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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 Econotel.:
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.
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