Opening bank account as tourist

[hk blues]

7 hours ago, Patryk said:

I hope you don't mind me to ask additional question in this topic, not sure if this will be helpful to OP. 

How do you find using PH bank or mentioned above HSBC especially to recieve payments from overseas? Do you trust them as main account, do they work efficient, with accounts in main forgein currencies like dollars/euro/pounds? Does it hapen that bank freeze your asssets time to time with no explanation?

Thanks

There is another thread on this, specifically HSBC, where a poster suddenly had issues after 5 years with no problems. 

I have no idea if this was specific to the poster, HSBC or banks here in general. I haven't read other posters reporting similar issues recently. On the positive side he was able to resolve his problems.

To date I have transferred from UK to here maybe 10 times with no issues so fingers crossed!

 

 

[Snowy79]

10 hours ago, Patryk said:

I hope you don't mind me to ask additional question in this topic, not sure if this will be helpful to OP. 

How do you find using PH bank or mentioned above HSBC especially to recieve payments from overseas? Do you trust them as main account, do they work efficient, with accounts in main forgein currencies like dollars/euro/pounds? Does it hapen that bank freeze your asssets time to time with no explanation?

Thanks

I've recently had a few issues with the HSBC after over 5yrs of plain sailing, apparently inward to transactions to non reisidents (tourists) with bank accounts here are being clamped down on. I had gone from tranferring money from all places and receiving refunds to getting every inward transaction including refunds queried and blocked, until I proved that I was a full time resident they pretty much told me all inward transactions will be stopped except for those that I pay in over the counter in cash unless it was a refund to one of my cards.

[hk blues]

I wonder if any of the OP's problems are related to the Philippines being downgraded by the IMF a few months back to watch-list?

I assume the IMF expect the central bank here to tighten things up and it's not beyond reasonable, from the outside looking in, that tourists should not need to be transferring money in as residents would. Again, I say from the outside looking in as we know the terminology of tourist doesn't work well with the existing tourist visa set-up here.

Just a thought.

 

 

[Snowy79]

48 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I wonder if any of the OP's problems are related to the Philippines being downgraded by the IMF a few months back to watch-list?

I assume the IMF expect the central bank here to tighten things up and it's not beyond reasonable, from the outside looking in, that tourists should not need to be transferring money in as residents would. Again, I say from the outside looking in as we know the terminology of tourist doesn't work well with the existing tourist visa set-up here.

Just a thought.

 

 

You may have a point, one of the guys also had his Zoom account and GCash account closed. He has been using Gcash to send money to his girlfriend, nothing much just a few thousand peso now and again. They phoned him to confirm if he knew the girl and had he met her in person, two days later he sent a similar amount this time to his girlfriends sister and another call was made this time informing him his account is closed and no appeal. 

I have heard anecdotal evidence that GCash have closed a few accounts due to girls scamming but never went into detail with this guy as it was his partner he was talking about, I just smiled to myself.  

[Joey G]

3 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

They phoned him to confirm if he knew the girl and had he met her in person, two days later he sent a similar amount this time to his girlfriends sister and another call was made this time informing him his account is closed and no appeal. 

Yep sending $$$ to girls is a red flag... best to send directly to her boyfriend 

[Snowy79]

8 hours ago, Joey G said:

Yep sending $$$ to girls is a red flag... best to send directly to her boyfriend 

Cut out the middle woman.