Bank Fees — Why Keep Paying Them?

[Art2ro]

http://www.workingpi...obank-fees-pay/ BPI, BDO, or Metrobank Fees — Why Keep Paying Them?December 10, 2010 · Filed Under BDO, BPI, Banks BDO Fees, BPI Fees, Metrobank Fees, Bank Fees in the PhilippinesBank fees of 10 pesos, 2 pesos, 1.50 pesos, 150 pesos — they add up.Let’s avoid them.Over the past months, my daughter accumulated a total deductions of 327.50 pesosfrom her BPI Family savings account:two 150 pesos for allowing her maintaining balance to fall below 1,000 pesos for three consecutive monthstwo 10 pesos for ATM withdrawal in other banks’ ATMsthree 1.50 pesos for ATM inquiries in other banks’ ATMsSame with me, I also accumulated a lot of 11-peso and 2-peso deductionsfrom my BDO savings account for ATM withdrawals in other banks’ ATMs. Obviously, we’re not good examples of what I’m writing about. But since I’ve seen the total deductions on printed paper, I’ve become more conscious about these fees.My attention to bank fees was also heightened when an OFW in Italy wrote to ask about her BDO savings account which she left dormant. When she comes home this December, she will find that her more than 48K deposit, instead of increasing, has been reduced by about 1,600 pesos. A dormant BDO savings account is charged 200 pesos per month. (Update: BDO increased its dormancy fee to 300 pesos per month of dormancy in February 2011.)Take note of the following common bank fees. All banks charge them. They just differ in amounts. Let’s avoid them.1. ATM Fees for withdrawing in other banks’ ATMsBPI withdrawal fee: 10 pesosBPI inquiry fee: 1.50BDO withdrawal fee: 11 pesosBDO inquiry fee: 2 pesosIf you withdraw twice a week at another bank’s ATM, you would bespending 80 pesos a month just for withdrawal.2. Service Charge for Not Complying with the Maintaining Balance RequirementBPI Family: 150 pesosBPI: 200 pesosBDO: 200 pesos (increased to 300 on Feb 1, 2011)Metrobank passbook savings: 250 pesosMetrobank ATM savings: 200 pesosThe maintaining balances are the following:BPI Family ATM peso savings — 1,000 pesosBPI Family passbook savings — 10,000 pesosBPI ATM peso savings — 3,000 pesosBPI passbook peso savings — 10,000 pesosBDO ATM peso savings — 2,000 pesosBDO Passbook peso savings — 5,000 pesosMetrobank ATM peso savings — 2,000 pesosMetrobank passbook savings — 10,000 pesosMetrobank SSS pensioner — 200 pesosThese banks charge fees for two consecutive months of being below the maintaining balance.3. Charges for Dormant AccountsBPI and BDO: 200 pesos for every month of dormancy (BDO increased its dormancy fee to 300 on Feb 1, 2011)4. Service charge for over-the-counter withdrawal for ATM-based AccountsBPI — 100 pesosNo charge if ATM is off-line or if withdrawal amount exceeds the daily ATM withdrawal limit, which is 20,000 pesosBDO – 100 pesosThe daily ATM withdrawal limit for BDO is higher — 50,000 pesos. If your account is ATM-based, you can’t withdraw over the counter unless you’ve already withdrawn 50K through the ATM or unless you pay the OTC withdrawal fee of 100 pesos.5. Fees and Penalties for Returned ChecksMetrobank: 2,000 pesos plus 200 pesos per day for every 40,000 pesos and fractionof check amountBPI: 2,000 pesos plus 200 pesos per day for every 40,000 pesos and fraction of check amount

[United Army]

Yes I agree with you Art2ro, I use to have a BPI dollar account, and needed to keep $500 as the minimum balance, I forgot one day and withdrew all my money, then had to have BPI re-open it and that cost me 500P. Now that I got my USAA debit Card I can withdraw my monthly living expenses, at Citi Bank. Citi charges $1 per transaction and USAA will reimburse up to $15 per month. I cannot see having $500 in BPI, if anything they should pay me for having my money in their bank!!!! I also have $ in cash as back-up in case of a natural disaster or the ATM's are down for some reason. This seems to be working out very well for me.

[Art2ro]

Yup! That happened to me once a few years ago when I too withdrew all of my money from my BPI dollar account! Evidently, any account that goes “zero balance” are automatically closed out! Fortunately it was easy to reinstate my account, but it cost me P500 to do so! So now, I follow all of their banking rules to avoid their extra fees! I use my accounts often enough that they don’t sit dormant for months at a time to avoid their fees for dormant accounts! Ridiculous rule huh!I don’t get those unnecessary charges or fees anymore, because I diligently maintain the minimum balance requirement in all of BPI accounts avoiding the extra charges and don‘t use other ATMs other than my bank‘s ATM and I don't use my U.S. debit card here in the Philippines unless it's an emergency!

Edited November 6, 2011 by Mr. Lee
at Arts request

[Call me bubba]

1. this is the main REASON I chose BPI as my bank as they have so many branches, I mostly avoid those pesky 10p out of network fees 2.. I have spoken to 2 different branches. You can have a SET MINIMUM BALANCE on your account to reduce or prevent those nasty "FEES". 3. about your friends BDO account being charged "DORMANT" fee. If she is a good friend, ask her for her account #,every few months deposit 5pesos in her account, as this would be an " activity". perhaps she should USE BDO remittance services into her account, as they would know or should know that she is OFW.then the "Dormant fee " would be waived. or by having a TIME DEPOSIT , this too would be considered an activity when it renews,in turn the other accounts then be considered active again Common sense is sometimes lacking in the business world here.