Getting my money each month from a US bank account

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Kingpin said:

do you really need a BPI account if you have a PH HSBC account.

Yes, definitely need BPI.  My wife and kids have BPI accounts and we transfer between accounts.

How do you withdraw cash from HSBC?  I don't live near a branch or ATM so I would have to withdraw at another bank's ATM.  Mostly likely with a fee.

[Kingpin]

  

9 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

How do you withdraw cash from HSBC?  I don't live near a branch or ATM so I would have to withdraw at another bank's ATM.  Mostly likely with a fee.

No fees using HSBC debit card.  There's also the GCash transfer option, no fees.

12 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

What about transferring from HSBC to BPI, for example?

My other answer was about US HSBC, but the PH HSBC can do this free.

This is why I almost never need cash, everything can get paid without any fees from the accounts, either directly, GCash, debit card, or credit card.

There's only one potential downside, and I don't even consider it a downside because their APY is so high:

14 hours ago, hk blues said:

unless you meet the 2nd and 3rd condition you're tying up 50k GBP indefinitely.  

The 3rd part (Premier account) also requires the same investment.

[craftbeerlover]

22 hours ago, Gator said:

As others have stated there are several remittance companies you can use. I use world remit and wise. Both offer competitive exchange rates and fees. Both work in Philippines as well as if you use a VPN. I also have a Charles Schwab brokerage account that offers free checking and an ATM card you can use internationally. They refund the ATM fees you’re charged too. Schwab charges $15 (USD) for wire transfers (dollar to dollar accounts) and they’re usually done within a few hours; perhaps up to a day due the time difference, depends on the time of day you initiate the transfer.  
 

A bit off topic: During Covid my wife and I got married online. Utah offers this service, it’s fairly inexpensive and you eliminate the 13a visa probationary time. It only takes a few weeks after the wedding to get your PSA stamped copy of your marriage license from the San Francisco consulate (they have jurisdiction over Utah) and another week or so to get your 13a visa from the embassy or another consulte (depends on where in the USA you live). There’s a bit more involved then I’ve written here, but basically within 3-4 months you’ll have all you need to get your permanent 13a visa on arrival (it will require a trip to the intramuros BOI office). If you and your fiancé are the religious type, you can always have a church wedding at a later date. 

 

Was your wife in the Philippines when you got married online?

[Gator]

2 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

Was your wife in the Philippines when you got married online?

Yes, she was in Cebu and I was in Florida. The wedding was via video conference (Zoom platform I think). It was during Covid and we had planned to get married in the Philippines earlier that same year. Instead we did it online, which then gave me the ability to get an entry visa to travel back home.  Even though my wife is quite religious, she didn’t want a church wedding due to her having a child out of wedlock. We have a reception for the family a little after I arrived. 

[craftbeerlover]

1 hour ago, Gator said:

Yes, she was in Cebu and I was in Florida. The wedding was via video conference (Zoom platform I think). It was during Covid and we had planned to get married in the Philippines earlier that same year. Instead we did it online, which then gave me the ability to get an entry visa to travel back home.  Even though my wife is quite religious, she didn’t want a church wedding due to her having a child out of wedlock. We have a reception for the family a little after I arrived. 

Hi Gator, I am reading online right now that, online marriages are "not" recognized in the Philippines.    How did you get around this?

[hk blues]

7 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

Hi Gator, I am reading online right now that, online marriages are "not" recognized in the Philippines.    How did you get around this?

There was a bill introduced in 2020 about this but my understanding is that it was not passed so maybe there was a loophole that Gator found.  

[craftbeerlover]

6 minutes ago, hk blues said:

There was a bill introduced in 2020 about this but my understanding is that it was not passed so maybe there was a loophole that Gator found.  

yeah, I am reading up on that as well.  And as far as I can tell, it absolutely is not recognized in the Philippines.  I am curious if indeed he did find a "loophole" 

[hk blues]

1 minute ago, craftbeerlover said:

yeah, I am reading up on that as well.  And as far as I can tell, it absolutely is not recognized in the Philippines.  I am curious if indeed he did find a "loophole" 

I assume he has a marriage certificate/report of marriage and if so then all is well. 

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, craftbeerlover said:

yeah, I am reading up on that as well.  And as far as I can tell, it absolutely is not recognized in the Philippines.  I am curious if indeed he did find a "loophole" 

PH stopped recognizing the Utah online marriage temporarily in Nov. 2022, but now they do again.  I think Gator got married before that anyway.

All Utah online marriages have to be reported to the PH Embassy in San Francisco:

https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/civil-registry/

If you need details, join Visa Journey and go to the Philippines section.  Plenty of people with good advice.

[Gator]

17 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

Hi Gator, I am reading online right now that, online marriages are "not" recognized in the Philippines.    How did you get around this?

I didn’t “get around” anything. When I got married in 2021 it was during Covid and online weddings via video conference were allowed.