Philippine Banks

@PalawOne

If I were to open an account in a different financial jurisdiction i.e Philippines I would want to know what savings are covered by the government if the bank became insolvent.

Here in the UK you have a government guarantee that up to £85K ($104K) is covered if the financial institution goes into liquidation.

There are various financial integrity strength tests such as capital adequacy, loan to assets ratios, return on assets that can be a useful guide.

Witness Credit Suisse's recent demise. The Swiss govt stepped in and gave the Union Bank of Switzerland guarantees to absorb the bank. Would the Philippine govt do the same thing if a big player like PNB went under?

When it comes to technical wonders I go a little slow, especially banking. Seeing CIMB is on the top of the list, my take of it is they are one step away to broaching  Bitcoin or any other digital coin. Brick & Mortar can offer you more services beyond bill paying and purchasing online.

It's good to see mostly brick and mortar banks comprising most of the list. They are hybrid banks, you can choose to be a digital customer or be a walk in when you have a problem.

I've had small problems with BDO, mostly my making, which required a face to face meetings. Just recently I received a notice it's time to change my password, I tried and the results were being locked out of my account.

I still prefer to do banking my way, keeping my money in Citi Bank USA and transferring funds using Wise to my BDO account as needed. 

Also the majority of Filipinos don't have a bank account, those using CIMB are more savvy than myself. Reading beyond the T.O.S. of CIMB, there are free ATM's, other peoples ATM's. Free for two withdraws a month.

As far as the article of rating banks, it's like rating who is the best fast food joint. Lance Spencer YU of Rappler seems to just regurgitating the article from Forbes. What I could find out about Mr. Yu he graduated with a degree in 2021. So his prospective in repeating the article doesn't coincide with Expats of my age.

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Thoughtful replies gentlemen. Thank you.

Like you Lotus, neither wifey nor myself have a Philippine bank account. But we do both have multiple Aussie bank accounts, and these resources are all that we find necessary anywhere.

When she was teaching in the Philippines, she did have a personal "Veteran's Bank" account because the Philippines Education Department will only pay their monthly salaries into a personal bank account. She has closed the account years ago now.

However, google says that only a third of the Philippine people have opened a bank account. Probably mainly teachers & public servants?

In afddition, I have often heard that the majority of Philippine public banks have poor mobile apps, if they have any at all? Veterans bank would only service their customers over their own bank counter, after a half-hour or so wait, and for which you had to dress quite formally, and to be wearing shoes :-)

My wife's home town, the second largest town on Palawan with 70,000 residents, used to have only the one bank, Veterans Bank. But that's now closed. (Not surprisingly). Now, there's none, and it has zero other-bank transaction machines.

But, it does have quite a few of the new credit 'cash-card' machines .. so much so that it now appears that credit cards (cash-cards) are the defacto method of "banking" in the Philippines?

Online "Proud_Badger452" writes the following one day ago ..

"Brick and mortar banks with their shitty fees and even shittier mobile apps need to just die off. It’s 2023 and the traditional banks have apps that would have been embarrassing 10 years ago. I’m currently in Vietnam and I can request a store’s QR code and I can wire them money directly. A couple of banks here even have an option to make customized QR codes where the price/payment request is embedded in the QR. I haven’t used paymaya but the whole Filipino fintech sphere really seems to be taking-off, and the traditional banks will have to shape up."

Yes. To succeed in life, citizens and business really need access to reasonably priced capital.

Not just minimum short-term finance, with credit-card type interest rates. Good grief, Phils!! 

Hello I hope all is fine with you .With regards to the bank its not complicated and the shoes business that is not true .u can wear what ever you like .as long as u are legal resident of the Philippines if u don't have a rent contract or a proof of billing u need to get a barangay clearance in the place you live . Getting a barangay clearance its easy cost is 50 pesos the last time I paid. with the banks u can have all the system like the us online banking paying bills online stuff like that .The only thing is depends where you live the waiting times in the bank its very long time . hope this helps a bit .

PalawOne excerpts: Like you Lotus, neither wifey nor myself have a Philippine bank account. But we do both have multiple Aussie bank accounts, and these resources are all that we find necessary anywhere.

Brick and mortar banks with their shitty fees

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Hey Pal #1 . . . . Do you use a bill pay app from your Aussie accounts to pay your utilities? (cable/internet, electric and phone loads).

I use BDO bill pay app without any fees, so I don't need toilet paper for any shitty fees. I also use the BDO debit card for my shopping. With a BDO on every street corner in the Metro Manila area it's convenient to get "WAM" (walking around money).

How do you acquire WAM for local transactions?

I do need WAM to pay our housekeeper, money for the small market and the air con guy who is here today to clean the dust out of the unit.

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FG, glad to hear Veterans might now offer card-services. So they're up-to-date?

EBob Aussie debit-cards will allow Phils ATMs unlimited WAM, at 10,000 peso per time, usually at better rates than Remitly and/or World Remit. Also, utilizing their bank mobile phone app pulling down from the savings account, we recently sent over a million peso from Australia to the Philippines. All in five transactions, with no problem what-so-ever.

Good to hear that the Philippines BDO sounds like it could manage to do the same, would you say? Very happy to hear you have no problem with your Philippine bank.

Life is good.

Cheers gents

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In that survey an even distribution would mean an average of 1500 customers surveyed in each country.

So, out of the millions of customers they consider a survey of only 1500 a helpful indicator of actual ranking?

And this is Forbes...

It might be helpful to see the actual data in how it relates to COMPLAINTS, as it can point to areas to research further,  but I would never trust rankings of self-reported "satisfaction" and I'd bet the whole survey is rife with flaws.

Today I was able to open a bank account at BPI in Lucena City across from the SM mall.

Very helpful staff there and it took less than an hour.

For the time being it is a savings account with just 3K PHP, to which I'll be adding a USD account soon.

I obtained permanent resident status this past year and only needed to provide copies of identification + passport & ACR-i card, along with 1"x1" pictures (I had only 2" pics at the time but they accepted those).

Yesterday I tried to open an account with BDO at SM Mall but was told I could submit my information but they had no idea if or when it might be reviewed.  So, I also stopped by the branch downtown and inquired.

It seemed hopeful, according to staff who greeted us, but upon sitting with the CSR the same vague procedure was confirmed along with further requirements to show income sources ... even for small deposits of cash.

We understand the concerns regarding money laundering, and are prepared to provide documentation of inheritance proceeds to account for large deposits and accounting for pension when that begins ...

But BDO seems to NOT want foreign business...

A bit off-topic, but we began the day by acquiring a Philippine driver's license.

My US license was set to expire in June this year, so it was a relief to have it completed so quickly.

Although we DID need to return home to retrieve my OLD passport which has my original arrival stamp, (and take pics and print them out), we were done before noon.

We will be opening other accounts as possible as we'll want to keep within insured account limits while also having sufficient funds for land purchase, building, etc.

So far, i gather having a USD account is best for transferring, but i also read tpiro's post regarding transferring using Wise:  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 69#5291500

So I will do some research. According to his post he was transferring for a bit over 1/2 of 1%.

That's the lowest cost I've seen so it really peaks my interest.

I believe I already have an account with Wise ... from the days when it was TransferWise...

I recently opened a SRRV account with BDO because it is the closest bank. I read that Forbes rated it the 2nd best bank in the Philippines. If it is one of the best I would surely hate to do business with one of the bad ones. It has been a nightmare.

I recently opened a SRRV account with BDO because it is the closest bank. I read that Forbes rated it the 2nd best bank in the Philippines. If it is one of the best I would surely hate to do business with one of the bad ones. It has been a nightmare.
-@Moon Dog

We did our SRRV account with BDO. No problems.

We did our SRRV account with BDO. No problems.
-@danfinn

I opened the account in Naval, Biliran. I thought we had it all set up properly but the bank made an error in the paperwork and failed to contact me. The PRA agent kept checking and it wasn't appearing in my account. I called the bank and they didn't know anything about it. I had to go back to the branch and sign another stack of papers. It takes hours because the girl was so distracted and disorganized. I began the process over a month ago and I'm still waiting for the bank to create the proper account and notify the PRA.

Apparently the problem is where the SRRV account is established. On the first attempt the bank created the account in the local Naval branch but they later learned the account must be in a Manila bank so they just said "oh well" and forgot about it leaving me hanging.

BPI is very popular, at least in the Visayas, so that's the bank my woman uses.They have lots of ATM's and branches, which helps when we are in the province. Mostly no problems. That said, I would probably go with BDO if I got my own account.

I keep all my money in US banks - have both brick/mortar and online. Transfer as needed with either Wise (thanks Bob) or Wells Fargo Express send (fastest), both directly into her account. When I'm there just pull from ATM with debit card.

pnwcyclist said . . . I keep all my money in US banks - have both brick/mortar and online. Transfer as needed with either Wise (thanks Bob) or Wells Fargo Express send (fastest), both directly into her account.

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Recently BDO sent me an email saying they process 55% of the transfers in 20 seconds.  I imagine Nigeria would take a bit longer.

I should modify my statements about BDO.

I shouldn't say as I did, that BDO seems to not want foreign business...

It seems they want to avoid hassle or risk, but considering with all the retirement accounts they handle, they DO like the foreign business.

My wife has a BDO account as well as BPI, and transfers seem to be no problem.

I think tomorrow we'll attempt to set up an account at Metrobank as well...

Fingers crossed.

I should modify my statements about BDO.
I shouldn't say as I did, that BDO seems to not want foreign business...
It seems they want to avoid hassle or risk, but considering with all the retirement accounts they handle, they DO like the foreign business.
My wife has a BDO account as well as BPI, and transfers seem to be no problem.
I think tomorrow we'll attempt to set up an account at Metrobank as well...
Fingers crossed.
-@Phil Lloyd

Frankly we tend to avoid Philippine bank accounts. If you are not as active as they wish, they simply steal your money big time as a fine for inactivity. If you have more than 10 grand in all of your accounts you must fill out a form for US FATCA and in that case know that you are insured for only 10 grand US in any one account  if the bank goes belly up. We do have a BDO account for SRRV and a PNB  for my wife's social  security but our real banking is based in the USA. I have even seen youtube videos of expats (reekay) being challenged at a bank in Cebu for the reason he wanted to withdraw his money...what will you use the money for? Why should anyone have to answer that just because there are money launderers in the country? That's not his problem, it is the bank's problem. No thanks...I will put my money in a bank that at least pretends I own my balance.

pnwcyclist said . . . I keep all my money in US banks - have both brick/mortar and online. Transfer as needed with either Wise (thanks Bob) or Wells Fargo Express send (fastest), both directly into her account.
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Recently BDO sent me an email saying they process 55% of the transfers in 20 seconds. I imagine Nigeria would take a bit longer.
-@Enzyte Bob

I should have said "WISE"

Not BDO, sorry

which top banks allow a USA phone number for verifications using the app?

which top banks allow a USA phone number for verifications using the app?
-@baldeagle954

Banks from which country? All USA banks accept a USA pnone number for verifications (obviously).

From what I understand, most (all?) USA-based banks require authentication via a USA phone number. My bank happens to be PNC, and they seem ill-equipped to handle travellers. Even my PNC Travelers Signature Visa card has been useless at ATMs here in the Philippines. PNC says to contact Visa...Visa can find no reason it isn't being accepted.

Authentication is a problem for many travellers and expats. I have had family receive codes for me, but I am also in the process of porting a phone number to Google voice as a more convenient workaround.

I would like to know of any banks that use other means of receiving codes, be it email, authentication apps, etc.

Which top Philipine banks?

Philippine National Bank, RCBC, and Metro Bank. these at least have been stable.

What about metro bank ?

which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?

which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?
-@baldeagle954

No for BPI and BDO. I don't think any of them allow you to do that for obvious reason

baldeagle954 said . . . .which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?

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You're from the US and live in the Philippines according to your bio.

What's preventing you from getting a cheap burner phone and every few months throw a P100 on it?

Problem solved

baldeagle954 said . . . .which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?
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You're from the US and live in the Philippines according to your bio.

What's preventing you from getting a cheap burner phone and every few months throw a P100 on it?

Problem solved
-@Enzyte Bob

Unless he also purchases an international roaming plan, the signal will never reach his phone here.

baldeagle954 said . . . .which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?
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I replied. . . . You're from the US and live in the Philippines according to your bio.

What's preventing you from getting a cheap burner phone and every few months throw a P100 on it?

Problem solved

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danfinn. . . replied Unless he also purchases an international roaming plan, the signal will never reach his phone here.

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The man banks at a Philippine bank, he has a USA phone. I suggested he get a cheap burner Philippine Phone to receive SMS (OPT) messages sent in the Philippines by a Philippine Bank and received by his Philippine Phone.

its no problem when i am here in the Philippines and i have a Philippine phone number but it probably will not work when i go to the US i would like to find another bank so i can transfer money while i am in the US from my bank account account in the Philippines to my girlfriend account in the Philippines as needed but as all banks do they provide you with a code to finish the transfer

baldeagle954 said . . . .which of these Philippine Banks can i use a USA telephone number for there OTP? I know PNB does but not Robinson bank? Any other top banks that will let you use a USA number?
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I replied. . . . You're from the US and live in the Philippines according to your bio.

What's preventing you from getting a cheap burner phone and every few months throw a P100 on it?

Problem solved*****************************************
danfinn. . . replied Unless he also purchases an international roaming plan, the signal will never reach his phone here.
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The man banks at a Philippine bank, he has a USA phone. I suggested he get a cheap burner Philippine Phone to receive SMS (OPT) messages sent in the Philippines by a Philippine Bank and received by his Philippine Phone.
-@Enzyte Bob

Now I understand.

baldeagle954. . . .

I put a pinch of  SNUS between my gum & cheek and pondered on a solution.

BDO has an app where you can transfer money from your BDO account to another BDO account, see if Robinson has a similar app when you are in the Philippines using your Philippine Phone for a Robinson to Robinson transfer.

When you are in the states use a company like WISE to debit your USA account and transfer the money using your USA phone to receive the SMS (OPT) for the transfer to the Philippine bank when you are in the USA.

Time for me to take a spit.

Just get a Google Voice number from the state you were residing in per US ... pull it up on your laptop or phone from Phils....  now your problem is solved

Just get a Google Voice number from the state you were residing in per US ... pull it up on your laptop or phone from Phils.... now your problem is solved
-@tpiro

That's what I did and it worked for me.

Never had a problem banking from Australia to PH. OTP's work fine to my PH number and never  problem drawing pesos out of our bank accounts  bank here.

Cheers, Steve.

@baldeagle954

If you both already have your accounts set up, you just use the apps and transfer bank to bank using WiFi via the app’s, your location & cell # should not be a issue...unless your bank is sending OTP for verification, if that’s the case just use a PayPal etc

@baldeagle954
If you both already have your accounts set up, you just use the apps and transfer bank to bank using WiFi via the app’s, your location & cell # should not be a issue...unless your bank is sending OTP for verification, if that’s the case just use a PayPal etc
-@vehicross100

I really like suggestions like this. These banks have gone way overboard on security requirements for their normal customers. I am sure it is not to make it easier for customers to withdraw funds; maybe the opposite. Anyway to get around those OTPs that interfere with our normal activities is most welcome. Yes, use PayPal, remitly etc.. Screw the bank's security algorithms.

@Enzyte Bob i agree on wise ,there you get the best exchange rates and as far as i know the cheapest transfere costs.

greets Dirk   

after more than 8 yrs i got tyred from trnsfering money so i aranged to get my pension direct on my ph acount ,as i dont plan to leeve the ph ever i see no need to ceep an acount in my home country ,saves me acount costs transfere costs and gives me peache of mind .

wath they call a win win win solution .lol.

greets Dirk

ps i can reverse this at anny time in no time ,depending on how fast i type my keebord keys on my laptop . this for them who will critisise this post .

dirk c. . . .vehicross100. . . .

First dirk c . . . Originally I was thinking about having my SS direct deposited in the Philippines. But I have other activities in the states unrelated to the Philippines to I keep my money in the states. Bill Paying is much easier with the apps available from my bank in the states. For example, to keep my US charge cards active from time to time I charge something and then pay off the statement with my CitiBank US account. So If I did what you do, transfer fees would almost balance out for me.

ATTN: To whom it may concern, inactive charge cards get cancelled, you only find out too late when you receive a letter from the bank.

vehicross100. . . . Suggesting Pay Pal is a terrible idea (High Fees). There are better alternatives.

@Enzyte Bob i agree on wise ,there you get the best exchange rates and as far as i know the cheapest transfere costs.
greets Dirk 
-@dirk.c.

I prefer worldremit bc I can receive the money into my account the same day.