Remittance/Money Transfer to the Philippines

No

Not sure about US banks, but I have a UK ac and an offshore $ ac. Both banks will do bank to bank internet transfers - takes 2 - 3 days and costs about $12 to transfer $5000. If your bank can't do internet transfers I would look for another bank.

 

We maintained our BOA acct in the US, which is where my husband's SS check was direct deposited. We opened a dollar acct and a peso acct at BPI bank. He would write a check once a month from his BOA acct and deposit into the dollar acct at BPI (it takes about a month to clear, but once you get the cycle in place it isn't a big deal), then we would withdraw and convert to pesos and deposit into our peso acct. There were no fees incurred, and it worked well for us.

 

It sounds like a big shell game. Different countries and different currencies don't get the same transfer rate. I used WU to send myself dollars for $2.99 for up to $2,999 then I would exchange the dollars for pesos at the exchange next door...if I thought the exchange rate was good, I could exchange all of it and if I thought it would go up I could exchange just what I needed. I could also keep a few or more $100 bills for emergency money as they took up a lot less space. $3k USD in pesos is not quite a bale but it does make a noticeable bulge in the pocket. If I were to try anything different I might try one of those brokerage accounts with a debit card as has already been mentioned, just for convenience.

When I used WU it would say that the transaction could take up to 4 days but I always received a notice that the money was ready for pickup within an hour. Now finding a WU that has $3k USD in stock is a whole different dimension. I usually had to make a visit and tell them they needed to order the cash. It's a Philippines thing, even the bank downstairs kept no more than $1k USD on hand and the one time I asked they only had $20 bills on which the exchange rate would be bad anywhere. I will just ride WU until they drop and do something else when they do.

 

Reading through this gets a bit confusing to me. I have a US bank account and it would NOT work out for me changing that account to another bank in the US. I have been using xoom which until now I thought was a decent deal but now seeing otherwise.

Wondering what the consensus seems to be? Best bet is transferring from a US bank to a Philippine bank using a dollar account in the Philippines end and then xoom still? Or is there seeming another reliable and established transfer service that beats that? Also any suggestions on where dollar accounts have the least problems drawing / transfering from? I've been using BPI for sometime but no issues with switching while would prefer not BDO (had major pains with them before when they freely gave my account details to my ex on an account with ONLY my name on it while she showed her ID with same last name and saying she was my wife while was my ex wife). I'd rather be pocking that extra money then letting xoom or my bank have it.

 

I have been doing the same thing for about 5 years now. I write myself a check from my US bank and deposit it into my BPI dollar account. NO transfer fees or international charges. Just the 20 working day wait. I use my BPI dollar debit card at the ATM to get Pesos if needed otherwise I transfer from my dollar account to my Peso account online when the exchange rate is at its peak each month. I hate giving away my pension.

 

Just be aware that there are many holidays here. I wrote a check December 1, one year.... got my money 20 working days later.... January 4 the next year (35 calendar days later) . Put extra days with months that do not have a lot of working days here between the holidays. December will be here soon. There may be other months too. I gave up the 20 working day check programs after that December.

 

My bank sat there and looked at my money for 45 days. They told me it is a Banco Sentral rule.
I'm starting to think I have been lied to (again).
1) the cheque is in the mail
2) it's on the truck
3) the government is here to serve the people
This list has no end

 

BPI check deposits clear in 20 Calendar days if your bank is in New York State. I remind the teller during each deposit and make sure there's a NY on the deposit receipt. A deposit here on Tuesday will probably hit the bank before the weekend.