Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

Quick Cash

Money Matters / by

Most readers of this site know that I make a living nearly entirely online.  Be it from building websites, income that my websites earn or whatever, really, just about everything that I earn is earned through the Internet.  Because of that, one of my major ways of getting that money is through Paypal.  I have a couple of other methods that I use for my clients to send payments to me, but Paypal is the most used.

Paypal is certainly not perfect, no company or service is perfect, but Paypal just keeps getting better and better.  When we moved to the Philippines, there was no Paypal here.  They did not serve the Philippines, and if you tried to use a Paypal account here they would immediately shut down your account.  I learned that the hard way, by having my long standing US Paypal account shut down right away when I tried to use it here.  I didn’t realize that Paypal didn’t allow that.

Paypal starts accepting Philippine Customers

Probably 5 years ago, or so, Paypal opened up for customers in the Philippines.  When they did, I immediately applied for an account and got it all set up.  I was able to link my bank account in the USA, and I also opened a special bank account here in the Philippines so that I could transfer money to either bank account – USA or Philippines.  At that time, if I wanted to transfer funds to my US bank account, it would take about 4 days or so for the money to be available in my bank account.  For transfers to my Philippine Bank account, it would take about a week or so (sometimes even a bit longer) to receive the funds.

Union Bank Branch
Union Bank Branch

Over the years, the transfer times have become shorter.  Now, my US bank account that I transfer to takes between 1 to 2 days for my money to arrive.  The Philippine account took 4 or 5 days, until recently.

Getting money in just seconds!

I can’t say if this is true for all Philippine Banks, or just with the bank that I use, but for several months now, if I transfer money from Paypal, the money is available in my Philippine bank account in less than 1 minute!  I can log in to my online banking and check my balance n my Philippine account, then go to Paypal and transfer some money into the account.  By the time that I can log back in to the account, the money is already available!  You can’t get service better than that!

So, I am sure that some of you are wanting to know what bank it is, type of account, etc.  I am happy to help you with that!

For the purposes of receiving Paypal money, I bank with Union Bank.  Truth is, I have been banking with them for many years, ever since moving to the Philippines. When we first moved here, it was actually IBank, or International Exchange Bank, but a number of years back, IBank was bought up by Union Bank.  I have always been happy with their service.  Now, I am even happier!

EON Card from Union Bank
EON Card from Union Bank

The account that they have which is pretty much specifically designed for Paypal users is called an “EON” account.  Basically, it is just a Debit and ATM card.  It can receive payments electronically, and you can get your money either through ATM withdrawal, or using the card as a credit card.  It is a Visa branded card that you get (which is what you need for it to work with Paypal).

How to get a Philippine Paypal Account

If you want to get the low-down on how to get a Paypal Account in the Philippines, I wrote a series of articles some time back on how to do it, you can read these articles:

Setting Up a Paypal Account in the Philippines

Getting a Union Bank EON Card

Paypal’s “Expanded Use” Program

If you follow the steps in the 3 articles listed above, you should have no problem opening a Paypal account in the Philippines, or receiving the money into your EON account.  I know it works great for me.  It used to be that my “go to” method of getting my funds used to be to send it to my US bank account (it was quicker and more reliable) then access that cash through the ATM machine or some other method.  Now, though, I usually transfer the funds to my Philippine account, because it is SO fast, and also extremely reliable!

Thanks, Paypal and Union Bank!  You are making life easy!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. OMG thank you for this info. My wife is living in the Philippines as I finish my time with the military, and every 2 weeks its either moneygram or western union as my method to send her money. She doesn’t have US visa yet (but someday we can afford). I now have a bank that maybe just maybe I can open account with and use my paypal to transfer funds or even better yet direct deposit into. Hoping it will work out but if you have seen or heard about people trying this and not working let me know. Thank you so very much for you sites I am a big fan of your writers. and being from Maine I understand the northern way of thinking of Paul Thompson and Peter Fitzgerald. Thanks again to you all you make me smile with all your stories and helpful hints.

    • I’ve had occasion to send funds from the United Kingdom to my BPI account in the Philippines and have found that HiFx (http://www.hifx.co.nz/) gives a 3%-5% better rate than Western Union or Lloyds Bank Plc. It’s all very straight forward and you can sit there watching the exchange rate changing until you hit the confirm transaction button to lock-in the exchange rate.

      Note that while HiFx is based in the UK, you’ll be asked to logon to different sites depending where you are sending money to/from. The New Zealand office handles transfers from UK to the Philippines.

      • As a spot check, I’ve just compared HiFX rate with my usual exchange method [Philippine National Bank (Europe)] rate.

        HiFX is currently offering PHP69.45 per 1 GBP.
        PNB is currently offering PHP71.30 per 1GBP.

        No contest!

        Isn’t there a PNB office somewhere stateside?

        • Hi Peter.
          I think you mixed up the PNB buy and sell rates.
          The PNB Buy rate is 67.90 PHP/GBP (sell rate is 71.77 PHP/GBP).
          HiFx rate is currently 70.834 PHP/GBP.
          That makes HiFX rate around 4% better than PNB which is within the range I’d expect.

          • Nope, no mix up. That is the rate that PNB in London will give you for moving Sterling from UK to Pesos in Philippines. I moved some just last weekend at 71.45 (The day before it was 71.55).

            There is a commission/transaction charge – £5.50 covers any amount up to £2000 on debit card (extra charge for credit card).

            Am I allowed to post a URL here? Just search “pnb europe remittance”.

      • Hi Malcolm – Thanks for your suggestion. As I said in another comment earlier, this is a different situation than I am discussing. Your solution is great for sending funds to somebody here, what I am talking about is getting your money here if you live here and have regular income coming into paypal and want to get to it fast.

  2. Bob,
    I assume you are now dealing with FATCA issues too?
    Banks here report directly to the IRS stateside. That was why I closed all accounts here…I didn’t want the extra hassle.

    • Hi SD Sutton – So far, I have not been hit by FATCA. I don’t keep the amount of money in the account that should be a problem. Whenever the bank wants me to fill out the forms, I have no problem with doing it.

  3. Bob, I have an account with Wells Fargo here in the US and it is linked to my BDO acct in the Phils via Wells Fargos Express Send, it to is almost instant.It is all done online (the electronic transfer). The only down side is that it has to be set up in the US first. The first transfer has to be done in person from within the Wells Fargo office. I have been using the Express Send for over 5 years now and no problems, I meant it not one problem at all. This just my 2 cents. But I will be setting up a connection with my Paypal and a Union Bank Acct. Better to have multiple ways to access ones money from over there in the Phils!

    • 100% agree, the more ways you have to get your money, the better! I have always believed firmly in setting up as many ways as possible of accessing your cash.

    • Hi Kevin – Paypal charges a flat $5 fee to transfer money to this particular account. So, for me, I usually only transfer if I am sending a minimum of $500, which would make it a maximum fee of 1%, which is not bad. I often transfer in even larger amounts, which would make the fee even a smaller percentage, since the fee is the same no matter the amount.

  8. Fantastic info, Bob.
    Anyone new would be mad to not follow your lead precisely.
    Have a good one Bob,
    AussieLee (yes the same one – I’ve been a tad busy of late)!

    • Well, hello, Lee! Nice to see you come out of the shadows! It’s been quite a while since we heard from you! Hope you are doing well.

      Yes, this PayPal service just keeps getting better and better! You can’t beat the quick timing!

  9. I used to use Western Union until I discovered Xoom.com. With WU, I or my wife would have to go to an outlet to pick up the cash.

    With Xoom, the money transfers directly into my bank account, usually within 5 minutes and I get a text and/or email advising me of the status.

    You can transfer dollars or turn it into Pesos. Makes it very convenient, though their conversion rate is similar to the banks.

    Xoom uses a sliding scale of charges depending on the amount of money you are transferring, $15 for $3,000 transfer for example.

    They have a limit on $3,000 a month, but you can be authorized for more, with a corresponding fee increase.

    They are setup with most banks here in PI, BPI or BDO being but two, however there are others.

    The transfer fees can add up over time, but that’s just part of being an expat. It’s certainly comparable to Western Union or other wire services, but with a lot more convenience and safety.

    I’m always on the lookout for more affordable or easy services, but for now, Xoom does just fine.

    • Hi Kevin – Thanks for sharing that. WU, XOOM, etc, sure… great for people who want to send money to a girlfriend or family here. My article was more geared to if you are living here, doing business, and getting payments via PayPal, how you can get your own money almost instantly. So, we are both talking about sending money, but two completely different needs! 🙂

  10. When I first came to Philippines, I found that PayPal simply couldn’t accept the fact that I was resident in the Philippines, but using UK-based bank accounts. They (PP) repeatedly ‘froze’ my account and I was never able to make any transactions.

    I have since been able to use my PNB card (similar, I guess, to your Union Bank card – ATM and Visa Debit card on a Savings account), to make a PP payment.

    From what you are saying, though, I should now be able to attach my UK cards to my PP account.

    • I hear you Peter! I have had the same issue in the past with frozen account and such. We differ, though, in that I don’t ever make outgoing payments that require an account or card, all of my transfers are out of paypal and into my account. If I make any paypal payment it is using my Paypal balance, since I get lots of payments through Paypal for products or work that I have done for people, I always have money available in my Paypal account.

  12. I’m sticking to my goal of being permanently unemployed, hence no need for a place to dump my largess. I am, however, quite pleased that Philippine businesses are coming around to accepting electronic payments. I have 5 recurring bills. Three I can pay from my computer, one from my phone.

    My executive assistant no longer needs to spend hours in long lines. She can now concentrate on programming the in-house CCTV to point out dust above her 5 foot line of sight and pay more attention to ironing sharp creases into the designer khaki shorts I wear to formal occasions.

    • Hi Michael – Ha ha, I hear you. I am the opposite, of you, though, if I didn’t have work to keep me busy, I wold go crazy. I will never be unemployed! Gotta have something to do! 🙂

  13. Hi Bob, that was useful information… I have a UK based Paypal account for over 5 years now and I am very pleased with their services…..Once when I was living in the UK., I purchased a mobile phone on-line using Paypal…it turned out that the website selling the phones was a scam, and I thought I lost my money but Paypal made sure that my funds were reembursed……I have also used the same UK based account here in PH, bought things from Ebay and have had no problem at all, the bank I´m using is Santander and my debit card is connected to it. I have never had money in my Paypal account so don´t really know how that works.

    • Hi Richie – Glad that it all works for you! Paypal is very good about protecting you from fraud! I am on the other end… always have to watch out for “customers” trying to defraud me!

  14. Hi Bob,

    Is it necessary for you to have a bank account in The U.S ? Could you use a bank in Singapore instead ? There are no capital controls in Singapore which is highly desirable in this day and age.I’ve never used PayPal for anything since our businesses here and in MNL are cash only, so I’m not familiar with how they operate for business owners.

    • Hi Bobby – Paypal does not require a US bank account, I use one because it is convenient for me. I do not know anything about Paypal’s policy on Singapore banks, but I would assume that it is no problem to use one in conjunction with a Paypal account.

      Good luck!

  15. Hi Bob
    I think this blog will make you popular with PayPal. Currently my withdrawals from PayPay take 2 to 3 days to arrive in my bank account; I can’t wait for instant funds transfer to arrive down here in New Zealand!
    Brian

    • Hi Brian,

      Ha ha, I am not sure if Paypal will even notice this little blog! They are such a big company.

      Yes, I was so surprised when the withdrawals started instantly showing up in my account. Very convenient! You can’t ask for quicker service than that!