How to open a bank account in the Philippines

4 min readDec 8, 2022

Written by Russell Huang & Shiyuan Zhang

The Philippines has been one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia Pacific region and it is showing an unstoppable growth in import and export trade. As in the table below, in September 2022, the country’s total external trade in goods amounted to USD 19.14 billion which indicates an annual growth rate of 11.3 percent. As of January 2019, the Philippines has trade relations with 150 countries. Also, the leading online shopping platform Shopee’s headquarter is located in Taguig City, Philippines. All of this has led to a steady stream of people traveling to the Philippines for business or living. Therefore, having a Philippine bank account becomes a necessity to make money transactions easier in daily life.

Top 5 banks in the Philippines

The top 5 banks in the Philippines are BDO UNIBANK INC, LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES, BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS, METROPOLITAN BANK & TCO and PHIL NATIONAL BANK. The following table is the comparison of method, material and costs to open a checking account in the corresponding bank.

So BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS can open an account at the least amount of minimum initial deposit. And BDO UNIBANK INC provides the most convenient service as the whole process of opening an account can be online, but its minimum initial deposit is relatively high and contains more other related fee.

BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS

For anational or permanent resident of that country or a student studying in that country who has a permanent address in the Philippines can successfully open an account on the APP in just 3–5 minutes with four steps:

Go to the app, tap “Open a new account”, and tap “Create a bank account”.

2. Fill out your personal details and account options, photograph your BPI-approved valid ID and take a selfie. Fill in the additional details.

3. Review your application for errors. Click “Confirm” to create your account.

4. Fund your account within 7 days.

All the materials required is a valid ID including passport that the residents, students and visitors all have one.

For a visitor who does not have either a student visa or is a permanent resident but who can get an address in the Philippines can also try to open the account at BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS.

BDO UNIBANK INC

For BDO UNIBANK INC, its quiet easy for all kinds of people to open the bank account and it provides the cardless deposit at any BDO Cash Deposit Machine. Only that for the materials, the international students and foreign tourists may need to provide 2 valid ID that including passport, Driver’s License, SSS card, PRC ID and student ID. Also, in addition to the Php 5,000.00 minimum initial deposit, the account must be funded within 7 days of open to avoid being closed.

Written by Russell Huang & Shiyuan Zhang, graduate students at NYU

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