What Is The Best Bank For Foreigners To Use?

[Mr Lee]

The reason I post it that way is because not all banks will deal with tourist foreigners, so few will open accounts for foreigners unless they at least have a lease and some utility bills. My wife and I have dealt with PNB in the past, but found them to be a pain to deal with, so we then opened accounts with BPI and have found them to be one of the best to deal with and have an online exchange function, so we can change dollars to pesos online which makes life easier at times when we are out of the country and do not have enough pesos on hand. We also later on opened an account with Citibank Philippines but now they have a rather large relationship requirement that makes them impractical to deal with, unless you do not mind paying monthly fees, or have over p300,000 to keep on deposit there at all times. Seems that for a poor country, some of the banks only wish to deal with the richer customers and I believe HSBC also falls into the same category as Citibank. What bank do you like to do business with and why?

[Art2ro]

The Best Banks in The PhilippinesIn the Philippines, there are diverse banks across the country which has services locally and internationally. In order to pick a good bank, you need to know which bank is the recipient of awards and recognitions from domestic and international institutions. The conceot is that if a bank has many recognitions it is a good bank to deal with. (see link below)http://topcds.entenc...he-philippines/Personally, we've been doing our banking needs for 12 yrs now with BPI! We've never had any issues with any of their services! Great bank IMHO!

Edited May 29, 2011 by Art2ro

[Call me bubba]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

[Mr Lee]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

Thank you Ed for that information, I did not know about making deposits at ATM machines and we have been using that bank for many years, so members have knowledge which can and will make life easier for other members, so again Thanks for posting it. :lol:

[Travis]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

thank you thank you thank you thank you. it is great information like this that makes new people transition easier. ed I also did not know about the deposits or the manager checks. the more I learn the easier the next time will be & thanks to you all for helping me learn

[Call me bubba]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

thank you thank you thank you thank you. it is great information like this that makes new people transition easier. ed I also did not know about the deposits or the manager checks. the more I learn the easier the next time will be & thanks to you all for helping me learn

Not every BPI ATM has deposit capability.only the ones that are at the "Express banking centers" and most branches. they also have a "EXPRESS DEPOSIT" that allows you to directly deposit your funds ,In metro manila, their are several, in Cebu just 1,Davao 1.(location i am not sure)the mangers check is only 50php, when i went to another branch.not my "account opening"they needed to get my "info/customer card" this took 20min, but after that 1st time, I was able to obtain the"check" within a few minutes.. BPI doesnt not charge a "FEE" as BDO does when you deposit "out of area"

[MikeB]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

I opened a BPI acct and have not seen the Deposit option on any of the BPI ATMs I have used, is this available on only some special ATMs? I was told at the branch that you can only make deposits thru the teller.They also told me that I could transfer funds from my US accts to the BPI acct through online banking and gave me a swift code (8 alpha character) to set it up but it's useless because the US banks require a 9 digit ABA or routing code. I explained that and they gave me a valid routing # - for JP Chase Bank in the US. I gave up asking them.Has anyone been able to transfer funds electronically from a US bank to BPI thru online banking (excluding banks that have a presence in both countries)?

[MikeB]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am.when i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

thank you thank you thank you thank you. it is great information like this that makes new people transition easier. ed I also did not know about the deposits or the manager checks. the more I learn the easier the next time will be & thanks to you all for helping me learn

Not every BPI ATM has deposit capability.only the ones that are at the "Express banking centers" and most branches. they also have a "EXPRESS DEPOSIT" that allows you to directly deposit your funds ,In metro manila, their are several, in Cebu just 1,Davao 1.(location i am not sure)the mangers check is only 50php, when i went to another branch.not my "account opening"they needed to get my "info/customer card" this took 20min, but after that 1st time, I was able to obtain the"check" within a few minutes.. BPI doesnt not charge a "FEE" as BDO does when you deposit "out of area"

Sorry, I did not see this post when I asked the question below about the ATM deposit functionality. Where is this Express Deposit ATM in Cebu?

[Mr Lee]

I do not see Ed online so I will try to answer from the research I have done after he posted about it in this thread. BPI EXPRESS Deposit machines

[Art2ro]

I have used BPI since 2002, for me It has been very convenient , Many ATM locations .branches where ever I am. When i needed a "MANGERS CHECK" away from my "home" branch it was very easy to do .The "on line" function is helpful . Have used BDO but it was NOT convenient for me, to make deposits you must GO INSIDE the branch, at least BPI still has ATM deposit capability .

I opened a BPI acct and have not seen the Deposit option on any of the BPI ATMs I have used, is this available on only some special ATMs? I was told at the branch that you can only make deposits thru the teller.They also told me that I could transfer funds from my US accts to the BPI acct through online banking and gave me a swift code (8 alpha character) to set it up but it's useless because the US banks require a 9 digit ABA or routing code. I explained that and they gave me a valid routing # - for JP Chase Bank in the US. I gave up asking them.Has anyone been able to transfer funds electronically from a US bank to BPI thru online banking (excluding banks that have a presence in both countries)?

I gave up trying, because with my U.S. bank, a cellphone is required to receive random pass codes before one can transfer funds on-line to a P.I. dollar account from a U.S. account and can only work in the U.S.! So, I just deposit my U.S. personal checks into my BPI dollar account as needed! Been a member with BPI since 1998. IMHO, the best bank in the Philippines!