New member... Philippine bank question

[Gator]

5 hours ago, jacker said:

No,  I have talked to several banks,  one bank told me get ACR, Proof of Residency, passport and they would consider

I presume you’re renting an apartment? If so, for proof of residency a copy of your lease should suffice (notarized is best). You can also get a residency certificate (letter) from your local barangay office for a small fee (usually about 20-50 pesos). You’ll also need a copy of a lease to get it. For either the bank or the barangay any utility bills (like from your cable or Wi-Fi provider) will also be helpful in proving residency. Never forget that banks and gov officials in the Phils love paperwork! The more paper you can plaster them with the happier they are, lol. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

12 hours ago, jacker said:

I have talked to several banks

You can talk to all the banks you want and get nowhere, but talk to one bank MANAGER with your ACR card and other requirements straightened out and you will likely get an account.  But get your ACR card first.

[Kingpin]

10 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Does this matter?

https://www.hsbc.com/news-and-media/media-releases/2021/hsbc-exits-us-mass-market-retail-banking

They exited last year but only for small accounts, Premier is what works:  https://www.us.hsbc.com/premier/welcome/

[Freebie]

On 11/6/2022 at 3:33 AM, Kingpin said:

They exited last year but only for small accounts, Premier is what works:  https://www.us.hsbc.com/premier/welcome/

Totally agree with @Kingpin Its been my main bank for past 30 plus years of living in Asia and moving money around is a 30 second task.

Got my BPI account when I had a work permit here and just kept the account ever since.

[Onemore52]

I went to the local BDO bank yesterday to open a debit card account, I had my passport, my ACR card and a letter from the Barangay Captain as proof of where I live. The person serving me had a good look through every page of my passport and commented on my travels and how many times I had visited the Philippines over the years.

In short I was denied from opening an account because I am on a tourist visa, a classic case of "Computer  says NO".

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

I went to the local BDO bank yesterday to open a debit card account, I had my passport, my ACR card and a letter from the Barangay Captain as proof of where I live. The person serving me had a good look through every page of my passport and commented on my travels and how many times I had visited the Philippines over the years.

In short I was denied from opening an account because I am on a tourist visa, a classic case of "Computer  says NO".

I think there is no hard and fast policy on this and will depend on individual branches.  I'm sure there will be long-term tourists here who have bank accounts.  Maybe try another bank/branch and try to speak to a manager who MIGHT be able to swing it.

ETA - Me and the wife went to open a joint account with Metrobank tail end of last year - the staff initially said not possible as I was a foreigner.  If I'd taken that at face value then I'd have failed to get the account but I didn't and pointed out that I already had an account in my own name as a foreigner with them - she took a look and then we went ahead and opened our joint account.  Often here, the 1st answer is no but necessarily the correct one.  

Edited January 24, 2023 by hk blues

[Tommy T.]

Several years ago, I was able to open a bank account with PNB here in Davao with just my passport and tourist visa - no ACR card. As mentioned above, it might be a bit subjective about whether a branch might open an account or not? I tried to open an account a couple years later, even with an ACR card, at a BPI branch and the service guy came to me sorry-eyed and said they could not do it. I know he was pleased to not have to deal with it...

All that said, it is certainly much easier if you have a long term visa such as many mentioned here on other forum topics.

Another thing to consider is whether you may wish to obtain an SRRV (retirement visa). If so, some, but not all banks, will accept and open the deposit account required to deposit funds to obtain that visa. It would be more convenient, in my opinion, to open an account with the same institution where you may need to create the investment/deposit account? To determine this, you should contact PRA or maybe check their website to see which banks they accept for their deposits?

Best of luck... Tom

Edited January 24, 2023 by Tommy T.

[Youngster]

Back in January 2019, I opened a savings and a secured credit card accounts at PNB in Cebu.  At the time, a rule? law was taking effect that no foreigner can open a bank account unless they have a permanent resident status as indicated on their ACR card.  I did try to open an account at several BDO/BPI/Metro banks and was turned down when presented them with my tourist ACR card.

After getting my 13A visa and permanent resident ACR card, I had no problem opening accounts at BDO and BPI banks.  So unless things have changed in the last 4 years, I would have to say it is probably not possible to open a bank account with a tourist ACR card.

[hk blues]

49 minutes ago, Youngster said:

Back in January 2019, I opened a savings and a secured credit card accounts at PNB in Cebu.  At the time, a rule? law was taking effect that no foreigner can open a bank account unless they have a permanent resident status as indicated on their ACR card.  I did try to open an account at several BDO/BPI/Metro banks and was turned down when presented them with my tourist ACR card.

After getting my 13A visa and permanent resident ACR card, I had no problem opening accounts at BDO and BPI banks.  So unless things have changed in the last 4 years, I would have to say it is probably not possible to open a bank account with a tourist ACR card.

A quick check online provides different responses (no surprise there) to the question - it does seem pretty consistent that resident foreigners can freely open accounts as if  they were local (I'm not 100% convinced this is totally accurate but more or less) whilst tourists can but with limitation i.e. foreign currency account only.  Individual banks don't seem to follow this strictly - BDO state resident foreigners only.  

So, just about enough leeway for foreign tourists to give it a go and try their luck but with limited chance of success. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

The answer here is usually you will have a problem with a tourist ARC. This is different than permanent resident ARC. Having said that the RCBC bank in the IT park has opened accounts for tourists in the past so probably may do so.