Yesterday in my e-mail, I got a question from a regular LiP reader. His question was on the topic of banking. I won’t share his name, but that is not important anyway.
Let’s look at his question and my answer to him, as that may be beneficial for other readers as well.
Bob, hoping you can give me some insight if you have time. I have several corporate checks mailed to me in my business name and am wondering if I have the mail forwarding service use I to forward my mail to the Philippines, will the banks there process (deposit funds upon clearing) these checks which are from the USA if i deposit them in my Philippine account? Have you done this? Is this an issue being made payable to my business? How long does it take the checks to clear?
Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
I have some experience with this, actually, except one aspect. Back from about 2002 until 2007 or so, I ran an eBay business from here. As part of the business, I would accept Paypal, or I would accept personal checks. I had (and actually still have) an address in the USA where mail could be sent, then that mail would be FedExed to me once per week. So, every week I would get a pile of checks, even though most people payed via Paypal. Each week, I would deposit those checks into my Philippine Dollar Account.
When I deposited the checks, they would take normally about 45 days to clear. I believe it was 30 banking days, which usually meant about 45 real days (lots of holidays here!). The system worked pretty good for me, with only one real problem. If a check bounced, there was not a whole lot I could do. I mean, if it was a serious amount of money, I could have hired a collection agency, but if you are talking $50 or less, even $100, it isn’t worth messing with. Other than that, no problems. And, not that many checks bounce anyway, so no biggie.
Now, the problem for you is the business name. To be honest, I don’t know the answer. Perhaps you could get an account here in your US business name, I am not sure. But, I suspect this is a problem.
Here is one other possible solution too… Before I started depositing those checks into my Philippine account, what I used to do was that that pile of Checks would come to me via FedEx weekly. Then about once every two weeks, I would FedEx them to my bank in the USA for deposit. That worked great. Only downside is that holding the check that long before deposit will lead to more bounces, and also there is additional cost in sending them back and forth via FedEx.
Hope this helps.
And, I hope this helped some other readers too.
Hi Bob,
This is an interesting topic. I would be very interested to know if it is possible to open a Philippine bank account in a business name for a business that is not based in the Philippines. (I suppose it might be possible to claim a branch office in the Phils, but there could be tax issues etc.
I think in this day and age, with most retailers now no longer accepting cheques, the ideal is to do everything possible to encourage customers to pay by other means, direct bank transfer, for example, being the most obvious, with almost everyone using online banking now. (Not in the Philippines, I know). I'd be really interested to know however, if anyone out there has an answer about the possibility of a business named bank account…or indeed any other bright ideas to avoid that excessive clearing time.
Slightly off topic, I'd be interested to know why your eBay business ended, if that's not an impertinent question. We did have a friend a couple of years ago who was doing a roaring trade in fake products (Louis Vuitton bags in particular)sourced from the Phils. via eBay, but as the trading standards in conjunction with eBay became ever tighter on this issue, I had heard that he ended up with a suspended sentence and a horrific fine. Not that I'm suggesting you would have anything to do with such things mind you, I ask because it strikes me there could be a few potentially good avenues for legitimate ebay trading from the Phils.
Hi Jim – Like I said in the article, I don't know the answer on the question of opening a bank account with your business name, especially one that is not local.
By the way, there is online banking in the Philippines. A couple of banks even have online banking that I would consider fairly advanced.
I stopped doing the eBay business because I was working too hard, way too hard, on it. I had other businesses that were doing very well, and were a lot less stressful. Just to be clear, though, I was not selling pirated products. You are very correct, there are a lot of very good things available here that are great for selling to the West on eBay. In addition, I have recently found that there are some other ways to make money on eBay that I had not considered in the past. As I type this, I am in the process of embarking on a new eBay venture, not only selling on eBay, but doing some other related things too. You'll be hearing more about it as the project gets underway a bit more.
Hi Bob,
This is a concern I've been meaning to ask you. I, too, had an eBay business which I am thinking of restarting. Back when I had the business, I used to accept checks and/or money orders. Now when I eventually relocate to the Philippines, I worry about about how to handle such deposits. I use a similar mailbox service [here in Chicago] so forwarding my mail overseas won't be a problem. I guess there's no easy way in addressing this issue, but to weigh the options as part of managing a business overseas.
Bob: I hope that check is a dead account… you don't want to publish the routing number and acct number online.
geez, read my reply to u John and it sounds kinda tart, not meant to be that way, sry.
Hi chasdv – You can certainly do that. My way of doing business, though, is that if somebody wants to give me money, I'll take it, no matter what form it comes in! 😉
Hi Chas,
Good point! I was sitting here wondering what payment options I would avail customers of. Paypal Only sounds good to me. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Henry – Just my personal advice – take it for what it is worth… Take as many payment options as you possibly can. Make it easy for people to buy from you. Take Paypal, take Western Union, take Xoom, take checks – do it all. That is how you will make the most money, and be the most customer friendly. That is a big key to success. The number of checks you receive will be less than 1% of your number of sales anyway, so it's not a major thing.
Hi Bob,
Here's one solution. US Corporate check recipient can opt to setup a one page website (free). Since it is assumed corporate check recipient has a US Bank, if not, he can open one, he can establish an online check payment using his free one page website.
Corporate check recipient then enters his routing and check account numbers into his online pyment made payable to his name.
US Bank then accepts his electronic entries made payable to him and deposited under his name. He then withdraws his own money from any affiliated ATM machines in the Philippines.
Corporate check recipient only needs to ensure and watch these checks doesn't bounce. He'll have to pay $27 per bad checks usually collected automatically from his US Bank's ATM or/Savings or/Checking Account.
How is he to setup his online payment on his free website? Use a jsp/php/mysql programming that has database capability, usually available free to download. Or pay a software program that has specific online payment capability and attach this to his free website.
Hi Bob,
I agree with your philosophy,unfortunately i went through a hassle period with cheques and unfulfilled promises.
I'm happy with my current situation,everyone to their own.
regards Chas.
Brian: No worries… Didn't even notice until you brought it up!
ONE THING NOT MENTIONED HERE WAS THE SHIPPING OF MERCHANDISE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?? I WOULD IMAGINE IF YOU HIT ON A GREAT IDEA THE PACKAGING AND SHIPPING COULD TAKE ALOT OF TIME AND HOW DO YOU SHIP?? FED EX IS VERY EXPENSIVE…..
ALSO IF YOU HAD A CHECKING ACCOUNT IN ONLY YOUR PERSONAL NAME HERE …..AND YOU STARTED DEPOSITING ALOT OF CHECKS INTO IT WOULD NOT THE BANK RAISE ALARM SIGNALS ABOUT THIS ???
Hi Bob!
Is it that profitable to sell (from ebay) from the Philippines to whomever wants to buy from you? I guess if you compare the price we would pay in the PI to Canada/U.S/UK it's not a big of a deal to sell them off!
Hi Lenny – I used to have this business here, and I most certainly know how it works. No need for FedEx. I can't give away everything for free here! I actually have this information in my 49 Ways book, and some of my other materials for sale too.
But, actually, this article is about banking, depositing of checks and such. I will soon have a place where eBay discussions will be right at home…
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Lenny – Firstly, if you don't mind… could you turn off your CAPS LOCK KEY?
Why alarm bells? Selling things on eBay is not illegal. Even if an alarm bell went off, what would you be doing wrong if you sell on eBay? Since there is nothing wrong with it, who cares if any alarm bells go off? Also, I did this for years, as I said in the article. I never had any alarms go off. The bank considered me a good customer.
Hi Jason – If you knew the amount of money that I made per month selling on eBay from here, I suspect that you would do a double-take. I will only say that I made an amount that was in the mid-5 figures in US dollars each month primarily from eBay sales, back when I was doing that. If you want to learn more about how to do it, you'll need to buy my book, 49 Ways to earn a living in the Philippines, it spells out my whole system.
Honestly, I did not intend this article to be an advertisement for my book, I intended this to discuss banking in the Philippines with US checks. However, you guys seem curious about how to do eBay here, or some are doubtful that it can be done profitably. Well, I know that it can, because I did it for years, and made a lot more money doing that than I ever made with a "job" while in the States. So, I will plug my book, for those who honestly want to earn good money in the Philippines.
Bob,
Right now several banks have the option to scan and email checks to be directly deposited into your account. The person who asked you this question should check with their bank to see if they allow this. I had this problem when I was stationed in Germany and found out my bank did that and I was very excited.
Hi Garrett – That's a nice option, I didn't know such a service was available! Thanks for sharing.
I'm sorry, Jim, I am not certain on Land Bank.
Hi Bob,
Well I dont know the gentlemans whole situation, but I find find having an account in the US, the way to go. In this day of electronic tranfers and ATM every where, I dont have to deal the waiting time of the Phil. banks. My and Email and have a good working relationship. new cards Fed-x ect. money always there, internet to know ballances ect. This works for me. Of course nothing perfect.
I myself would tell them no shipment till the check clears.
Mike
My plan is to keep my business checking account open. Have the check mailed to a friend who can stamp the check, and deposit it in Ca. Unfortunately there's only one check coming a month, but it's a good one, so that makes up for it, until SS kicks in….lol…..i2f….John
Hi Bob,
All excellent points and well taken.
Hi Mike – I understand your feelings, I just disagree. If you were living in the Philippines and that was your policy, you would be best to not accept checks, because you would have problems. it would take nearly a month for you to receive the check, then a month and a half for clearing, so 2 to 3 months from the time payment was submitted before you ship, and 30 days in transit to the customer. The customer would certainly be unhappy about that.
Hi imagine – I have considered such a plan myself. Hardest thing is to find somebody responsible enough to get that done for you.
Hi Bob,
Wow, this topic is getting a lot of attention, eh? Well, like Imagine, I was thinking of trusting someone to handle check deposits [here in the U.S.A.] for my business account. Fortunately, I have someone I can trust to handle that. You point out many options here so I have a lot to think about.
Bob I have some Cowrie shells can I use those to pay for some online books? After all it is a form of money to the tribes of the Pacific. 😆
Hi BrSpiritus – I just went down to Gaisano to see if I could spend those Cowrie shells there for groceries. Sorry, they said… no. Sorry, I can't accept those! 😉
That won't be a problem at all. We have been friends since 1960, ansd he's got a heck of a lot more than I do….lololol…i2f…John
Bob' and everyone, I'm a rookie at all this, I need to get some advice I have all my retirement checks, going to a Federal credit unions, I'm thinking about moving to the Phlilppines, in few months, I want get married, What would be the best way, that I can make sure, I can always get to my funds, for rent and food when needed. I know I can open an account and transfer, but could I still use my credit cards?
George