Cash Or Card?

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JJReyes
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As an Expat, has anyone noticed a greater acceptance of credit cards or do stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. still insist on cash?  I see it as a safety issue. You can carry  a credit card and less cash.  I understand that some establishments charge more if you use a credit card to compensate them for the additional fees. So for some situations you do have to bring more cash.

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Jack Peterson
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27 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

You can carry  a credit card and less cash.

 Yes! I can agree to this, we prefer to pay cash but always have a card or two on hand. main thing is if you see something special you want but short in the Wallet, rather than let it slip we would buy on the card

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Lou49
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Except for airline tickets I always pay cash cuz I am anal about having my credit or debit card comprimised while i am in the PI.

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intrepid
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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

As an Expat, has anyone noticed a greater acceptance of credit cards or do stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. still insist on cash?  I see it as a safety issue. You can carry  a credit card and less cash.  I understand that some establishments charge more if you use a credit card to compensate them for the additional fees. So for some situations you do have to bring more cash.

JJ, Many places here in Laguna and Manila are taking credit cards.  I have used mine in restaurants, gas stations, department stores, fast food, and many other places.  Actually about the only place I can think of where they do not take cards would be street vendors and very small privately owned shops.  I have been using mine off and on regularly for the past two years and have yet to find a place which charges an extra fee for using card vs cash.  Although I have run into several places which have a minimum purchase price when using a card.   These usually are smaller stores and the minimum is like p500.  Has worked for me well.  I will caution anyone using their card to verify they are not charged foreign transaction fees.

Of course hotels almost always accept credit cards.

Edited by intrepid
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OnMyWay
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1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Yes! I can agree to this, we prefer to pay cash but always have a card or two on hand. main thing is if you see something special you want but short in the Wallet, rather than let it slip we would buy on the card

I use cards, my BPI Debit Mastercard or my Capital One U.S. Mastercard, when appropriate, for larger purchases.

Capital One gives a great exchange rate so that is backdoor way to move dollars to pesos.  They also have excellent fraud protection.

BTW, BPI has a promo right now for using their debit card.  Sign up online and then you get 10% back on the first debit, then 5% on the next 5.  Maximum cash back is p200 so you need to spend p2000 on the first one and p4000 on the next 5 to get that maximum.

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virginprune
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I use BPI Debit card on supermarket shop and other smallish items in the mall. Larger purchases we have a BPI Credit card for. I do occasionally use my HSBC Credit card as they like you to keep it active, there are foreign transaction fees on this, but I keep this mostly for emergency use. The market and smallish shops obviously cash is the only accepted payment.

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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3 hours ago, JJReyes said:

has anyone noticed a greater acceptance of credit cards

Yes, I have noticed the stores that cater to foreign visitors are much more accepting of credit cards than they were a few years back.  I have been surprised a time or two when they give an equal discount for cash OR "one swipe" on a credit card (as opposed to using your credit card to finance the purchase in "x" equal instalments).

I suppose the high dollar stores were losing business to the ones who accepted the cards so the started following along.  The funny thing is how those stores have about 6 machines from 6 different networks and have to decide which one you card can be used in.

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Jack Peterson
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7 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

The funny thing is how those stores have about 6 machines from 6 different networks and have to decide which one you card can be used in.

Scratching Head.jpg Yes! Quite agree, in fact only last saturday we had 2 cards refused and I am sure that they were just using the wrong card reader, Whatever happened to the side sticker that would tell them the cards that would be read by that Particular Reader or is that to obvious :huh: Next stop "Handy man" and no problem with any card

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Jollygoodfellow
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Here in Cebu city it appears cards are accepted in perhaps all modern business or has been my experience so far. 

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AwesomeLife
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Good info!  As we've seen many times before, many have claimed they were ripped off at bars and restaurants where they'd either overcharge or add drinks/items you didn't order.  Anyone want to share some tips or strategies for preventing that?

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