I'm thinking about retiring in the Philippines within the…

I left my bank accounts in the US. All three have debit cards. My Social Security goes directly into my account every month, and I withdraw cash with my ATM card when I need it. When I need a large amount of money, I send it from my account to my wife's bank account here using Remitly.

My domestic (US) bank is Wells Fargo. For transfers, I use Wise, Zelle, TapTap, Xoom, Western Union, or a bank wire transfer, depending on the exchange rate and fees. For asset management I use Fidelity and Vanguard, and I'm thinking about maybe using Charles Schwab later. For Philippine banks I use BDO, BPI, and Landbank as needed. If Metrobank expands its products, I'll consider it too. I hope this helps, and good luck!!!

Before you worry about bank accounts, you should research a lot about retiring here. The rules changed last year, and many people here are citing the old rules.

Avoid USAA and NFCU. They charge a 1% fee on Philippine ATM withdrawals. These credit unions only refund the 250-peso Philippine ATM fee a limited number of times per month. My top 3 banks for foreign residents are Fidelity, Schwab, and Betterment. All three refund the full 250-peso Philippine ATM fee. Fidelity's SWIFT transfers are also free. Moving dollars from Fidelity to a dollar account in the Philippines has zero fee on Fidelity's side, though there may be fees on the Philippine bank's side. Schwab charges $15 for SWIFT transfers, which is a very good price, but free is better. Betterment does not support SWIFT transfers. For ATMs, UnionBank and HSBC allow up to 40,000 pesos per transaction. ChinaBank (it's a Philippine bank, not a Chinese bank) allows 20,000 pesos per ATM transaction. You should check Google Maps to see which banks are in the area where you live. I keep both Fidelity and Schwab in case something goes wrong. I also have Wise and Remitly. I use Wise about once a year and Remitly about once every three years. They're backups. For credit cards, check which ones charge foreign transaction fees, and which ones will mail a replacement card to the Philippines by courier (DHL, FedEx, etc.); Chase does this. You're welcome to ask about credit cards. In this group, 10% of people receive their Social Security in a Philippine bank and 90% use US banks. The 10% who use Philippine banks run into all kinds of problems, like proof-of-life requirements and delayed payments. Those people make up 90% of the posts here, even though they're only 10% of members.