Transfer Funds to Paypal Account from Local Banks

Perhaps a question that needs answers from many people is that Paypal can transfer funds to a Philippine bank account but not the other way around

Well, first we need to know how Paypal transfers funds to your Philippine bank account, say, Metrobank, BDO, or BPI or any BancNet, Megalink or Expressnet bank. It does so using Automated Clearing House (ACH) in New York with a foreign bank as transferer ala-IBFT of BancNet or BSP's PhilPass system.

But how come you can't fund Paypal account from your Philippine bank account? You can only do so with a credit card as of the moment.

It's because technically, Paypal is not allowed to do business in the Philippines, that's according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), mainly due to consumer protection concerns where they don't have a branch or presence in the country and also they need to be issued an e-money license as required by BSP Circular 649.

I hope to see the day when I can do fund transfers to Paypal using my BPI and Chinabank ATM cards...not in the near future perhaps.

Send Money to the Philippines: Bank SWIFT Codes Wire Transfer

For people working or living outside the Philippines e.g.expats and OFWs wishing to send money to the Philippines via Wire Transfer (or Telegraphic Transfer, TT), the recipient should at least have a bank account at a Philippine bank participating in SWIFT (not all local banks participate) though you can request a bank to transfer to money to your bank of choice for certain fee or bank commission.

You need these information about the recipient and his/her bank details:

Bank Name:
Bank Branch/Location:
Account Name:
Account Code:
SWIFT CODE:

For the Bank SWIFT CODE, here's a listing of verified SWIFT CODES directly from the official SWIFT website, not just copied from the BSP Philpass document

ABN AMRO Bank ABNAPHMM
Allied Banking Corporation ABCMPHMM
American Express Bank Philippines - AMEXPHMM
Asia United Bank Corporation AUBKPHMM
Australia and New Zealand Bank ANZBPHMX
Banco De Oro Universal Bank BNORPHMM
BDO Private Bank BOPBPHMM
Bank of America NA Manila BOFAPH2X
Bank of China Manila Branch BKCHPHMM
Bank of Commerce PABIPHMM
Bank of the Philippine Islands BOPIPHMM (BPI)
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Ltd. BOTKPHMM
BSP Payments and Settlements PHCBPHMD
Chemical Bank Mla Branch JP CHASPHMM
China Banking Corporation CHBKPHMM
ChinaTrust Phil Commercial Bank CTCBPHMM
Citibank Cash Department CITIPHMXPRA
Citibank NA Manila Branch CITIPHMX
CitiBank Treasury Unit CITIPHMXTSU
Deutsche Bank AG DEUTPHMM
Development Bank of the Philippines DBPHPHMM
East West Banking Corporation EWBCPHMM
Equitable PCI Bank PCIBPHMM
Export and Industry Bank EAIBPHMM
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank HSBCPHMM
ING Bank NV INGBPHMM
International Comm Bank of China ICBCPHMM
International Exchange Bank INXBPHMM
Korea Exchange Bank KOEXPHMM
Land Bank of the Philippines TLBPPHMM
Maybank Philippines Incorporated MBBEPHMM
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. MBTCPHMM
Mizuho Corporate Bank MHCBPHMM
Philippine Bank of Communications CPHIPHMM
Philippine National Bank PNBMPHMMTOD
Philippine Veterans Bank PHVBPHMM
Philtrust Bank PHTBPHMM
Prudential Bank PILBPHMM
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp RCBCPHMM
Security Bank and Trust Corp SETCPHMM
Standard Chartered Bank SCBLPHMM
Union Bank of the Philippines UBPHPHMM
United Coconut Planters Bank UCPBPHMM
United Overseas Bank Philippines UOVBPHMM

Notes:
Universal banks with foreign branches e.g. Metrobank has different SWIFT Code for the branches e.g. Shanghai and Kaohsiung (China), Tokyo (Japan), Taipei (Taiwan), and New York (USA).

Please don't ask the SWIFT code of you bank branch. Philippine Banks SWIFT Code are the same unless the branch is in a foreign country

Allied bank Swift Code, AMEX Swift Code, BDO Swift Code, Chinabank Swift Code, DBP Swift Code, HSBC Swift Code, Metrobank Swift Code, PBB Swift Code, PNB Swift Code, RCBC Swift Code, UCPB Swift Code

No information yet on the lowest rates and cheapest way to send money to the Philippines

Some banks maintain correspondent banking relationships to send/receive money

If your bank is not listed here, you may query the official SWIFT database at their website: http://www.swift.com


About Swift:
http://www.swift.com/index.cfm?item_id=41322

"SWIFT is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member-owned cooperative through which the financial world conducts its business operations with speed, certainty and confidence. Over 8,300 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in more than 208 countries trust us every day to exchange millions of standardised financial messages."

There's still no information on the cheapest way to send money to the Philippines. Future posts will focus on remittance charges and money transfer rates.

Pay SSS Contributions Online for OFWs, Self-employed, Voluntary et al

Ever wanted to remit your monthly SSS contributions without going to an SSS branch or bank nearest you? You can now do this online via BancNet, if you happen to have an account with the following banks:

Allied Bank, Asie United Bank (AUB), Chinabank, Chinatrust, Citibank, Citystate Savings Bank, Eastwestbank, ExportBank, Metrobank, Postal Bank, PSBank, RCBC, RCBC Savings Bank, Security Bank, Standard Chartered, Sterling Bank of Asia

To pay your monthly SSS Remittance, just follow these steps:

1. Open your browser and go to Bancnet Online Website
2. Select your bank (a new window will pop up)
3. Click I Agree (If you've already read the terms and conditions)
4. Click Payment on the left navigation pane
5. On the Biller/Institution dropdown menu, select your category from the list:

SSS Farmers and Fishermen
SSS Contribution - OFW
SSS Contribution - Self-Employed
SSS Contribution - Voluntary
SSS Non-Working Spouse

6. Enter your SSS Number (follow this format: SSS Number + month and year of payment period e.g. XXXXXXXXXXmmyyyy), ATM Card Number and Amount to be paid on their respective fields, select your Account type (Savings or Checking Account)

7. Key in your ATM Pin (or mPIN, depending on your bank) using the onscreen keypad (note the use of scrambled numbers there)

8. Hit the Submit button.

9. You may print or capture a screenshot of the resulting transaction receipt for record-keeping and reference.

Note:

this is a free transaction. Not all banks have online banking facility simply because they need an eBanking license from the BSP. No transaction fees required, no hassles, waiting time and long queues at the bank. :P

Cash Loans from ChinaTrust and BDO Scams?

O told me she got a text message that goes "Cash loan from Chinatrust and BDO with interest rate of as low as 1.39% per month. We also have carloan financing brand new or second hand unit, car mortgage OR/CR only payoff bank balance with an interest rate of 1%/month. lower interest for brand new. interested...our office (number deleted)"

I just told here those loans with small interests are mostly true and not a scam. Flyers are given daily on Ayala Avenue and Buendia in Makati by people advertising them hoping for possible commissions and offered officially by the two mentioned banks.

What's only disturbing is that some people resort to using unlimited texting to send out the special offers to random numbers-- now that's called SPAM-- and it's irritating !

I commend O for just treating the messages as scams just to be safe since she doesn't need a loan, in fact, she's celebrating her first few days of financial independence after paying off her credit card balance after a few years of trying.

Bouncing Checks...Almost!

I have been paying my condominium unit for more than a year already and I admit, it's really been draining my finances. I got the condo unit, somewhere in Pasig and still under construction, for zero interest payable in three years that's why I have such a high monthly payment. I issued three years of checks to pay for it using my Chinabank current/checking account, my salary account actually.

Yesterday, I withdrew P2000 pesos to pay for an unexpected expense with my mommy but this morning when i went to the office, I, again, withdrew P900 but when I looked at the available balance, the amount fell short of my required funds for the check to be deposited tomorrow so I immediately accessed my Chinabank Online to verify and requested my officemate to transfer P820 to my account as I handed him the cash.

Just one of the wonders of Internet banking here in the Philippines that there's no transaction fee for intra-bank funds transfer and also I didn't have to pay P1200 service charge to China Bank for a bouncing check.

I experienced a bouncing check last May when I wasn't able to clear a manager's check i requested from BPI to transfer funds to my China Bank account.

Not that I'm afraid of estafa here since the real estate company can just forfeit my unit in case I can't pay it anymore, but the P1200 is P1200, plus the hassle of looking for additional funds since I can't access my BPI account easily to transfer. There's still no way I can transfer funds from BPI to China Bank except over the counter.

For more information on the Philippines' Bouncing Checks Law, click here