ATMs, Banks and Money Changers

You will need go get money when you are here.  ATMs are available. You can set up a local account in U.S. dollars or where ever your hard currency is. Just deposit a check in a local bank here, from your foreign account in the US or where ever you live now. It will take twenty five to thirty days to clear. Check with the bank to be sure.  Some will take 45 days, to make money on the float.  So do check.  I recommend Metro Bank or Philippine National Bank.  HSBC is highly recommended but has very few branches here.  Citibank, a US chartered bank requires a 10,000 US Deposit, and give very  low interest rates.  PNB requires $200 in cash to open a saving account.  A savings account is all you really need.  You need to maintain that balance to keep from paying a service charge.

If you want the best rate of exchange take your dollars to the closest legal money exchanger.  In the cities they are everywhere.  Do not change money on the street.  Again, do not change money on the street.  Street money changers in the Philippines, will offer you 55 to one, 70 to one, 100 to one what ever it takes to get money out of you pocket.  Then, like magic, your money  disappears and so do they.  One scam is to pay you too much. You count it with them.  It is too much!  So the take it back to give you the proper amount of money.  Through slight of hand, they are able to make you think you are getting back the correct amount.  When you count your money, later, you find it short.

Again, do not, under any circumstances deal with money changers on the streets in the Philippines, even if he is your brother.  But the ones in buildings are quite honest and stable as the banks are.  But the bank rate is low because of overhead and the way  banks are.  When you bargain with a money changer, you won't be able to bargain except maybe for five centavos on a dollar, so why bother, unless you like the game. 
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Travelers Checks

Traveler’s checks can be cashed at decent rates only at American Express offices, and even then the rates are not good. Some other places will cash them but at an even lower rate.  They know they have you in a corner and take advantage of it.  I know of only two American Express offices, one in Manila and one in Cebu, and they are not open on weekends or in the evening. Banks don’t want to cash traveler’s checks. You have to set up an account, deposit them and wait for them to clear. You can go to American Express and write a check on your personal account in the US. They will give you pesos right away, but at a poor exchange rate.
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Street Smarts and Money

So its best to bring some cash with you. But always use a money belt and don’t show it around. As a foreigner, you will be considered wealthy even if you are not. And you could be a target of a pickpocket. Every one here thinks you are a millionaire just because you are a foreigner. So do be careful.  I carry my wallet in my front right pocket, with a chain on it, connected to my belt.  I am perceived as a very wealthy man here, so am a target.  But no one has ever tried to get my wallet from my front pocket.  In Manila someone got a note book I carry from my right rear pocket full of useless information, but no cash.  After running about a hundred meters he realized what he had, turned around and gave me a sickly, disgusted look.

Once in Angeles, a couple of guys started talking to me on the street in broad daylight.  The conversation was about the quality of the goods in the Philippines as opposed to the products in the US, how much better US products were.  They looked at my belt, and raved about how well made it was.  I think it was from Taiwan.  Then one asked me if he could see my wallet.  I said, "bye."  You do the same.

And remember, don't change money on the streets, no matter what deal you are offered.  If you do you may not need a wallet.
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How to Access Your money from the Bank or Money from Home

My Filipina wife and I are not yet there full time, but will be soon. This is what we have pretty much decided:

My US pension funds will go in our US bank. Advantages .... no fee accounts, FDIC insurance that covers the total amounts we'll have on deposit (remember the peso limits on PDIC) and convenience in writing a check/making an on-line bill pay transfer for bills we have to pay in the US.

We'll have both dollar and peso accounts at out Philippine bank. Advantages: Ready access, Easy to pay Philippine bills with local checks or Philippine-issued credit cards and/or Philippine on line bill pay (see BPI as just one good choice).

Each month we'll write a USD check from the US bank to cover a month's worth of Philippine living expenses and deposit in our Philippine dollar account. That check will clear in less than a month for no fee or little fee, much less that the US to Philippine bank wire transfer fees. For pesos, we'll withdraw dollars from the Philippine dollar account and change them where we get the best exchange rate. When caught short of pesos, we can transfer dollars from the dollar account to the peso account instantly, but need to pay a small penalty in the exchange rate.

I will not place all my pension (and later Social Security) deposits in a Philippine bank. Insufficient deposit insurance, no access to our money if we were to have to leave in a hurry .. government coup, natural disaster, etc. We will not lose sleep worrying about these things, but instead will make plans for flexibility and then sit back and enjoy what life brings.

Many people live this way, financially, many others have a different plan, all are right as long as folks are doing what feels right to them. [Courtsey Dave Gribble]
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