ATM Cards

[Gray Wolf]

For years we used Western Union and wire transfers to send money to our family.  these were both very expensive, with the wire transfers being the costliest since the local bank charged a 10% \"fee\" on the receiving end.  We soon found out that the ATM card was the way to go for us.  We opened a new account and asked for a money card or ATM-only card.  There is no Visa or Mastercard logo and the card can\'t be used for purchases.  When the family needs money for school tuitions, medical expenses, farm expenses or other needs, I simply go on line with my Bank and transfer money form our joint account to the family account.  The money is available instantly and we pay a relatively low fee.  On one occasion the family needed money ASAP.  We called and told them to go to the ATM machine right away and take their cell phone with them.  As soon as I transferred the cash, we called.  My brother in law had just arrived at the ATM machine and was able to attain the cash immediately for a $1.50 transfer fee.  The exchange rate we receive is a few centavos less than prime exocrine rates for that day.

Check with your bank or credit union.  Some credit unions allow ATM cash transactions with no fees at all.

Jack

Indeed ATM card works faster and cheaper. My sister and I was using ATM for 2 years for our family in Talisay, Cebu. But it looks like we have problem when we start using ATM as they know that we can just send it online \. It seems like my family have emergency almost every week aside from the money that we have sent every end of the month. Was not easy years for my sis & I,  as sending money to our Family in Phil. is something that we do with our own not our husbands (hubby\'s expenses is for travelling hahaha!).  I know not all family are like mine, they just abused their kind hearted, beautiful, loving daughters (lol!).  We just give it if they needed it. We love them too much & afraid to say no when it comes to money and hurt their feelings. We just made up excuses that the card will no longer work or else we ended up nothing with our hard work (including cleaning houses, babysitting, cashier & some computer work)  Now, we\'re using again western union or in any money transfer agencies. We just send money once a month or every two months (as we told them western union is 4 Kms. From home).  But ATM card is really good, transfer money faster than the blink of an eye.

[PhilM]

I don\'t know if there will be any long term problems, but I\'ve given my fiancee a spare Australian Visa debit card in my name that she draws on without problems (only from ATM\'s of course) in Manila, and the fees are very reasonable when compared with Western Union and the rest. As of last week when she took out 5000 pesos, it converted to AU$139.50 plus a $4 transaction fee, which compares very favourably to the official exchange rate which shows at $138.10 for same.

She told me this particular ATM in Santa Rosa City would only let her take out 5000 pesos maximum and so did the transaction twice, yet when I used the same card in Glorietta Mall while over there, I had no problems to pull out 15000 at a go when paying towards a Hong Kong trip. Maybe someone there can help? .... are there certain ATM\'s from certain banks with limit restrictions while other banks allow more? Just that the $4 transaction fee is standard whether taking out 200 pesos or 15000 pesos I\'ve noticed.

Regards - Phil M

Phil,

I am receiving enough reports from expats living across the Philippines, that there does seem to be a blanket decision, by the banks, to limit the max withdrawal rate to P5k per time. I will be needing to withdraw over this amount tomorrow so will add my experience then.

[Manila Cockney]

Phil,

I am receiving enough reports from expats living across the Philippines, that there does seem to be a blanket decision, by the banks, to limit the max withdrawal rate to P5k per time. I will be needing to withdraw over this amount tomorrow so will add my experience then.

I took out 15,000 pesos at one time from Citibank Alabang branch one week ago using a Barclays Connect Visa card. Using Citis own card I managed to take out 30,000 pesos and have no problems taking out 20,000 pesos at one time with BPI using their own BPI card.

Phil,

I am receiving enough reports from expats living across the Philippines, that there does seem to be a blanket decision, by the banks, to limit the max withdrawal rate to P5k per time. I will be needing to withdraw over this amount tomorrow so will add my experience then.

As promised yesterday, I went today to drawer P10,000 from my local ATM. My UK Visa Debit card has always worked in any banks ATM that displays the BANCNET logo & always has dispensed P10,000 per transaction up to my daily limit.

So today I went to my main choice ATM at BPI. No deal. Told me i was over transaction limit. Next went to PBbank which is a part of METROBANK. Bingo P10,000 dispensed.

Answer therefore seems to be that there is a general change by some banks to a P5k limit but not all, so find the ones that still allow P10k. They do exist.

[PhilM]

Thanks Keith, yes it does appear that quite a few banks have limited ATM withdrawals to P5000, but my fiancee did find one ATM that allowed more on Monday, without searching for any upper limit (which showed up on my statement as \"VISA-BANCNET/BANCNET BANK 010 PHILIPPINES PHFRGN\").  Hopefully the bank you found that allowed the P10000 withdrawal is not just that way because it\'s a bit slow catching up with the others and in the weeks to come you find otherwise.