Philosophical 11

I thought this subject is worthy of its own thread rather than it getting lost in my previous Sipalay thread.

Reading previous articles it would appear to me that the favoured method of transferring money from the UK would be by opening a STAR account at PNB. For me this means opening an account in London, then another PNB Account in Bacolod and then transferring money from there to Landbank in Sipalay.

Today I received some information from a company called TorFX. They have links with Pickfords the removal firm. Apparently you register and create an on-line account and from there they will send money or regular payments to any overseas account you choose within 24 hrs The service is free. They make their money on the exchange rate. A sample transfer of £900 would attract a rate of 67 which is about 1 peso short of 68.06 the current rate. The rate is better with higher amounts.

I intend to open a PNB account in any case, but I thought I would throw the subject on the forum for the more knowledgeable of you to chew on.

Regards

Pete

quiltman

Hi sprinsteen,
The STAR account is with BPI London.
I transferred some money last night , got 68.40 pesos with charge of £5 , around 340 pesos. By my calculations the difference of just over 1 peso between 67 by TorFx and my 68.4 is 1260 pesos!
The daily rate is posted on the BPI Europe home page every day. www.bpieuropeplc.com

Admittedly, the rate I get from BPI does not change whether I transfer £10 or £10,000 , but if I had a very large amount to transfer then maybe it is worth using a FX broker.

Raffin

I'm also using the BPI STAR account and my experience with it over the last two years has been good. Previously I only used the PNB London online remittance service using a debit card into our PNB account here and found it would occasionally not recognise card details, so I just use it now as a back up service to the BPI.. Think you do need other services for large amounts as one time the PNB blocked an online remittance request of just a few thousand, to my great inconvenience.

GeoffM

XE.com is another - I use it for US<->UK but haven't tried for anything to or from the Philippines - wife mostly uses Western Union but that's for smaller amounts.

deep9400

I agree. The STAR account is the way to go. Cheap, and if you get it right, instantanious transfers. I always find the longest period for me is getting the cash from the NatWest account to the STAR.

Philosophical 11

Greetings all,

One week to go before I fly (25 Mar) and a very helpful lady in BPI (Europe) in London has placed a doubt on my plans on transferring funds to the Philippines. I have now opened a STAR account and my plans were to open a BPI peso account in Bacolod which is the nearest BPI branch to Sipalay ...a 3 hour drive away. I would then use the ATM card which I understand takes about a week to issue at Landbank Sipalay where I will be residing. I cannot open an account at Landbank Sipalay until I have acquired an ACR.

This is where it goes pear shaped. She seems to think I cannot open a peso account on a visitors visa but only when I acquire an ACR. She is going to enquire for me but it may take a day or so.

Now if this is the case, I would then be obliged to draw money on a credit card at Landbank Sipalay until I can acquire an ACR.

A trawl through the threads has thrown up an article by STOKKEVN who uses/used a company called Philrem who in his own words * cash on your front door step if that is how you want it* Is this still valid?

Maybe I can open an account on a visitors passport in which case there is no problem. Or if not, the best way I can approach this problem.

Regards

Pete

mikemike

Thea, is very probably correct, you may need an ACR here. Some banks and branches of the same bank can be more relaxed.

Stokkevn

Just google Philrem and the full company name is Philrem Remittance Ltd based in London. They are still operational and I have had good experience with them. Does take 2 or 3 working days to get the money through.

quiltman

We had BPI london open a peso account for us before we moved. Reason for opening was put on application form as "Visa application'. As MikeMike says, it can vary from Bank to Branch. Could not get checking account until we got our SRRV though.

Gazza-d

The ARC card will be issued on your first or second renewal, can't remember which. You won't have to draw money from the UK for too long. Anyway use you UK debit card not credit card.

tropicofcancer

Allied Banking Corporation now amalgamated with Philippine National Bank, will open an account for you from UK.
There is no problem using your UK Debit or Credit card, in the ATM's here, most ATM's accept them. Most UK banks charge 1½%, plus 3% on the exchange rate.

tropicofcancer

I forgot to mention:
You can draw out up to P20,000 in one day, but only in two lots of P10,000. If you want an amount between ten and twenty, take out the ten-thousand first, then the smaller amount last.
Foreign cards come under Cash Advance/Credit Card on the list of options. With a four digit pin, you need to press the green enter key once the code has been entered, automatic continuation is for six digit PINs.

Philosophical 11

Think it is sorted. My contact at BPI (Europe) happens to come from Bacolod which is where my nearest BPI branch is and knows someone working there. Told to go there with my Tourist Visa, plus passport etc and all will be resolved.

The power of contacts...works world-wide!

Many thanks for your replies.

Fly tomorrow....at last!

Regards

Pete

quiltman

That's good news Pete! Once you have your ATM card, you can get 50,000 a day from BPI ATMs or 10,000 a time from other banks, to a total of 9 transactions a day - according to the paperwork I got with my ATM card.Have only ever done two withdrawals in one day so cannot vouch for the 9! Have a good trip.

mikemike

Did you ask to increase the daily limit as I can get no more than 20thou a day from a bPI account? I can get the same at other banks in 2 X 10,000