Banks Rip Off

[MikeB]

Those 200 peso fees onto of the normally charges for international withdrawals from ATMs irritate me, especially as 20k or more likely 10k is the max you can get out.

HSBC does not charge that fee on withdrawals with foreign cards, there's a branch at Ayala, a block or so from the mall. I heard Citibank also doesn't charge but haven't verified. All the others I have tried charge the fee.

[Steve & Myrlita]

Those 200 peso fees onto of the normally charges for international withdrawals from ATMs irritate me, especially as 20k or more likely 10k is the max you can get out.

HSBC does not charge that fee on withdrawals with foreign cards, there's a branch at Ayala, a block or so from the mall. I heard Citibank also doesn't charge but haven't verified. All the others I have tried charge the fee.

Correct. Citibank doesn't charge. Unfortunately for me, Citibank will close its Bacolod City branch Dec 14. After that, I will have to either pay the P200 per P10K withdrawal or use Xoom.

[Call me bubba]

Those 200 peso fees onto of the normally charges for international withdrawals from ATMs irritate me, especially as 20k or more likely 10k is the max you can get out.

HSBC does not charge that fee on withdrawals with foreign cards, there's a branch at Ayala, a block or so from the mall. I heard Citibank also doesn't charge but haven't verified. All the others I have tried charge the fee.

Your correct both HSBC & CITIBANK doesnt charge withdrawal fees (yet). they allow up to 20k for w/d most banks now only allow 10k, maybe metrobank or PSbank allows a higher amount but i have not used them since the "fee" was started.for those who have US accounts, some banks reimburse the "fee" but it depends on your bank.the 200 php fee, for small amounts maybe is unfair the only other recourse is to pay $6-15 for large transactions.At least we have choices in how we send ,how much it costs compared to was available just a few years ago.

[Fred & Mimi]

Yesterday I did a check on using my bank here in Australia for sending money to the Philippines,I then compared it to my usual way of using Orbit Remit.Westpac bank,Fee $20Orbit Remit,Fee $10Exchange rate was a bit over 2 peso better with orbit than the bank.Stuff the banks :angry:

Yes I have to agree, I wanted to go bank to bank to save money but on looking at Westpac's fees, they make Western Union look like the good guys. I just set up an account with orbit and they will give me my first two transactions free of charge.You can stick the banks where the sun don't shine. Edited March 3, 2012 by wandibushman

[Jollygoodfellow]

Yesterday I did a check on using my bank here in Australia for sending money to the Philippines,I then compared it to my usual way of using Orbit Remit.Westpac bank,Fee $20Orbit Remit,Fee $10Exchange rate was a bit over 2 peso better with orbit than the bank.Stuff the banks :angry:

Yes I have to agree, I wanted to go bank to bank to save money but on looking at Westpac's fees, they make Western Union look like the good guys. I just set up an account with orbit and they will give me my first two transactions free of charge.You can stick the banks where the sun don't shine.

You will also get other free transactions as you use their service,check the dashboard page to the right where your profile is and the token code will be there.I think I have had at least 7 free transactions since I have been with them and their exchange rate is not far off what it is shown on places like XE.

[Call me bubba]

Yesterday I did a check on using my bank here in Australia for sending money to the Philippines,I then compared it to my usual way of using Orbit Remit.Westpac bank,Fee $20Orbit Remit,Fee $10 Exchange rate was a bit over 2 peso better with orbit than the bank. Stuff the banks

You may want to compare leaving you money in your bank and withdrawing via an ATM card. You get a better exchange rate that way than letting the bank send money for you. But the amounts you can take each time are small so you pay more service charges.

Does any one have any new stories (news) on their funds transfer? anything that you could share with us.

[wombatphil]

Yesterday I did a check on using my bank here in Australia for sending money to the Philippines,I then compared it to my usual way of using Orbit Remit.Westpac bank,Fee $20Orbit Remit,Fee $10 Exchange rate was a bit over 2 peso better with orbit than the bank. Stuff the banks :no:

Always the way Boss Man! We are with ANZ and they charge $25 and give a very weak exchange rate. The only way i have found is to use a third party to actually transfer the money. Aussie ATM cards or visa debit cards etc are not a good thing to use in the Phils either as depending on what card and which bank, you'll get hit with a flat fee and also another fee proportionate to what you withdraw in the Phils.I've found over the years that a CUA card seems to be the best as far as fees goes but like you i just send money via a third party, it's cheaper all round. Commonwealth bank just announced a squillion dollar profit in these uncertain times and they still gotta whinge!I'm with you brother.........stuff em!

Mate, forget the banks, exclusively, they are all thieving bast---s... Use a company like Forexworld.com.au and get virtually the same exchange rate as in yesterdays rate and transfer any amount you want for $8 fees. They ship balikbayan boxes too.

5 years ago, when I still used banks coz I knew nothing about other transfer companies outside of banks, I wanted to transfer $35,000 to here. ANZ was going to cost me about $3,200 or so when you calculated their fees and the most expensive cost, the crap exchange rate they gave you. NAB was going to be around $2,800 and a credit union about $2,300... FOREX cost $8 plus what I lost on the exchange rate listed in markets the previous day and what they gave me, about $35. There is no bank after that lot mate and I have saved further thousands of dollars by using Forex, over the last few years. I was spending over $2k a year, using a bank card in ATM's. Why, coz I had to pay $4 or $5 per transfer and there had to be more than one transfer (x2 @26+ times a year) coz the best amount found here from an ATM at that time was a withdrawal max of P20k and I got more than that each fortnight (2 weeks). Then the crap exchange rate from the Aussie banks cost more than fees. Then the 1% currency exchange charge. Forex, after I found and started using them, cost me around $180 for the same transfers per year. Banks, thieving bast---s, the lot of them...

And the last few years, the local banks here have been getting on the bandwagon too, (also thieving bast---s) with a P200 charge for an international bank card withdrawal. So with 40+ withdrawals a year previous to Forex, it would have cost me another P8,000+ per year.