No deposit in my account.

[Tommy T.]

Just now, hk blues said:

But, aren't you wasting money in fees?

Good question, hk. Only with wire transfers - which are very few and mainly only for the future house construction.

At risk of violating forum rules, I will say only that I have investment and bank accounts with Charles Schwab in USA. They reimburse me for all (I mean ALL)  fees that I incurre at ATMs worldwide. It sometimes amounts to over US$20/month that they reimburse me...

[GeoffH]

38 minutes ago, hk blues said:

But, aren't you wasting money in fees?  For example, both my UK banks charge around 25-50 gbp per electronic transfer.  It would mount up if done regularly

I can only speak for myself but I don't do bank transfers very often, mostly I send using World Remit (1st option) or Western Union (2nd option) or I withdraw cash (up to 10000 peso at an ATM in the Philippines.  I've only done 2 bank transfers in the last 2 years.

[hk blues]

7 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

I can only speak for myself but I don't do bank transfers very often, mostly I send using World Remit (1st option) or Western Union (2nd option) or I withdraw cash (up to 10000 peso at an ATM in the Philippines.  I've only done 2 bank transfers in the last 2 years.

Understand.  I just stick with the traditional method as i feel I don't get screwed on rates or fees (well, at least i know what they are) - it's only once a year or less so I can live with the fees.  I was just surprised that some survive here without a local bank but I can see how it can work.  Also, the UK tax authorities don't care about money held outside the UK so no reporting red-tape to worry about for UK citizens.  

[Arizona Kid]

8 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

For what it's worth... I agree with some previous responders here. I have my checks automatically deposited in an institution in USA. Then I just do wire transfers or hit the ATMs here for cash. This works so well, so far...

I used have a certain amount of money..for example purposes 1k US in a local bank. I would go into the bank on payday and write a check for deposit for 1k and at the same time fill out a withdrawal slip for 1k. No fees, just the minute cost of the paper check. I stopped doing this when the lines started getting up to 2 hrs long and just went back to the ATM machines. BTW  here in Cavite at the ATM machine I use the machines are only putting out P500 bills for 2 months in a row. Weird. Used to be only P1,000 bills.  

[Tommy T.]

3 minutes ago, Arizona Kid said:

I use the machines are only putting out P500 bills for 2 months in a row. Weird. Used to be only P1,000 bills.  

There are tons of ATMs here in Davao. Sometimes the machines dispense 500s (hate that) but mostly 1,000s. There is no rhyme or reason that I see - just like there isn't rhyme or reason for a lot of things that occur here...? I think there is just a distribution problem. For over a month in January and February, it seemed that all machines - whichever bank - all paid out brand new 1,000s and even sequential order - nice and crispy...

[Arizona Kid]

Just now, Tommy T. said:

There are tons of ATMs here in Davao. Sometimes the machines dispense 500s (hate that) but mostly 1,000s. There is no rhyme or reason that I see - just like there isn't rhyme or reason for a lot of things that occur here...? I think there is just a distribution problem. For over a month in January and February, it seemed that all machines - whichever bank - all paid out brand new 1,000s and even sequential order - nice and crispy...

They did that here too. I think maybe Banko Central sent the banks a bunch of P500 notes just to put them in the system.

[Tommy T.]

14 minutes ago, Arizona Kid said:

They did that here too. I think maybe Banko Central sent the banks a bunch of P500 notes just to put them in the system.

I just wish they had bigger notes... No, not larger in size (just being specific), but larger denominations. I do not like walking around with my wallet or pocket bulging with these P1,000 notes when I need to pay for anything a bit expensive...

 

[hk blues]

29 minutes ago, Arizona Kid said:

I used have a certain amount of money..for example purposes 1k US in a local bank. I would go into the bank on payday and write a check for deposit for 1k and at the same time fill out a withdrawal slip for 1k. No fees, just the minute cost of the paper check. I stopped doing this when the lines started getting up to 2 hrs long and just went back to the ATM machines. BTW  here in Cavite at the ATM machine I use the machines are only putting out P500 bills for 2 months in a row. Weird. Used to be only P1,000 bills.  

I usually withdraw 10,000 - My BPI issues 1,000 notes, My Metrobank mostly 1,000s and a couple of 500s but another I use (Landbank maybe) issues a mixture of 1,000s, 500s, 200s and 100s!  It doesn't matter to me though - my wife spends all denominations equally well! 

[Arizona Kid]

6 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I just wish they had bigger notes... No, not larger in size (just being specific), but larger denominations. I do not like walking around with my wallet or pocket bulging with these P1,000 notes when I need to pay for anything a bit expensive...

 

I could be wrong, I've been wrong a few times, but I think they are following the example of the US and other developed countries to keep the denomination low so counterfeiters and drug dealers have a harder time dealing with the amount of money to move. 

[Arizona Kid]

4 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I usually withdraw 10,000 - My BPI issues 1,000 notes, My Metrobank mostly 1,000s and a couple of 500s but another I use (Landbank maybe) issues a mixture of 1,000s, 500s, 200s and 100s!  It doesn't matter to me though - my wife spends all denominations equally well! 

I use BPI also. P20,000 per draw every 24 hours. My US credit union allows $600.00 per day.