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Any advice on best way to send remittance

Discussion in 'Money Matters' started by Ciaran mc manus, Jan 30, 2016.

  1. Ciaran mc manus
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    Ciaran mc manus Member

    I've been using western union on and off and the rates and fees are terrible I was thinking of possibly using an online money transfer company or remittance company as I'm based in London ' does remittance work similar to western union or does it need to go into a bank account 'my girlfriend doesn't currently have a bank Account but will look into opening one any reccomendations of good banks in the Philippines .
  2. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    What rate are you paying Western Union for say a £100 pound transfer?

    Personally I always hated them but they are good value right now, really interested to here what you are paying for a UK->Philippine transfer via Western Union and are you using a WU office or doing it online?
  3. Ciaran mc manus
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    Ciaran mc manus Member

    The last time I sent money I was charged £7:00 for over £200:00 my exchange rate was 66:00 peso but this was back last year
  4. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Ok WU is officially expensive again the second image is today's quote the first is what I paid in December

    December fee's £2.90
    Todays quote £14.90


    Capture101.PNG

    upload_2016-1-30_11-43-5.png
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2016
  5. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Try WorldRemit instead, but yes it should be to a bank account and Metrobank are one of the largest and best over there, the main advantage is that transfers to Metrobank are instant (within 5 minutes normally)

    upload_2016-1-30_11-46-18.png
  6. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    For most of the last year the exchange rate was a lot better than that, must have been early last year?
  7. Ciaran mc manus
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    Ciaran mc manus Member

    Thanks for the link girlfriend doesn't currently have a bank account as yet but I will look into metro bank what type of accounts they have
  8. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    WorldRemit is now better than WU

    The WorldRemit price is the same for a cash transfer.

    upload_2016-1-30_11-51-20.png

    upload_2016-1-30_11-51-47.png
  9. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Get an ET Savings Account from these guys https://www.metrobank.com.ph/personal_product.asp that gives her an ATM card and a savings account, minimum maintaining balance is 2000 peso if she averages below that then she will get charged 300 peso a month.

    WorldRemit transfers to that account take no more than 5 minutes.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  10. Aromulus
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    Aromulus The Don Staff Member

    YUP.......... World remit is ok.

    If one doesn't have a bank account, the money can be picked up in cash from a variety of different places.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  11. Micawber
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    Micawber Renowned Lifetime Member

    You might be interested in the services offered by iRemit who have an office in central London.
    You could organise that she receives an iRemit ATM card which you can load either by online banking or visit to their office. Their RoE is always very close to mid-market rates and the fees are reasonable.

    For smaller amounts World Remit takes a lot of beating depending on how you want the money collected and how fast.
    • Like Like x 1
  12. Aromulus
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    Aromulus The Don Staff Member

    My lot, get a text with the relevant code, and they need some legal and valid ID for pick up.
    We get a text on confirmation of pick up.
  13. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    I've always PNB europe for transfers. Get a reasonable exchange rate and the fee's are good. If you transfer to another PNB account its their within the day normally, other banks normally 5 days or so to the provinces
  14. CatchFriday
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    CatchFriday British Expat living in Alicante, Spain

    I regularly send money via transferwise https://transferwise.com/ a lot less expensive than Western Union.
  15. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    we use kabayan remit. their fee is £5 for up to £600 sent.
  16. uklove
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    uklove Active Member

    It's not just the fees but keep on eye on the exchange rate.
  17. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

  18. Scotschap16
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    Scotschap16 Well-Known Member

    Hi all

    Been reading this thread with much interest (no pun intended.) Is there a general consensus on the most economical method of sending money from UK to the Philippines? We've been using PayPal to PayPal but wondering if there are better methods out there? In past years I have used both MoneyGram and WU which are very expensive but do have the advantage that the recipient doesn't need to have a bank account. It's a little academic as we're hoping Kris can join me here in June (subject to settlement visa of course) but she will probably wish to periodically send money back home - and she plans to maintain her BPI bank account there. Many thanks.

    Gerry
  19. Markham
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    Markham Guest

    BPI does have at least one branch in the UK: one in London, another in Edinburgh?? If not there's bound to be a correspondent bank into which funds can be paid to be transmitted via BPI London to the Philippine account. Alternatively, open accounts (here and there) with either HSBC or Citibank.
  20. John Surrey
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    John Surrey Well-Known Member

    BPI Account in Philippines for the Peso

    BPI (Europe) Account in UK for GBP - Protected by FSC in UK

    https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/1/1596/star-account

    You can then use their BPI Express Online facility to transfer from GBP (or other currencies) to Peso - instantly - well a minute or two.

    Full fees are here

    https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/1/1603/remittance-service-fees

    Basically £5 for a £1,000 transfer

    Think it's set up mainly for the OFW but works great for me as easy to transfer from personal uk bank account to BPI UK Bank Account and then to BPI Philippines branch account.
    • Useful Useful x 1

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