Social Security deposits to banks in the Philippines

hey.....i have been getting my ssa money here in the philippines.....also thailand....the philippines is at no cost and its a dollar account..it arrives on the 4th day of each money..you can get peso at the bank but i do it at another shop with good rates......the thailand deposit is only in thailand baht.....and only at bangkok bank.....joe clough

That sounds encouraging.
  What bank do you use in the Philippines.and how did you set it up????

bpi....bank of the philippines island....its so easy....and no cost to you...some american people do atm ..but that cost you money each time...crazy....

BPI
Thanks
I will tell my wife about it and have her contact them....

Did you give the USA social security administration your BPI account info???
Sorry I'm asking so many questions.....

I send money over to Philippines mostly in USD by having a Dollar account and Peso account at BPI.  Their conversion rate is very good and it is very easy to transfer intra accounts.

I may move there soon and would you kindly answer how you got SSi to send out of country ACH or SwIFT?

I use a Western Union debit card where my Social Security is deposited on or before the Third of each month.  I then use Muller to turn into paso's , using Worldremitt , hope this helps.

StevDra wrote:

I send money over to Philippines mostly in USD by having a Dollar account and Peso account at BPI.  Their conversion rate is very good and it is very easy to transfer intra accounts.

I may move there soon and would you kindly answer how you got SSi to send out of country ACH or SwIFT?

We take our US dollars out of the bank account and go across the street to Two Brothers in Vigan and get about a half peso more per dollar than the bank rate.  Worth the walk.

the bpi gets your dollars from america on the 4th of each month.....you can get dollars or peso when you make a with draw....i also get dollars because i have a shop i get the peso at a good rate...but the bank is good also but it takes longer...

but your paying western union.....direct deposit into bpi bank there is no cost....

belayit wrote:

I will ne getting my social security checks deposited to a bank in the Philippines.
How do I get my money converted to pesos???
   Will the bank accept u.s. dollars????
   Will the bank convert it for me????
Or will I have to somehow physically do it myself???

Best way is electronic deposits to an approved Philippine bank after you get here and have your required ACR card from immigration. That way your SS is automatically deposited in your required US dollar Social Security account. The bank will transfer into pesos for you.
An example is that we use Metrobank. The SS is deposited into the SS dollar account and I transfer it into our peso act at the same bank and then withdrawal with the local ATM card when needed. Note-The SS dollar act is not permitted to have an ATM card and YOU and ONLY you are allowed access to the dollar act. Your wife or GF can  not access the dollar act.

belayit wrote:

I will ne getting my social security checks deposited to a bank in the Philippines.
How do I get my money converted to pesos???
   Will the bank accept u.s. dollars????
   Will the bank convert it for me????
Or will I have to somehow physically do it myself???

Well I won't being doing ACR instead a 1 year Balikbayan Stamp on the passport.  Do you know if that will affect SSi's decision to send to a foreign bank?  thx - Steve

StevDra wrote:

belayit wrote:

I will ne getting my social security checks deposited to a bank in the Philippines.
How do I get my money converted to pesos???
   Will the bank accept u.s. dollars????
   Will the bank convert it for me????
Or will I have to somehow physically do it myself???

Well I won't being doing ACR instead a 1 year Balikbayan Stamp on the passport.  Do you know if that will affect SSi's decision to send to a foreign bank?  thx - Steve

Hi Steve,

No, your visa type should have no effect on your SS or SDI being sent here to a local bank as long as you have a local address. Personally for security of mail delivery, I pay a yearly fee at the
VFW Post in Angeles City and use their PO Box as my mailing address and that works fine.
My only thinking is that with regular SS or disability from Social Security there is never a problem. But you said here that you are receiving SSI (supplemental Security Income) is that right? If that is the case, I have no idea if you can collect SSI here or in any foreign country. If you are getting SSI, I would in the strongest possible way suggest you
contact (email) Social Security at the Embassy in Manila. Do not inquire at the SS offices there as they likely do not have accurate info and the embassy will for sure. Hpe it all works out for you.


Regards

Navajo

Beware you will need to go to the US consulate ssa office and get a letter which you need to give to the bank and also have an acr card from the Philippines immigration. I gone to several banks and they wont issue atm card in your ssa account. I am going to check BPI soon. Good luck

You will now only get a passbook account for your SS Account in a Local Bank.

You have to appear in person to with drawl funds at the branch you set the account up at.  New law from USA stopped local banks from issuing SS Accounts with ATM Cards or from depositing into your local Phillippine Account

Before it was different some older SS Account holders still have use of ATM but  now the SS Office in Manila has to authorise the Bank to open an account for new SS payments it will be a separate USD account with Pass Book only in your name and no ATM Card just went through this 14 months ago. BDO Bank set up 3 accounts one for myself and one each for my 2 children wife not entitled as not a US Citizen but is on the Kids Accounts till their 18

Unfortunately I opened a direct deposit account at BPI.  I do not recommend them. Their "Online Express" is 20 years behind the rest of the world, in providing information.  they post transactions for the last 60 days only.  In our passbook account, all of their service charges are hidden, so you never know exactly what they are charging you.  When an electronic deposit comes in they will take an approximate 1.5% fee just for the deposit.

If I had it to do over again.  I would open a Wells Fargo Account in the United States.  I would have my electronic deposit their and make my U.S. dollar withdrawals at BDO, in the Philippines.

Be very wary of hidden charges at BPI.

BPI will charge you an approximate 1.5% fee for electronic, SS, deposits.