A week or two ago I had an article that included some information about money and banking. One of the readers, Tripack, lamented that he wished he could do a currency exchange through his online banking.
I was pretty sure that could be done, and it can! Although I was wrong in the exact way to do it, I brought on my good friend, Dave Starr, to share the information with me and the rest of the LiP audience.
So, in today’s Expat Answerman Video, I am doing an interview with Dave Starr. It was nice to have Dave back on LiP! In case you don’t know, Dave used to write here on the Magazine. Dave also has a Philippine Expat Blog of his own, why not give him a visit at PhilFAQs? Dave has some interesting content that you might find informative, and I am sure he would be happy if you swing by there and read some of his articles.
You CAN exchange currencies online!
So, watch the video and Dave will share with you exactly how you can exchange from Dollars (or other currencies) to Pesos right on your Online Banking account in the Philippines. This will save you hours for each time that you need to make the exchange. For many of us, we have to do that kind of exchange regularly, because even though we live in the Philippines, we are still earning in US Dollars or whatever the currency is in our home country.
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Dave. We will be featuring other guests on future episodes, and still to the Q & A format too. I encourage you to leave comments on the topic, they are most appreciated and one way to get an answer to whatever questions you may have.
Do You Have a Question?
If you want to send a question for inclusion in a future Podcast, just click on the blue button over on the far right side of this site, where it says “Send Questions via Voicemail”.
If you prefer, you can leave your question via email and I will still respond to that on my Podcast. Just go to my Expat Answerman page to send the email to me.
Thanks again for listening, everybody!
See you again soon!
Hey Bob 🙂 Watching the video right now ! By the way, my real name is very hard to guess, it is …. Patrick !!!
It comes from all the way down to my kids’ years, when my grand-mother (who raised me) used to switch some of my first name’s letters and called me…. Tripack 🙂
All along my life, I have kept this surname, especially over the internet and the games I play 🙂
Now, online banking here… Being swiss, I have been used for many years to pay online my bills. It saves time, nerves and even money ! Unlike in other countries, the online payment system here is still young, meaning that the companies you can pay online are different from one bank to another. BDO has quite a large array of companies so I won’t give up my accounts there. On top, many people have a BDO account, so it is easy to send payments to other people. But I will at once go to BPI and have a serious talk and demo about their dollar to peso option.
Nowadays, apart from the local cable company and the water company (which are not registered online), I pay absolutely all my bills online, Credit cards (even from other banks), PLDT, Globe, even my Easytrip electronic wallet for the highways ! No more waiting, no more hassle,wether it rains or not, I do all my payments from my home.
A big thank you to Dave and you for this very interesting video !
Hi Patrick – glad you enjoyed the video.
All of my bills can be paid online, except the water bill. That is good and convenient.
Dave and I enjoyed doing the video, and it was our pleasure.
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for contributing, Patrick. As you have discovered, using the online banking service of a name-brand bank like BDO is a great convenience. I wouldn’t be without it.
Also a lot of Bob’s readers and of my own as well seem to be caught up in a adversarial relationship with banks in general. Well I can understand that, it’s very easy to get pissed off if you let yourself go, but as you’ve found, taking a little time to get to know your local branch manager can pay a world of dividends. I highly recommend taking the small effort. It’s paid dividends to me.
Hi Dave – Ding Ding.. you hit the nail on the head. Personal relationships are the king here. Having a personal relationship with a bank manager is a great thing, and you don’t want to spoil that. I find that most business people here want to be my friend, so I cultivate that. Maybe that is why I (and you too I believe) seem to have better results living here than most. We cultivate those relationships. If I were to go the bank where the manager is my friend and start bitching and moaning, causing a public scene you can bet that the friendship will no longer exist.
Hearing impaired individuals will really appreciate your words printed out on the screen “cc”.
I appreciate that thought. However, a couple years ago, with my podcasts, I hired a person and spent considerable money to produce a PDF transcript of all of my podcasts and offered it for free download. Not one person ever downloaded it. So, I am sorry, I don’t see any reason to spend the money that would be involved in transcribing the video. I hope you understand.
Bob, I enjoyed your discussion with Dave. I should mention that our bank manager (Metrobank) gives us a “premium” dollar-to-peso exchange rate (it’s always higher than the everyday exchange rate offered by the bank). We ask him “what’s the premium rate today” and then compare it with rates offered by three money changers (in the mall). The bank’s premium rate is often higher than that offered by the mall money changers. Ask your bank manager about their “premium” exchange rate.
Also, the bank has bill counting machines (we have them count the bills twice). In the mall you have to count the bills yourself and it may take a long time.
Hey, it sounds like you have a good thing going there! For anybody who gets a deal like this where they are treated well by local business, you should value the relationship, and be kind and respectful to those who have given you such status! Great to hear that!
great info both to bob and dave. currently 2 months out from my retirement to the PH. cant wait to get my root into the local area and meld into the great area I am going to.
dave going off your last vlog with bob about college courses in the PH. I will be just out of metro manila san pedro area. would like your input on colleges you might know about
Hi Craig,
I’m not sure what exactly you want to know about colleges. Can you give me a hint what you need to know, such as are you looking for place for your children to attend, are you a vet looking for a VA-approved school, etc.? There are literally thousands of colleges in the Philippines and I sure don’t know that much about many of them … but I’ll certainly try to help if I can.
My reaction was the same. Craig said he wanted to ask a question, but I was uncertain what the actual question was.
sorry it was for more va approved ones for myself within semi easy area just south of manila. again sorry about not being more specific
OK, understood. This has been a issue for years here becuase the information isn’t easy to find. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing, it just requires leg work on the part of the prospective student.
To attend college in a foreign country and get VA benefits, you can start here:
https://www.vets.gov/education/gi-bill/foreign-programs/
To get specific information on Philippine schools already approved, I would contact the Manila VA office directly:
http://www.benefits.va.gov/manila/
Hope this helps.
bob good day, i live in davao city as a tourist visa , can i open account bank? i have ACR tourist
You should be able to get a bank account open. However, you may need to go to several banks and branches to find the one who will do it.