Deposit Funds in Philippine Banks

Aussie Dave wrote:

Can somebody help me here please?
I want to transfer money from Australia, to the Philippines, and would appreciate advice on how to do this with out using my Australian AMT card.
I have been transferring in 20,000 peso`s lots, and so far it has cost me a fortune in bank fees.
Is there another way that I can do it so as to reduce the fees?
Thanks in advance.

My answer would depend on how much you want to transfer at a time, or in total.

An ATM transfer would be about 31-32 to the $ ?  plus 200 pesos charge ? So A$500 would get about 15,500 pesos ?
You are losing about 10% in total with fees and FX rate profits by the banks, when compared to larger transactions.

Larger transactions can be done at a better rate, closer to 35, and with just one charge of 200 pesos by the receiving bank.  But sometimes a $7 fee if the transaction isn't large enough to avoid that fee.

I do much larger transactions every few months, but this is for convenience as well as saving in fees.  Each $500 of my (larger) transaction would get me just over 17,000 pesos at todays rates.

PM me if you want to discuss figures privately.

ABCDiamond wrote:

strvger wrote:

i'm confused.  one post said $50 US, plus the 500ph.  another post said $500 US plus the 500 ph.  which is correct?  i'll be moving there permanently in 2 months from the US.

It is only US$50 + 500 pesos.  The 500$ one was just a typo, easy to make.

Copy and paste from BoI: 
How to apply?
ACR I-Card application must be submitted together with the application for visa.
How much does it cost?
USD 50.00
Plus Php 500.00

That bit explains one of my own questions: " ACR I-Card application must be submitted together with the application for visa"



*Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice.

thanks, i was hoping that was what happened.

gmcne4 wrote:

Hi everyone
I have been following this thread and i believe some of the posts have been well intentional but confusing.
Setting up a bank account here is easy on tourist visa. I did without acr however would probably be easier with one.
When you come here you can get a visa extension for 6 months but I just extend every 2 months because I don't know when I need to go home(Oz) again due to family situation. After you have extended your 1 mth tourist visa by an extra month you need to extend again for 2 months at a time. Your next extension requires the ACR. At my immigration branch( Cebu-Island Mall) it is P7000+ for the extension incl ACR.
Regarding money transfer I use OzForex (http://www.ozforex.com.au/) and have been for a while. Rates are far better than any of the banks and service is A1. Very competitive with the money changers here also. You track your money and they deliver to any bank here. Yes easy to bring money into the Phils but not so easy to take out...but hey, that is just the way it is here for many things. PM me and i can say more.
Hope I have not muddied the water further.

That does just about sum it up correctly.  
I use something similar to ozforex, but transfer enough to avoid the $12 fee.
These companies even have slightly different rates to each other. Mine would give 343,976 pesos right now for A$10,000, while Ozforex is giving 338,441 (12:36pm 23/6/15)

If you use a foreign card to get money from an ATM, you lose up to about 10% on the FX rate, plus you pay a 200 peos withdrawal fee.

If you do have a bank account here,
The cost to withdrawal from an ATM is normally:
-  Free if you use your own banks ATM
- 7.5 pesos if you use a bank linked to your bank (eg: PSBank + Metrobank)
- 10 pesos if you use any other banks ATM

Aussie Dave wrote:

I meant my ATM card...I hit the wrong keys.

With an ATM card, there appears to be no real options. 

You pay the automatic FX rate of the day, plus the 200 peso overseas ATM fee.

Friendusa wrote:

transfer desk offering 7usd rated per 1000usd.

I think you may have a typo there, not sure what you meant though..

US$22 per 1,000 peso  would be about the normal rate

Ccchapo wrote:

It is difficult to build up a friendly relationship with anybody here, if you are nice and kind to them eventually they will hit you for money, a kind foreigner is an easy mark.A bank manager is only a bank manager during the day after work he is just a filipino.

I meant relationship in a "business way", that does not involve any private activities or visits to his house etc.
Same applies to all other dealings with authorities, companies etc. Being friendly is an absolute must in the Philippines (as well as it is advisable in rest of the world) and gets one further along the way.
Grumpy, disrespectful and unfriendly people get always second hand treatment or experience bad things.

Sorry to hear that Filipinos try to abuse you, unfortunately this happens not only to foreigners but Filipino alike.
(If not more, there still is a widespread "patronage system" in effect, in very poor rural areas almost harboring on Feudalism)

Off Topic, but maybe helpful to others also - As a General guideline when asked for credit or borrowing money, the best answer is to say " I'll think about it, right now it is not possible though, maybe next month", then repeat this a few months and it will stop.
An outright " no" will make the person which asked loose his face, which is a very ugly and bad thing for him. And most likely one has a new enemy then. (That does not apply to employees asking for cash advance, which is an entire different story!)

Iamthewheels wrote:

Hi Dave
I am a married retiree expat living in Angeles I also have been here for three years when you said credit card i shuddered as i bank with the BDO bank on the base and i only use my credit card inside the bank as they ran out of money once and they told me to ts the machine outside the bank !!
Well the result was that my card was scammed for 15 thousand dollars by the Korean criminals and there are thousands on them her in Angeles they own bars fancy cars and a lot of girls
I was fortunate i advised MasterCard in Australia they credited me the 15k but now i only use the card inside the bank it is too dangerous to do otherwise as there are plenty of criminals her in Angeles just waiting to pounce of foreigners using credit cards and they are everywhere in the Philippines be careful
Bob Wheeler

There was a report on this at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/02/ … s-scammers in 2013.

BDO Unibank and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co (Metrobank) are stepping up efforts to protect its customers and secure its automated teller machines (ATM), after an international syndicate has reportedly been withdrawing money from ATM accounts of bank customers using card skimming devices.

They don't mention any specific nationality, but do say "International".

BDO said customers should take the following precautionary actions:

Transactors at any ATM should make it a habit to cover their hand when entering their ATM PIN.
Regular habit of changing the PIN
Avoiding the use of ATMs in high-risk areas

However, that does not help when a skimming machine is used.

Philippine bank depositors lost P220 million ($5.5m) to ATM fraud in 2013.
In 2013, some Philippine banks were willing to refund a customers losses from ATM fraud.

Not sure what the situation is like in 2015.