šŸ‡µšŸ‡­ Monzo in the Philippines [Discussion]

Hi all. Iā€™ll be heading to the Philippines soon. Just to make sure from someone that has been recently, will I be able to withdraw cash from atm with my Monzo card? Iā€™ve read various stories of the card not working and not giving good rates as well as charging a fee.
Any advice anyone?

Yes you will. Youā€™ll be charged 200 pesos (Ā£3 ish) at every ATM you use. Monzo arenā€™t to blame for that though as every foreign card gets charged. Itā€™s a maximum of 10000 pesos per withdrawal.

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you will also have a Ā£200 rolling 30 day ā€œfee free cash allowanceā€ after which cash withdrawals will incur a 3% fee , but all POS transactions are ā€œfee freeā€ - these also come with limits - see ā€œaccountā€ - ā€œmanageā€ - ā€œspending limitsā€

Thanks for the responses. Yes I know about the Ā£200 fee free 30day rolling. Iā€™ve used my Monzo card in numerous countries but read on lots of forums that foreign cards donā€™t work in Philippines. So thought the best place to ask about Monzo is here!

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What is the current rate in Philippines banks to withdraw from ATM

71.15 pesos for Ā£1 according to mastercard today :slight_smile:

youā€™ve said you have used Monzo abroad in numerous countries but not sure whether you have seen this very helpful guide

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Thanks

Hello

Travelling from Indonesia to Philippines on Friday and just wondered if anybody could advise the best atms to use as read a lot of different information on this topic here.

I will be arriving in Cebu and plan to travel Cebu island, Siquijor, Bohol and Palawan.

Any advise on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Lewis

Hi everyone!

Thanks for sharing these tips - they are so helpful! Iā€™m travelling to the Philippines in two weeks and wonder what do you recommend then? I mean, if we canā€™t take out more than Ā£200 without a fee and the ATMs charges you everytime, I wonder whether you think itā€™s worth it to change some cash before hand?

Many thanks,
Lara.

My Experience in the Philippines with Monzo

Not long got back from Bacolod City.

I had zero Issues using my Monzo Card at BDO and Metro Bank ATMā€™s However i had to enable Magstripe Transactions once i was there. There are options on the screen i just made sure I clicked Savings Account when i made withdrawls. However there is a fee of 250PHP per transaction at ATMā€™s. I used it for some Emergency funds at the Airports, Grab Cabs(similar to Uber no fee just used my card normally) and used Western Union for the rest of the funds i needed over the Ā£200 limit.

Also i would Recommend Picking up a Local SIM Card and loading it once you arrive. Avoid the ones at the Airport as their a rip off. You can pick them up at any Robinsons or SM Malls a lot cheaper. The App worked flawlessly on the Globe network i didnt have a chance to test Smart though. Just make sure your in a LTE Area when you use it though as it can take some time to load up when not. No need for a VPN at all!!

All in all. No issues whatsoever for me.

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Still all good, itā€™s a little bit annoying that you have to pay 2.5% on cash withdrawals (as not everywhere accepts cash) but itā€™s part of the game in many countries.