For an OFW sending money to family in the Philippines, the weakening of peso against the dollar, doesn’t necessarily spell more money or savings, but...
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With the inflation rate soaring
to record high in recent months, the highest of which was pegged at 5.2% last
July 5, 2018, the increase in prices of basic commodities becomes almost
inevitable.
For an OFW sending money to his
or her family in the Philippines, the weakening of peso against the dollar,
doesn’t necessarily spell more money or savings.
Whatever is gained from higher
dollar exchange rate is easily devoured by the rising cost of living.
Nevertheless, today could be the
best time to send more dollars as this means higher value for the money, which
in turn means more spending power for OFW families in the Philippines.
Below are some of the best places
in Manila to exchange your dollars for the best rate possible:
A.Money
changers:
1.
1. Czarina Foreign Exchange – This money
changer has many branches in Metro Manila including their main office in Ayala,
Makati City and several branches in Glorrieta Malls and in Farmer’s Plaza and
Ali Mall in Quezon City.
2. Edzen Money Changer – Located in Mabini St. in Ermita, Manila,
Edzen is always known to offer the highest exchange rate in the capital.
3.
3. Sanry’s
Money Changer – It has branches in
Link Building in Ayala and in Glorietta 5 Mall. With over 20 branches, Edzen
has the reputation of offering competitive rates
4.
4. Tivoli
Money Changer – This money changer has several branches in Manila and
Quezon City. They pride themselves for the ‘worry-free money exchange
experience’.
Other options include the Emerald Money Changer, Core Pacific Money Exchange, Bamboo City Money Changer and the Naila’s Money Changer.
B. Remittance centers - For those who don’t want to go farther from where they live, there’s
always the option to go to remittance centers with branches found almost
anywhere like a convenience store.
The best remittance centers to exchange your
dollars are the Cebuana Lhuiller, Western Union, Palawan Pawnshop and the M
Lhuiller.
All you need is an identification card (ID) for
verification purposes. Also, if you are receiving money from abroad and you
want it immediately changed to peso, this is the best place to go.
C. Foreign exchange centers in malls – Malls like SM and Robinson’s have foreign
exchange centers that caters to OFWs who want a more convenient, if not safer
place, to exchange their money.
While they mainly accept US dollars only,
some branches do accept other currencies like Japanese Yen, Saudi Riyals, Euros
and others but you may have to check with them first via a phone call before
heading out.
D. Banks – Banks have always been one of the best places for foreign exchange transactions.
But due to their strict rules, OFWs tend to move away from banks and chose
either money exchange or malls.
But in case you are left with no other
alternatives and decide to do the transaction with a bank, keep this in mind:
They only accept foreign exchange transactions if you have an existing account,
and in most cases, you will need to go to the specific branch where you opened
your account.
Also, they would often require sets of valid
IDs like passport and other government IDs.
Having said that, here are the best banks
offering the best rates in the country - Banco De Oro (BDO), Bank of Philippine
Islands (BPI) Metrobank and the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
Meanwhile, we could learn a thing or two about investing and saving from Chinkee Tan's "Money Lessons" via his YouTube channel:
