is initial deposit in banks in the philippines high?

BPI only asks Php500.00 for an ATM no passbook account, Php3,000.00 for a passbook no ATM bank account. Fair enough. When opening an account make sure that you will give all the requirements like 2 Valid ID's, ID pictures, landline number, your money and yourself. If you have limited amount for opening an account and or maintaining your balance, never venture into opening an account at Metrobank. BPI is the most lenient bank for low earners. And when you withdraw money that you are not a Metrobank Card holder, don't do so because they will debit the amount for the transaction you've made that is I think expensive. I have an account at BDO, BPI and Landbank. Just simple savings account with less than a thousand in each. Hearing from the bank guru of BPI saying this "Never withdraw money from Metrobank and UCPB ATMs!"

I don't know what Philippine banks you are referring but the amount you mentioned is very high and I never heard such bank in the Philippines imposing that amount as initial deposit. The most expensive banks I know which have very high initial deposits are BPI and Metrobank, they have P3,000.00 as initial and maintaining deposits.

i understand and can relate to your situations too. try cash cards form BDO or smartmoney.your only concern will be the annual fee of P200. if you are serious of savings and how to make it grow a little, why not joined some cooperatives.these don't only offer savings interest but dividends too to all of your transactions. you can also open a savings account for your kiddos.

hi ritchelle! your news is as shocking to me.lol.i never thought that initial deposits could be so high! i think bpi accepts 500php as initial deposit.i think i'd stick on banks like bpi if other banks ask for that much of an initial deposit.i never even realized it until i read your post.i have to thank you by the way for this topic. happy mylotting!

well, i guess you're right. i am working here in a computer shop and my salary is very low. i can't even save 5000 thousand for me to open me to open my own bank account. i find it very hard because of the high initial deposits. they really suck.it is as if they think that all of those who opens a bank account are all rich. they don't even care how people have been struggling from the economic crisis that the whole earth is facing. that is all i can say about your topic.

Hi Ritchelle, I am working in a commercial bank and I have been in the banking industry for almost 8 years now. Yes, some of the minimum opening amount deposit of savings became higher, this is due to the rules of the BSP that we need to comply. But there are some savings products that have low minimum of deposit amount. Like us, our minimum for ATM Personal is P2,000.00 and for savings passbook is P5,000.00. We have also accounts for kids for P2,000.00 with a free gift and many more. We also have Payroll accounts just like one mylotters said they are only required to deposit at least P100.00 balance to their ATM Accounts, it is part of the agreement between the bank and the their employer. I guess that is how banking industry nowadays are being implemented. There are also some Savings bank and Thift or Rural banks that offer low minimum deposit accounts. I suggest that if you want to open an account with a higher interest than the savings rate, is to open a regular time deposit of a minimum of P10,000.00. But if you want a savings account you can try ATM accounts, that is the most lowest minimum a commercial bank has. Hope it helps. Thanks......;o)

Yup I think that is the adb right now. If you're balance won't reach that level your account won't earn interest. I have seen banks offering an initial 500 to open an account. For many employed like me we are obliged to open an account with 100 as an initial and the employer will just deposit the salary there. We are also allowed to leave a 100 peso balance if we need to withdraw our salaries.

initial deposit should be kept at a minimum so that it can be within the reach of the potential depositors. having 5,000-10,000 pesos as initial deposit is outrageous. it is out of reach for ordinary depositors. but you have to consider that there are classification of banks. for commercial banks, the initial deposit is higher compared to thrift and savings banks. i think the 5,000-10,000 deposit is from commercial banks.

hi ritchell. it really depends on the bank and ont he type of account that you will open. some banks accept a minimum deposit of Php500 for you to open an account. i think philippine national bank still offers this kind of savings accoutn and all you need is Php500 plus the usual identification cards to open an accoutn with them. for othe commercial banks, i think the starting rate is Php3,000.i opened a savings account with bank of the philippine islands for that amount and up to now i still keep the accoutn active. other types of accoutn require a higher initial deposit amount. one thing to consider in choosing what type of bank account you'll open is the purpose of the account. if it's just an account for you to receive and send money with, i think the normal savings account will do. if it's for some sort of investment, ther eare other types of bank accoutns that will specifically cter to your needs. hope this helps. cheers!!!

hi there! well your concern is all dependent on one factor: whether the bank is a private bank or a government bank. my hubby is working for a government bank and the initial deposit there is 500 php. for most of the private banks, yup it truly ranges from 5000-10000 php initial deposit/adb.

my eon card has no maintaning balance. but it has 350 pesos yearly fees which is not much. so i prefer to use this one than other bank's atm.

The good thing is, there are some banks that allows you to have account with them for a minimum of P500.00 initial deposit and maintaining balance. You only have to check the banks convenient to your place. Another thing that you can do is to save enough money in your piggy bank for the initial deposit.

true that the initial deposits are high for a savings or checking account. Not reaching the minimum initial deposit would result on not receiving interests. But there are still banks out there that doesn't require that much initial deposit. Though it's hard...still opening an account is a must if we really want to save.. x.x

some banks really asks high initial deposit... before it was really hard for us to open one because we needed it for the business, 3,000-5,000 mostly... but now there are banks that ask for 500 only as initial deposit when opening one (atm card account), bpi for one has 500 only, but they wont earn interest until it reaches 2,000. and if the amount left becomes below 500 you'll be charge a fee of 200 pesos per month. and if the amount is like exactly 200 or less, then the account will become closed, once they deducted that service charge. it happened to me . but i opened another account again