US Prepaid Debit Card that can be easily use in the Philippines

Hi Guys,I'm also retiring before the end of 2025. May I ask any member here that's still using a 'Non-Bank Prepaid Debit Card'.With advantages of Not Paying Monthly Fee and No Fee International Purchases. And can be Reloaded Easily in Banks or Merchant stores. Thanks - @Ray3131

At the risk of totally misunderstanding the question, I will say that that two Philippine money wallets offer free prepaid debit cards, GCASH and MAYA. I use them sometimes for local purchases and they are true VISA and MASTERCARD and will work in any USA ATM fir example.

They can be reloaded here at stores like 7-11 but why not get fully verified and just reload online? Or maybe you have no online bank account in home country to reload from? Those two debit cards have no monthly fees like the banked prepaid cards here such as PNB and seem to match what you are looking for.

Personally I would caution against making the balance too high; if there is any kind of computer accounting problem, and their systems are not exactly perfected as of now, they do not have the consumer protections seen in the West. $500.00 or 25K php would be a good maximum. Also, I am not sure but they may have maximum balances that are much lower than in the West. They may be around $2000 US but I am not sure because I never go that high. Any balance limits for Philippine credit and debit cards are very low making you wonder why they even bother. To get verified for GCASH or MAYA as a foreigner you will need an ACR-I card. Not sure if SRRV works for GCASH but it works for MAYA.

Hi Guys,
I'm also retiring before the end of 2025. May I ask any member here that's still using a 'Non-Bank Prepaid Debit Card'.
With advantages of Not Paying Monthly Fee and No Fee International Purchases. And can be Reloaded Easily in Banks or Merchant stores. Thanks - @Ray3131

At the risk of totally misunderstanding the question, I will say that that two Philippine money wallets offer free prepaid debit cards, GCASH and MAYA. I use them sonetimes for local purchases and they are true VISA and MASTERCARD and will work in any USA ATM fir example.

They can be reloaded here at stores like 7-11 but why not get fully verified and just reload online? Or maybe you have no online bank account in home country to reload from? Those two debit cards have no monthly fees like the banked prepaid cards here such as PNB and seem to match what you are looking for.

Personally I would caution against making the balance too high; if there is any kind of computer accounting problem, and their systems are not exactly perfected as of now, they do not have the consumer protections seen in the West. $500.00 or 25K php would be a good maximum. Also, I am not sure but they may have maximum balances that are much lower than in the West. They may be around $2000 US but I am not sure because I never go that high. Any balance limits for Philippine credit and debit cards are very low making you wonder why they even bother. To get verified for GCASH or MAYA as a foreigner you will need an ACR-I card. Not sure if SRRV works for GCASH but it works for MAYA.

Not sure if this answers your question but,

Both my Navy Federal and Schwab debit cards reimburse atm fees so I don’t bother with an “aftermarket debit card “

You could also just transfer funds to yourself via Western Union or Cebuana and pay cash

@gregparker6201

i use a  Charles Schwab Debit card for all ATM w/ d with the fees subsequently credited back to me one a month

@gregparker6201i use a Charles Schwab Debit card for all ATM w/ d with the fees subsequently credited back to me one a month - @Morgacj200424

Many people refer to Charles Schwab. I tried to apply but they refused because I gave my Philippine Address. I figured thay would do that but it would have been great if they accepted my Philippine address for mailing new debit cards etc.. I think what you must do is give them some fake USA address. More recently I heard that they are dropping clients whose transactions are mainly overseas. So I guess if you want Schwab, apply while you are still in America, use a valid US address that you can say is your American address and make sure you return home once in a while and use the debit card in the USA. It seems like they are interested in expat business but only if they still hold a USA residence and do not live 100% of the time overseas.

Also, I think this comment does not address the OP question which was using non-bank debit cards. Schwab is a brokerage house, true, but for checking accounts and debit cards aren't they functioning as a bank? And you don't "load" the Schwab debit card like you do a prepaid card. But, I don't fully understand what the OP is getting at either.

I thought about the idea of using a Post Office prepaid card once  (available in UK). Simple to use, no monthly fee and you can load different currencies on it. Problem was that I was told it could not be used in the Philippines. I think these cards also attract fees  when using ATM's.

Last time I visited the Philippines I did send myself money via Western Union (good exchange rate) and I simply  completed the paperwork at a Post Office in the UK before travelling, took the paperwork with me and a screenshot for safety and picked up the cash about 10 days later in Boracay.

I should add that I also took some cash and my UK debit and credit card with me.

@danfinn

i use a “Traveling Mail Box”  box number in the US for my banking and business correspondence. I haven’t had any issues

You are correct about the brokerage account. I get a separate statement for the debit card because I think Schwab owns an actual bank that issues them

I don’t use this card regularly. It’s my emergency medical fund

we transfer X dollars a month via Wize to my wife’s China bank savings account and this is our operating money for the month

theres a multitude of options available now. I’m sure he can find a suitable solution online. Maybe SOFI bank. The stock has done me well last year

@danfinn
i use a “Traveling Mail Box” box number in the US for my banking and business correspondence. I haven’t had any issues
You are correct about the brokerage account. I get a separate statement for the debit card because I think Schwab owns an actual bank that issues them
I don’t use this card regularly. It’s my emergency medical fund
we transfer X dollars a month via Wize to my wife’s China bank savings account and this is our operating money for the month

theres a multitude of options available now. I’m sure he can find a suitable solution online. Maybe SOFI bank. The stock has done me well last year - @gregparker6201

Thank you for the information on Traveling Msilbox. I an getting close to using some service like iPostal that gives a real street address close to or in your hometown. Still, for social security I still want to use an address (my daughter's) where I can say legitimately that I live at a few months per year and make me a resident. I will continue to use that same address for my state drivers incense and my voter id. You can use traveling mailing address as your bank address but if you ever want to take out a loan from that bank, these days with KYC they will make you prove you live at your address as listed with the bank with copies of your drivers license, voter ID (as one option) and utility bill, which we don't have. They may approve anyway without the utility bill. I pay USA Google Fi every month but everything there is online and I think no physical address. But need for loans is rare for most expats, although some borrow for née cars rather than laying out 1.5M or so in cash. It us much cheaper to borrow that money on signature from the US than trying to get a car loan in the Philippines. If you are 70 or older they will not usually give you a car loan in the Philippines.

So you use WISE to transfer to your wife's Philippine China Bank account every month? Do you have debit cards with China Bank to withdraw from ATMs? (Or just use your WISE debit card?) Do you have GCASH/MAYA to pay bills and perhaps restaurant tabs? We use remitly linked to our US bank to load GCASH and MAYA for that purpose which enables online payments for everything. Remitly is great for bank to bank payments for certain businesses like dentists. 5 years ago here in Dumaguete, every month we had to appear in person at the electrical, water, globe postpaid and internet utilitiy locations to manually pay the bills. That all ended in my case with MAYA. Whereas before, that was how it was done in Dumaguete, that all changed during the pandemic and I think very few expats go out and pay or send a helper to pay every month.

We pay our Globe and PLDT bill every month via CC auto payment. I use Wise to transfer money from Schwab to PNB where we have two accounts. I use my Schwab debit card to w/d funds from ATM worldwide with no fees. My wife uses PNB for bank to bank payments.

@danfinn

Traveling Mail box.  I believe they have locations in most states, I like the scan and email service of items I want a hard copy of, they also can forward documents via FedEx or DHL if required. I do occasional consulting work in the states and use a Wyoming mailbox ( originally from Wyoming. And no state tax.)

Navy Federal, Schwab & Social Security  know I live in Davao but use Traveling Mail box due to delivery issues with Philippine mail service, Navy Federal will do loans in Philippines due to large number of military retiree’s here

Use Wize as they usually have best exchange rates. China Bank issued ATM cards for withdrawal and purchases.

As mentioned by another member we also have a PNB account that we can transfer money into, but China Bank has the funds available a lot quicker. I have a problem with banks holding MY money interest free!

Wife pays cel phone bill and electricity bills at the grocery store when  shopping

It’s sure a lot easier to move funds and conduct business now than it was a few years ago. Been in and out of Davao since 84

One point about renewing your US drivers license. When my license was going to expire I wasn't able to renew it online.

At a certain age they require an eye test and a physical from your Doctor for renewal of the license, so my Nevada license has expired.

I have a Philippine Drivers license, it may be moot anyways because if I return to the states I won't be able to rent a car at LAX, because I'm sure they have an age restrictions.

One point about renewing your US drivers license. When my license was going to expire I wasn't able to renew it online.At a certain age they require an eye test and a physical from your Doctor for renewal of the license, so my Nevada license has expired.I have a Philippine Drivers license, it may be moot anyways because if I return to the states I won't be able to rent a car at LAX, because I'm sure they have an age restrictions. - @Enzyte Bob

You may have a certain grace period to renew your expired license next time you go there. It may be for a few years. Info should be available online.

danfinn said . . . You may have a certain grace period to renew your expired license next time you go there. It may be for a few years. Info should be available online.

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That's the real bugaboo . . . The next time I go to the states, who knows.

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much for all your input on my query.  Particularly, the 'Non-Bank Prepaid Debit' card I was referring to are, like: Wize, Netspend, Varo, Cash App and others issued by Online banks with Regular bank conduit.

Some of you who mentioned using Wize, may ask: 1] What are the Fees that you have to pay monthly?

2] If you don't have a regular bank account, how can you Reload it with Additional funds? and 3] Does it charge International Purchase/s fee/s? Thanks again guys.