It's been just under a month since I mentioned my plan to get a VISA debit card from the UnionBank of the Philippines. The following week, I went to the bank and applied for the EON CyberAccount in order to get the EON VISA Electron card. I was then told I could pick up the card and pay the initial annual fee (350 pesos) the following week, which is what I did.

Activating the Online CyberAccount

In order to attach the VISA debit card to my PayPal account, I needed to make sure the online information for the account matched the information I would be giving to PayPal. Using the information given to me by the bank, I attempted to login to the account online. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Unlike banks in the US, I had to actually enroll to access my account online.

After enrolling, which basically consisted of choosing a user name and verifying my PIN number, the online system message told me that I would have to wait two business days before I would be able to log in. I tried to log in using my chosen user name at the end of two business days and couldn't. I was able to login in during the third business day. I guess the banking people manually verify all enrollments.

Once I was able to log in, I went through the process of filling in my profile information, following the online instructions. I was surprised at how little was already in place from the information I provided with my original application. It didn't take more than a few minutes to make sure the account was set up properly. Despite all of this taking about two weeks from the day I applied for the account, I wasn't annoyed by any of it because I wasn't in a hurry. I always have to remember that I'm not in the US and things just don't happen as quickly here.

Connecting the VISA Debit Card to PayPal

I knew my first attempt wouldn't work, but I simply had to try. I couldn't attach it to my US-based PayPal account because that account wouldn't let me specify any kind of bank account outside of the US. It's kind of silly considering how many people there are, globally, in the same position as I am — US citizens receiving income from the US but not actually living there.

I already had a separate PayPal account set up for the Philippines and at the moment, I can't remember why. Regardless, I went through the process of attaching the debit card to it, which wasn't hard at all. In order to be able to withdraw cash (in pesos, by the way) with the debit card, I had to enable the expanded use feature. I did that and was told $1.50 (again in pesos) would be charged to my bank account and would be refunded as soon as it was confirmed.

I logged into my CyberAccount a couple of days later (remember, I wasn't in a hurry) and retrieved the expanded use number from the transaction history where the deduction appeared, then logged into PayPal and entered that number where it was required for the confirmation. A couple of days later, I logged into my PayPal account again and saw that the refund (in US dollars) appeared in my PayPal balance.

In summary, everything concerning the CyberAccount, the VISA debit card and the PayPal account was set up properly about a week ago.

The Purpose of it All

My wife will be returning to the Philippines, permanently, on Monday. There will be no more deposits to the US-based bank account because neither of us is getting paid in the US anymore. My Google payments go directly to my dollar account at Philippine National Bank and my other online marketing payments go to my US-based PayPal account.

I could have my Google payments going to the US bank, but getting my money from there would be a pain once the debit card expires. The bank would be happy to mail a new card to my address in the Philippines, but it's way too risky. The other way to get the money would be to pull the money into my US-based PayPal account and use that debit card to get the money here. Again, that will only work until the PayPal debit card expires.

My wife has a Google account also. Her payments still go to the US-based bank account. That will change once we set up a dollar account for her here. The only problems is our current finances don't allow it — she has to leave $500 in the bank in order to have a dollar account (I only have to leave $200 because I receive my pension by direct deposit). I don't know about you, but I find it kind of hard to basically forget about $500 (or $700 total if you think about it) that could be used in other ways. At present, we have too much fat in the fire to consider it and will probably wait until the debit cards expire.

Eventually, we'll both be receiving our Google payments (and any other online marketing payments that work the same way) to Philippine bank dollar accounts and PayPal payments to non-US-based PayPal accounts. The thing is, we don't intend to withdraw money from the PayPal accounts. We intend to use them for paying for things with either the PayPal accounts themselves or by using EON VISA Electron cards. The reason is that both are necessary right now for online transactions. Some places accept PayPal and some don't. Those that don't will normally accept a debit card.

• Getting VISA Credit or Debit Cards in the Philippines
• The End of Banking Debit Card Overdraft Fees?
• Philippine National Bank, Olongapo City and Subic Bay
• Banking in the Philippines with US Dollars
• Use VISA and MasterCard Gift Cards for Christmas Instead of Cash or Check