Paypal, Union Bank of the Philippines, Ebay and money transfers
As a long standing user of paypal I'm of the mind if it works why fix it? and if you receive good service why not recommend it.
So what are the benefits to me?...
I can shop online from sites in the philippines - ebay works particularly well with ebay (www.ebay.ph - not the uk or global). Just make sure the vendor accepts paypal before purchasing, more and more vendors in the philippines do. Then it is so easy to have your item delivered at low cost locally. Any purchases made and paid for by paypal have an extra guarantee against non / lost delivery or faulty merchandise)
I can make low cost direct transfers from my bank account or debit/credit card.
When I say low cost, I haven't researched that many alternatives, but it is lower than many I have seen. I will give a breakdown example:
Paypal is quite clever at splitting all the fees into small amounts and not making it so easy to see them all. for instance the exchange rate they use (not listed as a fee) is 2.5% above the current exchange rate. There is a cross border fee of 1.5% to the philippines plus a fixed fee (based on currency received) of 15php.
so in real terms: I wish to send 10,000php
Total amount today with paypal is £156.18.
To just convert currencies 10,000php is £148.38
so the cost of the transaction with me paying all fees (none passed on to the recipient) is £7.80 (5.26% difference).
I feel that is acceptable. There is no withdrawal fee for the recipient (for a withdrawal under 7000php there is a fee of 50php).
So easy huh?
Um.. yes IF the receiver has a suitable bank account in the Philippines. Chell (the receiver in this case) had a standard BDO account.
Entering the account details into paypal was no problem, once we had the Bank code number (similar to the UK Bank sort code). However the receivers paypal account needs verification before they will allow withdrawal of funds to the bank account.
To verify the paypal account a Debit or Credit card needs to be registered.
Chell didn't have one. The ATM card she has linked to her BDO wouldn't suffice.
We contacted BDO to enquire about getting a Debit card, but they said no, there isn't one and suggested a credit card.
Trying to get a credit card in the Philippines is no easy matter. So we'd hit a wall with that and wrote explaining the problem to paypal.. Their reply:
[[I hope you’re doing well today I understand that you need to confirm your account so that you can withdraw your funds from your PayPal account. I am happy to assist you with this.
When you open a PayPal account, there is a limit to the amount of money you can withdraw to your bank account. This limit has been put in place to ensure the safety of our network by verifying information from the PayPal account holders.
It is not necessary to confirm your bank before you can withdraw. I assure you that your bank account is all set up. It’s just that at this time you need to verify your PayPal account first by confirming a card.
At this time, PayPal provided the easiest and the safest way for our clients in the Philippines to confirm their PayPal accounts and that is through cards. I'm glad to inform you that you don't necessarily need a Credit card to confirm your PayPal account instead, you can register a debit card as well and this will be processed in the PayPal system the same way as we do with credit cards.
Working with Filipino customers over the years helped us understand that it is not easy to get a credit card. Having said that, we would like for you to check out this Visa Debit card called UnionBank EON Visa Debit card. You can click on the link I have provided below or you can go directly to their website to know more about it. It’s very easy to apply. Most of our Filipino customers are using this debit card.
This is UnionBank's website:
http://webmail.tpa.ebay.com/exchweb/...ionbankph.com/
This is the link on how to apply for an EON Cyber Account:
http://webmail.tpa.ebay.com/exchweb/...2526Itemid=250
To apply for an EON Card you must
1. Make a personal appearance at the UnionBank branch.
2. Submit a fully accomplished EON Cyber Account Application form.
3. Present at least two (2) valid IDs. Please see list below.
I am happy to have been of assistance to you today.
We value you as a part of our PayPal family, and it is important for me to resolve your concern. It is also a pleasure for us to know that you are a satisfied PayPal customer. Please help keep PayPal the number one online paying method by promoting us.
Have a wonderful day and take care.]]
So Chell, went to UnionBank.ph and applied for an EON account.. the cost of this was 200php plus a minimum opening deposit of 350php. A week later the account was opened and Chell received the visa debit card.
Back to paypal to verify the debit card. This involves paypal withdrawing 100php - a unique 4 digit code is displayed on the bank transaction statement. Enter this code onto paypal and the account and debit card are set up ready to use.
So to summarise:
Time to set up EON account and Paypal account with verification steps - 2 weeks.
Funds required to set up Union Bank Eon account - 550php.
