Wire Transfers From Chase U.S. To Philippines

[OnMyWay]

I learned a few lessons so I thought I would pass them along.  In 2015 I had done wire transfers from Chase to BPI without issues.  I am buying another property so I needed to do it again.

I started on Friday evening.  Rejected.  Accounts locked.  Call the appropriate security number using Google Voice over VPN.  They have to ID you and can use several methods.  The first one is to send a code to your U.S. cellphone.  I don't have one and it would not accept my Voice number either.  The next one was, take the last 2 digits of your driver's license, add together.  What is the number?  After that, you have to call back and speak to another agent, because the system will not give them another try. 

So, call back and get the multiple questions verification.  What car did you own from this list, etc.  Four questions, mostly from your credit record, but one was, What is the birthday of my sister (they named her) and it took me a minute to figure out the year.

Then they unlock my accounts and I try again.  Rejected.  Rinse and repeat.  Three times Friday, 1 time Saturday AM, and 3 times Monday night.  Monday night, I was a bit irate and immediately asked for a supervisor on the last 2 calls  With the first supervisor. she stayed on the line with me after she unlocked me, and stayed on while I did the transfer.  She then said everything seems ok. so I hung up.  One hour later, the rejected e-mail.

So last night, I logged into Chase without VPN and tried again.  An hour later, get an e-mail, SENT!  After discussing with a friend, we think they have AI screening at several points of the transaction.  I talk to humans after the first rejection.  The humans can't do anything to set it up to bypass the AI flagging.  In my case, the flagging must have been for suspicious IP addresses from using VPN.  A couple of the humans were pretty sharp, and thought it might be due to VPN, but they don't have a way to fix it nor did they recommend I turn it off.  I will try another transfer soon.  I hope that turning off VPN is the solution.

A couple of other points about Chase banking while overseas:

1.  Chase does not mind that you are living overseas for regular banking but that is probably different for investments.

2.  If living overseas, one of the sharp guys highly recommended keeping an up to date debit card and a true U.S. cell phone #, not virtual.

2A.  The debit card is used to log in when you call with a security problem like locked account.  You can't immediately use account #.  So you have to hit # 3 time to get an agent.  I think the fact that you don't have a debit card is raising a flag.

2B.  If you get locked out of your account, they will not send a code to Google Voice or other virtual numbers, even with VPN, or to an overseas cell.

3.  My last wire was in 2015 and was simple.  Now, all the anti-laundry laws are more strict, and Chase has added in a section where you have to choose the purpose based on the destination country.  A lot of choices about OFW, business, etc.  I found it hard to find one that fit my situation, and it is mandatory to choose one.

4.  Google Voice works fine for Chase 2FA when logging in.  However, it appears that it will not work for sending codes during identity verification when there are security issues like locked accounts.

Hope this helps someone.  I thought I might have to dump Chase after 10 plus years, but I will stick it out for now.

 

[intrepid]

When I was transfering large amounts 2016-2017 while building our house.  I had the same issue.  The easiest resolve was log a familys phone number to my account.  I could do this on line without issue.  The few times I made the transfers or later needed the verification code, I would call or text them a code would be coming to their phone and please text me ASAP.  I only needed that service a couple times a year and was never an issue for us.  They never get any further information about my account other than that sent code.  Still there needs to be some trust.

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, intrepid said:

The easiest resolve was log a familys phone number to my account.  I could do this on line without issue.

Yes, I kinda did the same for a while.  The last time I was in the U.S. in 2017 I bought a cheap phone with prepaid sim that I could load online.  I left it with my sister.  Unfortunately, my sister was not good at helping me out when needed, due to the time difference.  About the same time I started using Google Voice and forgot about that phone.

[Kingpin]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

 I started on Friday evening.  Rejected.  Accounts locked.  Call the appropriate security number using Google Voice over VPN.  They have to ID you and can use several methods.  The first one is to send a code to your U.S. cellphone.  I don't have one and it would not accept my Voice number either.  The next one was, take the last 2 digits of your driver's license, add together.  What is the number?  After that, you have to call back and speak to another agent, because the system will not give them another try.   So, call back and get the multiple questions verification.  What car did you own from this list, etc.  Four questions, mostly from your credit record, but one was, What is the birthday of my sister (they named her) and it took me a minute to figure out the year.  Then they unlock my accounts and I try again.  Rejected.  Rinse and repeat.  Three times Friday, 1 time Saturday AM, and 3 times Monday night.  Monday night, I was a bit irate and immediately asked for a supervisor on the last 2 calls  With the first supervisor. she stayed on the line with me after she unlocked me, and stayed on while I did the transfer.  She then said everything seems ok. so I hung up.  One hour later, the rejected e-mail.  So last night, I logged into Chase without VPN and tried again.  An hour later, get an e-mail, SENT!  After discussing with a friend, we think they have AI screening at several points of the transaction.  I talk to humans after the first rejection.  The humans can't do anything to set it up to bypass the AI flagging.  In my case, the flagging must have been for suspicious IP addresses from using VPN.  A couple of the humans were pretty sharp, and thought it might be due to VPN, but they don't have a way to fix it nor did they recommend I turn it off.  I will try another transfer soon.  I hope that turning off VPN is the solution.

Have you looked into HSBC? All that ^ is done in  three clicks.

I have a Chase account too, also considering dumping it because of their increasing monthly fee. I only use the thing to pay the Chase credit card.

[baronapart]

I have Chase and there is no way I would use them as my main financial institution while living overseas. Here is something I used though to get around having to use a US cell to do 2FA for Chase. I enabled enhanced security and enabled email as a verification method. I have tested using email to get a code while using a VPN. Works every time. I will not use Chase to do any kind of wire transfer though.

Edited October 18, 2023 by baronapart

[Gator]

4 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Have you looked into HSBC? All that ^ is done in  three clicks.

I have a Chase account too, also considering dumping it because of their increasing monthly fee. I only use the thing to pay the Chase credit card.

Schwab, after the first one, is also easy for wire transfers; plus the fee is only 15$. The only issue I had was the very first time I sent money here to my dollar account (was under 10k USD). Got an email and had to call an agent to verify it. Main reason was because the money was going to the Philippines.  Since then I haven’t had any issues at all, but the couple of transfers I did do were all under 10k $.  

[gbmmbg]

This only applies to US citizens but remember you need to file a FBAR. if you are sending the money to yourself. "you must file an FBAR if the balance of ALL your accounts is more than $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. I have a friend who works at the IRS and they are starting to crack down 

[Kingpin]

9 hours ago, Gator said:

Schwab, after the first one, is also easy for wire transfers; plus the fee is only 15$. The only issue I had was the very first time I sent money here to my dollar account (was under 10k USD). Got an email and had to call an agent to verify it. Main reason was because the money was going to the Philippines.  Since then I haven’t had any issues at all, but the couple of transfers I did do were all under 10k $.  

HSBC isn't even a wire transfer, it's just a free immediate transfer up to $200k from HSBC US to HSBC PH.

[Possum]

5 hours ago, gbmmbg said:

This only applies to US citizens but remember you need to file a FBAR. if you are sending the money to yourself. "you must file an FBAR if the balance of ALL your accounts is more than $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. I have a friend who works at the IRS and they are starting to crack down 

Foreign banks that are allowed to accept US wire transfers from US banks automatically report these transfers from US citizens as does the originating bank.Friend of mine who's retired from US Secret Service told me transfers from my US bank to my foreign bank are reported, they know about it and is of little concern. At least in the amounts the average individual deals in like less than one million plus. Transfers from LLC's raise red flags if large enough. As far as filing a FBAR he said legitimate foreign banks require you to sign a form when you open the account agreeing that all funds will be reported to the US authorities. I know Metro Bank required me to sign such a form.

[OnMyWay]

20 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Have you looked into HSBC? All that ^ is done in  three clicks.

I did a few years back, and I think it was 100k USD to open an account that had all the services.  Normally I am fully invested at Fidelity and don't have a lot of cash, so that is not an option.  It could be in the future.

Question for you HSBC users.  Do you exchange USD to pesos within HSBC, and if so, are the rates good?

20 hours ago, Kingpin said:

I have a Chase account too, also considering dumping it because of their increasing monthly fee. I only use the thing to pay the Chase credit card.

Switching from Chase is a bit of a pain for me because my SS is deposited there.  I have been happy with Chase for 10 years until now.  I don't pay a monthly fee for my checking account.  The savings account started getting a fee a year or so ago if I have less than $500 in it, so I keep $500 in it.

If I do switch, it will probably be to SDFU.