Banking in the Turns

There are really a few, minor things that I dislike about living in the Philippines. I grew up and lived in the United States most of my life prior to moving here. I became very spoiled by the ease at which I could obtain any products I was looking for, from the stuff for your home to the peripherals for your computer. I also became spoiled by the banking system. Those of you living in the United States do not know how well off you really are when it comes to banking convenience.

I don't get my income from the Philippines. My monthly pension, courtesy of my retirement from the United States military, comes from the United States. The only bank local to me that can receive the payments is the Philippine National Bank (PNB) because it has remittance centers that can receive the direct deposit payments in both New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles. I even managed to get Google AdSense payments to go through the NYC branch of PNB. Despite numerous attempts, I cannot get PayPal to link up with either of the branches.

PNB is not as reliable as they could be. Take today for example. Today is the 1st of June and my pension check did not get deposited. I'm sure PNB in NYC has received it but hasn't processed it yet. I'll have to wait until Monday (approximately noon local time) to check for the deposit. I have no idea why they can't find the PayPal initial deposits for me to verify. I have a solution for that.

My wife is in the U.S. right now, working for a reason that I don't exactly agree with, but that's beside the point. She's going to be opening an account with a bank in Phoenix when she gets her first paycheck (next Friday I believe). She will get online banking set up with them and an ATM card that she'll be sending me through FedEx. I will be linking PayPal to that bank and using the ATM card to draw the money out in local currency. It'll probably be a month or more before everything gets completely set up.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I could have had any relative in the U.S. set this up for me before my wife even thought about leaving. Perhaps it's because I have an account at PNB and wanted everything to go through there. Come to think of it, due to ATM withdrawal limitations and fees, it's probably a good thing to get as many things to go directly to PNB as possible.

***

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June 1st, 2007 By RT Cunningham | Categories: Personal Finance | Tags: banking, PayPal, Philippines | Full Article Feed | Summary Article Feed | Comments Feed | Full Articles by Email | Respond | Trackback URL

2. Dick on June 1st, 2007 at 3:53 pm (Reply)
   
   

   I have been banking with PCI for a long time. My check is also late which is unusual. They have treated me good. You can draw 10k at a time up too 50k a day. You can have a dollar account and use the ATM for pesos.

   2. RT Cunningham on June 1st, 2007 at 3:59 pm (Reply)
      
      

      I usually get my deposits at PNB at noon on the first working day of the month. It seems they're only late when there's a U.S. holiday during the week. I don't believe there's a PCI in Olongapo City. There's a lot of banks, but most are tied to either Japan, South Korea, or the Middle East.

      Their rule is 10K per day maximum in USD but I think that's only because of how many people draw their funds in USD. The local money exchanges give a better exchange rate than the banks do.

3. Dick on June 1st, 2007 at 3:56 pm (Reply)
   
   

   I have tried every which way too get pay pal over here and no go.

   2. RT Cunningham on June 1st, 2007 at 4:04 pm (Reply)
      
      

      I'll post about it when it all gets set up. I'll mention any problems I had. Perhaps it'll be something you'll be able to do.

4. Tim on June 1st, 2007 at 7:53 pm (Reply)
   
   

   Hey, Thanks for the link!

5. Comedy Plus on June 1st, 2007 at 11:24 pm (Reply)
   
   

   Wow, I hadn't even thought of how complicated it would be to live in another country. Banking is so taken for granted here. I just recieved my direct deposits and have paid all my bills this month and didn't even leave the office. Yes, we do take our banking for granted. Have a great day RT.

6. hari on June 1st, 2007 at 11:28 pm (Reply)
   
   

   In our part of the world, PNB means Punjab National Bank, a Public Sector Bank with many branches all over India.

   2. RT Cunningham on June 1st, 2007 at 11:31 pm (Reply)
      
      

      That's why I showed it as Philippine National Bank (PNB) the first time. To avoid that kind of confusion.

      2. hari on June 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 am (Reply)
         
         

         I wasn't really serious. I mentioned it just as a piece of information.

7. Bola Oluyemi on July 24th, 2007 at 9:50 pm (Reply)
   
   

   RT,What are you doing in the phillipines in the first place?For info only I've added you to my tchno favourite sometimes back,will subscribe to your feed also.But I find it funny that I keep adding,subscribing here and there and people don't return the favour,and don't say they don't like what I write about,they do leave me comments about that.I think we should encourage each other in this biz.

   2. RT Cunningham on July 24th, 2007 at 10:43 pm (Reply)
      
      

      I can't write about why I moved here, not without my wife's permission since it deals primarily with her.

      You made me look to see if I had added you to my Technorati favorites and I did. Whew! I almost felt guilty. I don't have you in my feeds though, so I have to add you now.