Philippines Cell Phones, Cost, Load, Etc

[smore 19]

In a previous post I got some info on Messaging apps and a bit of info on how cell phones work in Philippines. Keep in mind she is not from a major city like Manila or anything so availability to free wifi is not available or common, I think available to towers and cell plans is also limited. She is from a not so developed area Libagon. I am trying to help better our communication, she runs out of load or minutes pretty quick or it seems you only get so many days to use what you purchased and that expires and she cannot afford to buy more for awhile which leaves our communication on hold. She has used a few family members hotspots in the past, so there must be plans or service that offer that. I might sound crazy but what if I offer to pay for her load, plan, whatever its called in the Philippines so we can better communicate as we really need to be able to move this along and forward otherwise I have to move on because with lack of communication or occasional, random, etc communication we just cannot proceed, build a connection, and plan anything. So as crazy as it sounds I want to give this a try and if it does not help the communication than I stop paying and move on. How might I go about paying for this, whats the best option? I know there are probably a thousand apps that may allow me to, who knows which ones a person can trust with your financial info, can I simply use a pre paid credit card, life a gift card thing so I am not having to give financial info. I don't want to mail anything to her and now days I should not have to, there has to be some way that is safe to do this where I don't have to give a ton of my info as well, just sorta pay for it, preferably with a pre paid credit card or something. I am not sure what type of load, plans, etc are in the Philippines in her area, I will probably have to talk to her about that as she knows her area and whats available, unless someone here might have some info on that.

Edited March 24, 2023 by smore

[SteveInBostonI130 3,434]

And your question is...?

[smore 19]

Just now, SteveInBostonI130 said:

And your question is...?

How might I go about paying for this for her, whats the best option? Also if anyone has any info about what costs might be, what type of plans as I believe it works a bit different over there than here in US.

[top_secret 2,417]

I have successfully got Smart load online with a US credit card here before https://store1.smart.com.ph/eload/ although not recently.

 

Globe has similar here though I can't vouch for it personally. https://new.globe.com.ph/buy-load

 

Of course load is a form of cash money in the Philippines so you are essentially handing over cash that can be freely sold, spent for purchases, given away or disposed of the same as any other cash.  I would start small. 

[smore 19]

12 minutes ago, top_secret said:

I have successfully got Smart load online with a US credit card here before https://store1.smart.com.ph/eload/ although not recently.

 

Globe has similar here though I can't vouch for it personally. https://new.globe.com.ph/buy-load

 

Of course load is a form of cash money in the Philippines so you are essentially handing over cash that can be freely sold, spent for purchases, given away or disposed of the same as any other cash.  I would start small. 

Wondering if a person can use a pre paid visa? on any of these sites to purchase. I will have to find out which provider or service she has been loading on her phone. So you said load is a form of cash money? Load is what is put onto the phone, that is the term I have heard used, "need to add load" to my phone, sorta thing.

[confusedshoes 193]

1 hour ago, smore said:

In a previous post I got some info on Messaging apps and a bit of info on how cell phones work in Philippines. Keep in mind she is not from a major city like Manila or anything so availability to free wifi is not available or common, I think available to towers and cell plans is also limited. She is from a not so developed area Libagon. I am trying to help better our communication, she runs out of load or minutes pretty quick or it seems you only get so many days to use what you purchased and that expires and she cannot afford to buy more for awhile which leaves our communication on hold. She has used a few family members hotspots in the past, so there must be plans or service that offer that. I might sound crazy but what if I offer to pay for her load, plan, whatever its called in the Philippines so we can better communicate as we really need to be able to move this along and forward otherwise I have to move on because with lack of communication or occasional, random, etc communication we just cannot proceed, build a connection, and plan anything. So as crazy as it sounds I want to give this a try and if it does not help the communication than I stop paying and move on. How might I go about paying for this, whats the best option? I know there are probably a thousand apps that may allow me to, who knows which ones a person can trust with your financial info, can I simply use a pre paid credit card, life a gift card thing so I am not having to give financial info. I don't want to mail anything to her and now days I should not have to, there has to be some way that is safe to do this where I don't have to give a ton of my info as well, just sorta pay for it, preferably with a pre paid credit card or something. I am not sure what type of load, plans, etc are in the Philippines in her area, I will probably have to talk to her about that as she knows her area and whats available, unless someone here might have some info on that.

In the Philippines, there are 2 major cell networks- Globe and Smart. There are other smaller ones but most of them are also owned by either Globe or Smart. If you want to help someone to keep in constant communication with you, it's more than just making sure they have enough funds to sustain it. But sure you can send them funds.

 

The easiest way to do that would be to send them actual money via Western Union, I'm sure a town no matter how small will have a Western Union nearby. The person will buy their phone credits locally using that money you send. And then they can choose the phone plan to get. There's no guarantee they will do what you expect with the money you send though. Another way would be if you could also figure out a way to just top up their actual phone number. There are a few online sites that offer this service, for a fee. You'll be charged extra by the website. It is always a few hundred pesos more expensive than just buying credits locally. You can use a secure credit card to do this. You would need their phone number for this to work. The credits will go directly to their phone and they would then choose which plan to use the credits for. I know for Globe, there is an app called Globe One. You would use the app to choose from available plans, it shows you how much credits you have, and how much each plan costs (texting plans, calling plans, data plans etc) I'm sure Smart also has a similar app. 

 

For an idea about how costs:

 

This is a prepaid data plan worth P299 on Globe. For 15 days, you get 10GB data and you have 7 days to use it. It doesn't roll over. Plus you can choose 1 freebie which lets you use unlimited data on the apps shown, and it doesn't count against the 10GB. For 30 days, this costs P598 or about USD11. This doesn't include texting or calling. This is just one of many plans you can pick and use concurrently. So for example, you would want to choose the GoShare one for the freebie if you want to communicate on Facebook or GoWork if you want Viber etc.

 

 

You don't need to figure all of this out by yourself, the person you're talking to would know all this and you'd have to trust them to make decisions. So this is just so you have an idea how certain things cost and how phone networks work in the Philippines. But yeah, whether you should do it is up to you, as this involves trust and I don't know what stage your relationship is. 

 

[smore 19]

11 minutes ago, confusedshoes said:

In the Philippines, there are 2 major cell networks- Globe and Smart. There are other smaller ones but most of them are also owned by either Globe or Smart. If you want to help someone to keep in constant communication with you, it's more than just making sure they have enough funds to sustain it. But sure you can send them funds.

 

The easiest way to do that would be to send them actual money via Western Union, I'm sure a town no matter how small will have a Western Union nearby. The person will buy their phone credits locally using that money you send. And then they can choose the phone plan to get. There's no guarantee they will do what you expect with the money you send though. Another way would be if you could also figure out a way to just top up their actual phone number. There are a few online sites that offer this service, for a fee. You'll be charged extra by the website. It is always a few hundred pesos more expensive than just buying credits locally. You can use a secure credit card to do this. You would need their phone number for this to work. The credits will go directly to their phone and they would then choose which plan to use the credits for. I know for Globe, there is an app called Globe One. You would use the app to choose from available plans, it shows you how much credits you have, and how much each plan costs (texting plans, calling plans, data plans etc) I'm sure Smart also has a similar app. 

 

For an idea about how costs:

 

This is a prepaid data plan worth P299 on Globe. For 15 days, you get 10GB data and you have 7 days to use it. It doesn't roll over. Plus you can choose 1 freebie which lets you use unlimited data on the apps shown, and it doesn't count against the 10GB. For 30 days, this costs P598 or about USD11. This doesn't include texting or calling. This is just one of many plans you can pick and use concurrently. So for example, you would want to choose the GoShare one for the freebie if you want to communicate on Facebook or GoWork if you want Viber etc.

 

 

You don't need to figure all of this out by yourself, the person you're talking to would know all this and you'd have to trust them to make decisions. So this is just so you have an idea how certain things cost and how phone networks work in the Philippines. But yeah, whether you should do it is up to you, as this involves trust and I don't know what stage your relationship is. 

 

Thanks for all the info, it helps out alot to gain knowledge on how it works. I agree she will know what might work best, sounds like smart and global are the choices and I believe I have heard her mention them. We have known each other for several years now, however communication has become an issue as we get more serious. She just does not have the money to keep adding load to the phone, or they expire and she has to reload and does not have the money. So after not helping for so long, and she has not asked if I would help with her phone, this is my idea as if I want this to go anywhere perhaps I should step in and help a bit to find out where this is going. I can always back off and stop.

 

Sounds like on Globe for 11.00 for a 30 day plan? and you can choose one app that does not count against data? We use whatsapp and I believe I seen that icon listed in your screen shots.

 

I am just trying to educate myself before presenting this idea to her. I of course don't want to just send her the money so if I can purchase through somewhere and let them know her number which I do know and it just adds the load to the phone that is best.

 

 

[Redro 4,611]

When are you going to meet her for the first time? You’ve been chatting for 3 years already… if you don’t trust her with the money you give her after 3 years you should cut your losses and move on… 

Edited March 25, 2023 by ROK2USA

[MarJhi 959]

When my fiance and I first started talking online and I decided I wanted to talk more without using up all of her load I did an internet search and discovered I could send load to Globe through the Western Union website. It's very easy to do, all you need to know is her first and last name and her phone number. Here is the link below.

 

Reload mobile devices around the world | Western Union US

[smore 19]

9 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

When are you going to meet her for the first time? You’ve been chatting for 3 years already… if you don’t trust her with the money you give her after 3 years you should cut your losses and move on… 

Trying to plan meeting, but with inconsistent communication pretty difficult to accomplish planning that. I cannot just travel at any moments notice I do have a job, life, responsibility so planning is certainly necessary.  Yes we have known each other for 3 years, and we met at the start of covid, soon after the world shut down, than continued restrictions for awhile esp in philippines so meeting was not possible in our situations. However for awhile now I have been trying to plan meeting which both of us want to, but we just cannot get anywhere with lack of consistent communication on what will work. You talk about trust her, I have never met her, sure have talked to her but inconstant communication, I want to give this a chance, but am not handing over money. I want to try and help with the cell load issue and see if our communication issue is resolved and hopefully plan meeting. If that does not solve it I will have to move on.

[smore 19]

7 hours ago, MarJhi said:

When my fiance and I first started talking online and I decided I wanted to talk more without using up all of her load I did an internet search and discovered I could send load to Globe through the Western Union website. It's very easy to do, all you need to know is her first and last name and her phone number. Here is the link below.

 

Reload mobile devices around the world | Western Union US

Thanks for the advise on western union and being able to send load to her phone. That Globe seems to be a decent thing, esp if you can pick 1 app to use that does not count towards the data, like whats apps, but still it will expire in 15 or 30 days and no roll over, but still being able to use whatsapp without worry of running out of load for the month would be nice.

[top_secret 2,417]

Whether you use Smart or Globe would probably depend on what she is already using.  Also, one or the other may have better coverage in some areas.

[MarJhi 959]

2 hours ago, smore said:

I want to give this a chance, but am not handing over money.

If at some point to decide to make a commitment to her will you then be "handing over money"? I understand you not wanting to get burned, but when do you want to find out if she is responsible with money or not? I would rather know sooner than later. If you give her $10 or $15 for load and she says she is out of load after 3 days then you know there's a problem. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by MarJhi

[jskibo 588]

Honestly it's less than $20 a month whatever plan she chooses (I'm back here again for two weeks picking up my mother in law to come to the US, my 8 day 10GB unlimited allnet  text on globe was 90 peso ($1.80)).

 

I think I pay just around $20 for the Converge home internet at this house too. 

 

......anyway the point is there's a lot higher costs in your future than $20 if you stick with her. Honestly If you feel you can't trust her with $20 cash then run, or re-evaluate what's holding you up from trusting people. Sounds awfully controlling but that's just my opinion. 

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

I always used https://www.ding.com/