SAFEST way to transfer money from US to PI account?

EnzyteBob wrote:

When I'm using a stateside banks charge card at S&R, the processing company used by S&R tacks on a fee.

So you may think sometimes there is no fee, check your receipt from S&R. Probably the same for charge purchases elsewhere.

I have a Citibank Card which rebates 1% when you charge and 1% rebate when it's paid. So if you pay in full each month, no interest and a 2% rebate.

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wrote:

I can withdraw more from the ATM in the Philippines than in the USA 50,000 peso every 24 hours

"EnzyteBob"

While in the states, I had accounts at two banks, one had a  withdraw limit of $500 and the other $1,000 per day. A limit is good encase you're held up (gun point) at the ATM and the thief can only get your daily limit.

EnzyteBob wrote:

While in the states, I had accounts at two banks, one had a  withdraw limit of $500 and the other $1,000 per day. A limit is good encase you're held up (gun point) at the ATM and the thief can only get your daily limit.

@dimplesz14 can i ask a question  about money transfer forum?

@dimplesz14 hello

@dimplesz14 can i ask a question about money transfer forum?
-@marelly

She has not posted on any forum since 2016.

Safest way is to (1) have a Charles Schwab account in the States to receive your deposits.. they will also issue you a Visa card and refund any International fees you incur monthly ..  (2) open a Philippines Savings account.. (I recommend Philippines National Bank) easy to obtain and they too will issue you a M/C card.. (3) open a Remity account...  and (4) transfer your monies from Schwab via Remity to PH Savings monthly with no fees (bank to bank) except from Exchange which will be a point or so.. no problem!.. no biggie...so now you can draw from PNB amounts of that whenever or wherever you are in the Philippines.. (mostly anywhere) and have a CS International Visa card and a PNB MasterCard.  That is the system I am using and works...   just my 2.5cents worth.. LOL

Of all the major money transfer services, I am settled with XE (https://www.xe.com/), Canada-based.  It charges zero fee and has the highest exchange rate.  What you see is what they receive! 

I transfer bank-to-bank (US bank to BDO).  Only drawback, XE does take 5-8 days for the money to directly deposit.  Well, Xe got to make some profits somewhere.

@duonguhm Hummm,  I  may have to check XE out... the only issue is the time it takes to deliver.. Remity over to PNB takes about 2 or 3 days... that is not too bad but 5-8 is a bit too long..

Wise will always have my vote.

Average transfer time is 2 days, and the fees are minimal, to my knowledge, being the most cost effective of the platforms!

I set up account w Wise but did not use them.

@tpiro for me the trade-off is the exchange rate: 1peso less could mean a lot for larger amount.

I agree with long lag time; however my transfer is regular for house/investment etc.

Metro Bank allows an account keeping a balance in USD.  For that I carry money 2x a year when I visit Philippines or 2x when my wife visits US. Best.

@duonguhm Hummm, I may have to check XE out... the only issue is the time it takes to deliver.. Remity over to PNB takes about 2 or 3 days... that is not too bad but 5-8 is a bit too long.. -@tpiro

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Tpiro .. i think you mean Remitly.com .. rather than Remity.com mate?

Must say, for us, either worldremit.com or remitly.com has been excellent for over a decade now. For immediate cash pick-ups both of these are instant. And in Australia anyway, worldremit.com offer bank-to-bank within one day.

The five to eight days would be a deal breaker for me. My circumstances do not compare to people who have deep pockets.

For Example. . .within two hours after midnight Eastern Standard Time my SS direct deposit is received by CitiBank (USA) this month on the 16th. A transfer to the Philippines using Wise takes less then 20 minutes.

SS deposits dates varies between the 15th and 21st of the month. I know the dates in advance, so if it is the 21st and adding 5-8 days, it doesn't play well with my existing bills or purchases. I don't want to use my saving reserves to bridge that gap. I try to stay on a SS budget.

I primarily use Wise for collecting my Salaries from my Clients.

On the very rare occasion due to technical issues which are clearly out of my control, transfers have taken more than 3 days. This can be frustrating if not stressful especially when its  that favorite mid-point of the month when bills need to be paid, and you have no choice but to begrudgingly dip into your savings to meet the due date of said bills.

Thankfully, this is a rare occurrence.

On average,  the transfers to my bank account via Wise takes less than 2 full days (roughly 36 hours).

My transfers from USAA using Wise to BDO generally take less than 30 minutes. Transfers to GCash usually less than 10 minutes.

@PalawOne yes... meant Remitly.. thank you...  guess I was all thumbs on the keyboard.. LOL