Opening a online bank account

Simplest way to do this is go to your local BDO/Metrobank and open an actual savings, then thru your US bank app or online portal, setup a TT/Swift template.

All you need is a name, address, account number and swift code.

I have a local bank account but i dont have a US bank account anymore.

BPI

Hi

You will have to be present in the Philippines to open a bank account. This can be easy if you meet all of the account opening requirements. Be prepared to be able to show evidence that you intend to stay in the Philippines for some period. This might be proof of permanent residence, such as an SRRV card or an ACR i-card, which is issued to most registered aliens whose stay in the Philippines has exceeded fifty-nine (59) days.

Most banks here have on-line services that are linked to your account. These are OK but not of the caliber or sophistication that you might be used to in the western world. There are no pure on-line banks, as there are in the west.

Most banks offer US$ accounts that can be opened alongside your PHP account. The PHP is a restricted currency so a foreign currency account is a must, if you want to transfer money out of the Philippines.

Good luck

Steve

Thanks for all your input.. But i have 2 accounts here in PI already. What im looking for is how to open a bank account from US from here. I want to be able to do a direct deposit from IRS in that account from the US then i can transfer my money from there to my PI account.

Try with HSBC, I am opening an account with them online from abroad and you can have choices like a Peso account as well as a USD account.

IRS wont direct deposit to a foreign bank account

Hello, I have opened an on line checking and savings account in the U.S. that has free checking and can accept checks on line; I use USAA for this reason and I also have a checking and savings account with Capitol One, also free. They both work fine for transferring money and accepting checks.  When I received a covid check in the US my son sent it to me and I could not deposit it in Capitol one because I was in the Philippines, but USAA had no problem with it. You just take a picture of the check front and back and submit it, very easy.

They will accept direct deposit from IRS?

The IRS, Veterans Administration, and Social Security Administration all do direct deposits to Philippine bank accounts.

Philippine National Bank has offices in NYC that have regular routing codes.  My retirement check from the military is deposited this way.  I have a direct deposit bank account opened locally in the Philippines, and the deposits go through NYC office to the local branch.

Sumomaster2004 wrote:

Thanks for all your input.. But i have 2 accounts here in PI already. What im looking for is how to open a bank account from US from here. I want to be able to do a direct deposit from IRS in that account from the US then i can transfer my money from there to my PI account.

You may run into some problems. My bank in the states is Citibank, they even printed up checks with my Philippine address on them. My ss is direct deposit.

I went to Citibank here in the Philippines, I wanted to open an account to transfer money here between accounts. They answer I got was a flat "NO". That was three years ago.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

Sumomaster2004 wrote:

Thanks for all your input.. But i have 2 accounts here in PI already. What im looking for is how to open a bank account from US from here. I want to be able to do a direct deposit from IRS in that account from the US then i can transfer my money from there to my PI account.

You may run into some problems. My bank in the states is Citibank, they even printed up checks with my Philippine address on them. My ss is direct deposit.

I went to Citibank here in the Philippines, I wanted to open an account to transfer money here between accounts. They answer I got was a flat "NO". That was three years ago.

What did tey say "No" to?   There have been so many frauds with checks, so I suppouse banks dont like checks, but cant you just make transfers bank acount to bank acount ?

It's the Philippines. Simple solution: Ask somebody else until you get the person who says "YES"

coach53 wrote:

Enzyte Bob wrote:

Sumomaster2004 wrote:

Thanks for all your input.. But i have 2 accounts here in PI already. What im looking for is how to open a bank account from US from here. I want to be able to do a direct deposit from IRS in that account from the US then i can transfer my money from there to my PI account.

You may run into some problems. My bank in the states is Citibank, they even printed up checks with my Philippine address on them. My ss is direct deposit.

I went to Citibank here in the Philippines, I wanted to open an account to transfer money here between accounts. They answer I got was a flat "NO". That was three years ago.

What did tey say "No" to?   There have been so many frauds with checks, so I suppouse banks dont like checks, but cant you just make transfers bank acount to bank acount ?

.

They said I could not link my Citibank account in the states with their Citibank in the Philippines if I decided to open an account with them.

The Citibank in the states printed up my checks with my Philippine address as to make it easier for me if I was going to make purchases in the Philippines.  But, that never came to be. The only check I ever wrote was to BDO adding another $2500 to an existing account and that took 20 working days and more to be accredited.

For purchases made in the Philippines from day one, I used the BDO debit card or my charge cards from the states. I prefer using the charge card from the states paying a 3% fee because in case of fraud you have more protection than a debit card. Like having money in your savings account disappear and someone at BDO shrug their shoulders at your misfortune.

Now for any newbies when you arrive here you can use your stateside issued debit card and withdraw Pesos, up to 10,000 php from your dollar account, you can do this multiple times. Citibank allows up to $15,000 pesos, but why bother.

After you've been able to open a bank account in the Philippines and can have your ss or other funds direct deposited without all the workarounds in getting cash for your daily living.

I don't direct deposit to the Philippines, I prefer to keep my savings & ss in the states and then transfer to BDO as needed.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

They said I could not link my Citibank account in the states with their Citibank in the Philippines if I decided to open an account with them..

I see. But I suppouse you CAN send money from a bank acount in USA to a bank acount in Phils (if not over the max limit demanding approval in USA).  It dont even need to be same bank nor same nam,e at sender as reciever.

I know because I have done it      although from Sweden and with amount over the max without approval so I had to involve my bank to get that. 
If under that amount , I suppouse no problem to make the sendins yourself if you have access to such function online.

coach53 wrote:

Enzyte Bob wrote:

They said I could not link my Citibank account in the states with their Citibank in the Philippines if I decided to open an account with them..

I see. But I suppouse you CAN send money from a bank acount in USA to a bank acount in Phils (if not over the max limit demanding approval in USA).  It dont even need to be same bank nor same nam,e at sender as reciever.

I know because I have done it      although from Sweden and with amount over the max without approval so I had to involve my bank to get that. 
If under that amount , I suppouse no problem to make the sendins yourself if you have access to such function online.

Yes send money from one bank to another, but not transfer money between your American accounts to the Philippines accounts within the Citibank group.

guys... OMG .. that shit is so confusing just to move some bucks from the US to PH just to buy a burger at jollibee...  surely someone out there knows of a stable, safe and easy why to move your bucks....

Obviously Sumomaster2004 is trying to get some of the stimulus money the US is giving away like water.  Only way to open a us bank account is in person.

There was a post on a forum last year that definitely helped me out getting a US account online. Go to American Citizen Abroad, you sign up for $70 and this enables you to sign up for a account with State Department Federal Credit Union. I have my IRS direct deposits go there. They will also send you a visa atm card. You can also use their wire transfer service if needed from the US to the PH. Giving them an address in the Philippines is not a problem. Good luck.

https://www.americansabroad.org/

Federal Credit Union in DC, VA, & SC | SDFCU www.sdfcu.org

I use a Netspend account. It gives you a router and account number for direct deposit, and yes, I got my last two stimulus payments directly deposited to it. They have a basic account with no monthly fees, and a $1.50 per transaction fee. I simply send my money through western Union or Xoom
to the Philippines.
You can sign up on line, only catch is you want a US address. (I used my kid’s address). I got a debit card within 5 days which I had forwarded to me here. You immediately get access to the routing number and bank account number. They also have picture deposit for paper checks.
As far as signing up for a Philippines bank account, being here on a tourist visa I’ve been turned down by 7 different banks for opening an account, so I ended up opening both a gCash and PayMaya account. I can get my money transfer through either. (I paid 250 pesos each account for a debit card which I then linked to my accounts). With the PayMaya and Gcash debit cards, I can withdraw my money via ATMs here for about 15 to 18 pesos per transaction, instead of the 250 peso charge they tack on for using a US card here in the atms.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

I don't direct deposit to the Philippines, I prefer to keep my savings & ss in the states and then transfer to BDO as needed.

same here, I trust the banks here as much as I trust their G ...........

There are so many horror stories with people's money just disappearing from their account and  yes, BD.... I mean Banks just say they investigate and basically close the ticket after a week with no actual resolution. To be fair, it's not only BDO, other banks more or less has this same issue.

I actually had a problem with BDO once regarding a TT, they are the most strict bank regarding their policies and their policies differ depending on who you talk to. You are literally at the mercy of that 1 staff if they choose to help you or not. They act like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to put Your money in their bank.  I know I'm no Elon Musk but dannnnng (facepalm)

lets not forget how many people here actually falls for phishing scams, I mean seriously.. People actually fall for that whole "I'm Sr. Manager Aboot Du Roobu, there has been some suspicious activity on your account, please click on link and follow instructions. Then Mr. Aboot Du Roobu call you to ask you for your OTP and you actually GIVE it to him". Derp..

Anyhoot, a lot of good info here. I didn't know you can do online account setup now a days, I'm old school. I did everything and made sure everything worked before I left.

Plan Twice, Execute Once.

A friend once told me before I left, it's best to be prepared and have everything in order before you go as returning just to fill out a form is going to be expensive.

Well, I get my social security retirement check directly deposited there and have for several years, don't see why the IRS would be any different.

IRS doesnt direct deposit to foreign bank accounts.

The IRS, Social Security Administration, and Veterans Administration all do direct electronic deposits to Philippine bank accounts.

The IRS will deposit your payment directly to your U.S. bank account (the IRS can’t direct deposit money to a foreign account), or mail your payment
This is from IRS site.

The IRS does direct electronic deposits to Philippine bank accounts if you use their SWIFT code. Trusting their website or a disgruntled employees opinion is like doing the same thing here in the Philippines.

Im pretty green about these things. Can you PM me how to set it up with IRS and my PI bank account? Thank you for your help in advance.

You just use the standard wiring instructions, but with a special IRS SWIFT code. I don't know the SWIFT code because I had my accountant handle this for me.

Guess i have to try to find that code so i can try it. So you already had direct deposit from IRS sent to your PI bank?

For several years. Any competent US accountant should know it.

Sumomaster2004 wrote:

Guess i have to try to find that code so i can try it. So you already had direct deposit from IRS sent to your PI bank?

I suppoue he talk about SWIFT code for the RECIEVING. bank.  Ask your recieving bank to get their SWIFT code.

Find your banks swift code.

(1) Visit your bank if you can.

(2) https://wise.com/gb/swift-codes/

I understand from previous posts somewhere in the archives it was mentioned there are  different swift codes on some types of US Treasury Direct Deposits.

The Wise URL can give you the worldwide swift codes.

I think the best solution is if someone has DD already from IRS to a PI bank account. I have 2 accounts here in PI already. Just need to make sure it can work just need the procedure set it up.

Sumomaster2004 wrote:

I think the best solution is if someone has DD already from IRS to a PI bank account. I have 2 accounts here in PI already. Just need to make sure it can work just need the procedure set it up.

You need the SWIFTcode to YOUR bank in Phils.,

I have it. I used it to apply for my Social Security. Had to submit a separate form with the bank info. The Philippines was not listed on the IRS list of allowed banks.
Using my bank code i just submit it to the IRS like any other DD request?

@Sumomaster2004 I opened a Capital One bank account using my VPN from here in the Philippines.   Had no problems getting it set up.  However I did use my kids address in the states.  There are no problems with international transactions.   Hope this helps!