⌛ Can a foreiner open a PH bank account

posting here rather than hijack the other banking/atm thread.

A friend of ours said she was not able to open an account since she was not a PH citizen. Is this true? I am not concerned since Asawa is dual citizen.

My parents of course do not have the same advantage. While I was reading about the Special retirement visa it mentions that an account could be setup to receive the direct deposit of SS and other retirement benefits.



Is the permanent visa a requirement perhaps?

Any info is helpful thanks.

 

It depends on the bank and whether it is a peso or a U.S. dollar account.

The easiest way is to tag onto the existing account of a Philippine spouse. Passport and paperwork is all that is usually required from the foreigner, but each bank is different.

 

Local banks make it a little difficult to open an accoumt for foreigners by setting ridiculous requirements.
So was one of the requirements of Metrobank to open an Euro-account that i had a Peso-account for 6 months with at least 50 pesos on it!
On the other hand it was no problem to open an Euro-account with Equitable bank.
If you know the right person every foreigner can open an account everywhere in the Philippines, if not, just go to the bank next door and it will not be a problem.

 

Yes, a foreigner can open a bank account in the Philippines. I have accounts with multiple banks here. However, some will require foreigners to be a customer for 6 months or so before they will open them a checking account. Also, depending on your visa status, you may not be allowed to deposit funds unless they are foreign currency or from a verified foreign source.

 

On the other hand, Metro Bank has posted that a foreigner can open a dollar account with 0 dollars! Yup! No deposit necessary and no minimum balance requirement either! Now if I could only earn interest on a 0 balance I would be set! :D

 

hello firefly,

You mention about opening a euro account in equitable bank I wonder if it is in dumaguete or somewhere else. It would be a big help for me If I can send the money from italy and it will arrive in the philippines there still in euro. Need to play abit with the change. Can you tell me also what documents they need to open a euro account. Thanks in advance

 

BPI: no problem!

 

Hi Claire,

Equitable no longer exists...Equitable PCI Bank was bought out by BDO/SM Group (Banco de Oro) in 2007. BDO still exists in Dumaguete with a branch downtown near the Cathedral and a new branch at Robinson's Mall.

 

thanks for the info with banco de oro euro account. how about a dollar account?

 

hello derivate_guru,

thank you very much for the information sir I hope they don't make so much problem with papers. Anyway it's a great help that I don't need to go to cebu or manila any more. My family and I are looking forward to be back home before the end of this year........ we love dumaguete and the life is just so relax there. I hope to meet some members in this forum in the future. Greetings from all of us here in italy good day......