Sending money--again!

[Stevephoto 224]

SORRY! I know this is oft-repeated question but I have not found anything recent (aka last year or so). Most of you know that Joan and I are moving to the Philippines when I retire next year (I just posted some replies to someone else who is thinking about the same thing!) Our house(s) (duplex) are moving along beautifully and on schedule (and have already survived two earthquakes and a typhoon, so we got lucky and found a terrific architect/builder.) We are scheduled to start paying for the second half of the project next month--which is a hunk of change even spread over ten month. We stand to save a lot of money with the current and projected exchange rates and we want to get the best we can. So, here is the oft-asked question: Who do you use (now) to send money? We have used:

 

Xoom--stupidly expensive for the kind of money we need to send with a lousy exchange rate

Remitly--Our current choice. Reliable, reasonably fast, not "fees" for transfers over $1K, clear daily, monthly and 6 monthly limits (which fit our needs), BUT not the best exchange rate (even 1 PHP per $ could save us a LOT of money)

WU--Better exchange rate even with the debit card fees (I understand that there are no fees bank to bank, but I even WU said they would be cautious giving the actual bank account information!), but we have had problems with transfers going through with them before and they don't tell you what your transmittal limits are ("You will know each time you log in." Yeah, but what if I need to make a house payment and you tell me I have reached my limit!)

Wise--Wise has been highly recommended on this site. I opened an account and found their fees to be more than I want to pay.

 

Has anyone used XE or World Remit? I've read ok things about them, but...I trust all of you.

 

Salamat as always!

[hunny&me 267]

Have you tried Ria money transfer?  Found those OK for thousands.  But for rare big bangs, I used my US check deposited to my brother's account.

[RO_AH 1,621]

I have been bouncing back and forth between Remitly and Sendwave. I stopped using Remitly due to low rates but the last several months they have been the highest. I stopped using WU due to fees.

[JMPM 507]

I've been using wise.com for the the last few years from sending my wife spending money so she could spend time with her family while waiting out the i130 to sending money to her family for special occasions birthdays and anniversaries. 

 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

The best choice depends on how much you want to send in each transaction, if you have a dollar account in a PH bank, and how much time you can allow.

 

Even with the fees, I think Wise is the best deal for smaller amounts.  Wise starts out with the mid-market exchange rate whereas others usually knock down the exchange rate in their favor,  That gap is their fee.  The limit is 480,000 pesos, about $8300 right now.  If you needed $50,000, you would have to do 6-7 transactions.

 

Provided you have a USD account in PH,  for a larger amount such as $50,000, a wire transfer is usually cheaper than the transfer services.  Check with your U.S. bank for the fee.  The Philippine bank will charge a small fee, much less than the U.S. bank wire fee.

 

When I bought my house, I did wire transfers from Chase US to BPI Philippines.  Chase charged $40 and BPI charged $6.  Unfortunately my limit for wires with Chase was $25,000 because of my tier, so I had to do 3 transfers.  Your bank will probably be different 

 

If you have a USD account in PH, have time, and the ability to deposit a U.S. check in your PH bank USD account, the cheapest option is to write a USD check from your US bank and deposit it in your USD PH account.  Most of the PH banks charge a $5 deposit fee.

 

After you have the USD in your PH USD account, you can choose when and how to exchange to pesos.  We used to take our USD to an outside changer, but BPI changed their exchange process and now offers the top exchange rates, available 24 hours a day.

[Mick Jones 14]

My relative is building a house in the Philippines he is about $300K US Dollars into it so far.  He uses his Charles Schwabb debit card and has his wife take out $1000 USD per day, He claims exchange rates are good, and you do get your transaction fees rebated at the end of the month.

 

Maybe send a Charles Schwab card over there to her parents and let them start withdrawing daily. 

[Kurt and Kristina 72]

43 minutes ago, Mick Jones said:

My relative is building a house in the Philippines he is about $300K US Dollars into it so far.  He uses his Charles Schwabb debit card and has his wife take out $1000 USD per day, He claims exchange rates are good, and you do get your transaction fees rebated at the end of the month.

 

Maybe send a Charles Schwab card over there to her parents and let them start withdrawing daily. 

I too have used Wise and would transfer to my GCash, but am now using the Charles Schwab debit card. I set up an account and will be giving my fiancée the debit card. The monthly rebate of the ATM fees and decent exchange rate is what sold me. 

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

1 hour ago, Mick Jones said:

My relative is building a house in the Philippines he is about $300K US Dollars into it so far.  He uses his Charles Schwabb debit card and has his wife take out $1000 USD per day, He claims exchange rates are good, and you do get your transaction fees rebated at the end of the month.

 

Maybe send a Charles Schwab card over there to her parents and let them start withdrawing daily. 

 

38 minutes ago, Kurt and Kristina said:

I too have used Wise and would transfer to my GCash, but am now using the Charles Schwab debit card. I set up an account and will be giving my fiancée the debit card. The monthly rebate of the ATM fees and decent exchange rate is what sold me. 

Just be careful if you have a normal Schwab investment account.  Just like Fidelity, if they know you are not living in the U.S., they will try to close your accounts.   Happened to me with Fidelity.  I tried to open an account with Schwab but when I told them I was living in the Philippines, they denied me.

 

Schwab Int'l will allow overseas residence, but some investments are limited.  I think it all has to do with investments in certain U.S. mutual funds.  Foreign residence is not allowed by law.

[Stevephoto 224]

22 hours ago, hunny&me said:

Have you tried Ria money transfer?  Found those OK for thousands.  But for rare big bangs, I used my US check deposited to my brother's account.

Salamat! Ria seems to be a subsidiary of XE. Do you have any information about fees, exchange rates and sending limits?

[RO_AH 1,621]

I never used Ria so I can't say if they have fees. I know Sendwave and Remitly do not. I just took a screenshot from all 3

[Mick Jones 14]

17 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

 

Just be careful if you have a normal Schwab investment account.  Just like Fidelity, if they know you are not living in the U.S., they will try to close your accounts.   Happened to me with Fidelity.  I tried to open an account with Schwab but when I told them I was living in the Philippines, they denied me.

 

Schwab Int'l will allow overseas residence, but some investments are limited.  I think it all has to do with investments in certain U.S. mutual funds.  Foreign residence is not allowed by law.

He maintains a US residence mailing address, but lives in the Philippines

 

Funny thing I was in Philippines a few months ago, I have Bank of America and Schwabb.  I couldn't log onto my BOA bank account, every time I tried it wanted to send a code to my US cellphone number which I didn't bring with me, nor would it worked in PI.

 

Schwabb was no problem checking my bank account while in Philippines.

 

I found that a little odd.

[hunny&me 267]

10 hours ago, Stevephoto said:

Salamat! Ria seems to be a subsidiary of XE. Do you have any information about fees, exchange rates and sending limits?

No fee on times I used it (Bank to Bank). Limit 2,999 per trans.  See xrate, fees here before you send >> https://riamoneytransfer.com/

Limits here >> https://help.riamoneytransfer.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406616779665-FAQs-on-send-limits

[RO_AH 1,621]

7 hours ago, Mick Jones said:

which I didn't bring with me, nor would it worked in PI.

That's 1 reason I have T-Mobile. Free international text and data roaming. I always bring my phone.

[marriedtomrg 140]

Glad someone posted about this - we are thinking of retiring in the Philippines in the next 8 years or so.

[Mick Jones 14]

18 hours ago, RO_AH said:

That's 1 reason I have T-Mobile. Free international text and data roaming. I always bring my phone.

How much it cost to call USA?

 

Mine is a business phone, I have to leave it