Politely requested Personal exceptions... are often easier to obtain than loudly demanded compliance to rules or policies.
An exception can often achieve the same result or outcome as a approval or policy. And the Philippines is more of an exception based culture... where exceptions are often granted based on optics and perceptions.
Although you should flash your wealth or draw attention to financial capacities in public, bank managers have a large amount of discretion that they rarely exercise. A bank manager’s personal discretion can serve as a substitute for a credit score.
I formed a close relationship with a bank manager by walking in hand-in-hand with a top customer. ?? The customer was selling their house to my wife and I... one month after we moved to the Philippines.
We went to the bank with the home seller and walked directly up to the manager and sat down in their office. We showed our letter of intent for the real estate purchase. We explained the reason for the coming wire and obtained accurate wiring instructions directly from a bank officer.
At that time, the bank manager also invited my wife/I to return and open accounts using the discretion that they rarely exercise. Although my wife was born in the Philippines, she is a naturalized US citizen and has not obtained her dual citizenship. We did not have ACR cards and our SR?RV visas were not yet approved.
Philippine law and most bank's I eternal policies allow bank managers to make exceptions. Managers rarely do this due to personal liability if the customer is involved with money, laundering or crime. When granting an exception, a manager takes on all liability and can lose their job if they make a mistake.
We open our savings account, and upon their suggestion applied for a local credit card (largely to pay streaming service services and local Philippine merchants that rejected foreign credit cards for fear of fraud)
A couple months later I checked in because the credit cards never arrived. It turned out we were denied because there is no concept of a credit score.
I simply return to the manager with my phone in hand. I launch a couple of bank apps to show the balances and credit limits.
After a startled pause, the manager rep replied that they understood completely, and they would take care of it immediately.
I very quickly add a premier travel card that requires Income verification with the annual fees waived.
All of this is to say that this is a new world with new rules.
Optics matter. Class matters. How you carry yourself and conduct yourself matters. Relationship relationships matter. Who you know matters.
This is a country of exceptions, and if you approach it as a country of rules... You will frequently be disappointed. The Philippines is much less structured or predictable than the other countries.
I find it easier to politely ask for a personal exception... than to point to the rules and ask that someone follows them.
An exception can often achieve the same result or outcome as a approval or policy. And the Philippines is more of an exception based culture... where exceptions are often granted based on optics and perceptions.
Although you should flash your wealth or draw attention to financial capacities in public, bank managers have a large amount of discretion that they rarely exercise. A bank manager’s personal discretion can serve as a substitute for a credit score.
I formed a close relationship with a bank manager by walking in hand-in-hand with a top customer. ?? The customer was selling their house to my wife and I... one month after we moved to the Philippines.
We went to the bank with the home seller and walked directly up to the manager and sat down in their office. We showed our letter of intent for the real estate purchase. We explained the reason for the coming wire and obtained accurate wiring instructions directly from a bank officer.
At that time, the bank manager also invited my wife/I to return and open accounts using the discretion that they rarely exercise. Although my wife was born in the Philippines, she is a naturalized US citizen and has not obtained her dual citizenship. We did not have ACR cards and our SR?RV visas were not yet approved.
Philippine law and most bank's I eternal policies allow bank managers to make exceptions. Managers rarely do this due to personal liability if the customer is involved with money, laundering or crime. When granting an exception, a manager takes on all liability and can lose their job if they make a mistake.
We open our savings account, and upon their suggestion applied for a local credit card (largely to pay streaming service services and local Philippine merchants that rejected foreign credit cards for fear of fraud)
A couple months later I checked in because the credit cards never arrived. It turned out we were denied because there is no concept of a credit score.
I simply return to the manager with my phone in hand. I launch a couple of bank apps to show the balances and credit limits.
After a startled pause, the manager rep replied that they understood completely, and they would take care of it immediately.
I very quickly add a premier travel card that requires Income verification with the annual fees waived.
All of this is to say that this is a new world with new rules.
Optics matter. Class matters. How you carry yourself and conduct yourself matters. Relationship relationships matter. Who you know matters.
This is a country of exceptions, and if you approach it as a country of rules... You will frequently be disappointed. The Philippines is much less structured or predictable than the other countries.
I find it easier to politely ask for a personal exception... than to point to the rules and ask that someone follows them.
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