Which PH bank imposes highest withdrawal fee on other ATMs? Some may not be aware there are extra fees when you withdraw money from the automated teller machine (ATM) of other banks. Banks typically do not charge its customers when they make withdrawals or balance inquiries on their own ATM network. But when cardholders use the ATM of other banks, they have to pay extra -- as much as P2.50 for balance inquiry and P15 for withdrawal. Monetary Board member Ignacio Bunye on Tuesday posted the comparison of ATM charges of banks to cardholders of other banks (as of October 2012) on Twitter and Facebook (Central Banking for Every Juan and Maria). Withdrawal fees Among universal and commercial banks, only one bank, Citibank Philippines, does not impose any fees when cardholders use other banks' ATMs. On the other hand, Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO Unibank SMART Card users face the highest service fee when making an ATM withdrawal from outside their banks' network. BPI cardholders are charged P15 when withdrawing from other banks' ATMs. BDO Unibank SMART Card users also pay P15 when making a withdrawal from other Megalink, BancNet and Expressnet ATMs, and P5 from BDO ATMs. Most of the banks impose a service fee of between P10 to P12 when its cardholders use the ATM of other banks to withdraw money. For instance, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Union Bank of the Philippines, Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corp. cardholders are charged P12 for withdrawals at other banks' ATMs. Cardholders of BDO Unibank (Debit Card), BDO Unibank (Cash Card), Metropolitan Banking Corp., Philippine National Bank, United Coconut Planters Bank, Asia United Bank, Bank of Commerce, Maybank Philippines and Robinsons Bank face a service charge of P11. There is a charge of P10 when cardholders of Allied Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, EastWest Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank, Philippine Bank of Communications and Philippine Veterans Bank make withdrawals from other banks' ATMs. Balance inquiry Even making a balance inquiry on another bank's ATM can cost you. Among universal and commercial banks, BPI and Citibank do not charge cardholders when they make a balance inquiry on other ATMs. Most banks impose a fee of betwen P1 to P2.50 for balance inquiry on ATMs outside their network Source:- http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/02/05/13/which-ph-bank-imposes-highest-atm-withdrawal-fee
In my experience almost all the ATM's will add a charge of P200 for those using foreign issued cards. Although you do get warned of this beforehand and have the option to cancel the transaction if you wish. Hmm, some option
The (200 Peso) international surcharge is a rip-off. On a 10,000 PHP withdrawal that is exactly 2.0% Add that to the 2.75% (typical) exchange rate weighting applied by UK banks. And you are paying 4.75% And the (UK bank) cash fee for using a foreign ATM, typically 2.0% (minimum £1.75, maximum £5). Any you are paying 6.75% If visiting the Philippines from the UK, far better to take cash, and find a decent moneychanger. I know that Western Union branded moneychangers in Tacloban, and in the airside departure hall of the Cebu Pacific terminal 3 in Manila took about 2% on the current interbank rate for changing my nice GBP into PHP. And I am certain that it is easy to get an even better rate with a bit of research. Just check the rates offered, and find a decent app for your phone to show you the current rates (not tourist rates).
It's probably not unrealistic Sean, given the infrastructure, maintenance costs, 24 hour electricity demands (electricity is not cheap over there and the ATM is a computer and uses a reasonable amount of power on a daily basis). The bank monthly fee structure is different too, most folk with a basic account will get free banking if their average balance is over 2,000 peso, the interest on 2,000 peso every year is not a lot, however if you don't maintain that balance they charge you heavily around 200-300 peso a month, still probably cheaper than here overall.
I'm not certain but I think the rates for money changers are set weekly by the government and as you say there is about a 2% margin which in my book is fair, you do find some local variation in rates but it's not by much and on the odd occasion that you get a big variation they are clearly at it, long time ago the rate was 106 peso to the pound and one time in Makati a changer near my hotel tried to offer 80 peso to the pound, I quickly but diplomatically excused myself and went elsewhere. Money changing is a high capital investment high turnover low profit and fairly risky business, some of them are actually losing interest in it I think, my regular place didn't even have enough cash to cover a 300 quid change request back at Christmas, we ended up going over the road and got an extra half peso per pound.
I used to regularly get charged about £5 every time I used my natwest abroad! We opened up a PNB account in Tacloban last we where there and now just transfer money across as needed. Much simpler
