tropicofcancer

Yes ABC have been there since the eighties, at one time you could send the money via any Post Office to them, but that ended a few years ago. There was a special form for the purpose. It was easy.

When I moved here in 2001 and was building a house, I used bank draft and an over the counter transaction at ABC.
When I opened my account, all I had to do was identify myself at my chosen branch. That was passport etc. Plus the copy receipt.

ianinmalaysia

Hi T of C........bit of topic here but could i please ask your help with some info?

My wife is from Davao but we are presently living in KL due to my work. I need to start looking at places to hang my hat once i finally give up work and so far i really like the look of Cebu...... i havent actually been there yet but my internet searching has produced promising results. I like Davao but it is quite difficult to get to and i'd preffer to be nearer an International airport which Cebu has. Could you let me know the which areas you think may be considered as practical for setting up a home? anything with 90mins of the airport wopuld be ok, i think?

Thanks for the info in advance

ianinmalaysia

tropicofcancer

Well Ianinmalaysia before taking the big step it is best to have a look around. Most of the favoured placrs for foreigners attract a premium in costs.
Most of the British Ex-Pats favour Mactan itself, and I must say that I always thought that I would live in the Mactan or Talisay region. There have been a lot of developments in both places over the past few years. Also in Minglanila a bit further from Talisay and Cebu City.

In the South West there are some wonderful views, and there are many foreigners in the Badian area, mostly Australian though. Sadly it is more than ninety minutes from the airport. Unless you have a lucky run.

To the North Mandaue and Consolacion have a fair few foreigners living there, but they are both busy places always people and traffic.
Carmen in the North is another popular place, especially with the Americans, and I do like it there. It even boasts a children's playground (as does Danao City) it is in the main a restful sort of place. Many of my nieces and nephews attend school and university there. There is a new route to the airport from the North, running off the main highway at Liloan, which is currently closed as it is being widened. I have met a few British people in Liloan.
Consolacion has a new SM, both it and Fooda supermarket have cheese and other foreign foods, as does Gaisano in Mandaue. All on the National Highway.

Cebu is one of those places where many of the attractions are hidden. It would definitely pay to look around before committing yourself. I think though that the majority of British live on Mactan. The places in Cebu grow on you. There is a wide variety.

Talisay used to be my favourite place, and that is where I met my wife, She was with friends all from a village in Northern Cebu.

piero

Hi Blackbear for my monthly transfer i use direct money transfer about same rate as you get from the moneychangers and 6 pound fee upto 1000 pound. for my srrv i got my bank to issue a us dollar cheque from bank of america in my name cost less than 20 pound and the rate was ok as well............ so you will send all to your girlfiends account is this some joke , nobody else has seen this and told you not to do that. i did read it twice so if i still have it wrong i,m sorry....... but never put any money your girlfriends account other than what you can loose

piero

Try and open your own account, i have bdo open 7 days in sm and boc, and don't bring all your money at once , your still young and plenty of time to spend it

piero

Hi Blackbear time to sleep now. I just want to tell you a short story about another friend of mine. So before the volcano went up and the US still had the base near to Angeles my friend had a bar so you may think well he knows the score in the Philippines. Well a year ago he sold up in the UK and had 250 000 pounds and today very little left. I wont go into details but i do know where most was spent .So you worry me as its too easy to spend. Only trust yourself.i,ve been coming here for nearly 23 years but i,m no expert but i will give you true answers to your questions if not first hand then i will say so. But again please don't rush to spend your money no matter how sweet she is, i,ve been there but my rose tinted specs got lost a few years ago

blackbear1137

OK YES YOUR WRIGHT ILL OPEN MY OWN ACCOUNT FIRST .PROMISE. ITS NOT WORHT THE RISK JUST TOO PROVE IM RIGHT ... OR WRONG HEHEHEHSO ILL COME OUT WITH FUNDS FOR A MTH OR SO...THEN WE GO FROM THERE

piero

blackbear you trust mu and and yourself so my mum and dad are both gone so i only trust myself now. i have nothing against your girlfriend but you worked hard for your money so make it last, ok enough of that. if you still think the srrv is for you then 1 of the things they ask is that your deposit is new money coming into the Philippines not money that is already here. so if you were to transfer all your money [ and please don't] then you have to prove its new money. you can bring cash but you will need customs papers to show you brought it in with you. and do you want customs to know your carrying $20 000 no so you can get a us dollar cheque. as always good luck your flying soon

piero

sorry i think lost a few words at the start should read trust your mum and dad etc etc

britishbull

If you have more than 60k sterling you can open a HSBC UK account and they will open a HSBC PI account for you, allowing you to transfer money free on-line between the accounts - which also let you time it so that you can get the best exchange rate as well as having the money safely tucked away in the UK until you need. Not very good UK interest rates, though.

blackbear1137

ok thanks .im going to leave some in uk .santander cant transfer to bdo in phill ,there system dosent reconize bdo?? more like santander is too small for bdo? heheheh but anyway im going to take note piero and leave some in uk till ive opend an account in phill then bring over the rest,not a huge amont. choises are ,live in uk poor,or live in phill well off and make my own future .friday i fly to phill, new life ,new challenges,CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tropicofcancer

Don't forget that you can use your bank card in Philippines up to P20,000 in two P10,000 transactions at most big bank ATM's. Although that is daily, your card will be blocked and need resetting, if you do do so. I leave three days minimum between transactions to make sure, when I need a lot of money in.
BDO stopped their over the counter card transactions for large amounts a few years back, and would only do so from a foreign account, to an established BDO account. I am not sure of their latest rules concerning this.

If you need to phone UK, buy a PLDT or Globe phone card for P100 it gives you just over twelve minutes of call time.

blackbear1137

OK ALL SET UP GOING TO ALLIED IN LONDON SAT .THERE VERY HELFUL AND THEY OPEN ON SUNDAYS TOO!!!

tropicofcancer

Not long now, I hope that all goes well for you.

blackbear1137

thanks im very excited !!! new chance of a life .Im going to make the best of this ,my gf has some plans nothing too big, just simple life pay our bills make some money to buy food ,go out once a mth to a show ,more than i do here,i love cars ,used go to see all sorts of racing but DRAG RACING is my thing .ive done a littler myself, but recently just cant afford to go !!! to much ,so what kind of life is that!!! being with some one to share a life and help her AND her family is ok with me ,they look after there old and respet them,if im good to them ,maybe maybe thell look after me in my old age !!!!reep what you sow!!!!