Banking - PhilFAQS

Holy Week in the Philippines, Money, Traffic and “Out of Stock, Sir”

March 23, 2012 By Philly 7 Comments

Remember just a little while back I wrote an article about planning a strategy for getting your money every month in the Philippines without stumbling of the International Dateline.

There’s another little trap associated with the calendar that is very close at hand … and it’s an issue that will come up over and over again while living in the Philippines … Holy Week.

Now this site is visited by people of all sorts of different religious persuasion, and I’m all for every sort of religious belief (or denial) you individually want to hold dear. because of this, there any people out there who tend to think, “I’m not Catholic”, or “I don’t believe” who looked at the headline and thought, why would I care about Holy Week, doesn’t have much to do with me.”

Guess again, partner. If you live in the Philippines, or if you deal with family or friends in the Philippines you better believe Holy Week has a LOT to do with you.

Bataan Day Traffic. It's no joke!

It’s coming. Coming fast. April 1st is Palm Sunday this year. From then until after April 9th, Araw ng Kagitingan (National Day of Valor or Bataan Day or Corregidor Day) , you will find businesses (banks) closed, stores “out of stock” (yes even more than usual) and traffic … big time traffic (April 9th is going to be especially scary this year, falling as it does on its usual date and coinciding with the huge flow of people coming back from the provinces afer a five (5) day weekend, Wahoo!.

Park your car, get money in hand before that week, stock up on groceries, and don’t expect to get a seat on a bus, or an airplane, visit Boracay, etc.

Trust me on this, guys and gals. Been there, done that, been stuck in the traffic.

Our friends at remeithome.com published this excellent synopsis as to what all these days mean. I use and recommend Remit Home and I am grateful for this article.

One final caution. remember that the last day in April you can depend upon your Philippine bank being open is Monday the 4th .. and some US income sources, like Social Security, don’t dieect deposit until the 3rd … which will be the 4th here in the Philippines, of course. Your Philippine bank will most likely be closed from the 5th until the morning of the 10th. So your banking window is, shall we say, narrow? Don’t oversleep

Holy Week Celebration in the Philippines

The beginning of Holy Week is marked by Palm Sunday (Linggo ng Palaspas). On this day, Filipinos bring palm fronds (called Palaspasin Filipino) to church to have them blessed by the priest after Sunday mass. These palm fronds are then taken home and hung either by the family altar or on the front door, where it is believed to ward off evil spirits.

The next most significant day of Holy Week after Palm Sunday is Maundy Thursday (Huwebes Santo). On this day, Filipinos observe the Visita Iglesia (Church Visit). This is usually a family event, in which immediate, also often including extended, family members travel together to visit seven different churches to meditate on The Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross refers to a series of artistic representations, usually hung or displayed inside the churches, depicting the events leading to Christ’s crucifixion. The family prays over each of these stations in the various churches they visit during Visita Iglesia.

Good Friday (Biyernes Santo) is usually celebrated with various street processions depicting the Way of the Cross around many different cities in the Philippines. These processions reenact Christ’s endeavor of taking up the cross and walking to his death. Some places also hold the traditional play called the Senakulo on this day, which narrates the trial, death, and suffering of Christ. At 3:00 in the afternoon, Filipinos often offer a silent prayer, as this hour is believed to mark Christ’s death.

Black Saturday (Sabado de Gloria) is usually spent in silence and solemnity. Filipinos often just stay at home out of respect for Christ’s death.

Easter Sunday (Linggo ng Pagkabuhay) is marked by huge and joyous celebration for Filipinos. The festivities start at dawn with a procession called the Salubong. During this procession, a life-sized statue of Christ is brought by a stream of people towards a church, where a life-sized statue of Mary wearing a black veil (to express her bereavement) stands. Children dressed as angels are situated around Mary’s statue, often standing on a platform at level with her head, or with one child securely suspended in mid-air. When the statue of Christ arrives, the children sing, and the angel situated nearest Mary’s head announces that Christ is risen, dramatically removing Mary’s veil to signify the end of her mourning. Doves are often released or fireworks set off afterwards. Easter mass is then held in the parish. Some parishes hold Easter lunch beside the church after mass.

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Filed Under: Banking

“Beware the Ides of March …” — Especially in the Philippines

March 5, 2012 By Philly 3 Comments

“Beware the Ides of March …” … thus spake the Soothsayer to Julius Caesar. Caesar, however, chose to ignore the advice and, 23 stab wounds later, he uttered the famous word, Et Tu, Brute and expired.

The “Ides of March”, which is an ancient definition of the 15th of March, as well as the middle of certain other months in Roman times.

Truly, I don’t know anything bad about mid-March here in the Philippines. (except it is high summer and dag-nabbed HOT)

BUT, and it’s a really big But, there is a date you really, really have to be aware of a certain date, every month. You have to plan ahead about this day, and you have to continually guard against the problems that will happen around it, because month after month there will be situations that will tend to get yourself mired in problems over this date. Scary? Well, it needn’t be scary, but you really need to keep yourself aware of …

The First of the Month.

It's ALWAYS Tomorrow When You Live in the Philippines

Why is the first of the month a potential problem? Well, like most potential problems in life, sooner or later it all boils down to money.

Even back there in the USA (or wherever you call home right now), what day of the month is the one you typically have the most bills due on? Yep, the first of the month, or close to it. And when do you typically spend most of your time paying bills? Yep, again, very often the week before the first of the coming month and a few days to a week after the first. Right?

Well, it’s not going to be much different here in the Philippines. Even more so, it seems to me, because businesses all gravitate toward bills being due the first of the month, and here, living in the Philippines, I find businesses much less flexible than those in my experience back in the USA.

You are very often “stuck” with the date that the business picks … or even if you can negotiate a different days, you may still be considered in a negative fashion if you aren’t “following the flock” and paying on the first.

You could plunk me down near the Bill Pay counter at our local department store, as a matter of fact, and I could almost assuredly tell you what day of the month it is, just by looking at the length of the line waiting to pay. For sure I could always guess right on the first through say the fifth of the month. It’s unmistakable. Likewise, the lines at the teller’s counter in local banks, people standing in line at remittance counters and Western Union offices, and so on.

Why is the first of the month a problem, though? I mean is this just some cutesy thing that Dave has developed, yet another personality quirk where he has an aversion to the first of the month?

Well, listen, I just enjoyed watching “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” last night and while I do sometimes notice I have more in common with R P McMurphy than I might feel comfortable with, this isn’t some wacky mental fear of mine.

More than anything it’s about the calendar and the International dateline … with a few holidays thrown in to make it more interesting.

Most of you reading this are getting income, either from pension plans, Social security or other fixed-income retirement sources and planning to live off that when you finally live in the Philippines.

Or, if you are not yet re=tred in the Philippines, you certainly have retiring ij the Philippine sin mind.

The vast majority of retirements, annuities and pensions back in the USA pay on the first of the month, or very close to it. For example:

US Military Retired Pay … last day of the month
US Civil Service Annuity payments … first of every month
US Social Security Retirement annuity payments … the 3rd of every month.
I’m sure you can find a few more out there if you try.

Now if you have obligations, like rent, mortgage, car loan, credit card bills, telephone, electricity, water, cell phone, Internet service, and so on, due on the first of the month here in the Philippines, can you see a bit of a problem brewing here?

Even if you use some means of electronic funds transfer, or even if you rely on drawing your US funds via an ATM card (which I strongly advice against, by the way), you can NOT access US money which pays on the first of the month in the USA on the first of the month in the Philippines.

Essentially, from the point of view of someone in the USA, it’s always “tomorrow” here in the Philippines.

In addition, what happens when the first of the month back there in the USA happens to be a Sunday? That means in many cases, the money is not going to be available in your US bank account until the second of the month. Or, if a holiday occurs on a Sunday and Monday is a bank holiday, your funds may not be available until Tuesday, in the US .. Wednesday here in the Philippines.

Thus, even without any possible delays in going to the bank or money changer here in the Philippines … and without accounting for Philippine holidays (yep, we have them here too, you know), you are literally going to be three or four days into the month here in the Philippines before you can pay a bill with money you got, nominally on the first of the month.

So, start now, just in case you ever do make the move, figure out how to get rid of all “first of the month” bills you have now, and fight, tooth and nail, against signing up for anything here in the Philippines that is due before, say, the fifth of the month, or even later … whenever possible.

Beware the First of the Month when living in the Philippines … or so Philly opines.

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Filed Under: Banking

Managing My Money in the Philippines

January 26, 2011 By Philly 17 Comments

I had to make an unplanned visit to the bank recently because of some unplanned expenses …an emergency hospitalization of a family remember … so far so good, I’ll report more on that later when things are resolved.

Anyway, even though my waiting time was brief, and the Peso/Dollar rate has been moving favorably of late, it gave me time to think about how I ought to give a blow-by-blow of how I personally mange our money here in the Philippines.

As soon as I publicize something like this, people are going to be tempted to write in and tell me what I am doing wrong. Well, I enjoy receiving comments, but don’t waste your breath on right or wrong … this works for me. For others? YMMV.

Anyway, the basics of it all is that our income comes from two distinct sources. I have several government annuities (pensions). people always tell me I’m lucky about that. I suppose I am. I only had to invest almost 40 years (28 of them wearing a uniform and carrying a gun), so those of you who have green eyes, feel free to follow in my steps, last I heard the US military is still hiring.

I also receive payments for my online enterprises. Some of these go direct to my PayPal account … I’ll talk about PayPal in a separate article), most of the others I have direct depositing into my checking account. get rid of as many pieces of paper, especially paper checks, to the maximum degree you can before you move. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

I maintain a bank account (more than one, actually) in the US. I inquired before I let if my banking institution would be OK with foreign residency, and the answer was yes, sure. If yours won’t give you this answer, find another. Life’s too short to put up with sh*t. I’ve had people tell me they couldn’t move to the Philippines because their bank won’t keep them as customers if they move overseas. I say, fire the fools then … they’re a bank, not a spouse … you didn’t take a vow about death us do part with your bank … there are many others out there to chose from.

Actually, I don’t use a bank. Wouldn’t use a US bank these days, they seem to be run by scoundrels or incompetents (sometimes one and the same). I use a Federal Credit Union. It’s like a bank but they are more heavily regulated and they are member owned, not traded on Wall Street.

Mine is Security Service FCU, out of San Antonio, there are many good ones to chose from and the majority of folks can find a way to qualify for membership if they take the time to search.

Anyway. Keep it simple, Dave. Most of my monthly income deposits directly in my US credit union account. I can view and manage my money there 24-7 via their online banking service. I can schedule automatic payment to any recipient, business or private individual in the US with their free bill pay service. So this pretty much covers my US money management.

Of course I live here in the Philippines, not in the US … so the majority of my money management is conducted here.

There are many ways to move money from a bank in the US to the Philippines. All of them cost something and all have their advantages/disadvantages. The method I choose to use is a check from my US checking account, deposited into my Philippine US dollar account. This is essentially free, but when I said everything costs something I wasn’t mistaken … the cost here is time. My Philippine bank (BDO) holds the funds from that check for about 25 days. So every month I deposit a US dollar check that should cover what I plan to spend the following month.

Every month the check I deposited last month has matured and is available for me to draw out. Typically, I only go to the bank once each month. I deposit my check from the US for next month’s expenses, withdraw dollars from my dollar account, have the bank convert to Philippine Pesos on the spot and deposit the Pesos in my Philippine BDO savings account.

The big thing which has changed in these past four years for me in the Philippines has been the actual handling of money … moving from almost all physical transactions. That meant getting physically large stacks of Pesos each month, carrying them to my landlord, to the electric company, the cable TV company, my ISP, my Philippine credit card payment center, etc., etc. What a pain. Long lines. Risk and inconvenience of carrying cash around, keeping cash at home and so forth.

All You Need To Pay Your Bills

Today when I do my beginning of the month banking session I rarely even take any cash away with me. It all goers into the Peso account. If I need walking around cash in my pocket I use my BDO debit card at an ATM machine and take out pesos a few thousand at a time (I can get up to P25,000 per day, but rarely want cash like that on me).

The cable TV I have to still pay in cash at a local bayad (bill pay) center that’s in easy walking distance of the house.

Everything else I can now pay with my excellent BDO Online banking service … in many ways it’s even more flexible than my US online service.

All purchase in stores that accept plastic … like SM Hypermarket where we buy most of our food down to salads an a burger for lunch from Wendy’s, which I sometimes bring home from my mall walking, I can use my BDO credit card (and earn bonus points along the way),

The credit card, along with the electric bill and the ISP monthly bill are paid, for the amount I specify and on the date I select, directly out of my BDO savings account. All for free. The difference in control and reduction of ‘hassle factor’ in the past 4 years is amazing.

Oh yes, the landlord? Well I ‘fired him’. Took out a bank loan and bought the house we have been renting … and the monthly loan payment? Well that comes directly out of the bank account, automatically for free as well.

So you do still have to pay your bills here in the Philippines, but it is one heck of a lot easier than it used to be. I’m a happy camper.

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Filed Under: Banking Tagged With: Banking in the Philippines, Paying bills in the Philippines

Don’t Try To Live Your Life On An ATM Card!

July 14, 2010 By Philly 8 Comments

Again and again and again I get these messages, or read them on someone else’s site …

Hi ….where do I go to get answers to my husband’s queries on banking here in our city.

He’s a retired xxxx and depends solely on his pension from bank of America for a living.

Lately we cannot make one time cash advance from his bank of America debit card at Banco de Oro. We need to get one time cash advance…

Well let me take this opportunity to pass on a tip or two about Living in the Philippines. You can find plenty of cries for help like the one I quoted above, any day of the week. Here are a few rules and suggestions that can help you avoid being one of the ones in dire straights asking for help.

As a general observation, Americans in particular need to get their banking terms straight … because when it is your money, you need to use the proper terms. A bank ATM card gives you cash by withdrawing it directly from your bank account. This is Not a Cash Advance. A Cash Advance is the use of a credit card to obtain cash where the money goes into your credit card account the same as a purchase. Fees are imposed and you have to pay back the debt, and interest if applicable. Some bank ATM/debit cards are ‘dual purpose’, they can function as either a debit (direct withdrawal) or a credit (Cash Advance) card. Don’t go into a bank, or use a teller machine, and use the term :Cash Advance: unless you mean to incur the fees and the debt. Most banks will happily process the request as a “Cash Advance” instead of a “Withdrawal”, if you say so, because typically they make a lot more money on the deal … so, precision in speaking is required here if you ant to save yourself money.

First a Rule: (No it isn’t really a rule documented anywhere, but it’s “Dave’s Rule” and it has served me well so far). Do not attempt to live here on one ATM card. It is like playing Russian Roulette without even knowing how many cartridges are in the cylinder. Why?

ATM cards can get lost or stolen. Shouldn’t have to expand much on this, but if you have only one card and it gets stolen, have you any idea how long it will take your bank in the US to send you a replacement? Will they even send a replacement to the Philippines? Have at least another, independent card (that you don’t carry with you)as a backup.

ATM’s here in the Philippines may ‘eat” your card, capturing the card and refusing to return it. This is a common anti-fraud measure. If you committed no wrong doing, can you get your card back? Normally, yes, through the head office of the bank who runs the ATM. How long? Figure weeks, not days.

For some reason unknown to you, your bank may terminate or suspend your account. especially in today’s “War On Terror” hyperbole, foreign money transactions are always monitored by various agencies of the US government and by commercial security agencies, perhaps under contract to your bank and/or the card issuer. How could this happen if you do nothing wrong?

No way I can say, but if it happens, do not expect to get the matter resolved via a simple phone call. My advice. Have more than one bank or credit union, either in the US or here and in the US so that one “backs up” the other.

Your bank may be totally out of line in taking such an action, and maybe you can sue tem, and write your Congressman, etc., but the bottom line is, if this happens to you, you ain’t getting cash

ATM’s here in the Philippines are sometimes notorious for “Failure to Dispense”. You card is accepted, the transaction is processed and charged to your US account but no cash comes out. If you asked for cash up to the limit of the card, guess what, you can’t even try again until tomorrow.

Will you get your money back? Most likely yes. But here’s the way it works.

The bank here who owns the ATM which failed to dispense is acting solely as a service provider to your US bank. They are not responsible to give you a refund, and they certainly won’t. They are required, and normally will, report the “no dispense” to your US bank, and the end of the next banking day here in the Philippines.

Your US bank them, is responsible to credit your account for the money erroneously charged. How long will this take? Last time it happened to me, it was back in my account in three days, with only ne phone call to the States. Got time to wait for that before you go to the grocery store?

What do I recommend? belt and suspenders, or even multiple belts.

Carry a US bank debit card. Also carry a US “name brand” credit card, like Visa or MasterCard. If your US debit card fails, you can try the Credit Card, either in a machine or an over the counter cash advance from any major bank.

There are fees that come with a cash advance, but hey, you can still eat while you straighten out the mess.

I go several steps farther. I have a bank account here in the Philippines. I carry an ATM card for that account. No fees and much easier to straighten out any screw ups that might occur.

I also carry a Philippine-issued master card, and I could buy groceries, go to the drug store or even get a cash advance on that card if I was in those “dire straights” we mentioned earlier.

But there is another pair of suspenders which I highly recommend. It’s free, and I wonder why more long-term visitors don’t take advantage of it.

Not only do I r3ecommend you have a bank account here, I highly recommend you introduce yourself to, and take time to notice and act courteously to the branch manager, his or her deputy, the chief security guard, etc. Do I mean be an asskisser? Those who know me will quickly realize I don’t mean that.

But these folks are fellow humans, and they control, to a great extent at times, just how easy (or hard) it is to live here. My branch manager is Mr. Favro. It costs me nothing to pass by his desk on the way out and say hello. Matter of fact, he often has something interesting to say. And recently, when I came back from Florida, he and I had a very interesting conversation for about half an hour regarding the real estate credit crunch in the US, how things were similar and also different here, and so on. I know I certainly learned some things of value. I hardly consider enjoyable conversations like that currying favor, but hey, as we say here in the Philippines, ‘Sup to you’.

All can say is, works for me … instead of having the adversarial relationship so many foreigners seem to have with their banks here, why not find yourself one managed by humans, and, in turn, treat them like humans in return. For me, it has paid dividends in convenience and peace of mind. Thanks to all the great folks at the SM Marilao branch of BDO, who help me out most every day.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, Uncategorized Tagged With: ATM Philippines, Banking Philippine, Credit card Philippines, Living in the Philippines

Philippine Christmas is Nearly Here — Don't Get Caught Short

December 7, 2009 By Philly 4 Comments

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to all my readers. This post is just a short note to remind everyone that the Christmas Season here in the Philippines is a “big deal” A very big deal.

I’m writing this on the 7th of December. The holidays will be here in a rush … like that Jeepney you thought you had plenty of room to cross the street in front off … and now you are looking at the scratches on his bumper in detail while you are wondering if the 1950’s technology in the braking system and the bald tires will bring him to a stop before you study the underside of his chassis in detail as well.

photo credit: petrr

Banks and most businesses tend to take a a lot of time off. In addition to banks having extended holiday closures, remember that everyone spends money and the teller machine you are used to using may be empty when you go to get some Christmas cash … the fellows who go around in armored cars and fill them up are stuck in traffic or on their own day off .. so take the time to plan now how you’ll get enough cash to carry you through from, say, 18 December until 4 January.

Many businesses and some government offices will be open some of the days in the week of 28 December through 1 January 2010, but for sure no one is working New Year’s Eve and New years Day. Check now, or wish you did.

(especially important if your Visa is expiring end of this month .. you sure won’t be getting a new stamp over New Year, and overstaying is still overstaying)

Also, traffic in the next few weeks is going to be worse every day and stocks in stores will go down suddenly. That Christmas turkey you had your eye on, or that toy your little nephew wanted do badly will likely not be there Christmas Eve.

For those not used to it, this is the season of giving gifts to those you normally wouldn’t be expecting to. The postman, the trash pickup crew, the security guards for your building or subdivision, the receptionist at your doctor’s office, the people at the bank who always help you, so on and so forth. When they wish you a big, hearty Merry Christmas, that’s a sure sign they are expecting.

A hundred peso note is good for most people … I got about 30 of them last trip to the bank … they can get hard to find also. Might as well think this through before the season is fully here, because it’s fine if you get angry at people expecting a sort of “mandatory tip”, but just recognize it’s the custom and it won’t do any good to lose your temper and raise your blood pressure over it … you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Banking Tagged With: Philippine banking, Philippine Holidays

Is There A Philippine Euro in the Future?

October 27, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

Asian leaders ponder common currency

By South East Asia correspondent Karen Percy

As leaders got together in Thailand to discuss regional issues, the idea of combining the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and APEC was again talked about.

The idea is to bring more countries together to cooperate on issues of regional security and trade, but it is still a long way off.

ASEAN and its partners are promising to work closely together on economic integration, climate change and disaster management. .. full report on the potential ASEAN common currency here.

ASEAN. Say that three times fast and it sounds like “Asian”, doesn’t it? Many times we Westerners seem to think the words are the same but the Association of South-East Asian Nations has become an important force here in south Asia.

It’s not quite like the United Nations or even as regionally important as NTO, but it is a much more active group than it ever was in past years and looks to continue to grow in importance for the future.

An important potential for foreigners is the announcement written about here of the possible move for a common currency.. similar in concept to the Euro administered by the European Union.

Not don’t get me wrong, there will likely be many long years of discussion and wrangling before an “ASEAN-oru” comes into being .. even giving that it will ever, but nothing starts without discussion and hits could be a very good thing for the region. How good of a thing would it be for those of us foreigners who chose to live here? Time will tell.

The current members of ASEAN are:

Brunei Darussalam

Head of State : His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah
Capital : Bandar Seri Begawan
Language(s) : Malay, English
Currency : B$ (Bruneian Dollar).
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mfa.gov.bn

Cambodia

Head of State : His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni
Head of Government : Prime Minister Hun Sen
Capital : Phnom Penh
Language : Khmer
Currency : Riel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mfaic.gov.kh

Indonesia

Head of State : President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Capital : Jakarta
Language : Bahasa Indonesia
Currency : Rupiah
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Indonesia: www.deplu.go.id

Lao PDR

Head of State : President Choummaly Sayasone
Head of Government : Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh
Capital : Vientiane
Language : Lao
Currency : Kip
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mofa.gov.la

Malaysia

Head of Government : The Honourable Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak
Capital : Kuala Lumpur
Language(s) : Melayu, English, Chinese, Tamil
Currency : Malaysian Ringgit
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.kln.gov.my

Myanmar

Head of State : Senior General Than Shwe
Head of Government : Prime Minister General Thein Sein
Capital : Nay Pyi Taw
Language : Myanmar
Currency : Myanmar Kyat
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mofa.gov.mm

Philippines

Head of State : President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Capital : Manila
Language(s) : Filipino, English, Spanish
Currency : Peso
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.dfa.gov.ph

Singapore

Head of State : President S R Nathan
Head of Government : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Capital : Singapore
Language(s) : English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil
Currency : Singapore Dollar (S$)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mfa.gov.sg

tyle="margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline" title="USD/Thai Baht over 5 years" alt="USD/Thai Baht over 5 years" align="left" src="http://philfaqs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/image17.png" width="260" height="146" />Thailand

Head of State : His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Head of Government : Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
Capital : Bangkok
Language : Thai
Currency : Baht
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mfa.go.th

Viet Nam

Head of State : President Nguyen Minh Triet
Head of Government : Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
Capital : Ha Noi
Language : Vietnamese
Currency : Dong
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website: www.mova.gov.vn

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Banking Tagged With: foerign exchange philippines, Live in the Philippines, Living in the Philippinees

Investing In the Philippines — RTB’s

May 26, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

I’ve written more than once in this journal about some strangely structured and ill-advised investment schemes (scams?) in the Philippines. Sadly some of them were even heavily touted by fellow expats, and I’ve lost friends over the issue as well.

One huge scheme, the Legacy Group Rural Bank fiasco is still playing out in many levels of the Philippine government. A number of banks have been closed, many people have been accused of crimes, some have been formally charged and fortunately for the depositors involved, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) is in the process of paying claims of depositors. Will everyone get back every penny they invested? I surely don’t know, I hope so, but it surely can’t leave a very good taste in the mouths of anyone involved. I think it’s better to make investments that you don’t need ‘scoundrel insurance’ for.

The reason I smelled a rat long ago and the reason the Legacy Group house of cards tumbled, in simple terms, is greed and an unsound business plan. If you ask people to invest, guarantee to pay them a certain high rate of interest and then have no suitable investment vehicle bringing money in to pay the interest going out, it doesn’t matter if you are Bernie Madoff or if your heart is pure as the driven snow … the scheme can’t survive.

On the other hand, I myself surely hate having money in the bank earning little or no interest. My US-based credit union proudly touts 5 Year certificates of deposit paying a whopping 3.0% per annum … fully subject to income tax, of course.

Or the old safe and secure standby, US Savings Bonds .. buy some today while the simply astounding rate of return is a whopping 0.70% PA. (That’s not a misprint, I went and looked it up and had to clean my glasses to make sure I wasn’t misreading the information at the official government site. Pretty unattractive in my book

For those of us who live in the Philippines and have a bank account here there is an interesting alternative. Before reading further, do bear in mind that:

An investment advisor advisor I am not. Invest in any thing at your own risk and if you think you need professional guidance, get it.
I have no interest in these investment vehicles at all. I do not sell them, get any commission or anything else of value and only mention this as an item that interests me and may thus interest you.

That out of the way, I’m talking about Government of the Philippines Retail Treasury Bonds. Here’s some information regarding these investment instruments along with a link to an excellent source of financial data here in the Philippines:

First, what is a Retail Treasury Bond?

The Philippine Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) is a direct and unconditional obligation of the Philippine government generally considered a safe and liquid investment opportunity. The RTB, issued by the Bureau of Treasury (hence the name), is one way for the government to raise needed funds.

It is safe because it is fully backed by the government and rarely does a government, including the Philippines, defaults on a debt security such as this. It is liquid because it can be traded in the secondary market prior to maturity.

It is called Retail because at Php5,000 (US$112) minimum investment, even individuals can invest here … learn much more about TRB’s and other finances at the excellent Pinoy Money Talk

9% before taxes sounds pretty good to me. I’m on my bank manager’s list for a couple hundred thousand Pesos’ worth … if the bonds get offered later this summer. Last year there was no offering because the government was meeting its income goals and didn’t need to borrow, this year we will see what we will see.

Regardless of what you think of the bonds … or if they even get offered this year, I highly recommend a regular read of Pinoy Money Talk … an excellent resource to learn what’s going on here in the Philippines financially, written at a level we non-financier types can easily understand

Popularity: 12% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, Live There Tagged With: invest in the philippines, Live in the Philippines, Make money in the Philippines

Philippine Questions — Thursday, 7 May 2009

May 7, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

Time to revisit another old favorite subject here at PhilFAQS, where we answer your questions about living in the Philippines. This has certainly been covered before, but people search for the subject continuously and I am here to try to give them what they need.

Writing yourself a check and other Philippine Money and Philippine Banking Tips

I last wrote at this on length in When You Need Money Just Write Yourself A Check | PhilFAQS a while back. I see a lot of searches coming here to my bog about living and making a living in the Philippines that may not be relayed to the Philippines … they may just be about how to write yourself a check. It’s simple, but something that apparently isn’t covered much in schools … people have to figure it out for themselves on the fly. Here goes:

If you have a checking account, you can write yourself a check from that account, just as if you were writing a check to anyone else that you wanted to give some of your own money too. Obviously all normal rules and regulations for your bank, your home country and the country you are writing the check in apply, but the banking rules of the Philippines and the US are quite similar, so it is likely that if you write a check in your US home town to pay your electric bill, you can write it to yourself here in the Philippines. This is how my bank wants to see my checks written out … as always, YMMV.

I typically “live” off my US dollar account here in the Philippines. Each month I go to the bank, usually on the first banking day of the month with a check written out to myself and a deposit slip filled up to deposit the check into my account. On the front of the check 9the payee line” I write my full name as shown on my bank account. Years ago I used to just write a check for “cash” rather than to myself specifically. This is still legal in many banking jurisdictions, but it’s a bad security practice and you certainly wouldn’t be able to cash (here we say “encash”) the check over the counter anyway, so go with the flow,

On the left side of the reverse of the check, in the place for the endorsement I write the words “For Deposit Only” and when I am standing in front of the teller, ready to hand over the check, I then sign my name and then print my name under the signature. This is called a “restrictive endorsement”, meaning that the bank is not supposed to encash the check over the counter or use it for any other purpose than to put the money in my account. I do not sign the check before I am at the teller as a precaution against theft by loss of the check, even though, theoretically, the restrictive endorsement adds a level of protection. Belt and suspenders for me, that’s my motto.

There are two schools of thought on whether the restrictive endorsement should include the receiving account number or not. You do have to write the account number on the back of a check that you are depositing. It is sufficient to write "For Deposit Only." Some security experts advise that writing your bank account number on the back of a check is a security risk in that it exposes your account number to third parties who may handle the check.

I personally side with this point of view, but on the other hand, if you do not write the account number on the endorsement you may risk the bank confusing your check with someone else’s and depositing something to the wrong account. Totally your decision on this matter.

If you are accustomed to British-based banking systems, don’t get yourself all crossed up . In Great Britain and other countries who pattern their banking laws after the “mother country”, it is common practice to cross a cheque which tells a bank not to cash it across the counter. The cheque must be paid to a bank (e.g. into a customer’s account). If a bank does cash the cheque it may be liable for any loss suffered by the true owner. Crossing a cheque means drawing across the face of the cheque from top to bottom two parallel lines, with or without the words ‘not negotiable’ between them. A crossing may be added by you when you make out a cheque or by any person who obtains possession of your cheque.

I have received two reasonably authoritative answers to the question, “is it acceptable or necessary to cross a check/cheque here in the Philippines”? Problem is, the answers are directly contradictory. One source says “yes”, the other says “no”. Welcome to the Philippines. My personal advice? Don’t bother. It is not necessary for your protection since the check doesn’t become “live” until you sign it when you hand it to the teller. Also, I lived for some time in the UK, with both a Pound Sterling and US Dollar bank account and didn’t even know what ‘crossing a cheque” meant until years later when I looked it up in response to a reader’s question here.

Once the check is correctly deposited, you’ll be in the clearing process. Although some banks advertise they take less time, mine still takes about a month to clear the check … that is to make the money actually available in my account. To live off your dollar account, then, you must plan ahead and keep track of what you have on deposit and what will be “maturing” in the current month. This is a real thorn in the side for some folks. The advantage is, I never have to do anything more complex than write that one check per month and my bank charges no fees for a deposit like this. Again, check before you set up a banking relationship here, because the clearing times and per check charges vary substantially.

Now how do I get my hands on and actual cash, US or Philippine?

I make a cash withdrawal, over the counter in US dollars (this is manly if I want to exchange dollars for pesos somewhere other than the bank, or I am traveling outside the Philippines … just so I have easily convertible cash in my wallet)
I do an over the counter conversion and transfer from my US Dollar account to my Philippine Peso account, so I can use my Philippine ATM card in any teller machine to get pesos in hand.
If I just want Pesos, here and now, I fill up a withdrawal form for my US dollar account in the amount of dollars that equals the amount of Pesos I want at the current days rate, and when I present it to the teller, so/he will do the conversion as part of the transaction and hand me the correct amount in Philippine Pesos.

That’s about it for writing yourself a check here in the Philippines. Better look in m,my wallet and see when I have to go to the bank again.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, How-To Tagged With: make aliving philippines, Philippine banking, philippine business; mke money philippines

Philippine Questions and Answers — 9 Apr 2009

April 9, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

A little Easter gift. But what is underneath the pretty wrapping? We’ve talked here before about the recent Rural Bank Time deposit scams that forced the closure of 12 banks over the Christmas holidays, end of 2008. Sadly a number of foreigners were involved in peddling these ‘too good to be true’ products, and many foreigners, some who even contacted me for advice, were so enthused about the promises of ‘money for nothing’ that they didn’t want to hear any intelligent and rational analysis of the matter.

Well the house of cards finally collapsed last December, the perpetrators of the scam having apparently bought all the houses they wanted, all the Pajeros, Patrols, Expeditions and Benz’s they and their children could drive … and the BSP (Central Bank) and the PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation) woke up from their three-year nap on this issue and took action. Better late than never,

I get a lot of questions on this issue. I also get a lot of flack whenever I express an opinion. So for this week’s Questions and Answers, I don’t need to … I’ve got a guest columnist, courtesy of the Manila Standard to do it for me. Please note the feedback email at the end of the article if you are one of those people who insist on pushing your get rich quick schemes and are now annoyed the the PDIC is no longer going to cover these Ponzi schemes … take the matter up with Mr. Geronimo, he has much more expertise than I.

Are your deposits really insured in the Philippines?

By Gerry Geronimo

The affluent cheered when the affluent-dominated Senate and House of Representatives approved, before going into their Lenten break presumably in sorrow for their sins, if any may be admitted, the Conference Committee Report on the latest amendments to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. law. After all, the rich would be the main beneficiaries of their kind’s last hurrah before heading for the beach.

As the consolidated bill’s title proclaims, the main subject or concern of the bill was to increase the maximum insurance coverage, and, only I might say, “in connection therewith, to strengthen the regulatory and administrative authority and financial capability” of the PDIC. Since, as Speaker Prospero Nograles’ brother and PDIC president Jose Nograles says, the previous maximum insurance coverage of P250,000 already covered about 95 percent or so of deposits, then the target beneficiary of new cover are clearly the remaining 5 percent of affluent depositors.

I am not affluent, but if I were, I would examine the new law a bit more carefully, before joining in the toasting. In fact, I think, some roasting is called for.

After the expected salute to motherhood in Section 1, declaring it “the policy of the State to strengthen the mandatory deposit insurance coverage system to preserve, maintain faith and confidence in the country’s banking system and protect it from illegal schemes and machinations,” the new law in Section 2(f) makes clear what are to be considered “deposits” for purposes of insurance coverage.

Some arrangements regardless of how the transaction or account is denominated, documented, or booked, will not be paid deposit insurance in case of bank failure.

The first of these are “investment products such as bonds and securities, trust accounts and similar instruments.”

Trust accounts and similar instruments have by regulation long been required to be clearly documented as not covered by the PDIC simply because they are not debts of the bank. However, bonds and (debt) securities, which also partake of the debtor-creditor relationship present in deposits, are, nevertheless, also not considered “deposits” in the law.

The rationale for making the distinction between the two relationships of the same nature, it seems to me, is that the lender in the case of bonds and debt securities are, most likely, “sophisticated” investors who can fend for themselves and thus have no need for the protective mantle of government insurance. Such awe of the “sophisticated” investor, at least in the Philippines, is misplaced. Not only is he a mythical figure; he is just as gullible as the lonely depositor.

The second type of transactions that the PDIC will not recognize as deposits is “deposit accounts or transactions which are not funded or fictitious or fraudulent.”

Celso de Los Angeles’ Legacy rural banks seemed to have perfected this criminal technique of fictitious deposits into a science thereby putting the PDIC at risk, at least on paper, of paying about P14 billion to insured depositors.

Unfortunately for De Los Angeles, PDIC was not born yesterday. It has a long-standing requirement that claiming depositors should make a personal appearance, with sufficient and valid identification, to establish their actual existence and capability to have made the deposits. There is a good chance that not all the P14 billion deposits recorded by the Legacy rural banks will be actually claimed. P14 billion translates into a lot of P250,000-account holders that not even the Pied Pier of Hamelin can gather with his music of high interest.

The third class of transactions that the PDIC will not pay are accounts and transactions in conflict with principles of safe and sound banking. The new law prohibits the PDIC from paying deposit insurance for accounts “constituting or emanating from unsafe and unsound banking practice/s.” It looks well-meant; but a closer look, indicates that the invocation of the safe and sound principle is only a whit better than lip service.

In the first place, whether an account or transaction has the dubious patrimony of “constituting or emanating from unsafe and unsound banking practice/s” is to be determined by the PDIC in consultation with the BSP. In practice, this means that the determination of “unsafe and unsound banking practice” is required to be a joint endeavor of the PDIC and BSP, even if the monetary consequences of such a determination fall only on the PDIC. There is no reason why the PDIC should not be able to determine that by itself.

Secondly, the determination (joint that it is) must be made only “after due notice and hearing.” The determination, therefore, cannot be summary and expeditious; and must instead follow “due process” which Philippine-style often means tedious and time-consuming. This requirement in my mind is the legislative approval of what Celso de Los Angeles had wanted Bangko Sentral to follow before it closed the Legacy rural banks. De Los Angeles went to court to insist that he be given a copy of the Examination Report prepared by the BSP examiner who headed the team that simultaneously looked into the shenanigans of his rural banks before it was submitted to the Monetary Board. Not that, he was not curious about his contents (he had already been given an idea when the exit interviews provided him with a List of Findings); he wanted to have a document to challenge in court who would have to give him “due notice and hearing.”

Finally, the last requisite that renders this exclusion ineffective is the need for the PDIC, not only to have issued, but to have caused the “publication of a cease and desist order issued by the Corporation (PDIC) against such deposit accounts or transactions.” What a tricky requirement. It is not even clear what ought to be published by the PDIC. Is it the fact of the issuance of the CDO against a class of transactions considered unsafe or unsound? Or, as the word “such” suggests, must the publication be of the issuance a CDO against the specific deposit accounts or transactions which are c
onsidered “constituting and/or emanating from unsafe and unsound banking practice/s”?

If the latter, would not the PDIC, be violating the law on secrecy of bank deposits since its publication of the issuance of its CDO would necessarily have to mention “such deposit accounts or transactions”? If only the class of is required to be adverted to in the publication, how is the word “such” to be interpreted without doing violence to the plain meaning of the word?

The fourth and final group excluded from PDIC coverage consists of “deposits that are determined to be the proceeds of an unlawful activity as defined under Republic Act No. 9160, as amended.” It is the least contentious and least problematic. And with reason: if the deposit is of dirty money, then the depositor has no right to it. And Vic Aquino, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, will make sure it is forfeited to the government.

The obvious purpose of the exclusions is to limit PDIC coverage only bona fide deposits. Insurance payments, after all, are to come from Deposit Insurance Fund, which is a special purpose public fund, to be devoted exclusively for deposit insurance and related purposes specified in the PDIC charter. While it is commendable that legislature by the exclusions attempted to protect that trust, the new law, like all compromise, leave some more room for improvement.

For feedback, e-mail thetrustguru@yahoo.com.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, Live There Tagged With: Philippine bankinbg, Philippine insurance, Philippine investments, Philippine living

Philippine Currency Trading

December 18, 2008 By Philly Leave a Comment

They say a picture is worth 10,000 words’

Which Ome should you have bought a year ago?

Which One should you have bought a year ago?

I’m no expert, but looking at what the major US stock indexes have done this year and what the gain I could have made on trading Philippine pesos would hav ebeen gives me some thoughts.

I’m looking into a no-risk way to capitalize on this trend. I’m not sure, but I’ll certainly keep you posted.

60 day No-Risk training course offer!

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Filed Under: Banking, Live There

Questions, Questions, Questions 6

October 23, 2008 By Philly Leave a Comment

Thanks to several readers who just sent in questions on thus subject, I’ll try to lump a few of the common interest items together here, please feel free to ask more about anything I fail to cover adequately. I really get a charge out of the help I am getting from everyone on this questions and answers theme, thank you all!

How Do You Move Money and Pay Bills

This has been a perennial question and will not die off any time soon, because when you live in one country and have money (or bills) in another country, easy answers are few and far between. I’m going to talk about what works for me … I don’t know all the answers, but there is money in my bank accounts and no “past due” mails in my inbox, so my methods work … for me … YMMV.

Where to Keep It: Of course the best answer to where do you keep your money has a lot to do with where your money comes from. In my case I have two government annuities, both paid by an agency known as DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service). DFAS makes direct deposits to banks in the US and about 42 other countries. At present, the Philippines is not one of those countries. Full list of IDD (International Direct deposit) countries is here. This means, for sure, I need a US bank account(or some other approved country bank account) in order to get paid.

I also receive Social Security Retirement Benefits. The SSA is more complicated in their overseas regulations than is DFAS, depending upon citizenship and status one might, or might not, be able to receive payments directly in the Philippines. I chose not to even try. I just have it Direct Deposited in my US bank.

I also receive income from a number of my online business ventures. Many of them, are US based, several are not. Currently almost everyone I receive money from on line feeds through my PayPal account which is also tied to a US bank account. Mostly I just leave my money in PayPal and pay for things I buy with it … it’s a very convenient quasi bank, open 24/7. A few sources, Google for example, make direct deposits to my US bank. Most of these companies will not make direct deposits to Philippine banks.

So, case closed as far as needing a US bank (or home country bank for my Australia, Britain, German, et all readers).

But what about using a US bank like Citi Bank with offices here and just transferring as required? Good idea, however, it isn’t normally possible. Citi Bank US and Citi Bank Philippines are two completely different entities. Likewise a suggestion I received from a reader a while back … use HSBC. Hmm, last time I looked HSBC was the Hong Kong and Shangri Banking Corporation. US-based? . Not hardly … the US HSBC operations are just one arm of a huge international banking empire. You can have an HSBC account in the US and you can have an HSBC account here, but there are virtually no HSBC branches outside Manila and I don’t know what costs may be involved in transferring. I need a local bank, so that’s what I use.

It is my understanding that you can use PNB (Philippine National Bank) of New York as a direct deposit source and transfer simply to your PNB account in the Philippines. I don’t know the details and/or any charges involved, but I also don’t have PNB account so I will leave this as an exercise for the reader

OK, so have a Home Country Bank and a Philippine Bank, but the hassles! Actually I find the only ‘hassle’ if you will is the already well known and well lamented Philippine banking laws that allow Philippine banks to hold foreign checks for as long at 45 days. This is annoying and counter-productive to trade, but it’s a fact of life and unlikely to change soon. Personally, I just ignore it.

Every month I write a check on my regular checking account in my US bank. There is no charge at all for this service beyond whatever I paid for the original checkbook.v I just took a look and I seem to have at least a 15 years supply of checks … each little 25 check ‘pads’ will last two full years, after all. By the time I run out of US checks the currency will probably have changed to Chinese Yuan anyway, so no problem.

I deposit (by the way, in the Philippines we call this making a “depose-it”, say to the teller that you want to make a “deposit” and you will likely get a blank stare More on the “common language” here.

This requires one simple deposit form and a trip to the personal service counter where the helpful teller will accept the check and enter it into my passbook … I don’t get monthly statements, all my accounts here are passbook based … I always have access to my account data. I can easily view my account online at any time and see which checks have cleared and which are ‘in the queue’.

What About paper Statements and Mail: This is an issue to some, indeed. US military retirees and civil service retirees have access to a volunteer organizations here in the Philippines known as RAO’s .. (Retired Affairs Offices). There are three major ones and satellite offices spread across the Philippines. You can receive and send US mail via these kind folks and I do use them.

But what about the folks who don’t have these services? And what about people like me who really want to get off all paper possible. Not really a problem. If you are still in your home country planning for a move, take inventory. What financial-related paper do you get every month?

Bank Statements? Why? If you are planning to continue with the bank sending you paper statements, and they do not have a useful online account service, dump them … almost any bank has perfectly useable online access these days, I can log on and check activity in either my US or Philippines accounts 24-7. If you use a smart home budget program, like Quicken or Microsoft Money they can do the information gathering for you. You want paper? Print a statement once a month … the statement the bank prints and the one you print all come from the same computer.

Bills? Well how many of these are you going to have after the move? Which bills do you get that you can not access online? My US bank has a free bill pay service which will let me pay any company or individual in the USA, one-time or recurring. If the receiving party is set up for electronic transfer it happens in one business day, if electronic transfer isn’t possible, the bill pay service will mail a check. I currently have only two annual bills I pay in the US, aside from that I pay no one there. Almost all banks have equivalent bill pay systems, if they don’t, change banks before you move … they are back in the buggy whip era. For those who keep a tight reign on their money, the bill pay service will also integrate with a book keeping program. If I did business with someone who would not give me online access I would just change my address to a US-based mail forwarding service. There are dozens of them available. Most will, at your direction, open mail upon your instruction and read you the amount or even fax you a copy … along with their normal service of receiving mail, bundling it up and sending it to you by courier at you own agreed upon time and method. I just don’t see a need for paper to travel from the Us to the Philippines or back again very often.

What about just using your US bank and living off your ATM Card? This can certainly be done. Many folks do this routinely. Different banks have different charges but there are a number of US banks with free ATM withdrawals. My bank isn’t free but if I use my US ATM card in a teller machine here I pay, on average, about a one peso per dollar loss on the ‘street’ exchange rate and $3.67 total in ‘cross border’ charges. Truthfully I don’t know my daily limit, I know it’s at least $500 a day which is enough for me.

I don’t feel comfortable in using the ATM card as my only lifeline, but it is certainly an important backup … I use mine about every three months just to keep it ‘alive’.

OK. As usual I have written more words that I intended to …if only all of them actually imparted information . This should help some of you with your planning, please ask if there is anything I didn’t cover … the concept of writing yourself a check seems to throw a lot of people off, but it works for me. Just part of Living Here in the Philippines.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, Live There

ForEx Is Not Just A Trader's Game

October 23, 2008 By Philly Leave a Comment

One of the things you learn right away if you are going to live in the Philippines is that ForEx (Foreign Exchange trading) is no longer something you read about in the papers or hear about people taking university classes in. It becomes part and parcel of your everyday life.

Don’t worry, though, the majority of expats seem to be able to ignore ForEx issues with aplomb. I’ve watched discussion for year now about issues like credit or debit card charges where people claim their particular card is free, or only charging them a certain amount, when the truth is the merchant is charging them significantly more … by exchanging the currency at a different rate. usually people don’t even want to get into this very deeply, because “it only amounts to a few cents:.

Well, to each individual transaction it may only amount to a few cents (although Visa has just finished paying off $336,000,000 USD in money the court determined they wrongfully took from patrons by charging the wrong rate) so those pennies can really add up.

I’ve written often here in recent time about the price of gas and diesel fuel … see Pesos per Dollar, Pesos per Liter, My Waistline — All 40 Plus and Still Going Up — No End In Sight for a few examples if you missed any.

If you refer back slightly over a month ago you’ll see that my cost per US gallon for diesel fuel was about $4.12 per gallon.

Diesel has risen more than 6 pesos per liter since then, so based on that it should be about $4.67 a gallon or more these days … but I just filled up for 54.47 per liter or about $4.51 USD per US gallon … an increase, but a much smaller increase than it might have been.

How can this be? easy. In the earlier example the peso per dollar was sitting at 44.07 to the US dollar. Today it is running 45.7 or so. A peso and a half per dollar makes a significant difference to those of us who earn in dollars.

They (ever wonder who “they” really are?) say the Philippine Peso per US Dollar rate should stabilize at about 55 to 1 in a few month’s time. Perhaps it will. Or, perhaps it won’t.

“They” may be among those ‘experts” just a few months ago who were predicting the peso would ‘settle out’ at 33 or so to the US dollar. Hmm, wonder how much “they” bet on their own advice?

What do I recommend? Cautious optimism (I was born with it) and, above all, learn what is going on, what the plus and minus sides of each venture are, and what your personal risk tolerance is … before you make a move. Only a couple months ago I remember being involved in discussion with several of these guys on-line who were apparently willing to bet the Peso was going to go to 33. How would you like to have to pay 45.7 of those 33 per dollar pesos for each dollar you needed to buy today?

By the way, if you want to learn the ForEx business … and potentially make money at it, this is an excellent offer I just came across. yes, it has one of those huge sales pages … why, because they sell product, that’s why … and it requires a purchase (although there is an excellent free newsletter you can sign up for as well), but there is also a limited time offer 75% off coupon and an ironclad money back guarantee, so it’s exceedingly cheap education in this potentially very lucrative business … where you will be, finance-wise at this time next month or next year is totally your decision. Step One to ForEx Success! is here.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Banking, Live There

When You Need Money Just Write Yourself A Check

February 1, 2008 By Philly 18 Comments

Just looked at the clock and calendar and realized I have been sitting here blogging and neglected a trip to the bank … I have to go and fit that in pretty soon, I guess right after lunch before I take my usual siesta.

Many people have talked to me before and I have written a bit about how foreigners typically handle their money here when your home, and sources of income, are far away “across (one of) ‘the ponds.”

My income (from some pension funds and from my Internet entrepreneurial efforts) is all US based. I’m blessed with a comfortable income … but when your money is 7,000+ miles away there is a definite problem in spending it here in the Philippines. Here’s what works for me. Others may have some different methods top contribute, which I’ll be happy to hear about.

Have a Home Country Bank:

Actually, I have use a federal credit Union … SSFCU, I’ve been with them for years and they offer great customer service and a fully-staffed 24 hour help desk that has always given me the right answers the few times I needed to seek assistance. I’m lucky enough to have a US mailing address here in the Philippines because of my military retired status so the address for checks, paper statements and such is no problem. If you will have to use a Philippine address you’ll need to contact your current institution directly and see what their rules are.

I get paper statements sent every month strictly for paper trail purposes .. I do all my banking with SSFCU’s excellent online banking services. Many other banks and credit unions today equal or exceed their level of services … so for bills you may have back in the US and such it’s very easy to make and manage payments online.

Have a US Address:

I’m very lucky because one of my sons still lives in the US and let’s me use his mailing address. this make sit very easy for me to actually deal with individuals and businesses in the US as if I were still a resident there. If you don’t have a family member you can count on, there are a number of commercial mail receiving/forwarding services that you can set up as an alternative.

Have a US Phone Number:

In today’s world the telephone is really a key to all sorts of personal business. There is also no reason at all not to have a US phone number and do basically all your business via the phone. Vonage, Skype, Yahoo! and dozens of others all have plans that let you have a US number that people can call that will ring in your home in the Philippines … either on a ‘regular’ phone, your computer, or both.

Have a Philippines Bank:

It would certainly be possible to live without my bank here in the Philippines (I use BDO, Banco de Oro … the bank of gold) but I find it very convenient to have a local bank and wouldn’t care to be without them. I do have American friends here, though, who have been here long-term … some nearly 30 years … and have never had a Philippine bank account. They live off their ATM cards from US banks, mainly. If you shop around there are a number of US banks that do not charge at all for ATM use, so this method can work for many of you.

Write Yourself Checks:

The reason I personally won’t rely on ATM card use alone is because even as a dyed-in-the-wool Internet enthusiast I don’t trust the ATM network to be ‘up’ all the time. If you read the news today you can imagine there are a lot of people in India, as just one example, who are getting a lot of “Unable To Dispense Cash” messages. (This article was written a day after a big banking network failure in India had knocked out access to hundreds of thousands of cash machines) I do have an ATM card from my US Credit Union and I do use it a few times a year to withdraw cash (Philippine pesos at that day’s current exchange rate). This is my back-up, secondary means of getting cash to live on.

My tertiary (third) backup is a US-based credit card with a high credit limit. I use this card only a few times ayear, just to keep it ‘alive”. The purpose behind this card is strictly an emergency … a sudden hospital addmisison or a sudden need for an airline ticket home. I keep no balance on it, and it has no yearly charge. If it was used for a cash advance, the fees would be steep … 3% or $50 USD per cash advance (loan), but that’s OK, becuase with a little luck I’ll never need it.

My primary method? The first of every month I write myself a check from my US credit union and physically deposit it in my local BDO dollar account. Aside from a trip to the bank … which is easy, since it is in the local mall … the inconvenience of that method is, the checks take 25 banking days to clear. That is, if I write a check today, 1 February, it is not going to be available for withdrawal for my account until the beginning of March. Sometimes it takes a little less time .. in December the check I wrote on 1 November showed up about the 8th as I recall … but it’s not really an area of concern … I keep more than a couple months living expenses in the dollar savings account so I am never hanging around the bank, breathlessly waiting for my check to clear.

Of course I mentioned these transactions are in dollars. As required I just ask my bank to transfer dollars to my Philippine Pesos savings account, which takes just a few minutes … and with BDO i get a tiny ‘sweetener’, something like an extra .05 Pesos per dollar changed to help make up for the atrocious exchange rate.

So that, in a nut shell is how I live. Write myself a check from my US bank every month, deposit that check in my Philippine bank, and spend money (either cash or Philippine ATM card) that’s in my Philippine bank to pay my bills and buy my lechon manok

Popularity: 23% [?]

Filed Under: Banking

Holy Week in the Philippines, Money, Traffic and “Out of Stock, Sir”

“Beware the Ides of March …” — Especially in the Philippines

Managing My Money in the Philippines

Don’t Try To Live Your Life On An ATM Card!

Hi ….where do I go to get answers to my husband’s queries on banking here in our city.

He’s a retired xxxx and depends solely on his pension from bank of America for a living.

Lately we cannot make one time cash advance from his bank of America debit card at Banco de Oro. We need to get one time cash advance…

Philippine Christmas is Nearly Here — Don't Get Caught Short

Is There A Philippine Euro in the Future?

Asian leaders ponder common currency

Investing In the Philippines — RTB’s

Philippine Questions — Thursday, 7 May 2009

Philippine Questions and Answers — 9 Apr 2009

Are your deposits really insured in the Philippines?

By Gerry Geronimo

Philippine Currency Trading

More Philippine Money Answers

Questions, Questions, Questions 6

ForEx Is Not Just A Trader's Game

When You Need Money Just Write Yourself A Check

Have a Home Country Bank:

Have a US Address:

Have a US Phone Number:

Have a Philippines Bank:

Write Yourself Checks:

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