Most overseas Filipinos, at one time or another, need to send money to someone in the Philippines - either a relative, friend, associate or ward as a Christmas, birthday or graduation gift or for tuition fees, payment of a loan, seed money for a business or for any number of other reasons.
Unfortunately, there are a number of horror stories resulting from careless ways of sending money to the Philippines which include, among others:
enclosing US$ notes (dollar bills) in envelopes or cards sent to the Philippines through the mails. Many envelopes end up being pilfered somewhere along the postal route from the US to the addressee's mailbox.
sending money orders, cashier's checks or other negotiable instruments through the mails. Many of these instruments end up not being received by the intended payee in the Philippines but negotiated instead in a bank normally in another ASEAN country.
"pakiusap" with individuals traveling back to the Philippines. At times, the intended recipient receives the funds either delayed or with some discrepancy in the amount and, in a few instances, not at all.
sending money through non-banking channels. While there are a number of legitimate remittance outfits, there are also many operations representing themselves as legitimate remittance companies, yet these operate without the proper licenses, nor do they follow the regulations which are intended to protect the consumer. Without a doubt, the safest way to send money to the Philippines is through a bank.
compared with banks, non-bank remittance outfits almost always offer lower exchange rates for your dollars (which translates into less pesos for your recipient in the Philippines). Also, non-bank remittance operations normally charge higher fees for remitting funds to the Philippines than banks. If you are currently sending money to the Philippines through a non-bank facility, you owe it to yourself to call us so you can compare our fees and exchange rates with theirs.
Very briefly, the process of sending money to the Philippines involves the following simple steps:
the remitter (sender) fills up a remittance application form,
pays for his remittance and obtains a receipt for his payment,
PNB New York issues an electronic payment instruction to a PNB Branch in the Philippines where the beneficiary (payee or receiver of the remittance) has a deposit account or where it is convenient for him to claim the proceeds of the remittance, and finally,
the PNB Branch in the Philippines will either credit the beneficiary's deposit account if he has one or, if he does not have an account, he will be advised either through a phone call or by mail that he needs to claim the proceeds of a remittance at that PNB Branch in which case he is paid upon presentation of 2 valid picture IDs. Alternatively, if the beneficiary expects to receive a remittance, he can simply inquire or withdraw from any MegaLink/BancNet or Expressnet ATM which can be found anywhere in the Philippines.
where door-to-door remittance (Cash 3D) services is offered, PNB Head Office will send electronic payment instructions to its designated courier which will process and deliver cash (peso notes) to the beneficiary's address.
PNB New York Branch provides this service to thousands of Filipinos all over the USA on a daily basis. Those who live within the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut Tri-State area, especially those who work in Manhattan, often drop by the New York Branch at 5th Avenue in Manhattan or at the Queens Remittance office in Woodside, Queens and personally transact their remittance business at these counters. Others who are unable to go to the New York Branch mail-in their remittances instead.
The purpose of this note is to familiarize the first-time remitter with the procedure of remitting funds to someone in the Philippines. At this time, kindly verify that the accompanying form - "MAIL-IN REMITTANCE APPLICATION FORM" is attached to this note. If not, please call us and request for the form.
The remittance application form has two pages. The front page, when properly accomplished, contains all the required information to effect a remittance. The back page contains various disclosure statements required by Federal and New York State banking regulations. You, as a remitter, should read these disclosure statements carefully and determine how you are affected by the Bank's procedures, terms and conditions. In case you have any questions about the procedures, terms and conditions, please contact our Compliance Officer at Tel (212) 790 9615.
The front page has a top and bottom portion. The top portion contains answer boxes which are intended to contain the basic information which we require to expeditiously process a remittance. The bottom portion, marked "FOR BANK USE ONLY" is for our use. You need not concern yourself with this section.
The following sections describe in detail the information we require:
PNB Branch: This is the PNB Branch in the Philippines where your designated payee will claim the proceeds of your remittance or where he keeps his deposit account. Example: PNB Buendia, PNB Davao, PNB Ormoc, etc.
or Bank: Fill in this box only if payment of your remittance will be made by a bank or branch other than PNB. Example: MetroBank Ayala, Far East Bank Davao, PCIBank Cebu, etc.
(Optional) For deposit to: Fill-in this box only If your designated payee has a deposit account and the proceeds of the remittance will be credited to his/her account. Place either a check or X mark on the US$ box if the deposit account is a US$ account or on the Peso box if the deposit account is a peso account. If you check the US$ box and your payee in the Philippines has a peso account, the remittance will be paid in pesos via a credit to his/her peso deposit account.
Account No: PNB deposit account numbers, with very few exceptions, are comprised of 10 digits. The deposit account is a US$ account only if the 4th digit of the account number is 7 or if the 4th and 5th digits are 8 and 9, respectively. If the 4th digit of the account number is not 7 or the 4th and 5th digits are not 8 and 9, respectively, the deposit account is denominated in pesos.
Beneficiary's Name: The full and complete name of your designated payee in the Philippines. Do not use nicknames (e.g. Jun or Baby or Boy or some similar pet name). The name you furnish us (and that which will be contained in our payment instruction) should correspond to that contained in a valid Identification Card which your designated payee in the Philippines will be asked to present at the paying branch in order to authenticate his/her identity. Valid IDs include Philippine Passport, Voter's ID, Driver's License and other similar official picture IDs. If the proceeds of a remittance is for credit to a deposit account, the payee is not required to claim the funds in person and an ID is therefore not required.
Beneficiary's Address & Tel No: Provide the full address of the beneficiary where he/she reliably receives mail (either residential or office). Provide both residential and office telephone numbers whenever possible.
Remitter's Name: Your full name
Address: Your full address
City: State: Zip: Your city, state and zip code
Day Tel No: Tel No where you can be reached during regular office hours, 9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Remittance Fees:
Remittances payable in US$ (Credits to US$ Deposit Accounts - Acct No's 4th digit must be "7")
Remittances payable in PHPesos
Amount Enclosed: Total Amount of remittance plus the applicable remittance fee. PNB New York accepts various modes of payment for remittances. We normally recommend that remittances be paid via Money Order because it is convenient (you can buy these at your local post office), it is usually cheaper (a postal money order for a few hundred dollars costs less than a dollar) and it is also quicker (we process the remittance on the same day we receive it in the mails). However, PNB New York also accepts Cashier's checks, Manager's checks, certified checks and other similar instruments as payment for remittances. At PNB New York, we normally issue the payment instruction or effect remittance on the same day we receive the money order or cashier's check or certified check in the mails. Also, PNB New York accepts personal checks but these are accepted subject to clearing (meaning, the remittance will not be sent until the check clears and PNB receives the corresponding credit). Do not send cash through the mails. Also, please make sure that all checks and money orders are "pay to the order of" Philippine National Bank. Still another way to send a remittance through PNB New York is through your own local bank. Tell your bank that you wish to do a FedWire transfer to PNB New York. You will be asked to furnish the payment details of the remittance which is comprised of the basic information in the "Mail-In Remittance Application Form" and PNB New York's ABA Routing Number which is 026003007. For further assistance on this latter method, you may ask your bank's representative to get in touch with us so that we can help arrange for the remittance in an expeditious manner.
Always sign and date the remittance application form. Be sure to enclose the remittance payment with the fully accomplished remittance application form. Remember that remittances for credit to deposit accounts with PNB Branches that are on-line are the fastest way of sending money to the Philippines. Since PNB New York is able to execute real time credits to deposit accounts in the Philippines via its Rapid Remit facility, the proceeds of your remittance is made available for withdrawal virtually instantaneously. If you send money to your designated payee in the Philippines on a fairly regular basis, It is therefore worthwhile for your beneficiary to maintain an account with an on-line PNB Branch conveniently accessible to him.
If you have any further questions, you can get in touch with us through any of the following:
Back to PNB New York's Homepage