Bank Transfer Charges

[bikerpat]

Hi,

I opened an account with BPI (Bank of Philippine Islands) on Boracay last Feb and put a few thousand peso into it. The aim was to have a bank account which I will need for my SRRV retirement visa application.

I am now back in Ireland and decided to transfer a 1000PHP to this account over internet banking just to make sure the system works.

My own bank did the transaction and charged me a fee. No problem.

However of the 1000peso I transfered only 300 has actually been credited to my account in BPI Boracay.

I am currently in email correspondence with BPI about this discrepency.

I went to my own bank here in Dublin and they said everything was in order from their end but that it's possible that some intermediary bank may have charged for handing the transaction.

700PHP from a 1000PHP transfer is a lot of charges if that is the case.

And when I retire to Phils I will be using internet banking to transfer funds from Ireland to Phils.

Anybody expert on the forum that might explain the transfer charges and how I got so little from my 1000PHP?

I'm glad I only tested the system with 1000PHP !!!!!


Pat

[Terpe]

You'll need to provide some additional detail

1. How much in Euro's did you give to your bank?
2. How much in Euro's did your bank charge for operating the transfer?
3. What exchange rate did your bank apply?
4. How much in Peso was eventually transfered directly into the Philippine bank?

Whenever I make a transfer I know exactly all the above.
The final amount of Peso is ALWAYS exactly as predicted and stated to me, without fail.

Just for discussion purposes, P1000 is quite a small amount, lets say around Euro 18

So you give your bank Euro 18 and they charge say Euro 10 in their charges/fees that leaves Euro 8
The exchange rate from Euro to Peso is say P48 so the Peso transfer is 8x48 = P384

I'm not saying that's correct or that's what you paid, just outling the process.

Just trying to help out

[johncar54]

I transferred money to BPI from Nationwide in UK (£3,000). I got charged an 'additional fee' 'somewhere' in the transaction. Both BPI and Nationwide said they did not make the additional change. I complained to Nationwide, they refunded the additional charge and gave me compensation for the inconvenience.

[RickyR]

Two ways to make it easier, 1 is to setup a BPI Europe account in London. Transfers a far cheaper and easier.

Alternatively setup a HSBC Advance account in the Philippines and a HSBC account in the UK. You can then link them using global banking, and can make instant transfers between them for £5.

[bikerpat]

Hi Guys,
I asked my nabk to send 1000peso as I was just testing the system as I opened online banking with both my Irish bank here and Bank of Philipine Islands.The exchange rate was 50.9 which came to €19.64 for the 1000 peso. I was then charged an extra €5 for the transaction, that is their normal fee. So total costs to me was €24.64. My bank is saying they transferred 1000 peso as instructed by me online and they have no idea why I only received 300 peso in my BPI account. I am currently in email correspondence with BPI to explain where the missing 700 peso went.

[RickyR]

Many banks charge a receiving fee for international transactions.

Scroll down to inward remittance charges.

http://info.bpiexpressonline.com/bpiprod/produpd.nsf/Deposit+Rates/BankServicesFees

Essentially for small transactions use western union, for large transactions use one of the two above mentioned methods.

[johncar54]

Pat,
the transfer I made, I checked it was £2,000 transferred which came to 130,194.80 PHP at 65.097, which was just a fraction below interbank rate.

I too was charged 700 Pesos somewhere in the system which as I said, BPI and Nationwide said was not either of them, but Nationwide refunded the 700 P.

Transferring just 1,000 P seems such a small amount that one might expect fees to all but wipe it out.

[bikerpat]

Thanks JC54. The reason I only transferred 1000 peso was to test if the system online worked between here and Phils. I got an answer from Bank of Philipinnes today.

We write in relation to your remittance concern. Based on our record, your
remittance was coursed through an intermediary bank, HSBC. The concerned
unit coordinated with HSBC regarding the remittance charges applied to
your transaction. According to HSBC, they deducted a total charge of PhP
700.00 (PhP450 cable charge, PhP100 service, PhP150 local remittance
charge) from the funds they received from the sending bank, Bank of
Ireland. The net amount (original remittance amount less remittance
charges) was then transferred to BPI.

So from an amount of 1000 peso leaving Ireland I ended up with 300 peso in my BPI account and HSBC creamed off 700peso. I have gone back to BPI to see if this is a standard charge or is it a percentage charge. In other words had I transferred 100,000 peso would I have ebded up with 30,000?

[RickyR]

Seriously Pat, no matter what you do, the direct bank transfers will always leave you worse off then the setting up an account with BPI Europe and linking it to Philippines, using HSBC Global linked accounts or a professional remittance service.

[RickyR]

Also, for very large transfers, specialist forex companies can broker excellent prices.

[bikerpat]

Thanks Ricky............another piece of valuable information. :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Michael Parnham]

I transferred money to BPI from Nationwide in UK (£3,000). I got charged an 'additional fee' 'somewhere' in the transaction. Both BPI and Nationwide said they did not make the additional change. I complained to Nationwide, they refunded the additional charge and gave me compensation for the inconvenience.
We use internet banking to transfer from Nationwide to PNB, the standard charge is £5 whatever the amount. I will mention that only a few days ago I called Nationwide about a savings a/c for my wife and they promised to call me back the next day, it was a day later than they promised when they did call me so they credited me with £20 for there late call! This is the reason I like good old Nationwide have been with them many years now!:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[sars_notd_virus]

Seriously Pat, no matter what you do, the direct bank transfers will always leave you worse off then the setting up an account with BPI Europe and linking it to Philippines, using HSBC Global linked accounts or a professional remittance service.

thats the best advice I read:xxgrinning--00xx3:
...we have an account with bpi plc europe and one in the PH ...the bank transfer charges is only £5 for up to £1000 .
please check the link:
https://www.bpieuropeplc.com/

[bikerpat]

Thanks a mill for that advice. Just lashed them off an email. I live in Dublin, Ireland.