Currency Exchange

[ducecoop]

I have been noticing that the rate of exchange is droping fast. I will be arriving in PI in a couple of weeks. I am wondering if it is best to exchange what cash I do have to paso as soon as I arrive?

Is the airport a good place or are there better places to exchange? (Davao City is where I will end up).

How soon am I able to open a bank account in PI. Or am I at allowed at all?

 

 

Thanaks

Dave

[bootleultras]

Dave,

I wouldnt advise you to change your money in the airport, the exchange rate will be shocking! Just hang on until yaou get to your destination and if you have someone you are meeting, ask them for a local place which does a good rate. If by yourself, you should find many money changers located around the city, if you cannot the malls or banks will do it for you but Id advise a regular money changer first, if you have the chance that is!

Usually it'll be a few months before youll be allowed to open a bank account but you can always check woth your bank of choice, some do get away with just flashing a passport, i was told i needed the acr i card and my passport so it varies whereever you go.

[JJReyes]

Exchange a little currency, $50 or $100 for taxi, meals, etc. with the airport money changers especially if Manila is just a transient point on your way to Davao City. Don't do it from a US departure city (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu) because the rates are more horrific and they sometime charge an additional 3% commission.

[earthdome]

Below is what I posted a few months ago about opening an account with BPI. This has worked out very well for me. I can deposit a check from my US bank into the USD account. Then wait 3-4 weeks for that money to be available to use. This isn't a problem with BPI, it is due to banking restrictions put in place by the US gov. Then I can use the online account to transfer USD into the peso account.

 

I went to the local BPI branch in the morning to inquire about their requirements for a non resident to open a bank account. There was no wait... the teller immediately directed me to an assistant manager who answered all my questions. With this BPI branch I was asked to provide 3 things in order to open an account. My passport, a passport photo for each account being opened and the certification of good standing from the BI. You get the BI certification as part of obtaining your first visa extension. The passport photo is attached to each account holder doc. I expect this is to use your photo in addition to your signature for major transactions. For the peso ATM account minimum balance is 3000PHP. The USD account has a $500 minimum balance.

I had taken my startup money as cash with me to the Philippines. It was a relief to be able to deposit it in the bank so I was no longer carrying larger sums of cash on my person. I should get the ATM cards in 1 week.

FYI, their posted USD/php exchange rate wasn't too bad and both the USD and peso account I opened are ATM accounts. I will get an ATM card for each and can do transactions online. Transferring money from the USD account to the peso account online gives you the absolute best exchange rates the bank provides.

So far, yes, I feel very comfortable with BPI. I saw a story in the business news in the last few weeks that BPI was merging with another Philippine bank. I don't recall which one. I didn't notice any employees gossiping during my time at the bank. All seemed very professional.

[JJReyes]

Assuming you are collecting Social Security, you can go online to the SSA website and arrange for your monthly benefit checks to be deposited in a Philippine bank. There are no fees charged ("Thank You" Federal Reserve Bank of New York for making this possible) and the funds are immediately available to either keep as a US dollar deposit or for conversion to Philippine pesos.

 

Some Americans prefer to have their SS benefits deposited in a bank account in the United States and then arrange fund transfers later. This can eventually become problematic or there are fees involved. 

Edited February 20, 2013 by JJReyes

[Call me bubba]

Is the airport a good place or are there better places to exchange?

 

when ever you change your money,count it carefully AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE ALLOW the money changer to get access to it again, As they have been known to switch,short change.TRICK. altho the RISK is slight.

nevertheless it has happen in the past and will occur again.

 

 about banking,

EARTHDOME's  post is very good, try what he has suggested, if 1 bank says NO, try another branch,

 if you have a TRUSTED FRIEND,have him/her go w/you if you encounter any issues,

 

BPI/BPI FAMILY SAVINGS is a very good compared to the others,

  

Edited February 21, 2013 by Pittman apartments Sgn

[MikeB]

Assuming you are collecting Social Security, you can go online to the SSA website and arrange for your monthly benefit checks to be deposited in a Philippine bank. There are no fees charged ("Thank You" Federal Reserve Bank of New York for making this possible) and the funds are immediately available to either keep as a US dollar deposit or for conversion to Philippine pesos.

After I notified the SS office at the embassy in Manila that I was living in the Philippines the SS website was no longer available to me. Everyone was required to re-register on the site in Jan. If your address is outside the 50 states and territories you can't register. Everything must be done through the office at the embassy through courier or whatever. No more online changes or information.

[JJReyes]

JJReyes, on 20 Feb 2013 - 13:47, said:Assuming you are collecting Social Security, you can go online to the SSA website and arrange for your monthly benefit checks to be deposited in a Philippine bank. There are no fees charged ("Thank You" Federal Reserve Bank of New York for making this possible) and the funds are immediately available to either keep as a US dollar deposit or for conversion to Philippine pesos.After I notified the SS office at the embassy in Manila that I was living in the Philippines the SS website was no longer available to me. Everyone was required to re-register on the site in Jan. If your address is outside the 50 states and territories you can't register. Everything must be done through the office at the embassy through courier or whatever. No more online changes or information.

 

Interesting. I was not aware about this change in policy. Hopefully, it is a temporary measure as they make other changes. The main one is starting next month, you will no longer be able to receive checks in the mail. All benefits have to be automatic deposits into a bank account. This saves the SSA money and discourages theft of checks.

[Mike S]

After I notified the SS office at the embassy in Manila that I was living in the Philippines the SS website was no longer available to me. Everyone was required to re-register on the site in Jan. If your address is outside the 50 states and territories you can't register. Everything must be done through the office at the embassy through courier or whatever. No more online changes or information.

 

Mike .... even if you have your check deposited in the US and have a US address (USA Box) they still won't let you register on line ????????? ......

 

Before anyone gets all excited about having your SS deposited in the Phils there are a few things you need to know

 

1) Only you can withdraw money fro your account and it must be done in person ...... US Federal mandate ..... so if you get sick or unable to with draw you are SOL

 

2) No debit card can be attached to that account

 

3) The Feds will have access to your US dollar account and can monitor it (remember anytime you have more than $10,000 in any or all accounts combined in any month for the year you must fill out ..... a form and send it to Uncle Sam ..... it is required ... go on line and read about the regs ..... it gets very tricky .... ex. ..... you have $8000 in your US dollar account .... you transfer $6000 into pesos to your checking account the next month ..... according to Uncle you now have $14,000 ... even though you really only have the original $8000 ..... you just moved $6000 from one account to another ....  and if you add a savings account to that the sum goes higher ..... the way it is figured is the highest amount in any account in any month for the entire year ..... screwed up .... yes it is ..... and it ain't gonna get any better ....... by having my SS deposited in the US I don't have to worry about that account at all because it is not considered a foreign account and doesn't need to be reported ....

 

Now your gonna hear folks saying well they don't do all the crap at my bank .... and it may be true .... BUT if you get caught who do you suppose is gonna take the fall ..... not the bank .... they are gonna plead innocent ...... you are because you are suppose to know better ..... do you want to move here and then find out that you can no longer avail yourself of your funds through you wife ....or if you get sick she can't withdraw money for you ..... that means you are gonna have go back to the US to open an account to have you SS deposited in ..... so why not just do it now while you are still there ..... IMHO ..... believe me there are guys that have had to do that or just go down in person to your PI bank and withdraw all your SS and put it into another account each month ...... I prefer to have mine deposited in a US bank and then just write a check each month drawn on a US bank for the amount I need each month ...... it's worked great for more than 5 years for me ....  :cheersty: 

[Dave Hounddriver]

Mike S:  I am sure you are confident of your source of information but I can tell you that a now deceased friend named Bill S was able to access his Metrobank SS account by debit card as he was sick with cancer and another American, Tom S, was able to go to the bank for him and withdraw the cash from the machine.  I do not know how it was done or if it was something shady but it was sure helpful for Bill S when he was bedridden.