Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad banner

Best way to send money to my GF

17K views 67 replies 22 participants last post by  M.C.A. 
#1 ·
Hello all,

Background

New here and I hope this is the right forum for this question. 45M here from the UK, my GF is from Iloilo (39) although not in the city but about 40 mins away in a rural area. We've been going 5 years and I've had many an enjoyable trip there and to Singapore with her etc. Of course all visiting plans have gone down the drain with this dratted virus.

Money

I'll get right to it - I want help her out with some money when I can for her food. I've used World Remit a couple of times which is very fast , excellent UK based customer service and no issues at all. But the fees are high.

Would getting her one of those cash cards be a better idea? I can just top it up? Can those be used at ATMs? Or should I head down the route of getting her to open a bank account? Is it very expensive to transfer money into those? If a bank is the best could you recommend a couple?

I'm frankly not a fan of her tootling along to those cash collection places and then waddling about with a fat stack of notes. Although I appreciate that in the Philippines cash rules the roost.

Since this is purely for food the other option is to just order it online and have it delivered to her, is this feasible? Are there decent delivery services there?

Would greatly appreciate some guidance, apologies to the mods if this isn't the right forum for all this.

Thanks and stay safe during these times.
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Thanks, you are right, its very hassle free and easy and for that we must pay the fair fee. I dont know why I thought it was high , it just seemed that way to me I guess. I need to research into cash cards and such.

we use remitly for sending to the family, US 4.99 to send, pretty much in line with the rest of them
Thanks, yes it does seem to be a standard across the board.
 
#5 ·
Hi Katana and welcome to the forum, enjoy.
Only my opinion but I would ask her to open a bank account with a debit card if she is handy to a bank.
We have a couple of accounts with BDO, they require a maintaining balance of PHP 2K to keep the account open and fee free.
I send bulk money from Oz to these accounts either from my bank, broker and even W/U depending in the best exchange rate at the time. We then draw only what we need for bills and food for about a fortnight at a time.
As you say it's not a wise idea to hold or carry large amounts of cash here. Good luck and keep posting.

Cheers, Steve.
 
#12 · (Edited)
As others have mentioned, Transferwise are very efficient at sending funds from UK. Once you’ve registered with them and provided the details of the Philippines bank, you can then register your Transferwise account with your UK bank. This means that when you want to transfer funds, all you have to do is the following:

• Sign in to Transferwise and complete the section to ‘send money’. This takes all of about 2 minutes.
• Sign in to your UK bank account, pull up your registered transfers and complete the section to send funds to your Transferwise account. Again, this takes about 2 minutes. Note: there is no charge by your UK bank for this and the transfer is instantaneous. Transferwise will send you an e-mail immediately letting you know that they received the funds.

The length of time for the funds to arrive in the Ph. varies depending on the time of day that you action your transfer. Generally speaking, I find that the funds are received in my Ph. account within a couple of hours. So, from the time you decide to transfer funds from UK to Ph., to actually receiving it in your Ph. account, can take a couple of hours. All done from the comfort of your home.

Once you get familiar with Transferwise’s system, you can monitor the FX markets and try to coordinate your transfers when the £ is high. Transferwise also allow you to prepare a transfer and lock in the rate for anywhere between 24 to 72 hrs. This tool enables you to take the ‘locked in rate’ within the guaranteed period if you see the £ falling. On the other hand, this tool allows you to cancel the draft transfer if the £ rises, and create a new transfer.

Re choice of Ph. banks, BPI is also a large Philippines bank and their fees tend to be less than BDO’s. BPI do not charge anything to receive funds from Transferwise. I don’t know if BDO charge to receive funds from Transferwise but they do charge to receive other international transfers. Purely for your information.

I’ve tried to include an attachment here showing a comparison of what you would receive using Transferwise versus Barclays/ Nationwide or PayPal to send £1,000. Transferwise charge £5.36 to send £1K. But as Gary said, when looking at comparisons, it’s best to look at what you receive in terms of Pesos as opposed to fees. If the attachment doesn’t appear below, you can get the info yourself by googling Transferwise, open the website without signing up and simply insert the details to transfer say £1,000 to the Ph. (Insert Php for Pesos). Scroll down and you’ll get the comparisons. Good luck.

PS: I don't know why it says in the comparison table that Transferwise takes 2 days to action the transfer; as mentioned above, in my experience it only takes a couple of hours.
 
#14 ·
Using attachments on the forum

I’ve noticed others are experiencing difficulties in attaching a document to a post, so here are my findings. I’ve just had another go at attaching a document and I think I’ve sussed out where I went wrong. I've attached the comparison table referred to in post ⋕12.

1. write up the post
2. scroll down to the ‘Additional Option’ section and under ‘Attach Files’ select ‘Manage Attachments’.
3. from the ‘Manage Attachments’ box, select ‘Browse’, which enables you to choose the relevant file from your desktop or wherever.
4. click on the ‘Open’ box if you’re using a MacBook
5. select ‘Upload’ from the ‘Manage Attachment’s box and 'Bob's your uncle'.

I missed out item 5 before, thinking that when I selected the ‘open’ box that was the end of the matter. This may help some of you.
 

Attachments

#15 ·
There are lots of PBI, BDO, PNB, ChinaBank, & others spread around Iloilo but he said she was some 40 minutes distance so had better find out what she has local to her and work from there. Right now travel is severely restricted so may not even be able to get to a bank. The local PBI that I use will not let you even Que to go in their lobby unless you are wearing a mask and have a Coronavirus Pass from your Barangay Office.

Fred
 
#16 ·
I can also recommend TransferWise, best rates, lowest fees and very fast.
There are a couple of services they offer not so far mentioned here.
1 You can create an account with them and keep cash in the account in your nominated currency. This has the advantage that you can transfer funds directly from that balance without having to transfer funds to them. The funds will then be in your Philippine account in minutes. It also has the advantage that you can send funds directly to that account from your UK bank via your debit card, so even easier.
2 You can send funds to individuals that don't have a Philippine bank account. This is done using mobile wallet such as GCash and PayMaya. All you need is the recipients mobile number. Full info on how to do this is given on their website http://transferwise.com.
 
#17 ·
I deal with HSBC. I have accounts in Canada and in the Philippines.

I can transfer cash between the two countries as easily as I can move it from chequing to savings accounts within a country.

Drawback is HSBC does not have a lot of branches, either in Canada or in the Philippines. Here only in Manila, Cebu and Davao as far as I know and no stand alone ATM's outside of those cities either.
 
#18 ·
I deal with HSBC. I have accounts in Canada and in the Philippines.

I can transfer cash between the two countries as easily as I can move it from chequing to savings accounts within a country.
I've got Citibank accounts in a couple of different countries, they also offer international transfer to PH as a one click transfer, but you pay excessively for the convenience.

I'd bet that Transferwise would give you better rates though.
 
#19 ·
All banks, as far as I know, will give you foreign transfer services. The problem is the charges are usually sky high and the exchange rates are bad, especially if you're transferring to a different bank. That's why companies like World Remit, Xoom and TransferWise are proving to be so popular.
 
#23 ·
I have a BDO account linked with other family members who also have BDO accounts so transferring money is quick and free. I use TransferWise to top up my PH BDO account when necessary, exchanging money with them is simple, cheap, and fast. So the exchange happens with TW, then disbursement happens locally through BDO... I’ve found this to be the simplest and least expensive way to move money around the family, hell they even pay it back occasionally! 😂
 
#31 ·
Im checking out TW at the moment!

Hi and welcome Katana,

The advice above is sound. I used Xoom for sending money from the US, it's $4.99 if from your bank account. But there's a currency exchange cost because you don't get the best rate.

I pay my rent and bought a car by using XE.com to send money directly to the appropriate bank account, which in this case would be one your gf would open at a local bank. Once I get my ACRI-card <<<<<<<<Snip>>>>>>>>> I will use this method to transfer money to myself here.

XE transmits money at the CURRENT rate (which you can see from their website, they have an excellent real-time graph), so you don't loose anything there. XE makes its money by delaying the transmission for 10 days or so, and holding your money, possibly arbitraging it.

So I just tell XE to send my rent money 15 days early. Yes, it's deducted from my account at that time and arrives later, but I don't loose 2% or so in exchange rate differential between the real rate and what Xoom gives. I'm certainly not making close to that on 10 days' interest.

Obviously this isn't useful if the need for money is immediate, but for support payments would work just fine if you plan for the delay.
I use the XE app extensively but never thought that it had other uses like money transfer! Will sign up now and see what its like. Thanks for the great tips. The money I send is never urgent. Purely for food so if planned well in advance the delay is not a big deal!

Hi there Katana,
I always use rationalfx for sending funds to any account pretty much anywhere.
You just open an eccount with them and they have a really userfriendly dashboard. It's a UK based company and I just checked their rate to Phillippines and it was
62482.24.....they're always pretty competitive......and there are no fees whatsoever
Cheers
Extremely interesting, I didnt know about this site. Thanks very much for mentioning it. Will check it out!

I've used World Remit to txfr between my Nationwide BS acct and my BPI savings acct for a long while now, and I'm happy with the service. Having said that I shall certainly be looking into Transferwise and rationalfx.

I nearly didn't read the thread, but I was riveted by the use of the word dratted; I haven't heard or read it in decades!
Ive set up gf with a WR digital wallet which is a very neat feature I must say. She doesnt have to withdraw all the money at one shot like before , which is much safer. Once she gets a bank accnt it can be used to shunt money into that too.

Haha @ "dratted" I use it a lot and mates here raise eyebrows at me lol.

Me too, Gonna add it to my 'must use' vocab from now on, could trend, who knows! Check the media in a coupla weeks....!
Lol :D

Katana, if your gf doesnt have a bank account with an ATM card, the first thing she needs to do is find out which money remittance places are open.

My family in Manila let me know that most of the Cebuana Lhuillier and M.Lhuillier locations in our neighborhood have closed. The ONLY place that is currently open that will allow them to pick up money is a Western Union inside of a Robinsons Supermarket.

My advice is find out first where she can physically get the money from then figure out how to get it to that place.

Good luck!
Thanks, she is very close to to a Palawan cash outlet (which is still open in her town) but its not ideal because its right on the street, no prvacy and everyone sees you collecting cash etc. Another member had mentioned 7 11 collection which would be nicer. Now see that WU place inside a mall would be great. I think she has access to other collection places that are safer (inside malls).
 
#24 ·
In Canada we have a system called eTransfer. You can send money to any Canadian phone or email address from your on line banking app. The recipient gets a link that they open and then can deposit it to their on line banking and it is available immidetely.

I even use this to transfer funds between my Canadian banks.

There are limits of how much per day or week or month you can transfer but the fees are very reasonable, for small amounts sometimes free depending on the bank and service plan you have.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Use XE and a bank account

Hi and welcome Katana,

The advice above is sound. I used Xoom for sending money from the US, it's $4.99 if from your bank account. But there's a currency exchange cost because you don't get the best rate.

I pay my rent and bought a car by using XE.com to send money directly to the appropriate bank account, which in this case would be one your gf would open at a local bank. Once I get my ACRI-card <<<<<<<<Snip>>>>>>>>> I will use this method to transfer money to myself here.

XE transmits money at the CURRENT rate (which you can see from their website, they have an excellent real-time graph), so you don't loose anything there. XE makes its money by delaying the transmission for 10 days or so, and holding your money, possibly arbitraging it.

So I just tell XE to send my rent money 15 days early. Yes, it's deducted from my account at that time and arrives later, but I don't loose 2% or so in exchange rate differential between the real rate and what Xoom gives. I'm certainly not making close to that on 10 days' interest.

Obviously this isn't useful if the need for money is immediate, but for support payments would work just fine if you plan for the delay.
 
#26 ·
Sending funds

Hi there Katana,
I always use rationalfx for sending funds to any account pretty much anywhere.
You just open an eccount with them and they have a really userfriendly dashboard. It's a UK based company and I just checked their rate to Phillippines and it was
62482.24.....they're always pretty competitive......and there are no fees whatsoever
Cheers
 
#29 ·
Hi there Katana,
I always use rationalfx for sending funds to any account pretty much anywhere.
You just open an eccount with them and they have a really userfriendly dashboard. It's a UK based company and I just checked their rate to Phillippines and it was
62482.24.....they're always pretty competitive......and there are no fees whatsoever
Cheers
As a comparison transferwise is 62.984 so including fees you will get 502 pesos more when sending £1000 with transferwise. Smaller amounts the no fee would start to win assuming the rate is the same for all amounts.
 
#27 ·
Hello all,
this dratted virus.
I've used World Remit to txfr between my Nationwide BS acct and my BPI savings acct for a long while now, and I'm happy with the service. Having said that I shall certainly be looking into Transferwise and rationalfx.

I nearly didn't read the thread, but I was riveted by the use of the word dratted; I haven't heard or read it in decades!
 
#50 ·
2022 I recently applied to have my RAF pension paid into Wise [formerly Transferwise, and it's a lifesaver. It costs around £5 to transfer £1,000 to my BPI account. I'm having difficulty getting my state pension paid in, but will persevere.
My problem is that the Nationwide BS will not send mail - not even an ordinary letter - overseas, and card renewals have to go to a UK relative who then sends it on signed-for, which costs about a tenner. I hope to be able to sever all ties with the Nationwide; after 35 years!
 
#30 ·
Katana, if your gf doesnt have a bank account with an ATM card, the first thing she needs to do is find out which money remittance places are open.

My family in Manila let me know that most of the Cebuana Lhuillier and M.Lhuillier locations in our neighborhood have closed. The ONLY place that is currently open that will allow them to pick up money is a Western Union inside of a Robinsons Supermarket.

My advice is find out first where she can physically get the money from then figure out how to get it to that place.

Good luck!
 
#32 ·
If at all possible I'd go with the option to0 directly deposit to a bank account then let her draw from an ATM. The email on the virus from world remit strongly recommended that because of closures of outlets and maintaining social distances.

World Remit also has the option of bank pick ups. Since AI believe most banks are open that may be a viable option.
 
This post has been deleted
#37 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum Kylie.

That's good advice but it's also a dream. Many of your neighbors, In-laws are sent money from their spouses, OFW's/Foreingers/bride-to-be/fiance it's the reason why the economy keeps turning even though there's very few foreign tourists left if any in the Philippines.

Once they've lached onto a foreigner they'd be shamed by their friends and family for working a hard labor job, it's accepted you need to send money so there won't be any understanding if you don't send cash, with that said they'll keep the relationship going and who ever treats the woman or man best will end up in a relationship the cheap skates will show up and she/he not available or some other excuse. "No such thing as a free meal"

Hard labor such as plucking chicken and ducks, processing salt/balut eggs, construction will require skills and if you aren't that good you won't get hired. Manicurist, barber, selling/lugging fruits and vegetables around are readily available jobs in most communities, as a worker you don't get paid well and competition is overwhelming.
 
#39 ·
KatanaDV20

You need to compare the transfer fee and pesos from one account to another against using a company like XOOM. It might be more convenient for her to have a bank account like at BDO. I never really found the fee to high using XOOM or another money transfer company. The only difference was with XOOM you carry all the money on you from their office and if a large amount was sent that isn't to safe.

art
 
#41 ·
hey Gary,

fees do matter. I have been sending money to the Philippines for over 20 years. A lot of them really dig into the pesos amount the receiver gets. Some also will charge as a wire transfer fee. that is high, so it does matter if a person send often.

art
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top