Envio Seguro GmBH

Münzgasse 2 – 2nd Floor, Winterthur, 8400
Switzerland

Paco Services SARL
Rue De Terreaux 18, 1003 Lausanne
Switzerland

Money & Com SA
Place de Montrillant 2, Case Postale 2542, 1211
Geneva 2
Switzerland

LCC Trans Sending Ltd.
29, Rue Rousseau
1201 Geneva

You can remit money to your family or recipient in the Philippines through the following ways:

• Credit to a BDO account
• Credit to an account in another bank
• Door-to-door delivery
• Pick-up from any BDO bank, SM department store, SM business center, Save More, or BDO partner.

Related Articles:
Send Money from Switzerland to Philippines via Metrobank Correspondent Banks
Send Money from Switzerland to Philippines via RCBC Telemoney
OFWs Can Send Money to the Philippines Thru BDO Remit
BDO Correspondent Banks for Sending Money to the Philippines
BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs

Filstar
42 Agripas St.
Jerusalem, Israel

Filstar
Unit 4137 New Central Bus Station
108 Levinsky St.
Tel-Aviv, Israel

Money Express  (Money Change International)
28 Raziel St. Yafo
Tel-Aviv, Israel

Transur
9 Haaliya St.
Tel-Aviv, Israel

GMT
1 Ben Yehuda St.
Tel Aviv, Israel

LBM
Levinski 118
Tel Aviv, Israel

WIC  (Worldcom International Com)
107 Levinski St.
Tel Aviv, Israel

Alas Money Transfer
125 Levinsky St.
Tel –Aviv, Israel

Forex Change
29 Herzel St.
Haifa, Israel

Viancom
Hertzl 78 Rishon
Lezion, Israel

Avni Trading Pinoy Remittance
No. 4 Lillenblum St.
Netanya, Israel

Your Philippine recipients can receive their remittance thru these ways:

1.  Door-to-door delivery
2.  Pick-up from:

• BDO branches
• BDO Remit counters in:
• SM department stores
• Savemore
• SM Business Services
• Global Pinoy Centers
• Prime Asia Pawnshops
• Rural Bank partners

3.  Withdrawal from their BDO accounts
4.  Withdrawal from accounts in other banks

Related Articles:

OFWs Can Send Money to the Philippines Thru BDO Remit
BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs

As an investor in bank stocks, certainly you want your bank to have a high Return on Equity (ROE) rate.  As investors know,  ROE represents a company’s net income in comparison with stockholders’ investments.  ROE = net income divided by stockholders’ equity.

But as a plain bank customer, do you want your bank to top bank rankings based on ROE?

Oftentimes we ask ourselves why banks give so little interest on our time deposits and then later we see them declaring super high levels of net income and ROE.

Based on Return on Equity, here are the top banks in the Philippines as of September 2010:

1 East West Banking Corp.  –  34.27 %
2 Standard Chartered Bank  –  23.09 %
3 Security Bank Corp.  –  22.98 %
4 Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp.  –  20.70 %
5 Land Bank of the Philippines  –  18.64 %
6 Bank of the Philippine Islands  –  17.65 %
7 Deutsche Bank  –  17.20 %
8 China Banking Corp.  –  16.61 %
9 BDO Private Bank  –  16.37 %
10 Union Bank of the Philippines  –  16.06 %
11 Citibank N.A.  –  15.70 %
12 Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.  –  15.63 %
13 United Coconut Planters Bank  –  15.63 %
14 Internationale Nederlanden Groep BK  –  15.12 %
15 Asia United Bank Corp.  –  15.02 %
16 Development Bank of the Philippines  –  14.49 %
17 Philippine Trust Co.  –  13.14 %
18 Banco de Oro Unibank  –  11.12 %
19 Philippine National Bank  –  10.89 %
20 Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ  –  9.83 %
21 Chinatrust Philippines  –  9.26 %
22 Philippine Veterans Bank  –  7.84 %
23 Korea Exchange Bank  –  7.81 %
24 Mega International Commercial Bank  –  7.48 %
25 Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.  — 7.24 %
26 Allied Banking Corp. –  6.96 %
27 Bank of Commerce  –  5.25 %
28 JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A.  –  4.21 %
29 Royal Bank of Scotland Philippines  –  1.94 %
30 Mizuho Corporate Bank Manila  –  1.11 %
31 Bangkok Bank Public Co.  –  1.05 %
32 ANZ Banking Group  –  0.09 %
33 Bank of America N.A.  –  -0.02 %
34 Bank of China Manila  –  -1.47 %
35 Maybank Philippines  –  -1.85 %
36 Al-Amanah Islamic Bank of the Phil  –  -6.00 %
37 Philippine Bank of Communications  –  -11.92 %
38 Export and Industry Bank  –  -36.15 %

It’s interesting to note that the banks in the list above — those with highest ROE — are not the banks with the highest deposits, assets or capital.

Look at Metrobank — it’s second in total deposits, second in total assets, and second in total capital as of Sep 2010, but it’s 25th in ROE. Does this mean Metrobank is not taking much from customers?

Based on Total Deposits:

1. Banco de Oro Unibank  –  693.903 billion pesos
2. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.  –  570.332
3. Bank of the Philippine Islands  –  494.465
4. Land Bank of the Philippines  –  398.668
5. Philippine National Bank  –  234.086
6. China Banking Corp.  –  189.121
7. Union Bank of the Philippines  –  184.719
8. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.  –  172.048
9. Citibank NA  –  140.905
10. United Coconut Planters Bank  –  136.553

Related Articles:

Top Banks in the Philippines Based on Alexa Ranking

Top 10 Banks in the Philippines based on Assets, Deposits and Capital

List of Banks in the Philippines — Universal Banks, Commercial Banks

Top 27 Savings Banks in the Philippines — or Top 27 Thrift Banks

Al Fardan Exchange
PO Box 339, Doha, Qatar

Gulf Exchange Co.
PO Box 4847, Doha, Qatar

Trust Exchange
PO Box 3002, Doha, Qatar

Habib Qatar
PO Box 1188 Mushirib St.
Doha, Qatar

Al Dar
PO Box 24048, Doha Qatar

Al Zaman Souq Najada
P. O. Box 23497 Doha Qatar

Islamic Exchange
P.O. Box 17349 Doha Qatar

Lari Exchange Company Qatar
Souq Ahmed Bin Ali, Doha Qatar

Doha Exchange Company Qatar
Souq Wafik, PO Box 936 Doha Qatar

Qatar- UAE Exchange Est Opp.Royal Plaza
Al Sadd Street Doha, Qatar
P.O. BOX – 31645  Doha  Qatar

Qatar- UAE Exchange Est Level One
Opp.Carrefour City Center, Doha
P.O. BOX – 31645  P.O. Box – 31645  Qatar

Qatar- UAE Exchange
Est 138, Ali Bin Abdulla Street
6 Al Ghanim Al Qadeem (North) Doha, Qatar

Qatar- UAE Exchange Est Al Shafi Street
Opp. Al Shafi Mosque Al Rayyan, Doha, Qatar

There are no BDO correspondent banks in Qatar, so you can send money thru the remittance partners listed above.

Related Articles:
BDO Remittance — Send Money from Abu Dhabi to the Philippines
BPI Correspondent Banks in Saudi Arabia, Middle East

1.  Choose a bank that has been stable for decades.

Banco Filipino has been closed before, in 1985, and stayed closed until 1992, so it’s a wonder there were still many who trusted the bank and who still deposited more than 500,000 pesos — the PDIC insurance limit.

2.  Choose a bank that has strong backing — meaning the owners have other big and reliable businesses and have strong standing in the business community.

This is not an endorsement of BDO, but when BDO lost 1.3 billion pesos in the third quarter of 2008 due largely to its investments in failed Lehman Brothers, BDO survived and grew even faster. Why? It had financial strength, both within the firm and in the business sector. The other Lehman-exposed banks, Metrobank and RCBC, also survived because they had financial strength and backing.

We can also see that people, particularly big depositors, trusted these banks as there was no bank run even when the Lehman collapse and its link with local banks was exposed by the media.

3.  Spread out your deposits to different banks.

The PDIC insures deposits for only up to 500,000 pesos, so limit your savings and time deposits in one bank to 500K.

Breaking your savings and time deposits into several accounts under your name in the same bank or in different branches of the same bank will not work.

According to PDIC, in case of a bank closure, it will count savings accounts, checking accounts and time deposits under the same name in the main branch and in the branches as ONE account. If the total of these accounts exceeds 500K, you will be paid only 500K.  You’ll get the rest after a time and only if there is still money left to be distributed.

Of course, if after your own due diligence, you’re 100% sure about the stability of your bank, you can deposit more than the 500K limit.

4.   See balance sheets/financial reports on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas website from time to time.

These reports can give a sign of possible problems. You don’t have to study the balance sheets. I-check mo lang kung nag-submit siya.  You just check if your bank has submitted its financial report for the latest quarter when all other banks have submitted their reports.

Looking at the list of the top savings banks based on number of branches that I posted last January, I saw my note which says that Banco Filipino has no asset report for the quarter ended June 2010.

As I write this, I looked again at the BSP reports and I found out that since the first quarter of 2008 — the oldest report on the BSP page — Banco Filipino has not been submitting a report.

5.   Scan the business pages of newspapers from time to time.  Or Google your bank from time to time.

I googled Banco Filipino, and it’s a revelation that just last December 2010, the Manila Bulletin website mb.com.ph published an article about Banco Filipino expecting a financial relief package of 25 billion pesos.

6.  Lastly, choose a bank that has no fight with the BSP.

Related Articles:

Maximum Bank Deposit Insurance Increased to 500,000 Pesos
List of Banks in the Philippines — Universal Banks, Commercial Banks
BPI, BDO, or Metrobank Fees — Why Keep Paying Them?
Savings Accounts in the Philippines with the Lowest Maintaining Balances
Best Savings Accounts for Students in the Philippines

Here’s a list of BDO Remittance partners in Abu Dhabi, UAE:

You can send money from Abu Dhabi, UAE thru BDO Remit in any of the following ways:

• BDO account
• bank account in another bank
• door-to-door
• pickup from a BDO branch

1.   Al Ansari Exchange
Liwa St, Heirs Of Amin Mohamed Baqer Khouri Bldg
2.   UAE Exchange Centre
3.   Habib Almansoor Exchange
4.   Al Fardan UAE
5.   Lari Exchange Est
6.   Smart Exchange  (formerly Harid Sultan)
Harib Tower Bldg. Opp Etisalat Head Office Sheik Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum St.
7.   Ahalia Exchange
8.   Xpress Money
9.   Al Bader Exchange  (with reserved account)
10.   OMDA Exchange
11.   Alfalah Exchange Co.  (with reserved account)
12.   National Exchange Co.
13.   Liwa Tower Liwa Street

Related Articles:

BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs

OFWs Can Send Money to the Philippines Thru BDO Remit

Bank fees of 10 pesos, 2 pesos, 1.50 pesos, 150 pesos — they add up.
Let’s avoid them.

Over the past months, my daughter accumulated a total deductions of 327.50 pesos
from her BPI Family savings account:

• two 150 pesos for allowing her maintaining balance to fall below 1,000 pesos for three consecutive months
• two 10 pesos for ATM withdrawal in other banks’ ATMs
• three 1.50 pesos for ATM inquiries in other banks’ ATMs

Same with me, I also accumulated a lot of 11-peso and 2-peso deductions
from my BDO savings account for ATM withdrawals in other banks’ ATMs. Obviously, we’re not good examples of what I’m writing about. But since I’ve seen the total deductions on printed paper, I’ve become more conscious about these fees.

My attention to bank fees was also heightened when an OFW in Italy wrote to ask about her BDO savings account which she left dormant. When she comes home this December, she will find that her more than 48K deposit, instead of increasing, has been reduced by about 1,600 pesos. A dormant BDO savings account is charged 200 pesos per month. (Update: BDO increased its dormancy fee to 300 pesos per month of dormancy in February 2011.)

Take note of the following common bank fees. All banks charge them. They just differ in amounts. Let’s avoid them.

1.  ATM Fees for withdrawing in other banks’ ATMs

BPI withdrawal fee: 10 pesos
BPI inquiry fee: 1.50

BDO withdrawal fee: 11 pesos
BDO inquiry fee: 2 pesos

If you withdraw twice a week at another bank’s ATM, you would be
spending 80 pesos a month just for withdrawal.

2.  Service Charge for Not Complying with the Maintaining Balance Requirement

BPI Family: 150 pesos
BPI: 200 pesos
BDO: 200 pesos (increased to 300 on Feb 1, 2011)
Metrobank passbook savings: 250 pesos
Metrobank ATM savings: 200 pesos

The maintaining balances are the following:

BPI Family ATM peso savings — 1,000 pesos
BPI Family passbook savings — 10,000 pesos
BPI ATM peso savings — 3,000 pesos
BPI passbook peso savings — 10,000 pesos

BDO ATM peso savings — 2,000 pesos
BDO Passbook peso savings — 5,000 pesos

Metrobank ATM peso savings — 2,000 pesos
Metrobank passbook savings — 10,000 pesos
Metrobank SSS pensioner — 200 pesos

These banks charge fees for two consecutive months of being below the maintaining balance.

3.  Charges for Dormant Accounts
BPI and BDO:  200 pesos for every month of dormancy (BDO increased its dormancy fee to 300 on Feb 1, 2011)

4.  Service charge for over-the-counter withdrawal for ATM-based Accounts

BPI — 100 pesos
No charge if ATM is off-line or if withdrawal amount exceeds the daily ATM withdrawal limit, which is 20,000 pesos

BDO  –  100 pesos

The daily ATM withdrawal limit for BDO is higher — 50,000 pesos.  If your account is ATM-based, you can’t withdraw over the counter unless you’ve already withdrawn 50K through the ATM or unless you pay the OTC withdrawal fee of 100 pesos.

5.  Fees and Penalties for Returned Checks

Metrobank:  2,000 pesos plus 200 pesos per day for every 40,000 pesos and fraction
of check amount
BPI: 2,000 pesos plus 200 pesos per day for every 40,000 pesos and fraction of check amount

Related Articles:

BDO Deposit Accounts — Baka Maubos Imbes na Lumago

BPI and BDO Internet Banking

BDO Correspondents for Sending Money to the Philippines

BPI Correspondents in Saudi Arabia

BDO Kabayan Savings and BDO Remit Accounts for OFWs

• Bank-owned remittance services like BDO Remit or BPI Expres Remittance
• Internet banking
• Non-bank remittance services like Western, Xoom, Moneygram
• Bank wire transfer
• Post-dated checks
• Payment processors like Paypal

Typically, you choose a remittance service or method depending on:

• Reliability – Mapagkakatiwalaan ba?
• Speed of remittance – Kailan darating sa pamilya?
• Exchange rate – Magkano sa peso?
• Accessibility of sender to remittance office – Malapit ba ang office kung saan magpapadala?
• Accessibility of receiver to where remittance is given – Malapit ba ang pamilya  sa bangko, service o sa ATM na daratnan ng remittance?
• Remittance fee – Mahal ba ang pagpadala?

One of the ways to send money to the Philippines is through BDO Remit.

BDO Remit is a remittance service available in almost all countries where there are OFWs and  Filipino immigrants. You can load the equivalent of up to 100,00 pesos to the BDO Remit Cash Card of your family.  Where you are, look for:

• BDO Remit subsidiary offices
• BDO Remit representative offices
• BDO Remit remittance agents
• BDO Remit remittance partners

You can choose how your remittance through BDO Remit can reach your family:

• Through a BDO account, such as BDO Remit account, BDO Kabayan Savings account, or a regular savings account (can be withdrawn anywhere there’s a BDO ATM or affiliated ATM)
• Door-to-door delivery
• Deposit of money to family’s account in another local bank
• Cash pick-up at BDO branches, SM department stores,  Savemore, affiliated rural banks

How much is the remittance fee?

The fees vary depending on the country of origin, the type of delivery and whether the money is received in pesos or U.S. dollars.  If in dollars, the fees vary depending on the amount.  Dollar deposits and delivery are offered only in Metro Manila.

Fees for remittances from California:

Deposit to a BDO account -  US$8
Deposit to another local bank – US$12 (Metro Manila), US$14 (Province)
Cash Door to Door – US$12 (Metro Manila), US$14 (Province)
Pick-up – US$12 (Metro Manila or Province)

Fees for Remittances from Italy:
Credited to a BDO account: 8 Eur or $8, 10 Eur or $10
Credited to other local banks or door-to-door: 10 Eur or $10
Cash Pick-Up Anywhere:  8.50 Eur or $8.50

Fees for Remittances from Hong Kong:
Credit to a BDO Account:  HK$ 20 for peso account, HK$28 for dollar account
Credit to another other Local Bank:  HK$ 30 for peso and dollar accounts
Cash Door-to-Door: HK$ 30 Metro Manila, HK$ 40 for provinces (peso only in provinces)
Cash Pick-up Anywhere: HK$ 20 for remittance in pesos or in dollars

How fast can the family receive the remittance? (From California, Italy, or Hong Kong)

• For deposits to BDO accounts -  within 1 hour
• Deposits to other local banks – within 1 to 2 days if in pesos, within 3 to 4 days if in dollars
• Door to door – within 1 to 2 days in Metro Manila, within 1 to 3 days in major cities, within 4 to 7 days in other areas
• Cash pick-up – within 1 hour

You can open a BDO Remit account abroad:

1. Go to a BDO Remit subsidiary, partner or agent located in your city.
2. Fill up a BDO Remit Cash Card Application Form.
3. Pay the BDO Remit cash card fee.
4. BDO will deliver the the ATM to your family.

Or a member of your family in the Philippines can open his/her own BDO Remit Cash Card account and then email you the account number.

You can check online the status of your remittance through BDO Remit Status Inquiry.  Just fill in your Reference Number, including any alphabet letter or special character provided by the remittance office, partner or agent.

What is a BDO Rewards Card?

You can also earn points that you can use for shopping through a BDO Rewards Card. You can request for this card at your branch or at any BDO Remit office abroad. Just fill out a BDO Rewards Customer Information Update Form.  The card will be delivered to your mailing address. You’ll earn points as you remit money, make deposits and pay bills using BDO services.

There are BDO Remit Subsidiary Offices in:
Germany
HongKong
Italy
Macau

The addresses of BDO remittance offices, partners, representatives and agents can be seen on the BDO website.

There are BDO Remit Representatives in:
France
Israel
Taiwan

There are BDO Remittance Partners in:
Australia / Bahrain/ Belgium / Brunei / Canada / England (Great Britain or UK) / Greece / Guam / Hongkong / Ireland / Israel / Jordan / Kuwait / Lebanon / New Zealand / Norway / Oman / Malaysia / Mexico / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Spain / Switzerland / Taiwan / United Arab Emirates / U.S.A. /

There are Remittance Agents in:

HongKong
California and other U.S. cities

Related Articles:
BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs
BPI and BDO Internet Banking — Free and Quick Ways to Send Your Children’s Allowance
BDO Correspondent Banks for Sending Money to the Philippines
Cheap Ways to Send Money to Your Loved Ones Within the Philippines

Just go to bpiexpressonline.com or mybdo.com.ph, look for the Enroll Now tab, so you can fill up the enrollment form. Print this form and then bring it to your branch.

Enroll also your children’s accounts. If the accounts are in their names, you need to print your online enrollment and submit them to your branch. If the accounts to be used by your children are in your name, enrollment is purely online — no need to submit anything to your branch.

For many youngsters, the best type of bank accounts are non-maintaining accounts, as they tend to withdraw all what’s in their accounts. BPI Express Cash and BDO Cash Card are the best, as they can be purchased by only about 150 pesos, and BDO and BPI ATMs can be found in many places.

However, choosing another Internet banking system run by the bank operating an ATM in your child’s school is also a good decision.

Whenever your child needs money, just go online and transfer money. No need to fall in line in the bank to deposit money. For BDO, just login to your account, hover over My Financial Services and then click Fund Transfer or BDO Cash Card Reload. For BPI, login and hover over Funds Transfer or Payments & Reloading and then click your Transfer Funds Today or Reload Today.

Related Articles:

Cheap Ways to Send Money to Your Loved Ones Within the Philippines

BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs

Here’s a list of BDO correspondent banks for Filipinos, OFWs and other persons abroad who want to send money to the Philippines through a WIRE TRANSFER or TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER to a BDO account.

In some cases, if not most, wire transfers or telegraphic transfers are more expensive than other remittance or money transfer services, so if there are no valid reasons why you need to stick to wire transfers, check if there are other ways to send money to the Philippines in your place of work, business or residence. These money transfer services could be cheaper, and also faster, and at the same time as secure and as safe as the banks.

If you’re sending to a BDO client, you can check if there are BDO Remit partners or BDO remittance agents in your area. Other options are MoneyGram and Wells Fargo ExpressSend, which are both BDO partners. You can also use Western Union if you’re depositing to a BDO account.

If you need to use a WIRE TRANSFER to send money to a BDO account, you need the following information:

• BDO Swift Code is BNORPHMM.
• Name of your recipient, spelled exactly the same as the name on his/her BDO account
• BDO account number of your recipient
• Address of your recipient
• Address of the BDO branch of your recipient (some banks require complete address; others require just the country and city)
• Your name
• Your address
• Your bank account number (Most banks require that you have an account with them before you can send a wire transfer.)
• Amount to be sent
• Telephone numbers of both sender and recipient (required by some banks)

BDO Correspondent Banks

Related Articles:

BDO Kabayan Savings, BDO Remit Cash Card for OFWs
Use of BDO Kabayan ATM and BDO Debit ATM Cards Outside the Philippines
BDO Remittance Partners in California
BDO Remittance Partners in London, England, Other Cities
BDO Remittance from Australia — Money Transfer to the Philippines