Sending Money to the Philippines – 7 Ways to Send Money to the Philippines
One of the most common questions asked by someone considering retirement to the Philippines is “how do I send my retirement money into the Philippines after I relocate there?” Most people retiring to the Philippines have their ongoing income (pension, annuity, investment income, etc) generated in their home country, but need to get it to their retirement home in the Philippines. With the advent of the internet, combined by an ever increasing number of people retiring to overseas, moving money into the Philippines is no longer a difficult matter. Of all the methods to transfer money, I have found the following to be the best ways:
1. Bank Wire Transfer
You need to set up a US dollar account at a bank in the Philippines and then wire transfer funds from your home country bank to your Philippines’ account. You wire transfer money from your home country bank by signing up with their procedures for sending wire transfers while out of the country. One you have signed up with your bank’s procedures to do this, it is a quick way to send money to the Philippines. However, it is expensive. Depending on the amount being transferred, the wire can cost as much as $75. Clearly, you would not want to transfer money more than once monthly.
2. Use a Philippine National Bank Transfer Facility.
If you are in your home country at the time of wanting to make a transfer, and there is a Philippine National Bank transfer facility nearby, a wire transfer of funds to a Philippine bank is relatively inexpensive. The fees are based on a sliding scale: the more money you transfer the bigger the fee, but the fee decreases as a percentage of the transfer as the amount of the transfer increases.
3. Use WesternUnion
This is a very reliable, very quick, but very expensive method (currently the fee runs around $68 – pretty much the same as a bank wire transfer). The advantage is the money can be delivered to one of thousands of locations in the Philippines. Simply go to a WesternUnion location, fill out their form and deliver in cash to the clerk the amount you wish to transfer.
4. Use an online money transfer website
Online companies such as Xoom and Remit Home are less expensive options ($10 to $12 per $1,000 transferred). These are easy to process while in the Philippines by simply going online, setting up and account and entering the relevant transfer data as to the bank you transferring from and the bank you are transferring into in the Philippines.
5. Use PayPal
Also internet based, but unique in that you can even transfer money by charging the transfer to your credit card. A very popular way to transfer smaller amounts of money – the transfer fee is a percentage of funds being transferred. Go to Pay Pal and follow their instructions for setting up an account with them, and then simply follow the instructions at their website for make the transfer.
6. Use an ATM machine
Like in the U.S. and other countries, ATM machines are just about everywhere in the Philippines. Once you are in the Philippines, you can draw from ATM machines at a local Philippines bank, just as you to in your home country. The funds withdrawn of course will be in the local currency (pesos), not dollars, and there are limitations on the amount which can be withdrawn on each transaction and the total daily.
7. Write a Check.
Once you are established in the Philippines and pretty well know you monthly expenditures, simply monthly deposit a dollar check into your Philippines dollar bank account for the average monthly disbursements. It takes roughly 3 weeks to clear. This is also the least expensive, as there are NO wire or internet transfer fees.
