How Do You Open A Bank Account In The Philippines

[fred]

a problem we are having with barclays bank at the moment is with their online services..it now seems that they have changed their security system and I need a card and personal card machine..  Mean while,I have no access to my account. Try calling them about this and I end up speaking with someone from Bombay that cannot understand what I am asking them.

[BigBird]

My wife and I have a joint account at PNB.  We have had it since 2004.   When she came to USA she was sure to leave the required Php 10,000 plus a bit more to keep it in good standing.  We have our bank book.

It is going on 2 1/2 years now since she left and we plan our return vacation in May 08.

I called PNB New York to verify my balance before I start to deposit vacation monies.  They took my money on deposit and closed my account as dormant!

They will try to find my money and open my account again but I had to make another deposit of at least $100 before they would try to make my account whole and active again.  I also had to write a letter to the attention of the Sales & Service Head at the branch and ask for my money back.

Beware if you keep it dormant!!

I sent PNB a deposit several weeks ago and still no receipt or reply yet!

[hyaku]

I would like to add that you can open an account at HSBC without ACR. But you will only be able to draw money out of the account. You cant put peso in without ACR. I suppose a lot of foreigners might not be aware of this fact as most only draw money out.

I again, refer to my earlier posts on this. I agree that you don\'t need an ACR to open the account but disagree that you cannot deposit Peso afterwards without one.

I recently deposited a cheque (construction bond returned from my Homeowners association) which was in Peso. Deposit accepted with no questions asked. I have only just got my ACR, not that I was asked for it anyway.

I would suggest if any of the requirements mentioned in these posts are critical, then go to the HSBC branch in Ortigas Centre, Makati. Remember also that rules can change here just like anywhere else.

[Manila Cockney]

There is no law here saying you need an ACR for a foreigner to open a peso account. Many banks do require an ACR as a matter of internal policy. If you are struggling to open an account get to speak to a bank manager and see if they will accept the passport as adequate identification. There is a law here that you must have identification and a passport is considered acceptable. The problem here with many employees they don\'t like to make a decision. 

[Dave_Hounddriver]

\"A referral from an ex-pat customer didn\'t hurt either\"

I just opened a savings account at an HSBC branch yesterday.  I have been unable to get any money on my ATM card from Canada (probably because it is a regional bank . . Alberta Treasury Branch) so I talked to some ex-pats until I found someone who gave me the referral I needed.

A referral to the branch manager, from one of his good, expat customers, will open all the doors you need.  I opened a savings account with 500 Pesos in it and he treated me like a king.  He gave me all the info I would need to transfer money to his bank from Canada (via the US).  He also gave me all the info I could use in the future regarding the potential to put $20,000 US in his bank and get a retirement residency status (if I wanted to).  In addition he pointed out the advantages of having a US dollar account at his bank and having your funds held in US$ until you need them. That would requiire a US$200 minimum deposit.

I shall now transfer a little money by bank transfer and a little bit by Xoom to see which method works best.  I have had conflicting opinions offered to me on this.

Good Banking All

Dave

[Canuck]

With respect to the original post, I don\'t know why anyone uses traveller\'s cheques any more, although having not yet been to the Philippines, I can\'t comment specifically on the situation there.  But in other countries, the commission charges to cash them are outrageous even in places like Panama where their offical currency is the US dollar, if you can even find some place to cash them at all.  I used to bring a few for emergency purposes but it seems quite pointless now.

Secondly, can anyone inform me if Philippine banks charge impact fees for ATM withdrawals on foreign banks and what generally is the maximum withdrawal amount.  Thanks

Secondly, can anyone inform me if Philippine banks charge impact fees for ATM withdrawals on foreign banks and what generally is the maximum withdrawal amount.  Thanks

Normally, you can withdraw P10,000 at a time & by putting your card in again continue up to your banks agreed daily limit. There has been some talk recently of some banks only allowing P5,000 per withdrawal but seems only a few of them at the moment.

[Manila Cockney]

Secondly, can anyone inform me if Philippine banks charge impact fees for ATM withdrawals on foreign banks and what generally is the maximum withdrawal amount.  Thanks

Normally, you can withdraw P10,000 at a time & by putting your card in again continue up to your banks agreed daily limit. There has been some talk recently of some banks only allowing P5,000 per withdrawal but seems only a few of them at the moment.

20,000 can be withdrawn out of BPI machine with a BPI card. However, they seem to be restricting other bank cards to 5000 pesos at a time. This happened to my local Citibank peso card in 3 machines  and also to a Barclays Connect Visa card for a visitor I have staying with me. Citibank ATM allows 30,000 withdrawal in one go when the machine has enough 1000s in it. I took out 15,000 with the The Barclays Connect at Citibank in one go, yesterday. Not sure if more would come out as only 15,000 was required.   

No problems using Dutch ABNAMRO debit card to withdraw P25,000 (my non-euro daily limit) at BPI (my preferred bank to use) had to do it as a P20,000 then P5,000 transaction (in November, in Cebu, Butuan & Tagbilaran).
Equitable restricted me to P5,000 per day TOTAL in Gingoog City

Is this something new??

Guess I\'ll find out on Sunday.......yipeeee

[BoBHofmans]

can anyone inform me if Philippine banks charge impact fees for ATM withdrawals on foreign banks and what generally is the maximum withdrawal amount.  Thanks

When you use a foreign-bank ATM card on a Philippine ATM machine, your bank will charge you, not the bank or organization to whom the ATM belongs.
Same goes for VISA. If you do online banking you can monitor your service charges the moment you get to a PC with an Internet connection. 
BTW, VISA is rather expensive, better use your ATM card as long as you have money in that acct.
Maximum amount on a BPI ATM is 20,000 pesos. Other ATMs might go as low as 4,500.

[Rick]

  I have passbook savings accounts both peso and dollar plus a time deposit (CD) at both
PNB and BPI. The most I have ever needed was 2 ID\'s and 2 photos. I withdraw and deposit
without problem.

Rick

[Steve & Myrlita]

My wife & I opened a savings ATM Peso acct at BDO (Banco De Oro). They made us jump through fire hoops but it worked out ok. They do not charge for using my US ATM card nor does my US bank charge me so I get the full exchange rate offered. It took 2 months to get our personal ATM cards which cost P200. We had temp cards in the intrim. They did not require an ACR card but they did require 2 ID\'s from both of us. We had to go outside the bank and photocopy the ID\'s, get 2 passport photos each etc. They did not have any photocopier to help us like most banks in the US. The attitude in the US was we need you, welcome to our bank. Here in RP, it\'s we don\'t need you, you need us attitude. I almost walked out of the bank and not even opened an acct for all of the hassles but my wife wanted the acct there so we did it. Not the best bank I delt with but from what I hear, it\'s not any worse than the others.

Thanks...

I have been with Equitable for over twelve years and have two direct deposit and opened the accounts with two hundred dollars each. The money is there on the afternoon of the first of the month and the charge is three dollars a month. I use a dollar ATM card and I can withdraw 50K a day. I moved to Cebu for a medical reason but kept my account in Leyte. I bought a car over here and I went to the bank and drew the money I needed with no problem.

[Manila Cockney]

The Central Bank is now saying only one identification is required to open an account:

http://www.bsp.gov.ph/publications/media.asp?id=1817



MB Approves the Liberalization of the Rules on Acceptance of Valid IDs
 
05.20.2008


The Monetary Board (MB), the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), recently relaxed the rules on the acceptance of valid identification documents (IDs) for all types of financial transactions by banks and non-bank financial institutions under the supervision and regulation by the BSP.  Specifically, it has reduced to one, instead of at least two (2), the number of photo-bearing identification documents that clients, who engage in a financial transaction with the covered institutions for the first time, must present and submit. It has also expanded the coverage of the term “official authority” so as to include private entities or institutions registered with or supervised or regulated by the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Insurance Commission (IC) as issuers of the acceptable IDs.  The new passport which is neither signed by the owner nor by the issuing authority remains acceptable, while the Integrated BAR of the Philippines (IBP) ID is added in the list of acceptable IDs.

Under BSP Circular No. 564 dated 3 April 2007, clients were required to present the original and submit a copy of at least two (2) valid IDs issued and signed by an “official authority”, the scope of which was limited to the Government and its instrumentalities.   

The relaxation of the rules on acceptance of valid IDs shall, however, be without prejudice to the existing rule on proper customer identification or the “Know-Your-Customer” (KYC) rule which requires covered institutions to establish and record the true identities of their clients.

The new policy of the MB is expected to promote access of Filipinos to services offered by the formal financial institutions, particularly those residing in the countryside as well as encourage and facilitate remittances of OFWs through the banking system.

LIST OF VALID IDs

Passport
Driver’s License
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance
Police Clearance
Postal ID
Voter’s ID
Barangay Certification
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) e-Card
Social Security System (SSS) Card
Senior Citizen Card
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) ID
OFW ID
Seaman’s Book
Alien Certification of Registration/Immigrant Certificate of Registration
Government Office and GOCC ID, e.g. Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP ID), Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF ID)
Certification from the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP)
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Certification
Integrated Bar of the Philippines ID
Company IDs issued by private entities or institutions registered with or supervised or regulated either by the BSP, SEC or IC.