# British Expats.... How Do You Access Your Money Held In UK Banks?



## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Hello.
I'm currently doing some initial research regarding how best to access my money whilst living away of the UK.

I'm UK citizen married to a filipina and we may be in a position in about 18 months / 2 years time to be able live longterm in the Philippines. Although I intend to open filipino bank account once I meet the requirements. I intend to keep the majority of money in a UK bank.

I would like to know good options of accessing my money held in the UK and transferring amounts periodically to the Phils. I'm thinking I would transfer a few thousand pounds periodically from a UK bank to a Philippine bank and then use a local bank ATM card to make day to day withdrawals / payments.

I probably won't have a UK address to which a replacement UK bank card could be sent. (I have a couple of friends who I may ask if they would be willing allow me to use their address as my registered address with my UK bank. I'm not relying on this an option). So I'm concerned of a UK card was to get blocked / lost / expired / re-issued etc.

I have standard current accounts with Lloyds, Nationwide and HSBC. 

Any advice would be most appreciated!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

We have a Philippines savings account with a debit card. I often use a remittance service to periodically transfer from my UK bank, all done online. I've had good results with Transferwise, I think just called Wise now. There are many but look at the amount of pesos that get to your account as the different rates and fees are very confusing. My UK account is with HSBC so I've also got an HSBC Philippines account also with a debit card. I feed my HSBC Philippines account through my online banking which is drag and drop and free. Transferring to my PNB account is easy but as the HSBC is a sterling account the exchange rate tend to be a bit below hence using Wise depending on the rate of the day.


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## Simon p (Jan 29, 2021)

Scoot65 said:


> Hello.
> I'm currently doing some initial research regarding how best to access my money whilst living away of the UK.
> 
> I'm UK citizen married to a filipina and we may be in a position in about 18 months / 2 years time to be able live longterm in the Philippines. Although I intend to open filipino bank account once I meet the requirements. I intend to keep the majority of money in a UK bank.
> ...


Hi Scoot65

Your best bet would be open A starling bank, Tide or revolt accounts, providing you live in a recognized country with a mobile phone, you can deal in different currencies, 

Once TRNC allows marriages due to covid restrictions we will be moving to Philippines.

Cheers

Simon


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

My wife has a Monzo card which worked well for shopping but was troublesome drawing cash which was expensive and limited to something like £200 per month.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> I probably won't have a UK address to which a replacement UK bank card could be sent. (I have a couple of friends who I may ask if they would be willing allow me to use their address as my registered address with my UK bank. I'm not relying on this an option). So I'm concerned of a UK card was to get blocked / lost / expired / re-issued etc.
> 
> I have standard current accounts with Lloyds, Nationwide and HSBC.
> 
> Any advice would be most appreciated!


From what you mentioned above and if this is your final stop you could also have your funds electronically sent to what's called a "Pension account" the fee is $5 USD per month, the safety feature on this account is that only you can access it. I'm not sure of BPI but BDO and PNB both have pensioner accounts.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

I do the same as Garry D with HSBC except my home accounts HSBC Canada.

PSBE Philippines allows Sterling accounts so you can transfer pounds to that then convert to your peso account.

Drawback is that initially they did not allow me to make on line foreign currency transfers. I need to either go to the branch or use phone banking for conversions. That was a one year limitation and I have not bothered to go and change it as I simply transfer sufficient CDN to last a few months at a time.

HSBC Philippines only has branches in NCR, Cebu and Davao so that may be an issue depending on your circumstances.

I also have Union Bank and Gcash accounts that I can transfer funds to for use. Instapay and Peso net allow me to make on line transfers from my HSBC PNP account.

My HSBC Canada address is in the Philippines and they have mailed replacement bank cards there. One lost in PhilPost but that is another story.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Good that you are giving this important matter some thought early in your process of moving to the ROP. We all have some different circumstances and we have to make decisions accordingly. You will have to make decisions out of all the options based on your own circumstances. That being said, I am a US citizen and have lived permanently in the ROP since 2014 and only assume mostly the US & UK rules are similar. I have my Retirement funds and Pension funds directly deposited in banks in the US and use ATM debit cards to withdraw as needed for living expenses. ATM machines are pretty much everywhere in the ROP with the note that they will charge a small fee with each withdrawal being a foreign account. One of my banks in the states will cancel/close out my accounts with them if they know that I do not live in the US but the other bank doesn't care where in the world I live, just something to be aware of. After I moved here, I opened a dollar savings account with BPI(Bank of the Philippine Islands) in the ROP which I can deposit checks from my US banks into and use a card to withdraw. I can withdraw Pesos at a BPI ATM but if I need dollars I have to deal with one of the CSRs inside in order access dollars. I use a mail forwarding service in the states and use them as my mailing & permanent address so it does appear that I actually live at that address. That address is where the banks mail replacement cards to and then I have them sent to me by FedEx as I am assured of delivery. DO NOT SEND BY REGULAR MAIL AS THINGS "DISAPPEAR" AT PHILPOST. PhilPost is the national mail system in the Philippines. All other dealings with both banks are done online. I also keep one credit card which I do use on occasion just to keep it active as an emergency source of funds if ever needed or for any other unforeseen emergency. As another emergency measure, it is wise to keep a goodly sum of cash on hand as the ATMs are often offline and there are frequent blackouts with no power to operate them.

Just how I do it. 

Fred


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Many thanks for all of the replies. Some good information that's very much appreciated. I'll have a good read through the replies to fully digest the information and may well have a couple of other questions. 

I certainly intend to have more than one option to access money. A couple of banks and also use a remittance service such as Transferwise / Wise.

Thanks again!


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## KatanaDV20 (Mar 27, 2020)

Very interesting topic and good question. UK here also and I see myself wanting to live in the Ph permanently one day also so its good to get a heads up on these matters. Following this discussion closely.


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## Simon p (Jan 29, 2021)

Your best bet would be open A starling bank, Tide or revolt accounts, providing you live in a recognized country with a mobile phone, you can deal in different currencies,

Once TRNC allows marriages due to covid restrictions we will be moving to Philippines.

Cheers

Simon


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## siamjeff (Dec 14, 2014)

Scoot65 said:


> Hello.
> I'm currently doing some initial research regarding how best to access my money whilst living away of the UK.
> 
> I'm UK citizen married to a filipina and we may be in a position in about 18 months / 2 years time to be able live longterm in the Philippines. Although I intend to open filipino bank account once I meet the requirements. I intend to keep the majority of money in a UK bank.
> ...


Hi:

I'm in the Philippines also and have used PayPal the entire time between Canada and Phils. It costs only CAD $4.99 to send $5,000 and takes about 3-5 working days in total. If interested here's the steps:
1) open UK PayPal account and then link your UK banks to the PP account. Must have same names.
2) open a Philippines PayPal account (must be different email address than UK account)
3) open a Philippines bank account (I use BPI) and then link Philippines bank and Philippines PayPal account.
4) Add money as needed from UK bank to UK PayPal, then send from UK PayPal to Philippines PayPal and then deposit into Philippines bank from Philippines PayPal.

Good luck,
Jeff


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

siamjeff said:


> I'm in the Philippines also and have used PayPal the entire time between Canada and Phils. It costs only CAD $4.99 to send $5,000 and takes about 3-5 working days in total. If interested here's the steps:


 It did cost me less than 10 USD to send much more money than that (financing a business with real estate) sending direct from abroad bank to Phil bank,
but it took me much time and much work to get it approved, so your way is much more convinient and faster 👍


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> It did cost me less than 10 USD to send much more money than that (financing a business with real estate) sending direct from abroad bank to Phil bank,
> but it took me much time and much work to get it approved, so your way is much more convinient and faster 👍


HSBC to HSBC in £10000 chunks instantaneous and free.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks for all of the replies. Lots of good information and some options I hadn't considered such as PapPal.

I know I will prefer to have at least three different options of accessing my money, just in case there is a problem with option A, I have an option B and option C to fall back on.

I think one good option will be using HSBC. 
I already have a UK HSBC account so I'll open a Phils HSBC account as Gary D and Manitoba suggest. That way I can transfer online from UK HSBC account to Phils HSBC account. I can then either use the Phils HSBC account ATM card (I'm assuming that this will incur ATM fees and currency exchange fees too) or I could transfer from PHILS HSBC to a local bank such as BPI / PNB / BDO etc. 

However, if the money sits in the Phils HSBC as £ sterling, how does it get converted into Peso to transfer to a Philippine bank?

Gary D....Can I open a Phils HSBC debit card account whilst still in the UK via my online account or do I have to be in the Philippines to open it?
Also, do you transfer from Phils HSBC to your PNB account using your HSBC online banking?

I'm going to look at opening a Starling account for their ATM fee free withdrawals / international money transfers. 

Also Transferwise / Wise seem a good remittance option too. 

So, taking into consideration what you guys have said, I think I'll hopefully have options like this:-

1) UK HSBC to Phils HSBC / Phils HSBC ATM card
2) Phils HSBC to local Philippine bank such as BPI / PNB / BDO etc
3) UK Starling ATM card for Philippine ATM withdrawals 
4) Transferwise / Wise to transfer money from UK bank account into Philippine bank account

I'll also keep the PayPal option in mind and look further into the 'Pensions Accounts" I've not heard of these before (although I'm a few years off retiring).

The mail forwarding arrangement that Fred mentioned sounds interesting with regard to getting replacement cards sent out to the Philippines, however I'm not sure we have these services in the UK. I'll have to look into that.

Thanks again for all your replies!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks for all of the replies. Lots of good information and some options I hadn't considered such as PapPal.
> 
> I know I will prefer to have at least three different options of accessing my money, just in case there is a problem with option A, I have an option B and option C to fall back on.
> 
> ...


The HSBC account has to be opened in the Philippines, in Makati in my case. Only two visits were necessary about 1 week apart, the second trip to pick up the debit card. I live in Bataan so no too big a trip. No atm fees, the account is a sterling savings account so no cheque book. The conversion to pesos happens as you withdraw. I use my HSBC online banking to send money to our PNB account. It's just a little bit easier have both accounts to draw larger amounts of cash. I can draw 50k pesos a day using the atm cards. Max transfer from HSBC is 200k but had it raised to 800k when we bought the car. Moving money to the Philippines is free but in the other direction is treated as a remittance so attracts a fee.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary D said:


> The HSBC account has to be opened in the Philippines, in Makati in my case. Only two visits were necessary about 1 week apart, the second trip to pick up the debit card. I live in Bataan so no too big a trip. No atm fees, the account is a sterling savings account so no cheque book. The conversion to pesos happens as you withdraw. I use my HSBC online banking to send money to our PNB account. It's just a little bit easier have both accounts to draw larger amounts of cash. I can draw 50k pesos a day using the atm cards. Max transfer from HSBC is 200k but had it raised to 800k when we bought the car. Moving money to the Philippines is free but in the other direction is treated as a remittance so attracts a fee.


Thanks Gary, great info.

Sorry, I forgot to mention in my last post. When you say you use 'online' banking are you using the HSBC website online banking or an HSBC app on a phone?
With my UK online banking account HSBC sent me a 'secure key'. A small calculator type thingy which generates pass codes. Did you get one of these when you opened the Phils HSBC account?

Also I'm assuming that in order the open the Phils HSBC account I would need official Philippine Govt. / Immigration documents i.e. residence permit / card etc ???


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

I've had a look on HSBC's Philippine website and see that they list several bank accounts comprising of:-

Premier Account ..... requires a minimum balance to be kept in the account
Advance Account ..... requires a minimum balance to be kept in the account 
Peso Account
Foreign Currency Account


For the guys with Philippines HSBC accounts, which accounts would you recommend? 

My UK HSBC account is the Advance Account if that makes any difference...........

I also see on the UK HSBC website that they have an International Bank Account which is set up before leaving the UK. Theres not a lot of info about it so I can't tell how competitive it is as currently they're not running the International Account opening service due to COVID-19


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

Scoot65 said:


> requires a minimum balance to be kept in the account


 A common is minimum 500 pesos at the acount allways to keep it alive, so no big diference for us foreigners but to much to get locked for poor Filipinos.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Lunkan said:


> A common is minimum 500 pesos at the acount allways to keep it alive, so no big diference for us foreigners but to much to get locked for poor Filipinos.


Actually I've just re-read the Philippine HSBC website and it says that the Premier Account requires a "Total Relationship Balance" (TRB) of PHP3,000,000 minimum (includes deposits and investments ) and for the Advance Account it's PHP1,000,000.

So not really small change... lol


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Actually I've just re-read the Philippine HSBC website and it says that the Premier Account requires a "Total Relationship Balance" (TRB) of PHP3,000,000 minimum (includes deposits and investments ) and for the Advance Account it's PHP1,000,000.
> 
> So not really small change... lol


My account has the 100k minimum. Just look on it as an emergency fund. If you go into the international account you just find out that you need to set it up once you arrive in the Philippines. Yes got the little calculator thingy for both my accounts. I use online banking not the phone app. As I'd already got a UK Advance account they didn't seem to worry to much about the other requirements. As the two accounts are globally linked I can access from both online ends.


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

Scoot65 said:


> Actually I've just re-read the Philippine HSBC website and it says that the Premier Account requires a "Total Relationship Balance" (TRB) of PHP3,000,000 minimum (includes deposits and investments ) and for the Advance Account it's PHP1,000,000.


 Why having bank acounts with such minimums??? 
(Except when it's a TEMPORARY deposit acount to get SRRV/SIRV Visa or something to be invested.)
IIf it's for emergency tthen you don't want any minimum


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary D said:


> My account has the 100k minimum. Just look on it as an emergency fund. If you go into the international account you just find out that you need to set it up once you arrive in the Philippines. Yes got the little calculator thingy for both my accounts. I use online banking not the phone app. As I'd already got a UK Advance account they didn't seem to worry to much about the other requirements. As the two accounts are globally linked I can access from both online ends.


Thanks again Gary
Yes, £100k can be looked at as an emergency fund. Not bad at approx £1.5k. Good to hear that online banking works well as that is what I use rather than a phone app.

I think I may have one other (last) question..........

Do you use a UK address with regard to still holding a UK HSBC account or are they happy to have your registered address as being one in the Philippines?


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks again Gary
> Yes, £100k can be looked at as an emergency fund. Not bad at approx £1.5k. Good to hear that online banking works well as that is what I use rather than a phone app.
> 
> I think I may have one other (last) question..........
> ...


I still have my UK address, I can't remember what address I used for the Philippines account.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> Why having bank acounts with such minimums???
> (Except when it's a TEMPORARY deposit acount to get SRRV/SIRV Visa or something to be invested.)
> IIf it's for emergency tthen you don't want any minimum


Unlike an SRRV I can dip in and out anytime. If I do it just means I lose free banking until the limit is replaced.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

I have a Lloyds account in UK and I use TransferWise (now Wise) as my preferred method of transferring funds to my Philippines account. It is accomplished in minutes and gives the best exchange rate and lowest fees. I occasionally use my Lloyds Debit Card in local ATM's, works well but there is a P250 fee and the exchange rate that Lloyds use to convert is not the best. Additionally, I have a $ account with TransferWise, so I can transfer either £ or $ depending on which currency offers the best exchange rate at the time. I use my daughters address in UK for Lloyds, with no issues.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Again, thanks for the replies. They've all been very useful. I've now got a pretty good of how I'm going to arrange things.

I think the only issue will be if the banks that I have accounts with, which are Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide, insist that I must have a UK address registered with them, as once I make the move to Philippines, I won't have a UK address and I don't have any real close family / friends who I could ask to use their address as a correspondence address. I do have a neighbour and a couple of work colleagues who I may ask nearer the time.......


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

Scoot65 said:


> I think the only issue will be if the banks that I have accounts with, which are Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide, insist that I must have a UK address registered with them, as once I make the move to Philippines, I won't have a UK address and I don't have any real close family / friends who I could ask to use their address as a correspondence address. I do have a neighbour and a couple of work colleagues who I may ask nearer the time.......


 Not enough with a mail forward service adress?


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Lunkan said:


> Not enough with a mail forward service adress?


I don't know. I'm not particularly familiar with mail forwarding services. I'll have to look into the options, if there are any in the UK.


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

I still have my UK Nationwide account where one of my private pensions is paid into, the Pension company refused to pay my monthly pension into my BDO acct as its only 58 pounds a month, however with Nationwide i just informed them that my new adress would be in the Philippines, which was not a problem i can draw the cash from most ATMs here in the Philippines with a modest charge , and Nationwide send me a new card when the old one expires.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

expatuk2016 said:


> I still have my UK Nationwide account where one of my private pensions is paid into, the Pension company refused to pay my monthly pension into my BDO acct as its only 58 pounds a month, however with Nationwide i just informed them that my new adress would be in the Philippines, which was not a problem i can draw the cash from most ATMs here in the Philippines with a modest charge , and Nationwide send me a new card when the old one expires.


Good to hear that Nationwide allow customers to have foreign addresses on their bank accounts. 

How do Nationwide send out the replacement cards to the Philippines, is it via a courier such as FedEx, DHL UPS etc ? Or do they use regular postal service?

Many thanks..


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

Scoot65 said:


> Good to hear that Nationwide allow customers to have foreign addresses on their bank accounts.
> 
> How do Nationwide send out the replacement cards to the Philippines, is it via a courier such as FedEx, DHL UPS etc ? Or do they use regular postal service?
> 
> Many thanks..


Nationwide use the Philippines post office ! Normally a letter sent from the UK takes 3 months to arrive at our home ! As it goes from Manila to San Pedro before arriving in our local Post office and here its only one day a week delivery !


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

expatuk2016 said:


> Nationwide use the Philippines post office ! Normally a letter sent from the UK takes 3 months to arrive at our home ! As it goes from Manila to San Pedro before arriving in our local Post office and here its only one day a week delivery !


I was hoping you'd say that Nationwide use a good courier service (even if there was an additional cost). Have you ever had a card go missing whilst with Philippine Post Office?


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

Hi Scoot, luckily no cards from Nationwide have gone missing, but Birthday and Xmas cards and proof of life forms never arrive.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

That's always a worry when using Philpost, mail not arriving........ I guess it's just the luck of the draw. 
I'm assuming you had to contact Nationwide asking them to resend the forms? 
It's a pity that in this day and and age, proof of life cannot be done online / digitally.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Scoot65 said:


> Again, thanks for the replies. They've all been very useful. I've now got a pretty good of how I'm going to arrange things.
> 
> I think the only issue will be if the banks that I have accounts with, which are Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide, insist that I must have a UK address registered with them, as once I make the move to Philippines, I won't have a UK address and I don't have any real close family / friends who I could ask to use their address as a correspondence address. I do have a neighbour and a couple of work colleagues who I may ask nearer the time.......


I have worked and lived overseas most of my adult life. I haven't had a UK address since 1982, Lloyds had no problem with that.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

Scoot65 said:


> That's always a worry when using Philpost, mail not arriving........ I guess it's just the luck of the draw.
> I'm assuming you had to contact Nationwide asking them to resend the forms?
> It's a pity that in this day and and age, proof of life cannot be done online / digitally.


I received a POL form last February, around the start of the Covid pandemic. I called Pensions directly and after a couple of security questions to verify my identity, I was all cleared with no need to return the form.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

hogrider said:


> I have worked and lived overseas most of my adult life. I haven't had a UK address since 1982, Lloyds had no problem with that.


Thanks for the info. Good to hear that Lloyds are OK with accounts having overseas addresses registered to them.

From the previous posts, looks like between my current accounts at HSBC, Nationwide and Lloyds I should be OK regarding the banks allowing a foreign address to be registered with my accounts. That's a relief! Once I know when I'm making the move I'll get things in motion. 

Thanks again for all of the posts, they've been most helpful.


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## Pilgrim79 (Sep 1, 2021)

Did anyone try this? Seems ideal for expats and dual citizens.


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## grahamw57 (May 27, 2018)

Formerly 'Transferwise' ?

The above were legit, but I haven't used them so far.


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## Pilgrim79 (Sep 1, 2021)

grahamw57 said:


> Formerly 'Transferwise' ?
> 
> The above were legit, but I haven't used them so far.


Yes, formerly Transferwise.


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## grahamw57 (May 27, 2018)

I use an online (only) bank, and then send money to myself using Azimo. 

The online bank do provide a debit card, but I don't use it.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

I use Wise regularly but have local debit cards. International cards usually attract larger fees, unless tbey are reimbursed.


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## Shadowman (Apr 20, 2020)

Scoot65 said:


> Philippine HSBC website says that the Premier Account requires a "Total Relationship Balance" (TRB) of PHP3,000,000 minimum


OR monthly deposits of PHP300,000

Worth it for this, nothing comes close:



> Transfer instantly between all your global HSBC accounts, free of charge.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Shadowman said:


> OR monthly deposits of PHP300,000
> 
> Worth it for this, nothing comes close:


If you were rich enough to have a premier account the 3,000,000p wouldn't be a problem. If I could afford a premier account I probably wouldn't live in the Philippines. The Avance account is only 100k but you don't get a personal banker or get to sit in the comfy chairs.


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## Shadowman (Apr 20, 2020)

Gary D said:


> If I could afford a premier account I probably wouldn't live in the Philippines.


You probably wouldn't live in the Philippines _province_!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Shadowman said:


> You probably wouldn't live in the Philippines _province_!


Anywhere outside Manila is considered by filipinos to be the provinces, so that includes the likes of Cebu, Davao, etc. But then I guess you knew that already.


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## freebiefan (Nov 11, 2020)

Scoot65 said:


> I've had a look on HSBC's Philippine website and see that they list several bank accounts comprising of:-
> 
> Premier Account ..... requires a minimum balance to be kept in the account
> Advance Account ..... requires a minimum balance to be kept in the account
> ...


Ive had HSBC Premier for past 20 plus years. Opened in HK and have the Philippines account and a Jersey account. The Premier website is a breeze and very easy to move money between each account. Have debit cards for each and credit cards too. Aslo from my HSBC account I have myself as a Registered account at BPI so its easy to send whichever currency to BPI and then withdraw through a BPI atm of which there are thousands here in every ( almost !) town. This to me was the easiest solution.. downside if theres a substantial minimum deposit required but ease of use its great.. plus the Premier offices are very good especially those in HK.. bathrooms, good free coffee and newspapers. Plus if I have a problem here with hsbc HK or Jersey for instance I go to Makati HSBC and can use their phones to call HK or Jersey, which has been good in past years as its been at least 20 minutes on hold to talk to a customer service rep.


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## concoddy (Mar 12, 2021)

A few months back *snip* was so slow that I and my wife got frustrated, but as I'm a computer engineer, I know that the website and app are down because of the instant traffic on the server. but my wife didn't believe me and made calls to their customer care. they told their server is down and their technicians are working on it, they are sorry for the problem their customer is facing. at that movement respect for the bank and customer care increase from my heart. They know that how to handle the customer.


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## Uk expat888 (Nov 8, 2021)

Gary D said:


> We have a Philippines savings account with a debit card. I often use a remittance service to periodically transfer from my UK bank, all done online. I've had good results with Transferwise, I think just called Wise now. There are many but look at the amount of pesos that get to your account as the different rates and fees are very confusing. My UK account is with HSBC so I've also got an HSBC Philippines account also with a debit card. I feed my HSBC Philippines account through my online banking which is drag and drop and free. Transferring to my PNB account is easy but as the HSBC is a sterling account the exchange rate tend to be a bit below hence using Wise depending on the rate of the day.


Hi Gary d 
Just got to ask
DO you have a problem downloading updates in the philippines for your hsbc uk app ? I don't know whether it's my Huawei or the fact that I am in the philippines but I can't get any update to my hsbc uk account. I wish I had never got that app in the UK, rather stay with online account. 
Thanks in advance for any tips


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Uk expat888 said:


> Hi Gary d
> Just got to ask
> DO you have a problem downloading updates in the philippines for your hsbc uk app ? I don't know whether it's my Huawei or the fact that I am in the philippines but I can't get any update to my hsbc uk account. I wish I had never got that app in the UK, rather stay with online account.
> Thanks in advance for any tips


Call me old fashioned but I don't like anything on my phone that could cause problems if hacked or lost. I only ever access my accounts online.


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## KatanaDV20 (Mar 27, 2020)

Pilgrim79 said:


> Did anyone try this? Seems ideal for expats and dual citizens.
> 
> View attachment 100218


Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting , will totally look into it.


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## Darby Allen (Sep 22, 2014)

KatanaDV20 said:


> Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting , will totally look into it.


About six years ago I applied to have my RAF pension paid into my BPI account. It went first to a US bank, who skimmed their bit off the top before sending it on to my BPI account; the BPI then skimmed _their_ bit off the top; and it took at least four days for the remainder to arrive in my account. I quickly applied to have the payments reverted to my Nationwide account.

I considered opening an HSBC account, but there are no branches near Angeles City.

The main problem with Nationwide is that they won’t send anything overseas, so replacement cards go to a UK address, and my sister forwards them, about £10 signed-for. Nationwide recently renewed my credit card, which had about a year to run, and I was left without access to credit for a month [I do all my shopping with the credit card, which doesn’t charge for overseas transactions].

Until recently I transferred cash from Nationwide to BPI through World Remit, but I still need a Nationwide debit card to authorise those payments, so I applied to have my pensions paid into Wise [formerly Transferwise] who have a virtual bank with a UK sort code. My RAF pension is now paid into that, and it costs about £5 to transfer £1,000; no cards required.

The DWP appears reluctant to pay my state pension into the Wise account, but I shall persevere with this. even though I’ve been told that the pension can be paid directly into my BPI account without any cost to me.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Darby Allen said:


> About six years ago I applied to have my RAF pension paid into my BPI account. It went first to a US bank, who skimmed their bit off the top before sending it on to my BPI account; the BPI then skimmed _their_ bit off the top; and it took at least four days for the remainder to arrive in my account. I quickly applied to have the payments reverted to my Nationwide account.
> 
> I considered opening an HSBC account, but there are no branches near Angeles City.
> 
> ...


I do a bit of both. I have an HSBC account set up in Makati, only took two trips from Bataan, first to set up the account and second a week later to pick up the debit card. I transfer from the UK to the HSBC by online banking. My UK account is also HSBC so free of charge. I also use Wise to send to our PNB account, only because the exchange rate is slightly better than HSBC. My HSBC PH account is a sterling account so sending to PNB has an exchange rate attached.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Sorry for not replying for a while. I didn't seem to be getting alerts to replies to this thread (even though I've been logged on since). Many thanks for the continued contributions. 

Bit of an update.......My wife and I are now definitely going to be moving to the Philippines the end of October this year. Initially for the next couple of years or so we're planning to do 6 months in UK and 6 months in Philippines. After that we'll decide what to do about the UK property.

Regarding finances. I have my HSBC (UK) debit card and a Starling debit card (fee free abroad). Also, almost by accident (chasing higher interest UK current accounts) I also now have Virgin Money and Chase Bank debit cards which also both fee free abroad. I think I will load up the Starling card to use as day to day spending and also load up one of the Virgin or Chase cards to have a back up.

In the longer term I want to open up a HSBC (Phils) account and second local bank account such as BDO / BPI etc. Once these are opened my plan is to transfer a larger sum of money, say 6 months worth plus, into the HSBC (Phils) account and then each month transfer the monthly budget into the BDO et al account. That way I will be able to keep a track of the monthly budget more easily. 

I don't think that I'm able to open Philippine bank accounts whilst I'm on the Balikbayan visa and will have to wait until I'm a more permanent resident, visa wise ...... is this correct?

I'm also going to open an account with Wise (Transfer Wise) to have as another source of money access. 

Do you guys think that this plan is OK? 

I've taken on board the previous comments and I think that I've got things covered.........

Thanks again for all the contributions. very much appreciated!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Sorry for not replying for a while. I didn't seem to be getting alerts to replies to this thread (even though I've been logged on since). Many thanks for the continued contributions.
> 
> Bit of an update.......My wife and I are now definitely going to be moving to the Philippines the end of October this year. Initially for the next couple of years or so we're planning to do 6 months in UK and 6 months in Philippines. After that we'll decide what to do about the UK property.
> 
> ...


I opened my HSBC PH and I'm a balikbayan doing 4 and 8 in the Philippines.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Sorry for not replying for a while. I didn't seem to be getting alerts to replies to this thread (even though I've been logged on since). Many thanks for the continued contributions.
> 
> Bit of an update.......My wife and I are now definitely going to be moving to the Philippines the end of October this year. Initially for the next couple of years or so we're planning to do 6 months in UK and 6 months in Philippines. After that we'll decide what to do about the UK property.
> 
> ...


Scoot, watch out some bank chains have limitations to deposits but I think BPI might be okay with larger deposits, I know that sounds strange but I tried to deposit a $3000 USD check in my PNB bank and they only accept $2000 max per check and then I'd have to write an additional check with an additional 200 pesos charge, they didn't explain this to me until much later.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

M.C.A. said:


> Scoot, watch out some bank chains have limitations to deposits but I think BPI might be okay with larger deposits, I know that sounds strange but I tried to deposit a $3000 USD check in my PNB bank and they only accept $2000 max per check and then I'd have to write an additional check with an additional 200 pesos charge, they didn't explain this to me until much later.


I do a $5000 deposit into my dollar account at BPI whenever the balance goes below $5000. This is to ensure that I do not exceed the $10000 balance & trigger reports & such. I just write a check to myself & endorse it at the teller counter at the BPI branch. I use my debit card at tthe ATM to withdraw Pesos but if I need to withdraw Dollars I have to see one of the ladies inside. They accept my checks from both my banks in the states. I do not know if there is a limit as to how much can be deposited each time.

Fred


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

Ive lived in the Philippines for 10 years now, i have a private pension of £58 a month which is paid into my Nationwide acct ( the pension co refuses to pay it into my BDO acct due to transaction fees ) however Nationwide send me an acct card and a card reader for security which i use every 3 months or so to withdraw my pension at a fee of around £1.50, which is fine by me.
My other private pension which is larger and paid annually is paid into my BDO acct


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. All good information to have and much appreciated.



Gary D said:


> I opened my HSBC PH and I'm a balikbayan doing 4 and 8 in the Philippines.


Gary, can I ask, what documentation did you need to have to open the HSBC PH account?
Thanks.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks for the replies. All good information to have and much appreciated.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The website list all sorts but I think I just used my passport.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary D said:


> The website list all sorts but I think I just used my passport.


That's good! 
I've watched a couple of recent YouTube videos and the guys were saying that they needed to have their ACR card etc. .........But I suppose with this being the Philippines, requirements it will vary from branch to branch.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> That's good!
> I've watched a couple of recent YouTube videos and the guys were saying that they needed to have their ACR card etc. .........But I suppose with this being the Philippines, requirements it will vary from branch to branch.


Already being an HSBC customer may also of helped.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary D said:


> Already being an HSBC customer may also of helped.


Could well have done. At least I have that in my favour too.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

If here as a Balikbayan you can apply for an ACR. SEE VOLUNTARY REGISTRANT.






ACR I-Card | Frequently Asked Questions


Frequently asked questions and queries regarding the ACR I-Card issuance of the Bureau of Immigration PH.




immigration.gov.ph





Chuck


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Checklist and application form.

Voluntary ACR card link


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## KatanaDV20 (Mar 27, 2020)

Darby Allen said:


> ....I applied to have my pensions paid into Wise [formerly Transferwise] who have a virtual bank with a UK sort code. My RAF pension is now paid into that, and it costs about £5 to transfer £1,000; no cards required.....


Thanks for the very detailed and informative reply. I shall bookmark this to come back to. The above jumped out at me. I did not know this about Wise. I can see that virtual bank coming in very useful in the future!


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks for the heads up regarding the voluntary ACR card. I didn't know about that. I'll certainly keep that info in mind!


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks for the heads up regarding the voluntary ACR card. I didn't know about that. I'll certainly keep that info in mind!


I've always considered the voluntary ACR card of very limited use. I just use my drivers license as an ID.


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## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

Hey scoot65

I had an account with BDO while I lived there. Unless the policies have changed, most banks there won't give your money back if someone gets into your account and takes it. So, I kept just just enough in there to use each month. I would just transfer money from my USA account to the Philippine's account when I needed it. I added the international account to my USA account. It would take sometimes a week getting credited to my Philippine's account. So don't wait the last minute to do a transfer.

You can use several transfer services to received money there and then deposit it. It does cost a little more for the fee.

I had to have my ACR card to open a checking account at BDO.

art


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

art1946 said:


> Unless the policies have changed, most banks there won't give your money back if someone gets into your account and takes it.


 IF the bank is connected to the guarantee system - which all big and some rural banks are - then the system at least is suppoused to guarantee up to max 500 000 pesos per person so it dont help to have multiple acounts. 
(Thats some simplified, because there are joint acounts too and that complicate things some.)


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## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

Hey Lunkan

You are right. I think BDO rep told me the same thing. I kept low amounts in the checking account. I use mostly my credit card that had no fees for international use. Probably most banks there are refunding money to customers that got money withdrawn from their account by another person. It was 9 years ago when I was there. I lived there for over a year. 

art


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> IF the bank is connected to the guarantee system - which all big and some rural banks are - then the system at least is suppoused to guarantee up to max 500 000 pesos per person so it dont help to have multiple acounts.
> (Thats some simplified, because there are joint acounts too and that complicate things some.)


The claim can take months.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Gary D said:


> I've always considered the voluntary ACR card of very limited use. I just use my driver's license as an ID.


When I opened our bank account with PNB 2010 they not only the asked for the passport but my ACR card and I think driver's license, BDO is the same in our area of Laguna and Scoot get this, you'll need photographs taken along with copies of your electrical or cable bill showing your address.

Almost the same procedures except for the photographs when opening an account with a Telecom provider, I had to show several documents when opening an account with PLDT/Landline and then I had to do it again later when I added an International line, I had to have copies of my bank account statement. You can't just call or message to have your internet or electricity connected you go to their main office and get in line etc.. if you try to hook up service through a Call Center they won't explain this to you, they'll just say okay okay sir, etc.. you'll be waiting for months because they don't want to get into arguments they'll just tell you what you want to hear, lessons learned.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

M.C.A. said:


> When I opened our bank account with PNB 2010 they not only the passport but my ACR card and I think driver's license, BDO is the same in our area of Laguna and Scoot get this, you'll need photographs taken along with copies of your electrical or cable bill showing your address.
> 
> Almost the same procedures except for the photographs when opening an account with a Telecom provider, I had to show several documents when opening an account with PLDT/Landline and then I had to do it again later when I added an International line, I had to have copies of my bank account statement. You can't just call or message to have your internet or electricity connected you go to their main office and get in line etc.. if you try to hook up service through a Call Center they won't explain this to you, they'll just say okay okay sir, etc.. you'll be waiting for months because they don't want to get into arguments they'll just tell you what you want to hear, lessons learned.


I've never been given such a hard time, I wonder why.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Gary D said:


> I've never been given such a hard time, I wonder why.


I have no idea either but I've talked with others and they go through the same thing even the citizens and returning OFWs.

I've heard things work more smoothly in and around Subic and the Angeles area so? That's not the case everywhere. I'm still waiting for PLDT to hook up an extension phone line it's going on two months, I can't use the Call Center I'd have to go the main office in another city to get things rolling.


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

I dont have personal experience by other than I opened the acount, but it was some complicated in city, but much smoother at the local town, but perhaps it depended of when went to town then we had the acount from city allready  (Started the acount in far city just to not carry much money during the travel to "home" municipaly.

I have heared there are much differences depending of the bank manager at each office


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> I dont have personal experience by other than I opened the acount, but it was some complicated in city, but much smoother at the local town, but perhaps it depended of when went to town then we had the acount from city allready  (Started the acount in far city just to not carry much money during the travel to "home" municipaly.
> 
> I have heared there are much differences depending of the bank manager at each office


The name on the door may be the same but each bank is run as a private fiefdom.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Gary D said:


> The name on the door may be the same but each bank is run as a private fiefdom.


Gary has it right, things are not standardized here at all, branches of any private, public, or government office seem to be run autonomously.

So... just a heads up to those arriving here, it could work, and then again it might not and you could spend all day where you can't open an account and then eventually end up finding a bank that will accept you as a tourist the ACR card might help but then again they are now color-coded and marked as a tourist, student, work visa, permanent resident, etc..


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

Gary D said:


> The name on the door may be the same but each bank is run as a private fiefdom.


 So what I had heared was correct  but you told it better


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks for the replies guys! 

Saying as at least for the first couple of years or so, I intend to be doing 6 months Phils / 6 months UK, I'll try to open a HSBC PH account whilst I'm in country (to hopefully work with my HSBC UK account regarding money transfer between accounts) but if it proves to be too difficult, I'll wait until I move to the Philippines more permanently. I'm not going to get bent out shape wrestling with Filipino customer "service".....


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks for the replies guys!
> 
> Saying as at least for the first couple of years or so, I intend to be doing 6 months Phils / 6 months UK, I'll try to open a HSBC PH account whilst I'm in country (to hopefully work with my HSBC UK account regarding money transfer between accounts) but if it proves to be too difficult, I'll wait until I move to the Philippines more permanently. I'm not going to get bent out shape wrestling with Filipino customer "service".....


I found HSBC Makati to be surprisingly professional.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Thanks for the replies guys!
> 
> Saying as at least for the first couple of years or so, I intend to be doing 6 months Phils / 6 months UK, I'll try to open a HSBC PH account whilst I'm in country (to hopefully work with my HSBC UK account regarding money transfer between accounts) but if it proves to be too difficult, I'll wait until I move to the Philippines more permanently. I'm not going to get bent out shape wrestling with Filipino customer "service".....


Customer Service, that's something you'll find doesn't exist here it saves the company a whole lot of money keeping a small workforce, you'll witness this in some large grocery stores where the lines get long and only two cashiers oh... and at times the internet doesn't work so carry cash always, I got my wake up call last night while grocery shopping and only relying on the ATM card, sorry sir no Internet no signal, cash only, this has happened to me many times and even at my bank, sorry sir no "Offline" so ... what can I do next (Several times) I have to withdraw dollars and then got to a Money Changer and change it into pesos and then come back a few days later to pick up my bank book from the bank with the new balance recorded.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary D said:


> I found HSBC Makati to be surprisingly professional.


I'll keep this in mind Gary. If I get no joy with the Davao branch and if I'm up in Manila I'll give them visit. Thanks for that info.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

M.C.A. said:


> Customer Service, that's something you'll find doesn't exist here it saves the company a whole lot of money keeping a small workforce, you'll witness this in some large grocery stores where the lines get long and only two cashiers oh... and at times the internet doesn't work so carry cash always, I got my wake up call last night while grocery shopping and only relying on the ATM card, sorry sir no Internet no signal, cash only, this has happened to me many times and even at my bank, sorry sir no "Offline" so ... what can I do next (Several times) I have to withdraw dollars and then got to a Money Changer and change it into pesos and then come back a few days later to pick up my bank book from the bank with the new balance recorded.


I agree, it certainly pays to have plenty of patience and 'go with the flow' haha


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## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

Mark

when I lived in Tagum City I opened up a checking account with BDO. I show my ACR card and used my apartment address. I had no problems opening up an account. My GF had the apartment and I wasn't even on any of the paperwork. After about 3 months one of the employees at BDO offered to sponsor me for their credit card. I had no problems with BDO.

art


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

art1946 said:


> Mark
> 
> when I lived in Tagum City I opened up a checking account with BDO. I show my ACR card and used my apartment address. I had no problems opening up an account. My GF had the apartment and I wasn't even on any of the paperwork. After about 3 months one of the employees at BDO offered to sponsor me for their credit card. I had no problems with BDO.
> 
> art


Art could you please share what year that was?


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

M.C.A. said:


> Art could you please share what year that was?


I got a BDO acct same as Art in 2010 as a tourist. Got the CC later.

Chuck


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

bidrod said:


> I got a BDO acct same as Art in 2010 as a tourist. Got the CC later.
> 
> Chuck


From I've seen on recent YouTube videos, the banks have tightened up on security regarding opening bank accounts and are asking for ACR card / proof of address etc. 

Either way, I'll give opening an account a go when I'm in the Philippines later this year.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> From I've seen on recent YouTube videos, the banks have tightened up on security regarding opening bank accounts and are asking for ACR card / proof of address etc.
> 
> Either way, I'll give opening an account a go when I'm in the Philippines later this year.


The way we got around it was to have joint account between me and the wife. You can understand the reluctance of banks to open accounts for tourists who are on a temporary visa.


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## Scoot65 (Jan 5, 2014)

Gary, that's a good idea. Actually, I do want to have a joint account with BDO or similar so we'll have a look at this when we're there. I'd like to have an HSBC PH account in my sole name another Phils bank account as a joint account in which to transfer the monthly budget into at the start of each month so both my wife and I can use for day to day spending.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Scoot65 said:


> Gary, that's a good idea. Actually, I do want to have a joint account with BDO or similar so we'll have a look at this when we're there.  I'd like to have an HSBC PH account in my sole name another Phils bank account as a joint account in which to transfer the monthly budget into at the start of each month so both my wife and I can use for day to day spending.


That's exactly how we operate, we have a joint PNB account which we opened about 25 years ago and I have my HSBC UK/PH account. My wife also has her Barclays account where she will have her State pension in a few years


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

If having three acounts (=own, wife's and a joint) then having bank security THREE times max 500 000 each. 


Gary D said:


> You can understand the reluctance of banks to open accounts for tourists who are on a temporary visa.


 Well. No big problem for the banks because its a,minimum of 500 pesos ballance at each acount otherwice it ends. (I believe much higher at dollar acounts.) Thats why few of poor Filipinos have bank acount because 500p is much money for them.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

Scoot65 said:


> From I've seen on recent YouTube videos, the banks have tightened up on security regarding opening bank accounts and are asking for ACR card / proof of address etc.
> 
> Either way, I'll give opening an account a go when I'm in the Philippines later this year.


I had an ACR card within my first week here. One acct was joint with fiancé and USD acct in my name only. We had a residence address.

Chuck


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> If having three acounts (=own, wife's and a joint) then having bank security THREE times max 500 000 each.
> Well. No big problem for the banks because its a,minimum of 500 pesos ballance at each acount otherwice it ends. (I believe much higher at dollar acounts.) Thats why few of poor Filipinos have bank acount because 500p is much money for them.


Maybe but there's still the significant paperwork overhead.


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