If you need a US Bank Account, check out SDFCU

[StayAtHomeDad]

Yeah, you're right about that. And, every year I seem to forget that. lol

[gerrysanders]

On 11/13/2018 at 10:14 PM, JeSsDaDdY said:

I hope this is in the right forum. If you're looking to open a US bank account while living in the Philippines, you may want to check out State Department Federal Credit Union. They are pretty easy to deal with and opening an account with your Philippines address is relatively straight forward. To join the credit union, you will need to be a member of an affiliated organization. You can sign up with American Citizens Abroad for $70 per year ($55 for seniors). There are other organizations that may or may not be cheaper to join, but I used ACA and can confirm that it works.

The application is all online and is pretty straightforward. Just enter your details, upload some valid IDs and proof of residence. On the website, it says to expect a decision in three business days (but it takes closer to 10 days in total.) I think they do a hard Experian pull for new accounts but cant confirm that just yet. I just received my first direct deposit in the account and am now testing Transferwise with it to move a few bucks to the Phils.

Again, this was all done without any U.S. address whatsoever. I dont think you really need to keep the ACA account after signing up, but the $70 investment was worth it to me to open a new U.S. account. I closed my other accounts there many years ago and have been searching for a way to open new accounts since.

SDFCU offers debit cards (havent received it yet) and credit cards. Even allows for home and auto loans overseas. Best part though is that it is a true U.S account, which means no FACTA. Your mileage may vary, but so far they seem like an excellent option.

Anyone else using SDFCU?

I've been with them for 3 years. Have not yet tried to transfer funds to RP bank. I'm learning on this board that to transfer I need to sign up with transferwise?

I plan to bring the bulk of my wealth here and loath the issues that might arise when I want to transfer a few hundred K.

I am a permanent resident here, and will die here so having money in the USA is no use to me.

 

[Gary D]

4 hours ago, gerrysanders said:

I've been with them for 3 years. Have not yet tried to transfer funds to RP bank. I'm learning on this board that to transfer I need to sign up with transferwise?

I plan to bring the bulk of my wealth here and loath the issues that might arise when I want to transfer a few hundred K.

I am a permanent resident here, and will die here so having money in the USA is no use to me.

 

Most people keep their money abroad for security reasons, Philippines banks are not to be trusted.

[Jack Peterson]

7 hours ago, Gary D said:

Philippines banks are not to be trusted.

 Gary why do you say this? Have you a particular Instance or Story to tell? Banks all over are sometimes under suspicion and are quoted as can't be trusted or is going to be another Filipino Bash?

[Dave Hounddriver]

15 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

Banks all over are sometimes under suspicion and are quoted as can't be trusted or is going to be another Filipino Bash?

It would be interesting to compare Philippine banks that have gone broke in the last 10 years as compared to other countries.  I'll start:  Google gives us this list of Philippine Banks Closed Down from 2000 to 2017

Its a pretty poor showing but how does it compare to other countries?

 

[Gary D]

And I'll add that you are only covered up to 500k pesos ($10,000) if a banks fails. Here in the UK it is 6m pesos.

[Jack Peterson]

7 hours ago, Gary D said:

And I'll add that you are only covered up to 500k pesos ($10,000) if a banks fails. Here in the UK it is 6m pesos.

We all knew this when we opened accounts and may I say that 500k is per account held No ne is being untrustworthy of that

[Jack Peterson]

8 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Its a pretty poor showing but how does it compare to other countries?

Probably a bit grim but that is not the issue is it? There are more rogue banks in the US and in Europe that have gone because of Fraud and Bad Dealings. UK's RBS for one US's Lehman for another, Google that

Edited December 1, 2018 by Jack Peterson

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

We all knew this when we opened accounts and may I say that 500k is per account held No ne is being untrustworthy of that

I think Gary's point was that why would one want to move "the bulk of my wealth" to a place where it is only insured to p500 k, when it is probably insured at a much higher rate in his home country?  Better safe than sorry.  Banks can go under in any place.

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

Probably a bit grim but that is not the issue is it? There are more rogue banks in the US and in Europe that have gone because of Fraud and Bad Dealings. UK's RBS for one US's Lehman for another, Google that

Most of those are small rural banks.  Stick with the big banks and you should be fine.  BPI has been around since 1851!