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OFW Bank Accounts

Discussion in 'Money Matters' started by Howerd, Sep 30, 2015.

  1. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    I don't think I have ever read about them on British Filipino but I have just found out that many banks in the Philippines offer OFW Peso bank accounts. Most of these accounts are fee-free with no minimum or maintaining balance requirements. To keep the account alive you have to send a remittance to the account every so often (maybe as little as once per year)

    Unlike in the UK, information on Philippine bank websites is a little sparse so I have a few questions, assuming that someone knows about these OFW accounts!

    1. Can any of the OFW accounts be opened in the UK, or do they have to be opened before coming to the UK?
    2. Can deposits be made into the account by cash/check/bank transfer from Philippine sources?
    3. If any accounts that offer (2) above, do they also have a debit card that can be used overseas?

    I assume the accounts are to encourage overseas money into the Philippines and I recall what @Methersgate wrote on this, several days ago - that the Philippine economy relies on foreign remittances. But, my wife would like to be able to use an OFW account so that she can receive monies from working for a Philippines-based realtor, rather than sending remittances to The Philippines.

    Any information from anyone with experience of OFW accounts gladly received!
  2. ChoiAndJohn
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    ChoiAndJohn Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Frankly I think you're going to get stiffed doing that. The account will no doubt be denominated in pesos and you will wind up paying access fees and being screwed on the exchange rate using the card abroad, even if it works as you hope it does. These accounts are designed for not financially savvy people who are desperate and don't care what commission they pay. The target market is for OFW wishing to save (in the Phils) and send remittances to family (in the phils). Not in the reverse direction. In addition you might find that the ATM card only works at BPI or BDO or other Philippine banks. Whilst those banks have a presence in the middle east for exactly that reason, they aren't exactly common in the UK. These products aren't offered out of the good of the banks heart. Once they have your money in pesos in the Phils, they want to keep it there!

    Other options that I think would be better (from worst to best)

    1. leave a regular bank account in the philippines, set up online access to it, ensure that you can order wire transfers online, and then bulk send funds every quarter using a SWIFT transfer or leave the funds to accumulate.

    2. Get your wife to be paid into someone else's bank account who you trust and then get them to SWIFT you the money quarterly.

    3. check whether if you open a citibank (uk) account whether funds can be paid into that in the philippines branch of citi. Then get someone you trust to pay them in directly.

    4. arrange for your wife to be paid using SWIFT into a UK account with a clearing bank. Someone like citibank would be ideal.

    5. Let your wife work more profitably in the UK.
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2015
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  3. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    @ChoiAndJohn You have pretty much summed-up my own thoughts on the matter. I am quite happy for my wife to work in the UK, in fact I have actively encouraged her to do just that. What she is getting involved in, in The Philippines, is an MLM scheme to sell property and I actively discourage her from getting involved. She says she will just use it as a back-up income to full-time employment in the UK.

    I had looked at all the OFW accounts I could find, but none of them say what the commission is on withdrawals/purchases outside of The Philippines, even when there is a clear indication that the supplied debit card can be used overseas. But the OFW accounts do have an excellent exchange rate on remittances to The Philippines and low fees too, at least for sizeable amounts of a few thousand pounds. So they are very good for OFWs sending a lot every 3 months or so.

    Once she arrives, I am hoping that my wife will find a job suited to her, I just don't think she has the necessary skills to work self-employed.
  4. ChoiAndJohn
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    ChoiAndJohn Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    I don't blame you for not wanting her to be involved. In my experience people in the Phils seem to fall for just about every dodgy scam business venture going . that isn't meant to be an offensive observation by the way, I just feel that many people are perhaps quite trusting and innocent in this area. I would also worry that if your wife does do work for these people, she's not gonna have any recourse when they decide one day they don't feel like paying her or pay her late. Plus there's the difference in working hours and a job in the UK is hardly likely to leave her with sufficient free time..
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2015
  5. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Have a look at PNB Europe Howerd

    http://www.pnb.com.ph/europe/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=595&Itemid=410

    Others here have remittance accounts with them but they also offer dollar and sterling accounts.

    edit: ah maybe not I just read the small print.
  6. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    It is a Peso account she wants @oss
  7. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Get her to open a PayPal account in the Philippines, that will be in PHP, then she should apply for a Unionbank EON account VISA Debit card (no credit checks it is a savings account) then link that to the Paypal account.

    Money can be freely moved between the Paypal account and the EON bank account which is the Paypal primary bank account, there can be small charges but really they are small.

    She can then transfer cash out to Paypal and over to here or she can just use her EON card as a VISA card here it should work!

    There is a reasonable online portal for managing the EON account as well.
  8. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    That was my first thought @oss before I read about OFW accounts. I had help my wife's sister a few years ago when she was trying to link a bank account to PayPal. I think the EON was maybe the only account that could be linked to PAyPal the time.

    I am just worried that she may not really be able to get one, if she says that she will be living in the UK. At least if she has an OFW account, she can give the UK address and there is no chance that someone in the Philippines could hijack the account.

    The problem is time is ticking by. She is currently stay with her parents and did not take her documents with her (even though I told her to). She won't be back in Cebu until 12 October and she leaves for the UK on 20 October. So, maybe not time to get a visa card. If she ius going to use a Philippine address it really needs to be her parent's house even though she was going to use the multi-occupancy property she is vacating! She simply does not understand that someone could steal her documents and identity!
  9. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    It costs 300 peso for the EON card Howerd, if she is running out of time she should be able to get one in a matter of days, just make sure the sign up address is one that can receive the occasional statement and communication from the bank i.e. family address, not sure how often they send statements as it is a fully online account.

    She must have some ID with her at the moment?
  10. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    She has no ID with her married name with her - she left all that in Cebu. She said she is going in Naval to get marriage certificate. She is so disorganised over such matters. But she cannot open EON account near mum and dad's place as EON have no branch there. - Only PNB, Landbank and Metrobank.
  11. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Name would not have mattered for practical purposes but I understand, they are short on branches.

    Other banks over there offer Prepaid cards including Prepaid Mastercards that might be a possibility?
  12. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    I would have looked at the options sooner but she only told me recently that her bank card is linked to her place of work. So she needs to close that account or pay fees to keep it open.
  13. Howerd
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    Howerd Well-Known Member Trusted Member Lifetime Member

    Do you mean Prepaid cards that could be topped by the company she wants to work for in the Philippines?
  14. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Yeah they are the same as our Prepaid cards, work like a credit card but can't have a negative balance, again like ours no credit checks as far as I am aware.
  15. Micawber
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    Micawber Renowned Lifetime Member

    As far as I understand it most if the so called OFW accounts are basically aimed at inward remittances.
    The Philippine pre-paid Visa and MasterCards are for overseas loading.

    Bank to bank involving currency exchange can involve pretty hefty charges and not good RoE's. Avoid unless a good one can be found. Unlikely.

    Having income in Peso and withdrawing in GBP's is going to be more problematic and expensive than remitting from GPB's and withdrawing in Peso. Plenty of organisations set up for that.

    Unless the regulations have been eased or changed there are many issues laid down by BSP when buying/converting foreign currencies unless it's done in person within the Philippines. Might be worth checking the regulations.

    I still believe an account which issues an ATM card with Visa/MasterCard logo would be the simplest and cleanest way.
    The RoE variations plus any ATM charges would just have to be accepted.

    The 'consumer' will not win against the banks when currency changes are involved unless you have substantial amounts to 'buy forward' and get lucky.

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