| Philippine Banks in Kabankalan,
Bais, Dumaguete, and Bacolod Most major Philippine banks have branches in one or more of these cities close to Mountain Valley Guest Inn 1.: Kabankalan [45 minutes from the hotel], Bais [45 minutes], Dumaguete [90 to 120 minutes], and Bacolod [2 1/2 hours].. At Equitable Bank [Dumaguete, Kabankalan, Binalbagan and Bacolod branches] ATM machines, you can get cash advances [no fee charged] from your foreign debit card [if affiliated with Mastercard or Visa and a participant in the right ATM network] or Visa or Mastercard credit cards. You can also get similar cash advances with no fee from ATM machines of Bank of the Philippine Islands in Bais, Dumaguete, and Bacolod. You can also exchange major foreign currencies such as the US dollar, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Singapore dollar, Japanese yen, German mark, and several other foreign currencies. Do your foreign exchange transactions ONLY at Philippine banks or licensed money exchange retail shops and not with street vendors hawking their exchange services if you don't want to be cheated, robbed, or given counterfeit pesos. There are licensed, bank-owned foreign exchange shops inside both the Manila International Airport and the Cebu City Airport [the two primary international airports in the Philippines]. There are NO restrictions or regulations on foreigners depositing or withdrawing funds in US dollars and Philippine pesos. You can maintain both a dollar savings account and a peso checking or savings account. Banks are open only Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The banks are also closed on many Philippine holidays [such as Good Friday, and the Thursday preceding it]. There is no restriction as to the monetary total of foreign checks that you can deposit into your Philippines bank account. Foreign checks take 30 to 60 days to clear. Similarly, there is no restriction as to the monetary total of foreign bank transfers into your Philippines bank account [bank wires provide immediate use of your transferred funds]. Please be aware that the USA, Philippines, and most nations have restrictions on how much cash currency or cash equivalents you can transport into or out of a country without declaring such larger cash movements to the government to airport customs officials. You can learn about such restrictions from customs officers and from embassy websites. In the USA, currency or cash equivalents carried in person must be less than $10,000 to be exempt from declaration to US customs officers. |
 Philippines National Bank [party owned by the Philippines government] in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, a half hour drive from the Village. |
 Philippines National Bank in Dumaguete across the street from Silliman Univ. |
