Mr Lee Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 I am pretty sure they do not accept Discover Credit Cards in the PHL because I have not seen anyplace that did, so which credit card works best for you and charges you the least fees and has the most reasonable exchange fees? Are there any cards that do not charge you any fees? Also if you use a credit card at a hotel that charges in dollars, is there any fee your cc company charged you? The reason I ask is because while I have used my US credit card to secure a room, it was years ago and I do not remember if they charged me a fee or not, and even if there was no fee at that time, things change all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me bubba Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 BEST card to use is USAA*, customer service is very good.they know that their members/cardholders do travel outside the USA. transaction fee is 1% as that is what mastercard/visa charges all users.altho CAPITAL ONE doesn't charge this fee, it does charge a higher APR & on some cards annual fee. i have not used my card on hotel bookings in many years so i cant answer, but if its charged in $$ it should not have a "fee" unless its from the outside the USA. 2. Best (US)DEBT CARD is USAA* from its checking. they do reimburse out of network charges up to $12 or $15 when you use the ATM, does offer a 1% rebate when making a purchase,credited back to account on monthly basis, BEST OF ALL it does not charge a monthly service charge or has a minimum balance requirementunlike other US or local banks.as with using any US credit cards,it is recommended to contact your bank to inform them that your not in the US and will be using your card outside the USA, inform them of where,what city and if you maybe making "SMALL" purchases,so that your account/card will not be temporay blocked . BEST local debt(ATM) card would be anyone that you can make an EPS purchase BPI family savings has the lowest monthly balance requirement ,cant tell you about BDO,Robinson,Metrobank . *is my MAIN US bank for finances , and i have been a member and banking customer since 1988 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 Capital One - no foreign transaction fees on purchases or withdrawals 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support scott h Posted October 26, 2011 Forum Support Posted October 26, 2011 How about cards from PHL banks, we will be opening an account at a local branch for convinence. Are they user friendly at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me bubba Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 How about cards from PHL banks, we will be opening an account at a local branch for convinence. Are they user friendly at all?WELL, do you like a APR of over 24% plus? Annual fee over 1200php plus?the only way that a NON citizen or 1 who is not employed is to obtain a "secured" card from most of the banks.. again my info on this is a few years old.maybe it has been changed some since 2008 Some places will only accept a "locally" issued card so it maybe worth the hassle(at least it was for me)to obtain one,BPI family savings bank you will receive a slightly rate on your "deposit" than BPI,about the other banks I cant speak for them as i dont know exactly what they do offer, best bet is to go to the various banks websites and check ,Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted October 26, 2011 Author Posted October 26, 2011 How about cards from PHL banks, we will be opening an account at a local branch for convinence. Are they user friendly at all?Local ATM cards are the best to use IMO, so my wife and I have accounts at BPI and Citibank Savings Philippines, so we use those cards when paying for most large things or write the store a local check for items such as furniture. So far no bank we have dealt with has wanted to issue us a local credit card but I have not pursued the issue for the last few years either, so I do not know if it might be possible or not. Most larger stores and supermarkets take local ATM cards as well as foreign credit cards, so it is just mostly the smaller stores that only accept cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 It was my experience in Cebu, 4 years ago, that most local shops did not accept an out of country Capital One Mastercard. That lead me to get a local Visa Credit Card and I have had no problems other than there are so few places that accept credit cards of any kind once you get away from Cebu City. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) Anyone can obtain a "secured" credit card in any country, because it's your own money that you're using as a security deposit and your limit is based on how much your security deposit is, but in most cases a regular credit card, one has to be a legal resident in order to qualify in the country where one lives and the credit card company's limit is pretty small to be of any use! If one can afford to pay cash, why use a secured credit card or a low end limit credit card? Anyway, my U.S. checking account has an ATM debt card with a Visa logo which works like a credit card, but the full amount that has been charged are directly debted from my checking account, it's like paying in cash the full amount with no monthly revolving payments. So no, I have no use for a secured or regular credit card and have been without credit cards for 12 yrs ever since we retired here in the Philippines, because our local BPI bank's ATM works just fine and we also have a U.S. ATM debt card with a Visa logo so we can charge just about anything anywhere or on-line when needed, except for a luxury vehicle or penthouse! What truly gets my goat, is all the ridiculous fees and or extra charges just having and using a credit card or an ATM not affiliated with one's account! Does everyone enjoy being nickled and dimed to death? No thanks, been there and done all that when I was still working my ass off, but now that we're retired, who needs being nickled and dimed by the credit card companies! Anyways, why use credit when cash works just as well! Just live within your means and save for those rainy days or splurge when one can afford it! There's alot of retirees living on a fixed income and can't do neither! Well, that's just the way life is sometimes, a school full of hard knocks!"Life is what we all make it to be"! Edited October 27, 2011 by Art2ro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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