How on earth?

[orimai 2]

Greetings all! We are getting ever closer to receiving an interview date and we have been thinking about this but want to know others exp. What is the cheapest and best method to send money from the US to our family in the Philippines? Thought about Western Union but thats crazy insane the fee they charge. Don't think we can do bank account to bank account transfers. Any info would be appreciate thanks!

Orimai

[tway22 0]

Greetings all! We are getting ever closer to receiving an interview date and we have been thinking about this but want to know others exp. What is the cheapest and best method to send money from the US to our family in the Philippines? Thought about Western Union but thats crazy insane the fee they charge. Don't think we can do bank account to bank account transfers. Any info would be appreciate thanks!

Orimai

I find western union to be pretty good. You can do 300 online for about 6 dollar fee. Anything over that online is rediculously high. You can go to an agent location and send money...it's cheaper. I send money to my fiance in Vietnam all the time using western union offices. they charge about 6 bucks for $500 and under. Hope that helps.

[beameup 0]

Equitable/PCI bank in the Philippines has a network of agents throughout the U.S. - "Express Padala".

The charge is $5 to send any amount. They convert $ to Pesos at the current rate in direct deposit it into any Equitable/PCI account in the P.I. Equitable/PCI has the most branches and ATM machines available of any Philippine Bank.

I and my wife have both an ATM account and a checking account at Equitable/PCI.

Express Padala - Equitable/PCI bank

It can save you a lot of money by using this service.

Greetings all! We are getting ever closer to receiving an interview date and we have been thinking about this but want to know others exp. What is the cheapest and best method to send money from the US to our family in the Philippines? Thought about Western Union but thats crazy insane the fee they charge. Don't think we can do bank account to bank account transfers. Any info would be appreciate thanks!

Orimai

[griffin 7]

GREETINGS!

TRUST ME THE SAFEST AND CHEAPEST WAY TO THE PHILIPPINES IS THROUGH WWW.XOOM.COM

1. CAN BE TRANSACTED TROUGH INTERNET.

2. STATUS CAN BE SEEN DURING TRANSACTION TILL THE MONEY IS COLLECTED.

3. 22 MINUTES OR SO MONEY IS READY FOR PICK UP.

4. MONEY CAN BE COLLECTED TO ALL PCI BANKS OR CEBUANA LHULLIER

5. WORKS LIKE WESTERN UNION TOO BUT ONLY IT IS CHEAPER....

SAMPLE FEE:

FOR $ 150 YOULL BE CHARGE $ 13 DOLLARS, MONEY IN MINUTES STYLE...

Edited February 28, 2007 by griffin

[orimai 2]

Ok cool, thanks for the information. I like the bank idea first, likely look into that right away. Thank you!

Orimai

[jazzy 0]

Hi,

As far as western union goes...the rates are $16 for 400 and under to the philippines. What are the rates for xoom?

tway.....$6?...not to the philippines...minimum of $16 for any money in minutes....the only way to do it cheaper is to have the money direct deposited to a PI bank account then they charge 13 dollars...but it takes 3 business days.

[tway22 0]

Hi,

As far as western union goes...the rates are $16 for 400 and under to the philippines. What are the rates for xoom?

tway.....$6?...not to the philippines...minimum of $16 for any money in minutes....the only way to do it cheaper is to have the money direct deposited to a PI bank account then they charge 13 dollars...but it takes 3 business days.

Sorry, I assumed phillippines and vietnam would be very similar.

[STL_HCMC 0]

You might also look into MoneyGram International and/or MoneyGram eMoney Transfer (online transfer). The money is available on the other end in minutes.

STL_HCMC

[Dan J 277]

I haven't sent money to Philippines, but I do send money to Indonesia from time to time via iKobo. Money is sent to an ATM card account where it can be withdrawn at any ATM that accepts visa. Transfer fee is $5 + 3% of whatever the total sent is. Its also available almost immediately.

[CherylandMike 0]

BPI Express Remittance Corp will accept deposits in the US for BPI accounts in the Philippines. As I recall, $8 per transaction. They make transfers the night they receive, if it is a money order or cashiers check. They wait for personal checks to clear. Probably more convenient if you live in a city that has an office or you have an account at a "partner" bank.

Wells Fargo issues ATM cards, one for the US account holder, one for the recipient. Five dollars per deposit or transfer. The account is accessible online, and if you have another Wells Fargo checking or savings account, it's easy to make online transfers. If you make a transfer from an account where the funds are available, then the funds should be immediately available in Philippines as well. But it's ATM only.

I've heard CitiBank has easy transfers between accounts in their US and Philippines banks. There are no CitiBanks nearby, so I never pursued it.

Just a few more ideas. It really depends on how you want it to work on the other end, or what is most convenient or safe to use. I'm always looking for a better way as well .

Mike

[ding 1]

Many send their US bank's ATM card to their fiance in Thailand. After she gets it they call and he gives her the PIN#.

So that account is charged a small fee and the ATM charges a small fee. But Washington Mutual Bank gold card ATM is international fee free.

No fees are good fees!

[KansasDragon 1]

I acquired a Personal Epassporte Visa card from Epassporte.com. Ann keeps this with her, and I can just transfer dollars from my bank account to her Visa card.

Then she just goes to the local ATM and gets the money.

I didn't like Western Union, fees were too high. Inconvenient at times for both of us. And with online banking and the Epassporte, I can be anywhere and transfer the money if I need to.