banks to cancel accounts of those living out of the country, I just don't trust the banks. I'm too old to keep running back and forth to the US when I leave. I know you generate reports if you make several smaller wires, but what issues have you had with the US and Philippine government?

Thanks


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## bmays1969 (Aug 12, 2017)

I did a large transfer from australia to php last year. 150k Aud. Did not hear anything from anyone. I called my bank and got a better rate for the amount 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Not in the same league but I wired my SRRV deposit of $US20 k here with no problems.

However the OP is an American, their banks live by different rules. You may have to demonstrate where you obtained the funds to get it past the US tax man but if you have the documentation and a valid reason for transferring the money should not be an issue.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Manitoba said:


> However the OP is an American, their banks live by different rules. You may have to demonstrate where you obtained the funds to get it past the US tax man but if you have the documentation and a valid reason for transferring the money should not be an issue.


As long as you can provide the documentation, there should be no problem to transfer the funds, but please be aware of the fact that the Philippine banks do not insure accounts to the standards that we are used to. Just to be on the cautious side, I would recommend to keep the major portion in a US institution and transfer as necessary or keep it all there and use a debit card and withdraw as needed(which is how I and some others do here). There is a discussion about this just within the last week or so if you look back a bit.

I also had a house built here and they use a progressive method to pay for it. When an agreed upon percentage is completed, a certain amount is paid, then when another percentage is completed, another payment is made, until completion when the final payment is made. 

Fred


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

fmartin_gila said:


> As long as you can provide the documentation, there should be no problem to transfer the funds, but please be aware of the fact that the Philippine banks do not insure accounts to the standards that we are used to. .....


Yes true only 500,000 p deposit insurance and I believe that US banks are $US250,000. Canada is in the middle at $CDN 100,000. Don't know if Canada has ever had to pay up but I have read where both US and Philippine banks have had to pay up as well.

Insurance is per depositor so you can put cash in your name, your wife's name and a joint account and get triple coverage for only triple hassle opening all those accounts.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

fruitcop2 said:


> Well, I'm certainly not rich, but have recently sold my house and would like to wire at least $100,000 to the Philippines, to build a house. My wife is a Philippine citizen, but spent most of her life in the west, so relatives aren't an issue. I know some say not a good idea, but with the current trend of American Banks to cancel accounts of those living out of the country, I just don't trust the banks. I'm too old to keep running back and forth to the US when I leave. I know you generate reports if you make several smaller wires, but what issues have you had with the US and Philippine government?
> 
> Thanks


You should not have any U.S. government issues, but you need to make sure you file an FBAR every year that you have more than $10,000 in foreign banks.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/smal...t-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar

I usually have to do it every year and it is not a big deal. They are not looking at small fish like us.

If you have more than one bank to transfer from, find out the costs and choose the cheapest option. When I bought my house, I found out my Chase bank only allowed me $25,000 per transfer, so I had transfer 4 times a few days apart and had to pay the fees 4 times. I had no other options at the time.

The PH bank insurance of only p500,000 is not of much concern as long as you bank at one of the big boys. BPI has been in business for over 100 years. (Side note: you may have heard than Hanjin Shipyard in Subic is going bankrupt. Four big PH banks are on the hook for around $800 million. The central bank says they can absorb without problem, so they are in good shape).


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

What about a Citibank to Citibank transfer?
From their website:

Citibank® Global Transfers.
Your money…on the move.
Need to get funds from New York to Korea? This service lets you transfer money from your Citibank account to other Citibank accounts in the US. or abroad.

What it Costs
Incoming transfers free. Outgoing domestic transfers free. Outgoing international transfers, no transfer fee


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Same HSBC to HSBC, you can transfer globally for free as well.


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## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

My guess is the transfer for free ones are sending USD and then it is converted into Pesos. They make up for no transfer fee by giving less in the conversion rate but that's the way it goes. I like to tell the wife - Nothings Free


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

Zep said:


> My guess is the transfer for free ones are sending USD and then it is converted into Pesos. They make up for no transfer fee by giving less in the conversion rate but that's the way it goes. I like to tell the wife - Nothings Free


Yes, and I had looked into some of these options before. I think both banks mentioned only have branches in Manila, and maybe Cebu. That doesn't work for me.


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## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

i hate transfer fees. especially when the rate is related to the amount being transferred. for this reason, i would rather issue a check to the account in the Philippines. the charge is per check, you pay only $5 only if you issue one check. once it is cleared you have access to your dollars in the country.

there are drawbacks e.g. waiting period for check clearance, etc. we were fortunate. we issued checks directly to the seller to pay for our place and our $ checks were acceptable to them. no wire transfer fees. at that time there were no deposit fees and any fees (if any) associated with clearing checks were absorbed by the seller.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

esv1226 said:


> i hate transfer fees. especially when the rate is related to the amount being transferred. for this reason, i would rather issue a check to the account in the Philippines. the charge is per check, you pay only $5 only if you issue one check. once it is cleared you have access to your dollars in the country.
> 
> there are drawbacks e.g. waiting period for check clearance, etc. we were fortunate. we issued checks directly to the seller to pay for our place and our $ checks were acceptable to them. no wire transfer fees. at that time there were no deposit fees and any fees (if any) associated with clearing checks were absorbed by the seller.


How do you avoid exchange rates? At some time or other you will be changing $ to P, or am I missing something.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

hogrider said:


> How do you avoid exchange rates? At some time or other you will be changing $ to P, or am I missing something.


What esv was referring to is banks and transfer services who make their money from the exchange rate. The market rate might be 55 but they only give you 54, thus making one peso on the exchange.

When you use checking writing, dollars to dollars, you choose when, where and what rate to exchange at.

Regarding the house purchase by check in dollars, it is not unusual here in Subic Bay Freeport for a seller to price in dollars, so esv was able to write a check directly to the seller, in dollars.

I paid for my house in dollars and the seller also banked at my bank, so I just transferred the money into his account. No exchange rate involved.


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## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

hogrider said:


> How do you avoid exchange rates? At some time or other you will be changing $ to P, or am I missing something.



We have a dollar account. We issue a USA check for deposit into our dollar account. No wire transfer fees. It is a dollar to dollar transaction, so no exchange rate involved. We can withdraw dollars from the bank. I can use dollars to pay for groceries here. When I use the ATM I get pesos only. The bank dictates the exchange rate in this case.


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## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

hogrider said:


> How do you avoid exchange rates? At some time or other you will be changing $ to P, or am I missing something.





DonAndAbby said:


> What esv was referring to is banks and transfer services who make their money from the exchange rate. The market rate might be 55 but they only give you 54, thus making one peso on the exchange.
> 
> When you use checking writing, dollars to dollars, you choose when, where and what rate to exchange at.
> 
> ...



Maraming Salamat Don.


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## Rebaqshratz (May 15, 2016)

fmartin_gila said:


> As long as you can provide the documentation, there should be no problem to transfer the funds, but please be aware of the fact that the Philippine banks do not insure accounts to the standards that we are used to. Just to be on the cautious side, I would recommend to keep the major portion in a US institution and transfer as necessary or keep it all there and use a debit card and withdraw as needed(which is how I and some others do here). There is a discussion about this just within the last week or so if you look back a bit.
> 
> I also had a house built here and they use a progressive method to pay for it. When an agreed upon percentage is completed, a certain amount is paid, then when another percentage is completed, another payment is made, until completion when the final payment is made.
> 
> Fred


I would be very careful about paying up front for the house. More than one expat never saw the builder after paying significant money "up front" I Xoomed the money over when I was building my house 2K USD at a time. I went thru some hassle with Xoom getting my monthly limit upped (per month limit). This money was put directly into a joint pesos account (Metrobank) and presently they charge is $0.00 USD for every transfer. They make their money on the exchange rate being a little lower than the actual exchange rate on that particular day. And the way to "beat" the low insurance coverage at the bank is to have numerous accounts that are just below the max allowed...a pain but some protection if the bank fails. Make sure that you get to pick the flooring and the bathroom fixtures...US parts are available and far superior to the Chinese knock offs...the price is tempting but in a year or two you will need to change out... US lamps will work in the PH with a plug adapter and using the PH light bulb. Good luck.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

Rebaqshratz said:


> I Xoomed the money over when I was building my house 2K USD at a time. I went thru some hassle with Xoom getting my monthly limit upped (per month limit). This money was put directly into a joint pesos account (Metrobank) and presently they charge is $0.00 USD for every transfer. They make their money on the exchange rate being a little lower than the actual exchange rate on that particular day.


That would be about the most expensive way possible to transfer a large amount over, which is the topic. Xoom was a good deal 5 years ago. Now they are owned by by Paypal and no longer a good option. My estimate tells me a $2000 transfer will have an exchange rate "fee" of around $54. If you need $50k, that is 25 X 54 = $1350 in fees!

If you have to use a money transfer service, I think Transferwise is the best these days. For $2000, they charge about $18.36 upfront and then give you the market rate on the balance. No exchange rate fee.

Wire transfer is more expensive but if you are doing a large dollar to dollar transfer, much cheaper than Xoom.

The cheapest way is dollar to dollar checking writing. Almost free.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

multiple accounts are ok but must be at multiple banks, that's different banks not different branches. Make sure the banks aren't under the same umbrella company.


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## gbb55434 (Feb 2, 2019)

We've sent over $$ thru Western Union. It's about $100 per every $5K. We send it to my wife's sister. My wife takes a picture of the receipt and sends it securely to my sister who then with the receipt information goes the next day to the local Western Union. Usually she has a brother or two with her.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

gbb55434 said:


> We've sent over $$ thru Western Union. It's about $100 per every $5K. We send it to my wife's sister. My wife takes a picture of the receipt and sends it securely to my sister who then with the receipt information goes the next day to the local Western Union. Usually she has a brother or two with her.


The topic is about wiring large sums of money. Based on your rates, if one were to use WU to sent $100,000, you would pay 20 X $100 = $2000. Not a good choice.


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## Darby Allen (Sep 22, 2014)

Look into worldremit.com. I use them to transfer funds from my UK account to my BPI account every month. Not big money, true, but they may well be able to advise you.
The cash takes 1 to 2 hours to get to my BPI account, but I understand that if you have a BDO account the transfer is instantaneous!


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## ghinds (Jun 28, 2018)

I wired AUD150k. 
Use xe.com as get better exchange rate with no fees.
Notify PH bank that funds are coming in. I forward the xe confirmation.
No problems.
PH bank takes P150 fee.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

esv1226 said:


> We have a dollar account. We issue a USA check for deposit into our dollar account. No wire transfer fees. It is a dollar to dollar transaction, so no exchange rate involved. We can withdraw dollars from the bank. I can use dollars to pay for groceries here. When I use the ATM I get pesos only. The bank dictates the exchange rate in this case.


I understand that the conversion process from dollars to pesos can be delayed by having a dollar account here, but eventually if you are going to spend the money here it will be in pesos, hence your $ will be converted to pesos and I suspect at not a very good exchange rate if you're using $ at a supermarket check out.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

hogrider said:


> I understand that the conversion process from dollars to pesos can be delayed by having a dollar account here, but eventually if you are going to spend the money here it will be in pesos, hence your $ will be converted to pesos and I suspect at not a very good exchange rate if you're using $ at a supermarket check out.


No, I don't spend dollars, i.e. by using my dollar BPI ATM card. (Although I did that by accident once or twice!)

I watch the exchange rates closely and try to pick good days / weeks / months to exchange. Sometimes we will take a smaller amount like $2000 to an outside changer to get a few centavos more than BPI. However, I usually like to exchange larger amounts less often at my BPI branch, so I will have pesos to spend for several months. I only do this if the rate is good compared to recent trends.

BPI actually has good exchange rates. For larger amounts I have them call the main office and usually get a few more centavos. I compare to the mid-market rates on XE and usually get 10-20 centavos less than XE.


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## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

hogrider said:


> I understand that the conversion process from dollars to pesos can be delayed by having a dollar account here, but eventually if you are going to spend the money here it will be in pesos, hence your $ will be converted to pesos and I suspect at not a very good exchange rate if you're using $ at a supermarket check out.



at the supermarket, the exchange rate are on notice boards which are no different (I believe) from money changers rates. at check out i can choose to pay in dollars or in pesos.


i see your point. sooner or later i need pesos to spend. but i have the benefit of changing dollars to pesos when exchange rates are favorable to me.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

esv1226 said:


> at the supermarket, the exchange rate are on notice boards which are no different (I believe) from money changers rates. at check out i can choose to pay in dollars or in pesos.
> 
> 
> i see your point. sooner or later i need pesos to spend. but i have the benefit of changing dollars to pesos when exchange rates are favorable to me.


To me the SM rates seem on a par with the airport rates, only to be used if deparate.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Gary D said:


> To me the SM rates seem on a par with the airport rates, only to be used if deparate.


Inclined to agree Gary.
In my case, I have sufficient funds in the bank here Fils, not to have to send money other than when it suits. I wait for the optimum moment exchange rate-wise, then advise my bank in UAE to transfer a fairly large amount, which will then keep me in funds for many months, including large expenses.
For example, I transferred a very large amount first week of October last year when the $ exchange rate was the highest it had been for more than 5 years. In my case the cost of the transfer is $5.
I'm afraid I really still don't get the advantage of having dollar account here, but then I never was much of a finance wizard, if I was I'd sure be a hell of a lot better off than I am now.


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## DonAndAbby (Jan 7, 2013)

hogrider said:


> In my case the cost of the transfer is $5.


You must have some options most of us don't have. Although your are transferring when the rate is high, are you taking a hit on the bank exchange rate, compared to market rate? If you were to transfer $100,000 at a bank rate of 53, compared to market rate of 54, that exchange cost you 100,000 pesos.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

DonAndAbby said:


> You must have some options most of us don't have. Although your are transferring when the rate is high, are you taking a hit on the bank exchange rate, compared to market rate? If you were to transfer $100,000 at a bank rate of 53, compared to market rate of 54, that exchange cost you 100,000 pesos.


I should have added that I'm transferring from UAE, not from the US. I get the XE rate. However, the point I was trying to make was that I think it's better to transfer a large sum when the rate is good, rather than have a $ account here and have to exchange locally when I'm shopping or whatever, when the rate won't necessarily be as good.


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## gbb55434 (Feb 2, 2019)

You are right! I wasn't sure about how large the sum was. For us, large sums are a lot less than what you plan to do. Still with us, $100 for every $5K seems to be a lot. I have also wondered if one could set up a joint PNB account, one stateside, one in the Philippines, where $$$ could be deposited and then withdrawn as needed in the Phils.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

gbb55434 said:


> You are right! I wasn't sure about how large the sum was. For us, large sums are a lot less than what you plan to do. Still with us, $100 for every $5K seems to be a lot. I have also wondered if one could set up a joint PNB account, one stateside, one in the Philippines, where $$$ could be deposited and then withdrawn as needed in the Phils.


PNB will still charge you for a remittance.


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## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

hogrider said:


> I should have added that I'm transferring from UAE, not from the US. I get the XE rate. However, the point I was trying to make was that I think it's better to transfer a large sum when the rate is good, rather than have a $ account here and have to exchange locally when I'm shopping or whatever, when the rate won't necessarily be as good.


When we travel to USA (or other countries) we take dollars with us - no conversion from pesos to US dollars. When we arrived in 2012, the exchange rate was USD1 = PhP38. If we had our money in pesos, we could have incurred some losses.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

esv1226 said:


> When we travel to USA (or other countries) we take dollars with us - no conversion from pesos to US dollars. When we arrived in 2012, the exchange rate was USD1 = PhP38. If we had our money in pesos, we could have incurred some losses.


If you need $ for overseas travel, could not you just take it straight from your US account? Just asking. Hadn't realised that the $ had ever been that low, but again, hence the advantage of transferring a large sum when the rate is high.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

7 years is s long time to sit on you dollars waiting for a better rate. The difference in rates over that period of ime is meaningless, inflation would have more than erroded the difference.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Gary D said:


> 7 years is s long time to sit on you dollars waiting for a better rate. The difference in rates over that period of ime is meaningless, inflation would have more than erroded the difference.


Sorry Gary, have to disagree. I'm not necessarily talking about waiting for the best rate in a 7 year period, but taking advantage of short period swings. I was watching the rate last year waiting for the optimum rate and transferred a large sum first week of October. The difference over just a 3-6 month period was significant. Inflation will be a factor regardless of when you make the transfer, so doesn't enter into the equation.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

hogrider said:


> Sorry Gary, have to disagree. I'm not necessarily talking about waiting for the best rate in a 7 year period, but taking advantage of short period swings. I was watching the rate last year waiting for the optimum rate and transferred a large sum first week of October. The difference over just a 3-6 month period was significant. Inflation will be a factor regardless of when you make the transfer, so doesn't enter into the equation.


What I was trying to say is that you got more for your dollar when the rate was 38 than you do now with it being 51.


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