If you need a US Bank Account, check out SDFCU

[Jack Peterson]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

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

Exactly!

[Gary D]

Yes the big banks are generally ok but the whole system is a bit creaky. Philippine financial institution is not as robust as most western. If anything goes wrong you are more likey to be dumped and left to get on with it. We have lost over 100k due to failure with all sort of promises. They will keep telling you what you want to hear until you give up.

[Arizona Kid]

My gf last month used her BDO debit card to purchase something online for my son's Clash of Clans game. It was P450. Later she found an additional almost P7,000 charged to her account. She went to the bank to freeze her card. They told her it will take 30 days to investigate and no promise to reverse the charges.

[KC813]

12 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

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

Agree, stick with the bigger banks. 

I remember a story about a small town Savings & Loan bank in the US that almost went under when one of the employees lost the bank's money.  After a run on the bank, the whole town had to chip in their cash to keep the bank director out of jail.

Oh, nevermind, that was a movie. 

[OnMyWay]

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

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.

They have a long list of qualifying organizations, most in the Washington D.C. area.  At the bottom, they said as a last resort you could use American Consumer Council so I checked into that.  $8 a year or $15 lifetime.  I tried to sign up and got a server error when processing the payment.  It is during a typical weekly downtime used by many, late Saturday / early Sunday, so I will try again later and keep you posted.

If that doesn't work, then I will use the American Citizens Abroad.

[StayAtHomeDad]

2 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

They have a long list of qualifying organizations, most in the Washington D.C. area.  At the bottom, they said as a last resort you could use American Consumer Council so I checked into that.  $8 a year or $15 lifetime.  I tried to sign up and got a server error when processing the payment.  It is during a typical weekly downtime used by many, late Saturday / early Sunday, so I will try again later and keep you posted.

If that doesn't work, then I will use the American Citizens Abroad.

I read in a couple of forums about issues with signing up with the American Consumer Council. That's why I went straight for the American Citizens Abroad membership. Have to say, they offer a lot of good information in the members section of their website. So, for me, it was a good value. And, the SDFCU membership is turning out to be really good. Really pleased with them so far.

[OnMyWay]

9 minutes ago, JeSsDaDdY said:

I read in a couple of forums about issues with signing up with the American Consumer Council. That's why I went straight for the American Citizens Abroad membership. Have to say, they offer a lot of good information in the members section of their website. So, for me, it was a good value. And, the SDFCU membership is turning out to be really good. Really pleased with them so far.

Is SDFCU sending your card(s), etc., to your Philippine address?  If you don't mind me asking, what type of accounts did you open?  I was wondering how they would handle a checking account as far as printing the address and sending the checks.

[StayAtHomeDad]

2 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Is SDFCU sending your card(s), etc., to your Philippine address?  If you don't mind me asking, what type of accounts did you open?  I was wondering how they would handle a checking account as far as printing the address and sending the checks.

yeah they sent my debit card to the Phils address. requested it via FedEx and that was no problem for them (didnt even charge me for it.) I just opened straight savings account. But, i will be opening a minor account and a checking account soon. just havent sent in the apps.

Edited December 2, 2018 by JeSsDaDdY
typo

[OnMyWay]

2 minutes ago, JeSsDaDdY said:

yeah they sent my debit card to the Phils address. requested it via FedEx and that was no problem for them (didnt even charge me for it.) I just opened straight savings account. But, i will be opening a minor account and a checking account soon. just havent sent in the apps.

Exactly what I was looking for.  I would like to open accounts for my kids.

[StayAtHomeDad]

Seems pretty easy to open minor accounts. Just fill in their info, put yourself as joint applicant, and then both need to sign (or print or whatever). They will even give a debit card with the kids accounts and have a provision for turnover when they become of age. Interest is not much, but its something at least.