Sending money from the US

[Jester 3,610]

The  wifes younger brother is off to college and will need funding for booze, drugs and girls untill he flunks out. Actually he had the highest marks in his class and perfect attendance plus a scholarship.

 

He is a responsible young man and I am thinking  of having him open an account in his name into which we could transfer funds. The most convenient bank in the area is PNB.

 

Other than he will spend the money on booze and lavish parties for his classmate, is this a practical economical idea, any downsides?

 

We have been sending funds by debit card but it is becoming a pain to make withdrawals out here in the provinces.

[SkyMan 23,692]

 

 

pain to make withdrawals out here in the provinces

Where is out here?  Is there a Metrobank or UPCPB (United Coconut Planters Bank) ATM around?  HSBC ATMs are few.

 

Once upon a time I had a gf here I planned to send money to.  I was in the US and went online to the US HSBC website and opened 2 savings account and funded one with like $5 and the other with $200 or something.  It took about 2-3 days for me to get money to them via web bill pay from my main bank account.  When I got the ATM cards I sent the gf the card from the $5 account.  When I knew she had it I told her the pin.  If she needed money she could ask for it and I could transfer between the two accounts almost instantly and the funds were available to her at that moment.  Of course, that only happened once before I dumped her and closed the account.  Anyway, that's how I get my money now only with just one HSBC account because I can wait a couple days for the money to show up.  The exchange rate is ok and no fees.  Around here there are Metrobank ATMs in the 360 Pharmacies.

[Jester 3,610]

This is in Naval,  Biliran .  I have several HSBC accounts that the family have an ATM card for one and have funded them in that manner for years. Large amounts are sent Western Unoni and there is no LBC or Zoom we can use.

 

In Naval there is Land bank, Metro bank and PNB, PNB is the winner as far as the ATM being dependable. As time goes by the ATM's are becoming worse to use. So am fishing for alternatives.

[NOSOCALPINOY 1,864]

This is in Naval,  Biliran .  I have several HSBC accounts that the family have an ATM card for one and have funded them in that manner for years. Large amounts are sent Western Unoni and there is no LBC or Zoom we can use.

In Naval there is Land bank, Metro bank and PNB, PNB is the winner as far as the ATM being dependable. As time goes by the ATM's are becoming worse to use. So am fishing for alternatives.

I've been fishing around for many years concerning bank to bank money transfers and it seems that HSBC is the only game in town IMHO, but the only concerns I have that here in the Philippines HSBC offices are quite few and far in between. 

I have a USAA account in the U.S and they have a feature that I can take a snap shot of my U.S. checks for deposit using my home PC and or my cellphone, but still bank to bank transfer from my USAA account to my USD RP account isn't free. So, I just continue to write out our USD personal checks for deposit into our local RP USD savings account, which doesn't cost anything, except for the long wait for my check to clear and post into our local RP USD savings account, then when it's posted to our account, I just go on-line, convert my dollars into our peso account and either withdrawn our pesos over the counter or use our ATM debit card for P20,000 a day limit or P40,000 a day limit combined using our pesos and checking accounts and or our USD savings account, which only pesos are dispensed. We've been doing it this way for the past 14 yrs without any issues.

[easydrifter 106]

Have him get a PNB Global Filipino Card. It's an ATM card with no bank account attached. You can reload it when you want, almost instantly. I call PNB Phone remit and pay with checking account.Very convenient.

[Jester 3,610]

Have him get a PNB Global Filipino Card. It's an ATM card with no bank account attached. You can reload it when you want, almost instantly. I call PNB Phone remit and pay with checking account.Very convenient.

Thanks for the input.  Oine of the reasons I am looking at an account is the ability to walk into a bank and make withdrawals.Unlike the ATM's in  the big city out here the jungle the ATM's can really suck. In the short time I have been here there have been several tmes I did not even bother trying to make a withdrawal.  I have the luxury of reserve funds, the family does not have that and does not need to be running into town looking for a working ATM.

 

Plus tuition will be large amounts and I do not want him at the ATM making multiple withdrawals.

[Kabisay-an gid 6,831]

This is most likely your best option:

https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money-to-philippines.html

[Mari M 31]

Have you tried Xoom? You pay $3.99 for transfer up to $3k if you want money to be received in minutes and no fee if you use their basic transfer which may take 3-5 days, ideal if money is not needed asap. I used them to send monthly allowance to family when I was still living in the US.

[cvgtpc1 2,170]

Plus tuition will be large amounts and I do not want him at the ATM making multiple withdrawals.

 

Niece pays her tuition monthly so that's all we give each month and its below the ATM limit.  Also allows us to cut it off instantly, money isn't tied up in unused tuition if something happens because shit ALWAYS happens in the PI lol.

Edited May 4, 2015 by cvgtpc1

[lopburi3 601]

Here in Thailand we have an option to use domestic ACH bank transfer which is quite reasonable as there is a Thai bank was US account number.  But believe you have a free option using normal personal check deposited into a Philippine bank account - you have to allow the normal few weeks time for clearing so must be an ongoing process but by all accounts that is free and reliable so would suggest for OP requirements.  Am quite sure that is what I would be using that for my own funding if living in the Philippines.  Here in Thailand it is not as attractive as banks do not want anything to do with checks and there is a fee imposed.

 

The ATM card used to be used often, in spite of many charging overseas usage fees or not the best exchange rate but current extra local fee of about $6 per ATM transaction has made that very expensive indeed.  Bank policy seems to change faster than the local weather.

Edited May 4, 2015 by lopburi3

[Semanon 31]

 

 

He is a responsible young man and I am thinking of having him open an account in his name into which we could transfer funds. The most convenient bank in the area is PNB.

 

You can open a peso account with PNB too and then do online transfers to his account. There is no fee for online PNB to PNB account transfers (even if your name is not on the account you're transferring money into). If you're not planning a trip to the PI's in the near future (to open your account), then you can do so via mail from the USA thru PNB's Los Angeles office. But there are fees involved if you go that route and it's time consuming (about 4-6 weeks).

 

You may also have the option of making deposits directly into his account via PNB's numerous remittance centers scattered about the USA, but I have no idea what, if any, fees may be involved.