Foreign Currency Exchange: Switching Peso to Rupiah

Almost all of us Pinoy OFW's would be sending our Indonesian earnings to the Philippines. What about if it is the other way around?

Last May of 2016, my husband (fiance at that time) and I planned to purchase a car using cash. With our wedding coming in July 2016 and an on-going monthly house payment, our rupiah was not enough to make the huge purchase. (Yes, we were not married yet, but we have been acquiring properties during our engagement. It seemed a wise choice that we had to make since we are bound by some restrictions of the law, being a mixed-marriage couple here in Indonesia.) 

Faced with limited options, I had to transfer back to Indonesia my peso savings. I went to BCA for information on how to do it, but much to my chagrin, (with what I understood from the bank teller) they do not accept peso directly, only particular currencies like USD, SGD, AUD, etc. which for me is so selective.

Bank to Bank Transfers

Aware that the more my peso devalues if it goes through two foreign currency conversions, I reluctantly asked my sister to use the peso to buy US dollars to be wired here. Unfortunately, Philippine banks sell USD for travel purposes only. On top of that, she cannot just walk-in in any Philippine banks to buy USD or to send money outside the Philippines. Unless, the sender has an account number in a certain bank, only then that she can transact with the bank.

Gratefully, my sister holds a bank account number, so we took the risk of buying USD at the black market. (Thanks to the black market of my city that saved us from bank bureaucracies.) With the dollars in hand, she had to rush to beat the 13:00 cut-off time, filled-up the bank forms, and paid 790.00Php for cable and swap charges, she was able to wire the dollars to my BCA account. It was quick. I checked my bank account and the money was there in rupiah currency. BCA had converted the US dollar to rupiah.

Debit Cards

Aside from bank transfers, I am able to convert my peso to rupiah using the ATM's marked with 'maestro' or 'cirrus'. Using my BDO Debit Card, the maximum amount that can be dispensed out in a single transaction is 3 million rupiah which can be done twice in a day. It means of course that I am to be charged by BDO twice, too. Happily, here in Indonesia, taking the money out of their ATM’s is free. So far, it is CIMB Niaga who lets me take out the highest amount.  Others dispense out 2 million only. It is too low for me considering that BDO would charge me with an amount of 167.79Php every time I use my debit card here. Please note though that 167.79 Php can be subjected to change depending on the exchange rate.

Western Union

Certainly, it was an option, too. It is the most convenient money wires that I have been using. My sister goes to the WU branch and sends the peso through them. They will convert the money right away to rupiah. In the form, it clearly shows the Control Number that will be used to claim the money, the amount in peso that was sent and the amount in rupiah to be claimed. In claiming the money, I am using Maybank. For the transmittal fee, she pays 750php for every 11k-100k range. In claiming, I do not need to pay anything.

Money transfers can be a quite daunting task. I definitely appreciate if anyone of you could share some information on how the Philippine peso can be switched to rupiah or to any currency. I would love to hear from you here at Heart to Heart!