Life in the Philippines would be perfect if they could get their banking sorted out and centralised. the problem is Banks here do not talk with each other, so if you do business here you need an account with all the major banks so as not to run up charges when moving money from one bank to another.
You will often find services offered by banks in the provinces quite different to those in their head office. I have spent some time search for a bank where I could deposit GBP as I wanted to have easy access locally but keep my main account in UK.
I saw online that BPI (Bank Philippines Islands) had GBP deposit accounts and Internet banking as well as a branch in Dipolog city where I will soon be living so thought this was great. I went into the bank, on my visit to check progress on my Dipolog house and lot for sale, armed with by chequebook together with Identity details, to open an account. Imagine my surprise, when customer services said, I am sorry sir in this branch to can only open a PHP or USD deposit account. I referred them to their website which did not state their were were restrictions for banks in the provinces and I would have thought with a name like BPI they would provide a better services to the various islands. so now I am back to plan B.
Plan B for my banking is to open an HSBC account, now I already know the Philippine version of this bank although on the surface looks the same as banks with the HSBC logo around the world is different, so I have asked them a number of questions and am awaiting their reply. Basically I need to maintain PHP 100,000 in balances across accounts to avoid monthly charges, this is probably ok as it could be used in emergencies. but we will need to see what other charges and benefits they can offer.
Until the next time
Regards
David
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