BPI Direct Savings Bank

I chanced upon BPI Direct, when I got curious while browsing through the BPI website.  I saw the link for "Other BPI Sites", and I clicked on its link.

The homepage says:

"BPI Direct Savings Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), is the Philippines’ first internet bank operating in a generally paperless environment with no defined geographical boundaries. It is a testament to BPI’s commitment to deliver the highest standard of banking convenience through the ingenuity of technology and creative management.

BPI Direct empowers its customers, including Filipinos around the globe and the new generation in this electronic age, to be in full control of their finances as it made banking available 24/7, wherever they may be. Truly, their bank away from home."

Though I'm not really a fan of online banking, because I still prefer going to a real brick-and-mortar bank, my curiosity got the best of me.

Going through all the pages of the website, my attention was caught by the higher interest rates compared with regular banks.  It's not that I have that much money, but I guess the lower overhead costs gave them the opportunity to give back a little more to their clients.  Which really makes sense.


Add to that, the minimum requirement for opening an account is Php500, and minimum balance to earn interest is also at Php500.  Now, that is really quite fantastic!

I opened a BPI Express Teller account, and I did it online.  Once done, I received an email confirmation from ExpressOnline that my account is being processed.  After about a week, they e-mailed me that I can already pick-up my ATM card from the BPI branch I chose, as my bank of convenience, when I filed my online application.  I just need to bring 2 government IDs, plus the e-mail confirmation.

I now have my Express Teller card.  There's a bit of hassle though because I still have to fill-out the usual account opening documents when I went to the 'real bank'. 

But the funny thing was, I felt a sense of power knowing that I can do banking transactions at my own convenience, in my own pace, and on my own sweet time.