My Go-To Banks: A Personal Take on PH’s Best for Savings (2024)
My top picks for Filipino Savers
First off — I’m not a banker, nor do I have any insider banking experience.
I’m just an avid Saver who likes managing her money in different savings accounts.
It’s not a question anymore of why we Savers love to save. Rather, which savings and investment instruments should we go for?
So far, I’ve had savings accounts with eight banking companies. I know some of you have more. But what I’ll be sharing is my personal experience with these banks as a consumer.
I’ll zoom in on my favorite (and not-so-favorite) banking companies in the Philippines’ banking industry. I’ll even tell you the bank I dislike the most but seem never to let go of.
But before that, here’s a disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This post is based on personal experiences and opinions. Banking services may vary, and individual experiences may differ. The information shared is not financial advice. Readers are encouraged to verify details with respective banks and consult financial professionals for personalized advice. The author is not liable for any actions taken based on the information provided.
Alright! Let’s have an overview of the best Philippine banks, according to the reputable Forbes List.
CIMB Tops the Forbes’ World’s Best Banks 2023 in the Philippines
The Forbes’ World’s Best Banks 2023 did a worldwide survey of 48,000 banking customers across 32 countries. Among the 415 banks that earned spots, these are the top 10 best banks in the Philippines.
I own accounts from five of these banks: CIMB, BPI, Union Bank, BDO, and Maya Bank.
The rest of the banks on the list are also reputable names. Some are associated with bigger banks, such as PSBank (#7), which is a subsidiary of Metrobank, and Robinsons Bank (#10), which has merged with BPI (effective January 1, 2024).
What’s intriguing, though, is that the best bank doesn’t have to be the biggest names in town. If it comes to total assets, BDO should have topped this list (Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as of September 2023).
But that’s not the case — CIMB outranked BDO with just PHP 33.5M in total assets. The reason? People are more loyal to banks that “offer something extra to their customer base”.
“It’s all about good customer service that offers the customer the lowest loan rate, or the best deposit rate, with the convenience of digital access — but at the same time, having a physical branch to visit, especially to resolve any problems with your account” — RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Gerard S. Cassidy
Statista rated the banks with the following criteria:
- Ratings in key areas of trust, terms and conditions, digital services, customer services and financial advice — 40%
- General Satisfaction — 30%
- Would they recommend the bank? — 30%
For the full report and methodology of the survey study, visit the link below.
Now, to my personal favorite banks.
Personal Ranking: My Top 6 Banks (as of January 2024)
#1 CIMB
CIMB is the first digital bank I’ve opened through the GSave account. Opening is easy once you have a fully verified GCash account — a mobile wallet app widely used in the Philippines.
Today, I have three savings accounts with CIMB:
- GSave is what I use to transfer funds back and forth to my Gcash wallet in real-time.
- UpSave is where I place most of my savings to earn high interest.
- Fast Plus is what I use to withdraw funds from ATMs.
Here’s a comparison of the three:
TOP REASONS WHY I LOVE CIMB
- High-interest rates on savings
Compared to traditional banks with less than 1% interest rates, CIMB offers competitive interest rates at around 2.5–2.6% p.a., paid out monthly. Sometimes, promo interest rates could increase to 8% if you qualify for the terms and conditions.
2. Free bank transfers
I constantly move my funds across different accounts because I practice the money jar system.
Luckily, all bank transfers are FREE through InstaPay, PESOnet, or DragonPay.
Cashing in from other banks is limited to specific banks only in the CIMB app. But there are other ways, such as cashing in through GCash or over-the-counter third-party merchants.
3. Physical debit card
It’s one thing to be a digital bank, but to have a physical debit card that I can use to withdraw from ATMs? Yes, please!
CIMB issues physical debit cards as long as your Fast Plus account has at least PHP 150 (2022). Update: last December 2023, I requested a replacement card that cost PHP 300.
OTHER CIMB FEATURES:
Bills payment and mobile load transactions are also available. Schedule transactions to ensure your bills are paid on time. They also offer loans, though I don’t have any experience yet in that area.
You can also request an eStatement and bank certification through their app for visa application, business requirements, and loan application purposes.
Their customer service hours are between 6 AM -10 PM, every day. I’ve reached out to them via email twice but never received a response. However, I’ve tried calling them for help twice, and they patiently assisted with my concerns.
#2 BPI
BPI Family was the first bank I opened when I was just about to graduate from college. Effective January 1, 2022, BPI Family and BPI merged into OneBPI.
BPI, like other traditional banks, has low-interest rates, ranging from 0.0625% to 0.125% only for peso savings accounts. Plus, they have a daily balance requirement to earn interest. Hence, I use BPI for day-to-day transactions only.
TOP REASONS WHY I LOVE BPI
- Most people have BPI accounts.
I have no statistics to back this up. Nope.
This is just a hunch based on biased observation. Whenever I have to transfer funds to people online, almost everyone has a BPI account. In merchant stores, you’ll (almost) always see a BPI QR code at the check-out counter.
Perhaps BPI has established its strong credibility and gained loyalty. That’s probably why I opened my first bank account with them without any qualms.
2. Convenient transfers.
BPI was also the first bank that exposed me to QR codes. Around 2018–2020, you could only transfer funds within BPI for free through QR codes. Forget memorizing bank account numbers — just scan or upload the QR!
Plus, I find BPI friendly towards digital wallets. They provide free cash-in transactions to digital wallets like GCash and Maya. Although, recently, GCash has placed a small fee on top of cash-in transactions. Here’s a saving hack — just load your GCash e-wallet (minimum amount of PHP 300) via the BPI app. It’s free!
3. Easy credit card opening
I’ve had many firsts with BPI, including my first credit card. They randomly called me one day through my mobile phone and told me I was qualified to open a credit account. This happens when you have built a habit of saving regularly and accumulating funds in the bank.
They processed my application after a few verification questions and confirming my mailing address for card delivery. I received my physical credit card in the mail a few weeks later.
A word of caution — phishing scams are rampant these days. Be extra vigilant when taking calls from so-called bank representatives. I was a bit naïve back then, but fortunately, I didn’t fall into a scam.
#3 GoTyme
GoTyme is my youngest savings account. It’s a digital bank and a subsidiary of the Gokongwei Group, a conglomerate company in the Philippines.
I opened an account less than two months ago, but it already placed high in my ranking! Here’s why:
TOP REASONS WHY I LOVE GOTYME:
- Open up to 5 high-interest savings accounts
Even though my top-favorite bank is CIMB, they can only let me open three accounts at most.
GoTyme, on the other hand, offers up to 5 separate savings accounts earning a 5% p.a. interest rate! You only have one account number, but you can diversify them into different baskets. This is the way to go if you’re practicing the money jar system!
2. Free deposits and free cash-outs
I was worried about additional fees when depositing to my GoTyme account. Fortunately, there are two monthly free deposits for linked accounts from BPI, Chinabank, RCBC, and UnionBank! Once the free deposits are used up, a 1% charge applies.
If you don’t have a debit card, you may withdraw or cash out for free from select merchants.
3. Free physical debit card
Go to any Robinsons Supermarket, and you can open a GoTyme account. Give them one valid ID, and they’ll assist you with registration.
Plus, you’ll also get a physical debit card. No need to wait for 3–5 banking days. For free, they’ll print your card from a GoTyme printing machine in less than two minutes. What a time saver!
4. Earn shopping rewards points.
As part of the Gokongwei Group, you earn 3x more Go Rewards (shopping points) when using your debit card to pay for groceries in Robinsons supermarkets. Pretty cool!
OTHER FEATURES:
GoTyme has a lot of unique surprises in store.
They have a ‘Save the Change’ feature where you may round up what you spend on your debit card and auto-deposit the change to your savings account. Pretty neat!
You can also reach them for concerns in three ways — through call, email, or live chat. I haven’t tried any of these ways, but I was pleasantly surprised with the live chat option.
#4 Maya Bank
Maya, formerly known as Paymaya, used to be a mobile e-wallet only. However, they have incorporated digital banking services through the Maya Bank.
TOP REASON WHY I LIKE MAYA BANK — High-interest time deposit accounts
Time deposit accounts are great vehicles to park your funds somewhere that will earn higher than the standard interest rate in a regular savings account, but with a lesser risk of potential capital loss.
Or so I thought — when I was shopping for time deposit accounts from traditional banks, their interest rates were underwhelming.
The average inflation rate for the last decade in the Philippines is around 4%. I believe these time deposit rates defeat the purpose of hedging my funds against inflation.
But Maya Bank stood out with their time deposit rate offers:
You get to decide your target savings amount. As soon as you make your initial deposit, you’ll earn 3.5% p.a. monthly. Once you reach your target, you earn a booster rate of 2.0% p.a.
I just recently opened a 6-month time deposit account. So, we’ll see how this performs.
In comparison, their Personal Goals account offers an interest rate of 4% p.a. up to 6 months. Their current base interest rate for a savings account is 3.5% p.a. Bonus boosts are available depending on conditions, such as certain spending limits using Maya services.
#5 Unionbank/Citibank
I opened a UnionBank account to pay all my government bills in one place. Here goes my pension (SSS), health insurance (PhilHealth), housing loan (PAG-IBIG), and taxes (BIR).
I got the Go Rewards Debit Card, marketed as a cashback rewards card rather than a savings account. They have slightly higher interest rates than BPI or BDO, at 0.1%. A minimum average daily balance requirement is PHP 10,000 to earn interest. There’s also a PHP 500 annual fee.
There’s not much in UnionBank that I like other than my credit card, Citi Rewards Card, where I qualified for the zero annual fee forever promo — sweet!
In the next coming months though, UnionBank issued an announcement where they’re dropping the Citibank brand name on all its credit cards after full integration.
Still, I’ve heard quite a lot of good reviews with UnionBank. I’m sure there’s more to UnionBank than what I know of.
#6 BDO
I opened a BDO account for necessity as my company payroll account. It also stayed for necessity, as my receiving account from PayPal USD transfers.
When you withdraw from your PayPal account using a VISA debit card, you only pay 1% transfer fee. The bank host, BDO, for example, will instantly convert the USD to the corresponding PHP value in your savings account. Banks' conversion fees are much lower than PayPal’s notoriously high fees.
So, the sole reason why I like BDO is for USD-PHP transfers.
Other than that, BDO’s services, particularly their customer service, can be frustrating. The contact options are limited for mobile devices, and their email support takes forever to reply. I guess they make up by having a wide network of branch offices. Mall branches are open seven days a week.
#7 Metrobank
The bank that didn’t serve its purpose.
Metrobank was my go-to account supposedly, so I could deposit my monthly mutual fund contributions. But that never happened because I never figured out how to log in to my online account on my mobile device. Despite asking for assistance from the branch office, I was told it could only be resolved online.
Last time I checked, a below-minimum amount sits in my savings account. It’s probably expired by now.
That’s it!
If you’ve read from the top up to this point, thank you so much for giving me your full attention.
If you skipped everything above hoping to get right to the conclusion, then you’ve come to the right place.
In conclusion, these are my favorite banks for the following bank features:
