Challenges in opening a Philippine Peso Bank Account if you are Based Abroad
Money Issues for Filipinos Abroad (Pesos Series #2)
My OFW Metrobank account was closed when I needed it most. No, I did not close this zero-maintenance ATM account. I simply forgot to deposit anything after the prescribed time and it reverted into a regular account which charged a maintenance fee which ate up all the money. At the same time it expired, I needed a peso account to deposit peso benefits I got from my late relatives. From then on, I found out that it was not that simple to open another account if you reside abroad, particularly if you are based in the USA.
Lessons since 2020
I needed to open a Philippine Peso early 2020 when the world was quarantined and travel was prohibitive. Travel from the USA to the Philippines was not an option so I tried opening up online. It didn’t work. I tried other options. I encountered one challenge after another until I finally went to the Philippines late 2022 to personally open up one. More challenges. More requirements. I want to share with you what I learned so you will know what to prepare when you need to open a peso account. In the next posts of this series, I will share with you what I learned when opening a Philippine Bank account if you are based abroad:
Claiming money from joint saving accounts when the other pass away
Experience with Philippine Banks (not remittance centers) operating in the USA
Lessons learned while opening peso accounts as a former Filipino
Why you should have detailed SPA’s and other paperwork for Philippine banks
Don’t throw your validated deposit slips from Filipino banks - you might need it for filing benefits
Be Aware of Maintenance Fees
Unlike many US bank accounts, many Philippine banks charge a fee if you fall behind the required minimum. The Metrobank OFW Account did not require a maintenance fee for a year (maybe two) then it required me to deposit something after a few months. I didn’t. It automatically closed after eating up all the money in the account for a few years. The maintenance fee of each account is subject to what account you open so you have to ask:
What is the minimum balance required in this account?
How much do you charge whenever my balance is below minimum?
What other fees or rules I should be aware of?
Actually, I have a second active peso account in 2020. However, that was a joint savings account with my brother who passed away at that time. Recovering money from that account taught me a lot about Philippine banking and what happens when one of the account holder pass away. That will be the topic of our next post so be sure to subscribe or share with someone who can benefit from this.
The first post in this Philippine Money Series was published early November 2023 then we broke away from serious paperwork issues and talked about Philippine travel during the holiday season. Now we’re back to this topic.