Banking Services

Personal Bank Account

Are you living in the Philippines or staying long-term without a local bank account? Are you being charged 250PHP for each ATM withdrawl using your foreign debit card? Or, experiencing international fees for using your credit card outside your native country? How many times has your western bank flagged your credit card as fraud in the Philippines even though it was you in person at a restaurant. Ff so, opening an account with a local bank in the Philippines will save you money over time.

If you are married to a Filipino citizen, then opening an account is relatively straightforward after the paperwork you’ve already had to do. If you are here on your own or came to the Philippines with an expat spouse, then you are going to have some hoops to go through. E636 can help guide you through this process. We have banking and law firm partners that we work with to help set up your personal bank account.

If you are a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, opening a bank account in a foreign country, such accounts must be reported FinCEN as part of FBAR disclosures and file appropriate forms with your federal income tax return every year that you have the bank account(s). Failure to file these disclosures each year can have significant penalties. Your country may have similar disclosures that are required. Seek the advice of an accountant and or attorney to address your situation properly. This is not E636’s area of expertise.

Corporate Bank Account

If you have a company (probably a stock corporation registered with the PH SEC if you are a foreigner) setup in the Philippines and need to get the bank account setup, we can help you set that up as well.

Digital e-Wallet setup (ShopeePay, Gcash)

Want the convienence of Amazon here in the Philippines? Ahhh, if only. Amazon is available, but the selection is much smaller and they only deliver in the Manila Capital Region. They do have Shopee and a couple of similar services, but getting setup with their eWallet or using a foreign credit card can be a challenge. This is another place where a local bank account + debit card can come in handy. Even with those, having a Gcash account or other e-Wallet account like ShopeePay or Maya can be very useful. Unfortunately, the KYC procedures for any of these can be trying under the best of circumstances. Possibly including an I-Card / ACR to complete the KYC registration process as a foreigner. The details and requirements tend to change overtime. We can help you get setup to use ShopeePay, Gcash, Maya or similar services in the Philippines.