The Best Way to Send Money to the Philippines

Still wondering how to save the most money on exchange rates and transfer fees when sending money to the Philippines?

If you think sending by banks is the cheapest way, think again. After a certain amount, you lose money on poor exchange rates and transfer fees by using a bank.

In this guide I’m going to break down the cheapest way to send money to the Philippines.

To make things easier for you and me, I use a sample transfer of US$1,000 throughout the guide to see which method saves you the most money on exchange rates and transfer fees. In the tables at the end of this guide, I also use two transfers of US$10,000 and US$100,000 to see how things change as your transfer amount increases.

In short, the cheapest way to send money to the Philippines is though an online money transfer service provider. Wise is generally recommended.

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A Quick Summary of This Post

If you have a Metrobank or Land Bank account, transferring US$1,000 into the Philippines through either of those accounts would get you the most Pesos in return.
If you have an account in the Philippines with a bank other than Metrobank or Land Bank, your next choice to send US$1,000 should be Wise. They beat out their competitors for transfers over US$1,000, which you can see in the tables in the Overview section.
If you want to exchange more than US$1,000, Wise should be your next choice.
The other method that would save you more money would be to come to the Philippines with cash and exchange it here. But with the number of robberies in the Philippines it’s risky to walk around with a lot of cash.
For a detailed look at sending money to the Philippines, keep reading.

What to Watch Out For

When you send money to the Philippines you need to consider transfer fees, exchange rates, taxes, and transfer speeds.

Transfer fees, exchange rates, and taxes affect how much money it costs you to make a transfer and how much the receiver in the Philippines gets. Transfer speeds are more about convenience.

Let us take a closer look at each one.

Transfer Fees

When you send money to the Philippines, you pay one of two transfer fees:

Fixed amount fees
Combination fees

Fixed Amount Fees

Fixed amount fees are what a company like Wise would charge you. You send a certain amount of money to the Philippines, and Wise charges you based on the total amount and how much they expect your bank to charge.

Combination Fees

Combination fees are what a company like PayPal would charge you. They may charge you US$0.99 flat fee along with a 2.5% fee to convert your currency into Pesos.

Exchange Rates

Exchange rates are important to keep in mind because that’s where you lose the most amount of money during a transfer.

A little further down this guide, you can see all the money transfer services offer different exchange rates. And even those that offer “free” transfers make their money in exchange rate fees.

Whenever you transfer money into the Philippines it’s important to check the current exchange rates. I use XE.com.

XE offers up-to-the-minute exchange rates on currencies from all over the world before the exchange rates are marked up by banks and transfer services.

At the time of writing this article, the mid-market exchange rate for US Dollars to Philippine Pesos is US$1 to ₱55.56.

Maybe you’re okay with a lower exchange rate of one US Dollar to ₱49.89 if you transfer a US$100 into the Philippines and get ₱4,989 using a money transfer service with poor exchange rates.

But when using a money transfer service with poor exchange rates for a US$1,000 transfer at US$1 to ₱49.89, you lose ₱2,630 at that exchange rate or just over 5% of your total transfer.

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With a US$10,000 transfer you lose ₱26,300.

Taxes

If you’re American, you must notify the government if you send over US$10,000 to the Philippines. You must add that money to your annual US income and possibly pay taxes on it.

If you send over US$14,000, you must notify the Philippine government as well. And if you’re working legally in the Philippines, they may consider it income. In this case, you must pay taxes on that money.

If you’re a Filipino working outside of the Philippines and you send money to your family back home, you’re exempt from paying taxes.

Similarly, if you’re a non-Filipino and you send money to a dependent in the Philippines, like your child or spouse, you are also exempt from paying taxes.

So how do you know if you must pay taxes? You should talk to your accountant. He or she can let you know if you must pay taxes and which form(s) you have to fill out.

If you fail to tell your accountant that you transferred US$10,000 or more into the Philippines and the US govern finds out, you have to pay a 25% penalty.

If you have an accountant in the Philippines, you want to let them know as well.

Transfer Speeds

Transfer speeds are unrelated to how much you spend on a transfer or how much the receiver gets in the Philippines, but it could be inconvenient if you have to wait a week to get your money.

Because banks are connected online, most transfers to the Philippines clear within a few days.

Sending Money Online

If you have a bank account, making online transfers is easy. Three popular online money transfer service providers are Remitly and Wise.

Remitly

You can send money to The Philippines using Remitly in many different ways: bank deposits, cash pickup, mobile money, or home delivery

If you send up to US$99.99 to the Philippines through Remitly, you could pay the following fees depending on the speed you opt for:

Bank Deposit: $1.99 fee
Cash Pickup: $4.99 fee
Mobile Money: No fee
Home Delivery: $4.99 fee

For transfers in U.S. dollars (USD):

Cash Pickup:
- Transfers below $1,000: 1.75% of the amount sent plus $2.99
- Transfers of $1,000 or more: 1.25% of the amount sent plus $2.99
Bank Deposit:
- Transfers below $1,000: 1.25% of the amount sent plus $2.99
- Transfers of $1,000 or more: 0.75% of the amount sent plus $2.99
Debit Card Deposit:
- Transfers below $1,000: 1.25% of the amount sent plus $2.99
- Transfers of $1,000 or more: 0.75% of the amount sent plus $2.99

Keep in mind that banks in the Philippines may also charge a US$5 to US$6.50 fee on all incoming transfers. It is advisable to check with the recipient’s bank for specific details.

Also, be aware of Remitly’s hidden charges, as the online money service provider takes a percentage of the exchange rate as a fee. If you send USD to the Philippines, for example, they will charge a fee equal to 0.5% to 0.75% of your transfer.

Wise

Wise charges US$12.41 in fees. US$1.50 is what your home bank charges and US$10.91 is what Wise charges. They show fees up front and they match XE’s exchange rate at that time of transfer.

Wise usually transfers money within three banking days. And in the rare case that it takes longer, they give you the next transfer free.

To set up an account with Wise, head over to their website and sign up. Wise makes it easy for you to confirm your ID. You can start sending money at once. If you need help creating an account, check out our in-depth guide to using Wise.

Sending Money through International Banks

When you make a transfer through a bank, you do the same thing as when you make a transfer through an online service.

A bank with the word Philippines written across the front. — *Some banks in the Philippines have branches overseas, making international money transfers cheaper and quicker.*

Through a bank transfer, though, you’re charged twice:

once by the bank you send money from (called the sending bank)
and once by the bank you send money to (called the receiving bank)

Tip: If you have an account with a bank in America that also has a branch in the Philippines, you’re only charged once.

Let’s look at using Metrobank and Land Bank for international transfers. They often have fair exchange rates and branches located all over the world.

Metrobank

You can transfer any amount you like into your Metrobank account. If you have a Foreign Currency account with Metrobank, there are two main fees:

Fixed fee: you pay a US$5.00 fee for inward transfers.
Exchange rate fee: On average, the exchange rate fee is 0.5% when transferring US$ to the Philippines

If you use a Metrobank branch or partner in your home country, your transfer will be ready at once. If
you transfer from your non-partner bank into your Metrobank account, your funds will be ready within 24 hours.

You can also ask the bank to deliver the transfer to your house. This takes three to five business days.

Land Bank

Land Bank, another popular bank in the Philippines, charges a ₱50 bank commission and a fee of ₱0.60 for each ₱200 you transfer.

Land Bank gives you ₱52.24 Pesos for each US Dollar. This means Land Bank gives you 99.4% of the mid-market rate or a loss of 0.6%.

Land Bank can handle international transfers on the same day if you’re transferring on a business day.

Sending Money with Credit Cards

You may be tempted to use a credit card to send money to the Philippines. But think about all the fees and interests rates you have to pay. When you use a credit card to transfer money online, your credit card company charges you a fee for using your card, similar to when you buy something at the store.

In general, Visa and Mastercard charge 1% to 3% of your total international transfer.
When you tack that fee on to what Western Union, PayPal, or other money transfers providers charge you in transfer fees, you lose even more money.

And what happens when you can’t pay the balance of your credit card right away and you’re charged interest on that money transfer? You lose even more money.

There are two case when it makes sense to use your credit card to send money to the Philippines:

in emergencies situations
if you have the right card

If you or someone you love needs cash quickly, take the hit and use your credit card.

If you have a credit card that waves foreign transaction fees, you can use that card while you’re in the Philippines and save some money—not a lot, but some. There are many cards that wave foreign transaction fees. American Express has more than 10 credit cards with no foreign transaction fees.

Sending Money through Other Methods

Aside from banks and online transfer services, you have a few other choices for sending money to the Philippines.

You can use companies like Speed Send, Western Union, and PayPal.

Western Union

You can send money to the Philippines through Western Union. They offer three separate ways for the receiver to get their money.

Pick up in person
Transfer through bank
Send to a mobile wallet

If you decide to send money to the Philippines through Western Union, check their exchange rates and fees.

At the time of writing this guide, they’re giving an exchange rate of US$1 to 51.43 Philippine Pesos or 97% of the mid-market rate. If you use Western Union that means you lose 3% on exchange rate fees.

Western Union also charges between a US$4 and US$10 fee.

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PayPal

PayPal charges US$0.99 as a flat fee to send money to another PayPal address in the Philippines. They also charge a 2.5% of your total transfer amount to convert your currency into Pesos.

That means if you transfer US$1,000 to the Philippines through PayPal, you lose US$25 in exchange fees.

Cryptocurrencies

You may have a cryptocurrency wallet or account and wish to send cryptocurrency to the Philippines. Because of all the information online, it would take an entire article to cover this topic.

In a nut shell, it makes sense to use either a bank or online transfer service instead of cryptocurrency to send money to the Philippines. Even when using an established company, you have to pay a $25 fee, plus the amount of money you lose you in exchange rates and fluctuating cryptocurrency rates

Bringing Cash

One final way to send money to the Philippines is to bring cash.

If you fly into Manila, there are two popular places to exchange your cash:

Metro Manila on Mabini Street
Makati, or the financial district of Manila

You can find the most competitive exchange rates in these two areas. Whatever you do, avoid exchange kiosks at the airports and malls. You get poor exchange rates.

It’s also good to know that, list most countries out there, you can’t ship your cash to the Philippines.

The Best Way to Send Money to Philippines

If we take our sample US$1,000 transfer and consider what you’ve learned about transferring money to the Philippines using the current mid-market rate of US$1 to ₱52.52, here’s what it comes down to:

Exchanging US$1,000 in cash in the Philippines gets you the most money. For exchanges over US$1,000 you save more money using Wise.

Transfer Method	Amount Sent (USD)	Transfer Fees	Exchange Rates (Pesos)	Amount Received (Pesos)
Cash	$1,000	–	52.36 (average)	52,360
Metrobank	$1,000	$5	52.3	52,039
Land Bank	$1,000	$3.95	52.24	52,033
Wise	$1,000	$12.41	52.52	51,868
Western Union	$1,000	$4 – $10	51.43	50,916 – 51,225
PayPal	$1,000	$26	51.21	51,184

If you want to send US$10,000 to the Philippines, the next table shows a breakdown of the numbers. You can see the more money you transfer, the more things change.

For a US$10,000 transfer, Wise saves you the most money, unless you show up with US$10,000 cash. But do you want to carry around that much cash? I think not.

At this level, we also lose the choice to transfer money through Western Union because they have a $5,000 transfer limit.

Transfer Method	Amount Sent (USD)	Transfer Fees	Exchange Rates (Pesos)	Amount Received (Pesos)
Wise	$10,000	$73	52.52	525,127
Cash	$10,000	–	52.36 (average)	523,600
Metrobank	$10,000	$5.00	52.3	522,995
Land Bank	$10,000	$7.90	52.24	522,392
PayPal	$10,000	$251	51.21	511,849
Western Union	$10,000	n/a	n/a	n/a

And finally, a US$100,000 transfer to the Philippines. At this stage you lose the ability to transfer money through Western Union and PayPal.

And again, Wise beats their competitors—unless you show up with US$100,000 cash, which is illegal.

Transfer Method	Amount Sent (USD)	Transfer Fees	Exchange Rates (Pesos)	Amount Received (Pesos)
Wise	$100,000	$700	52.52	5,251,300
Cash	$100,000	–	52.36 (average)	5,230,600
Metrobank	$100,000	$5.00	52.3	5,229,995
Land Bank	$100,000	$10.00	52.24	5,223,990
Western Union	$100,000	n/a	n/a	n/a
PayPal	$100,000	n/a	n/a	n/a

Now, on to You

If you’re looking for a Transfer method that saves you the most money on exchange rates and transfer fees when sending US$1,000 to the Philippines, come here with cash in hand and exchange it at a currency exchange office.

If you’re already in the Philippines and looking for a way to get US$1,000 into the country, use Metrobank or Land Bank if you have an account at one of their branches in your home country.

If you don’t have an account with Metrobank or Land bank in your home country and the Philippines, or you want to transfer over US$1,000, send money to the Philippines with Wise. They are usually the cheapest way to send money to the Philippines in these two cases.