# Transferring Large Money to the Philippines



## luckytreatment

Hi, I would like to know your thoughts. I am originally a Filipino Citizen but moved to the United States in late 70s. I am planning to buy a house in the Philippines under the name of my sister as I am old already and unfortunately I am alone in my life (in short, never had a chance to get married and has all throughout been single). She is in the Philippines. What is the best way to send money to her, she has a BPI account. I am planning to send US$ 60k for the house. I have tried many remittance centers but the maximum that they can transfer in a month is only US$ 2999. Has anybody tried doing this? Also, I am not comfortable doing an online transfer (which many remittance centers recommend). Is there any place where I can go to an office and send this sum to her.

Thanks in advance to all those who will respond.


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## 197649

Transferring anything over 9999$ must be reported to the IRS,
Try bank to bank that's what i dd but my US bank required I have a bank account here,
I'd recommend you send 9k every 3-4 weeks as to not raise any flags


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## UltraFJ40

In order to do a bank to bank wire transfer, you will need to find out the receiving banks swift code and have the proper account info available. Many times the customer service rep at your bank will be able to locate the swift code for you (but don't count on it).

Swift codes can be found here but please verify with the bank too: SWIFT Code for Banks in Philippines

You can walk into your bank and request a money wire transfer. The fees are usually $25 - $50.

*Double and triple check *all* information before sending. It's a major pain in the butt once it's been deposited into the wrong account.


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## esv1226

Write her a check if you do not need the cash right away. We did this. No fees and safe. Let your bank know so that they are not suspicious about the amount.


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## luckytreatment

esv1226 said:


> Write her a check if you do not need the cash right away. We did this. No fees and safe. Let your bank know so that they are not suspicious about the amount.


How does it work? So I am going to write a check in the United States, then bring it personally to the Philippines and have it deposited in my sister's account? Do I also need to divide the amount? Thanks 




> Transferring anything over 9999$ must be reported to the IRS,
> Try bank to bank that's what i dd but my US bank required I have a bank account here,
> I'd recommend you send 9k every 3-4 weeks as to not raise any flags


Ah so 9999$ is the limit every month? If in case I want to send all at once, what are the things that I need to report to the IRS? Sorry I am not very good with those things, and how can I not raise any suspicion from them? I obtained the money legally and I have proofs that I did. What bank are you using in the Philippines?




> In order to do a bank to bank wire transfer, you will need to find out the receiving banks swift code and have the proper account info available. Many times the customer service rep at your bank will be able to locate the swift code for you (but don't count on it).
> 
> Swift codes can be found here but please verify with the bank too: SWIFT Code for Banks in Philippines
> 
> You can walk into your bank and request a money wire transfer. The fees are usually $25 - $50.
> 
> *Double and triple check all information before sending. It's a major pain in the butt once it's been deposited into the wrong account.


Thank you. I may consider this as well.


Thank you everyone for helping an old lady here


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## DonAndAbby

I would not transfer multiple amounts just under $10,000 for two reasons.

A. I have read about some situations in the U.S. where individuals tried to avoid IRS transaction limits, and got in trouble for it. There is actually a law against doing that.

B. You will incur multiple fees.

I don't think you have anything to worry about if you decide to wire transfer the full amount. If anyone asks, tell the truth that your sister will purchase a house with it.

If you decide to wire transfer, the BPI wift code is BOPIPHMM and you can see it on their web page here, lower right side.

https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/

The personal check works fine too but takes much longer. After your sister receives it and deposits it, it will take 3-4 weeks to clear and be available. If you are not in the Philippines, you would need to mail the check to her, probably using a a secure method such as DHL or Fedex or maybe LBC if you have one nearby.

If it were me in this situation, I would use wire transfer. I have used it for $25,000 wired to BPI from my U.S. Chase bank account and it was fine.


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## MR2

You have many options. The best way in my humble opinion centers around getting the most bang for you buck which requires careful timing. People make a living off of the exchange rate fluctuating here so keep that in mind.

The best way (in my humble opinion) is for your sister to open a dollar account at BPI. She will need $500.00 US to open the account. You can check all this out for yourself at bpiexpress.com

Here is a direct link to the dollar account. https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/1/326/deposit-rates-savings-and-checking

She will need to exchange pesos for dollars, unless she has $500.00 in cash on hand in order to open the account. They will want her to leave 500 in the account, or she will have to pay a small penalty. If you talk to the bank manager mentioning a large transfer, and wanting to close the account afterwards you can get around the penalty perhaps. Or you can just leave the account open with 500$, pay no penalty, and close it later on.

Afterwards you will wire transfer the money from your bank to her bank. As mentioned make certain everything is correct before sending, or you will have a real mess to deal with. It should take less than one week to complete the entire transfer.

The transfer will come to her BPI dollar account in US dollars, and remain there in US dollars. She can then go to local money changer, and ask someone to meet her at the bank when she is ready to exchange. Make sure to ask if the money changer has an account at BPI as this will make it easier since there will not be a large amount of money coming into the bank. It will simply be swapped from account to account right there in the bank.

Note; She will not need to leave the bank with any cash, or bring any cash into the bank if done this way! 

The exchange rate is the key to all this, and the reason for all the work involved. 

Fortunately it has been really good lately. Try to watch it for a week. Have your sister look it up online, and pay attention to the history. You can easily find this information using google. When it gets as high as you think it will go which is going to be a guessing game she should make the exchange that day. Using October 28 as an example; it was 46.75 which means for every 1$ you get 46.75 pesos. On October 15 it was 45.796. With 60,000 dollars the difference is … 57,240 pesos between those two days. 

If you are not worried about getting the maximum exchange rate you can just mail or fedex her a check. Keep in mind it will take a month or so to clear the bank. The exchange rate at the bank is not too bad for October 28 (46.39), but considering that we are talking about $60,000 it would be a difference of 21,500 pesos. That is if you used the bank to exchange the money instead of the money changer which is what will happen if you use a check instead of a dollar to dollar wire transfer. The bank will give you a lower rate since they will exchange the dollars to pesos. The money changer will give you a slightly higher rate since you will be exchanging hard cash in dollars for pesos coming out of the BPI dollar account.

Also I am not sure how the exchange rate works if you do that. I don’t know if it is based on the day you deposit the check(which I doubt) or the day when it clears(most likely). The exchange rate could go up or down on that particular day. So maybe you come out ahead, or maybe you come out losing many pesos if it drops substantially. Not a gamble I would personally take as I have been watching the exchange rate for the past month kicking myself when it was darn near 47.00. If it spikes there again I am going to sell. 

Best of luck to you.


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## DonAndAbby

I agree with what MR2 said below. In my reply I forgot to mention the dollar account and exchange rate. What he described is how I do it.

If you send dollars to a BPI peso account, you get whatever exchange rate they give you that day, and you have no say in it.



MR2 said:


> You have many options. The best way in my humble opinion centers around getting the most bang for you buck which requires careful timing. People make a living off of the exchange rate fluctuating here so keep that in mind.
> 
> The best way (in my humble opinion) is for your sister to open a dollar account at BPI. She will need $500.00 US to open the account. You can check all this out for yourself at bpiexpress.com
> 
> Here is a direct link to the dollar account. https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/1/326/deposit-rates-savings-and-checking
> 
> She will need to exchange pesos for dollars, unless she has $500.00 in cash on hand in order to open the account. They will want her to leave 500 in the account, or she will have to pay a small penalty. If you talk to the bank manager mentioning a large transfer, and wanting to close the account afterwards you can get around the penalty perhaps. Or you can just leave the account open with 500$, pay no penalty, and close it later on.
> 
> Afterwards you will wire transfer the money from your bank to her bank. As mentioned make certain everything is correct before sending, or you will have a real mess to deal with. It should take less than one week to complete the entire transfer.
> 
> The transfer will come to her BPI dollar account in US dollars, and remain there in US dollars. She can then go to local money changer, and ask someone to meet her at the bank when she is ready to exchange. Make sure to ask if the money changer has an account at BPI as this will make it easier since there will not be a large amount of money coming into the bank. It will simply be swapped from account to account right there in the bank.
> 
> Note; She will not need to leave the bank with any cash, or bring any cash into the bank if done this way!
> 
> The exchange rate is the key to all this, and the reason for all the work involved.
> 
> Fortunately it has been really good lately. Try to watch it for a week. Have your sister look it up online, and pay attention to the history. You can easily find this information using google. When it gets as high as you think it will go which is going to be a guessing game she should make the exchange that day. Using October 28 as an example; it was 46.75 which means for every 1$ you get 46.75 pesos. On October 15 it was 45.796. With 60,000 dollars the difference is … 57,240 pesos between those two days.
> 
> If you are not worried about getting the maximum exchange rate you can just mail or fedex her a check. Keep in mind it will take a month or so to clear the bank. The exchange rate at the bank is not too bad for October 28 (46.39), but considering that we are talking about $60,000 it would be a difference of 21,500 pesos. That is if you used the bank to exchange the money instead of the money changer which is what will happen if you use a check instead of a dollar to dollar wire transfer. The bank will give you a lower rate since they will exchange the dollars to pesos. The money changer will give you a slightly higher rate since you will be exchanging hard cash in dollars for pesos coming out of the BPI dollar account.
> 
> Also I am not sure how the exchange rate works if you do that. I don’t know if it is based on the day you deposit the check(which I doubt) or the day when it clears(most likely). The exchange rate could go up or down on that particular day. So maybe you come out ahead, or maybe you come out losing many pesos if it drops substantially. Not a gamble I would personally take as I have been watching the exchange rate for the past month kicking myself when it was darn near 47.00. If it spikes there again I am going to sell.
> 
> Best of luck to you.


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## luckytreatment

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your inputs.

Are there any tax considerations for doing it or I don't have to worry about anything? I saw somewhere that this is within the lifetime giving limit.

And also do I need to tell my sister to tell BPI that large money is coming to her account or this is immaterial?


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## hogrider

I don't really understand why this is so difficult. Is it a US problem that limits individuals transferring money out of the country? I am buying a lot and building a house in Philippines and transfer pretty large sums on a regular basis from Dubai to Philippines. I simply visit one of the many money exchange/transfer centres here, Western Union e.g., buy the amount of PHP that I need to transfer to any bank account in Philippines. The exchange rate is fixed on the spot and the amount is in Phils account within a few hours. Cost of the transfer is approx $4. I can even do it online using my Western Union account. There is also the option of making the transfer from my bank here, but generally the exchange rate is not so good.


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## esv1226

luckytreatment said:


> How does it work? So I am going to write a check in the United States, then bring it personally to the Philippines and have it deposited in my sister's account? Do I also need to divide the amount? Thanks


Your location indicates Philippines so I assumed you are in the country. I also assumed your sister has a dollar account. The postal system is unreliable. Fedex and Lbc are expensive. Writing a check would be more expensive and take a longer time. DO NOT consider sending a check as an option.


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## simonsays

hogrider said:


> I don't really understand why this is so difficult. Is it a US problem that limits individuals transferring money out of the country? .


I am not an American but, yes, it's a US problem, the US government is going after those who are hoarding money.

In Singapore, US citizens has to sign a disclaimer allowing the bank to transmit all account holders information to IRS


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## luckytreatment

Thank you. esv1226.

Regarding tax considerations, are there anything that I should file?


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## DonAndAbby

luckytreatment said:


> Thank you. esv1226.
> 
> Regarding tax considerations, are there anything that I should file?


You should not rely on anyone here for tax information. Consult a tax professional.

That said, I did a quick search on the IRS website and you might be subject to a "gift" tax if you "give" her the 60k, What a world we live in. Most likely, you already paid taxes on that money and they want to get you again.

Do you still have Philippine citizenship? If so, I suggest that you be the owner or co-owner. Then there is no gift.

Again, consult a tax pro. They might have solutions.


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## 888dino

luckytreatment said:


> Hi, I would like to know your thoughts. I am originally a Filipino Citizen but moved to the United States in late 70s. I am planning to buy a house in the Philippines under the name of my sister as I am old already and unfortunately I am alone in my life (in short, never had a chance to get married and has all throughout been single). She is in the Philippines. What is the best way to send money to her, she has a BPI account. I am planning to send US$ 60k for the house. I have tried many remittance centers but the maximum that they can transfer in a month is only US$ 2999. Has anybody tried doing this? Also, I am not comfortable doing an online transfer (which many remittance centers recommend). Is there any place where I can go to an office and send this sum to her.
> 
> Thanks in advance to all those who will respond.


Cheque is OK. Allow 2 to 4 weeks clearance though. 5 days for national bureau intelligence check. 5 days for cheque to clear. And another 10 days for miscellaneous. I.e bank manager on leave. Bank closed. Clerk cant find it. Can't be in a rush.


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## luckytreatment

MR2 said:


> The transfer will come to her BPI dollar account in US dollars, and remain there in US dollars. She can then go to local money changer, and ask someone to meet her at the bank when she is ready to exchange. Make sure to ask if the money changer has an account at BPI as this will make it easier since there will not be a large amount of money coming into the bank. It will simply be swapped from account to account right there in the bank.
> 
> Note; She will not need to leave the bank with any cash, or bring any cash into the bank if done this way!



Hi MR2, I would like to know if you have personally experienced doing this (the money changer swap thing)? My sister asked one money changer in Makati but they don't want to go with her in the bank personally (btw my sister already has the money is USD, here in bpi). She talked to the money changer's manager and just told her to write the BPI Dollar account (as source) and her BPI peso account (as the target recipient when they exchange USD to PhP). She was also asked to sign agreeing to do the transfer, but of course she did not do it as she might just get scammed.

I'd like to know your experience doing the same thing (did the money changer officer come with you in the bank)? Did the bank charge as well for the process?

The money changer has a rate PhP 0.50 better than bpi, so for 60K USD, that's 30K PhP already.

Thanks!


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## HondaGuy

luckytreatment said:


> My sister asked one money changer in Makati but they don't want to go with her in the bank personally


That would be a HUGE red flag for me. There are many many money changers around. Just move on to another one who is willing to meet and do the transfer in the bank.


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## 197649

money changers are not backed by banks or the government. why go to them are you getting real money or knock off? The higher the exchange the more likely you could be ripped off. Or they hire someone to hold you up as you depart. All for a few pesos NOT ME. I will rely on the banks that are more reliable.


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## esv1226

Is there a need to withdraw all the money at once? I would feel very uncomfortable and unsafe with that much cash. The gains are not worth the risks.


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## ManilaBae

hogrider said:


> I don't really understand why this is so difficult. Is it a US problem that limits individuals transferring money out of the country? I am buying a lot and building a house in Philippines and transfer pretty large sums on a regular basis from Dubai to Philippines. I simply visit one of the many money exchange/transfer centres here, Western Union e.g., buy the amount of PHP that I need to transfer to any bank account in Philippines. The exchange rate is fixed on the spot and the amount is in Phils account within a few hours. Cost of the transfer is approx $4. I can even do it online using my Western Union account. There is also the option of making the transfer from my bank here, but generally the exchange rate is not so good.


The US has really stepped up in curbing money-laundering and possible terror funding through the implementation of the Anti-MOney Laundering (AML) Rules. It isnt just USA that's increased the administrative burden and surveillance. Countries like Australia, Canada and the UK have adopted key AML measures.


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## Tiz

ID suggest that you go into a Citibank branch in US and see what they can do.
There is Citibank branch in Makati.


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## Kobe81

If this is a house sold by a certain realty, I believe they have the option to receive the money directly. It can be taken care of by the bank. <Snip>


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## Anthony1984

Don't forget tax season your FBAR and IRS firm 8938 check out your threshold amount that applies to you!!;;


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## Rebaqshratz

hogrider said:


> I don't really understand why this is so difficult. Is it a US problem that limits individuals transferring money out of the country? I am buying a lot and building a house in Philippines and transfer pretty large sums on a regular basis from Dubai to Philippines. I simply visit one of the many money exchange/transfer centres here, Western Union e.g., buy the amount of PHP that I need to transfer to any bank account in Philippines. The exchange rate is fixed on the spot and the amount is in Phils account within a few hours. Cost of the transfer is approx $4. I can even do it online using my Western Union account. There is also the option of making the transfer from my bank here, but generally the exchange rate is not so good.


Dubai vs the united States. Their rules, (I suggest), are significantly different. Apples and Oranges


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## hogrider

Rebaqshratz said:


> Dubai vs the united States. Their rules, (I suggest), are significantly different. Apples and Oranges


That would appear to be the case. So are US citizens not allowed to send money out of the country? Or there are limitations.


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## Cebu Citizen

esv1226 said:


> Write her a check if you do not need the cash right away. We did this. No fees and safe. Let your bank know so that they are not suspicious about the amount.




Absolutely...this is how I brought a large amount with me to the Philippines, bring a Personal Bank Check. I checked with both the IRS and Philippines Customs and they both require you to report *"CASH"* brought into the Philippines from the US...the IRS...anything more than $9,999.99 and Philippines Customs...anything over $10,000 US Dollars! BUT neither of them required any reporting of a check or bank draft...

The only down side to this type of financial transaction is that it can take 20 to 30 days for the check to clear the bank! But as was already pointed out, if you don't need the money immediately, this would be the way to go. Just send it by a secure carrier company like FedEx or UPS or DHL or Air21...

Of course, after I opened my Philippine bank account and deposited the amount, I was required to report this in my FBAR filing that year...


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