Hello to everyone. I am looking forward to meeting some of you soon as my plan is to arrive the first week of September. I have been reading this forum for well over a year now but have not seen any thread on this, maybe I just missed it. what are options if while there in the first month or two I was to loose my ATM from my USA bank Wells Fargo...?: without the card I will be without access to funds..what would be the best way to prepare for this possibility..? has anyone had to replace an ATM card from USA...? how is it done and how long..? Thanks for any help..
I'm not sure and "ATM" card would work well for you here. If you are referring to a Debit/Credit card made by any of the major card companies you will be good. My advice: Have your bank print you out a second card. Be sure to tell them that it can not be the same card number as your first or else when one gets flagged they will both stop working. Make sure you activate it at an ATM within the US and make a few purchases there to ensure that it works properly. Email your bank and inform them you are traveling to the Philippines or their security system might automatically lock your cards for unusual spending. Place the second card in a separate location of you first. Keep one in your checked bag and one in your carry on and don't go walking around with both of them on you once you arrive. Getting a new card here would likely take over two weeks. Just to note: I've had my mom send me a Christmas card two weeks before Christmas and not get it until July. I had actually been to the US and back between the send and receive dates on that. If you can't get a second card I would suggest opening a PayPal account (which would be linked to a bank account.....and not the credit card you might potentially lose). With a paypal account you could find someone to send money to for cash or services. If you can't find anyone who has one just go to the nearest internet cafe and get on a filipino dating website....any of the girls there should be able to help you out with the money......and those services I mentioned. Another option is Xoom. You can link a bank account to that and use it to send money to yourself. You pick up the money at certain pawnshops or banks. This is how I get out larger sums of cash myself, ATM fees can add up after awhile. I actually prefer to pick up at the Pawnshops. You are in and out much more quickly and they don't know your business until you are handing them the form. (If anyone ever makes a call after you tell the how much you should cancel the transaction and get out of there.) If you don't do any of that then I hope you have a nice phone/watch/jewelry Because pawning those things would be about the only thing keeping you alive for around a month while you waited for your new card to get in.
Rob, Like Wrye states having multiple cards is the solution. I have two accounts with my bank each with a debit/credit card and my wife also has yet another. A lot of travelers have learned to only use the ATM's at bank branches when they are open. If the machine eats your card at least you have someone to talk with about getting it back. If you get stuck you can western union money instantly to yourself from a US bank to a Philippine location. Watch out some cards charge foreign transaction fees. I use a Schwab Investment account and they refund any ATM fees and charge no foreign transactions. Some travel credit cards also do not charge foreign transactions. American Express will print out a new card for you immediately at their offices in the Philippines.
Thank to both for the info.. very helpful.. two cards.. such a sensible solution ... too logical for me to think of..LOL....Xoom sounds like a real good idea as well... .. Thanks again
I was unlucky when I first came to Philippines. I got all the way here and then found out my ATM card did not work. It seems I had to go into my bank in Canada (no longer possible once here) and sign something to say I would be using the card in Philippines. That was 7 years ago so not sure if that still applies. At that time I was able to send myself money via Xoom and fund it through an online bank transaction. They closed that program so if it happened to me today I would be screwed. Lesson learned: Be sure to go tell your bank manager what you are doing. It helps to have a personal relationship with him/her BEFORE you leav. EDIT: About trusting Xoom to help you out. I was in the middle of sending myself some money when Xoom decided they did not want Canadian customers. Here is the email they sent. Remember I had already been approved for the transaction and already funded it and was desperately waiting for the cash and then . . . . etc etc. . . . it COULD happen to you. A deal is not a deal until you have the cash in your hand and Xoom are noted for cutting you off in mid transaction. But some have good luck with them.
Xoom works great for me. Some people have claimed to have problems with it though. There are daily (2k USD), weekly (6k USD), monthly (12k USD) and bi yearly (20k USD) spending limits. The daily, weekly and monthly are posted on their site, the bi-yearly is not (at least that what it was last time I had to worry about it). I got hit up for going over the 6 month limit and the company locked my account until I could prove who I was and show that I made enough money to go over that amount and signed some anti-money laundering paper from the government. I was able to get mine bumped over 100k USD for 6 months, (obviously the other limits were raised as well). They have a cell phone app that you can use to get yourself money in minutes. All transaction, regardless of how much you send, is $5 USD. As compared to the $5 charge the ATM's will charge you for every single transaction you make and those are limited to 15k Pesos per transaction.
Having dealt with accepting online payments before, I can hardly blame Xoom for taking such extreme actions against people who link their cards to make payments. 9 out of 10 transactions on my website were fraudulent. I'm sure Xoom takes such a HUGE amount of fraud they had to adopt some pretty strict policies. Because guess who gets screwed on fraudulent transaction...Hint: It's not the bank, it's not the, usually, irresponsible card holder (who used their card in such a way that it could be stolen), and it's not the criminal. I had some issues with them when I only had my credit card linked (and the prices are ridiculous for sending with a credit/debit card). Since I have added my bank account I have had zero problems (aside from going over the monthly limits). I have sent hundreds of transactions to myself and to other people in the 4 years or so that I have been using them. I guess mileage may vary. When I send money to myself it takes all of 60 seconds for it to get approved and ready to for pickup. It is not uncommon for me to send the money from the phone app and then have money in hand 5 minutes later (I send it from my phone while sitting in line at the pawnshop). Almost always problems exist because of user error. Knowing the rules of your bank, the middleman and the pawnshops is vital part of success when it comes to sending money. Expect failure if you don't fully understand the process.
