How to waive annual fee of BDO

Last week, I visited BDO to get the statement of account for my checking account. While waiting for the BDO personnel to get the document, I saw BDO’s flyer for its BDO Gold Credit Card.

Reading the Terms and Agreements of BDO Gold, I found that you only need an annual cumulative purchase of PhP180,000 to waive the annual fee. This also applies if the combined usage of the principal cardholder and the supplementary cardholder is PhP180,000.

However, this benefit only applies to the principal cardholder. If you are a supplementary cardholder, the annual membership fee is free for the first year only. You will charged for the succeeding years, irrespective of amount of card usage.

Why is this important? Because it is clearly stated in BDO flyers, BDO cardholders have the definite knowledge on how to waive its annual fee. Cardholders wouldn’t be given the runaround like what I experienced from BPI when I requested to have my annual fee waived (see story).

The PhP180,000 annual purchase is also not too bad. This is just about P15,000 a month. But always remember to pay in full after charging purchases to your credit card.

BDO takes over GE Money Bank

Last week, BDO announced that it is taking over GE Money Bank (see Inquirer story). The takeover will add to BDO’s increasing empire in the banking industry.

I wonder if this takeover spells badly for GE Money Bank depositors. After all, BDO’s customer service has gone from bad to worse ever since it took the number one position. Its customer service (with rare exceptins) is so bad that it has even surpassed the terrible customer service of Metrobank, who used to hold the worst customer service in the banking industry.

I almost opened a GE Money Bank time deposit a few weeks back. I was just fortunate that I was too busy to a lot a couple of hours to go to Robinsons Forum Pioneer to open one.

Don’t get me wrong. Despite my annoying experience with BDO (see story), I continue to maintain my savings and checking account with them. But it’s only because my branch provides good customer service. But I still wonder what will banking life be for GE Money Bank clients?

A 50% waive in my BPI annual fee

After two months of emailing BPI (see first post), it has finally given me a 50-percent waive of the annual fee of my BPI World Perks. This is quite significant as this means P1,250 savings on my part. Yes, the annual fee of BPI World Perks is P2,500, which is why I was hell-bent on getting the waive.

Here’s the email I received from BPI E-mail Banking Team.

Greetings from BPI Express Online!

We apologize for the delay in our reply. We have your request re-evaluated and we are pleased to inform you that 50% of the annual membership fee was already reversed. You may confirm this by checking on your next statement of account.

If you need further assistance or have other concerns, you may send us an e-mail at expressonline@bpi.com.ph.

Thank you for choosing to bank with us online!

The BPI E-mailbanking Team

Thank you for all who commented and gave their support and tips on how to waive the annual fee. May this experience be helpful to everyone who’s wanting to get a waive for their credit card annual fee.

As a final note, I know that many think that credit card holders are not entitled to any waive of annual fee and that the waive is merely a favor given by credit card companies. I do respect your views but I also believe that credit card holders have the right to demand for a waive. After all, credit card companies charge an average of 3.5% interest every month and the waive is but a small amount from their coffers.

Pinay and Money advocates taking charge of our personal finance and this includes saving money where it can. If this means, demanding the credit card company for a waive, then by all means, do so.

GE Money Bank Time Deposit

Yesterday, while having lunch at Robinson’s Forum at Pioneer St., I saw the expanded office of GE Money Bank. After eating, I proceeded to the bank and inquired of the time deposit products of GE Money Bank.

Chona Agulto, a very nice lady who works at the bank, entertained me and informed me that for a minimum deposit of P50,000, I can get 4.5% interest rate. This is if I keep it for 180 days. GE Money Bank is also holding a raffle promo for those who will place a minimum of P50,000 in time deposit (180 days).

If you’re looking for a bank with a pretty high interest rate, you may want to try GE Money Bank. I know I am as I will go back tomorrow. Here are the rates Ms Chona gave me:

180 days and one-year time deposit
Interest: 4.5% pa
Minimum placement: P50,000

Two-year time deposit
Interest: 4.75% pa
Minimum placement: P50,000

For inquiries, you can also call GE Money Bank Head Office at (02) 777-85000 or GE Money Bank Pioneer Branch at (02) 687-9107.

BPI still refuses to waive my annual fee

Last April 2, I posted that BPI turned down my request to waive the annual fee of my BPI WorldPerks credit card (see related story). Thanks to comments left by Pinay and Money readers, especially Joey, I emailed BPI again to request for the waive of the annual fee.

Within a few hours, I received an email from BPI. Notice that it is exactly the same letter that I received when I first requested for the waive.

Greetings from BPI Express Online!

We received your e-mail regarding your request for the reversal of your membership fee. We regret to inform you that we are unable to grant your request for Annual Fee waiver. Please use your BPI Card more to qualify for Annual Fee waiver next year and enjoy more perks such as free Goldilocks signature dish for a minimum single receipt of P1,000 from any establishment or cash advance transaction using the BPI Express Credit Card.

If you need further assistance or have other concerns, you may send us an e-mail at expressonline@bpi.com.ph.

Thank you for choosing to bank with us online!

Sincerely,
The BPI E-mailbanking Team

I replied, stating that I know for a fact that there have been instances that BPI waived the annual fee even if the credit card holder didn’t meet the required monthly purchases. And again, after just a couple of hours, I received another email from BPI:

Greetings from BPI Express Online!

Kindly be advised that upon receipt of your email, we have re-evaluated your account to check if we can approve your request. However, we regret that we are unable to grant the waiver of the annual membership fee on the basis of reasons that are confidential and we are not at a liberty to disclose.

If you need further assistance or have other concerns, you may send us an e-mail at expressonline@bpi.com.ph.

Thank you for choosing to bank with us online!

These are the keywords: However, we regret that we are unable to grant the waiver of the annual membership fee on the basis of reasons that are confidential and we are not at a liberty to disclose.

Could the reason be so grave that BPI refuses to disclose it to me? How could a reason be confidential? And is this what we call quality customer service? It’s like refusing to sell an item to a buyer and telling her, “Sorry I can’t sell this to you because it’s confidential.” What the?!

I wonder if this is a generic reply that BPI E-mail Banking Team gives everytime it rejects the requests of credit card holders. Because I have proven (thanks to Pinay and Money readers) that the charged purchases is not BPI’s basis to waive the annual fee, is BPI resorting to this kind of reasoning (confidential daw!) so that the credit card holder won’t insist anymore.

I’m very disappointed. As a loyal BPI customer since I was a little girl, I have always liked how BPI treats its customers. I have always believed that I will be given the same treatment as everybody else. But then again, maybe I am wrong.

What can you buy with P446,000?

How was your Holy Week? I hope you had the chance to rest and reflect on the blessings you’ve received. Now that everything is back to normal routine, let me start with the question, “What can you buy with PhP446,000? Perhaps a China-made car? A European trip?

Last March 20, my husband received a letter from Citibank, advising him that the credit limit for his Citibank-Shell credit card has been increased to PhP446,000. He laughed out loud when he read the letter and thought that yes, he can probably buy a low-priced car.

This is probably Citibank’s way of rewarding him for charging his purchases to his credit card. Citibank probably thinks that he has the capacity to pay for such a huge amount. After all, he was able to pay off PhP320,000 worth of charges in just one payment!

But before anybody reacts, the PhP320,000 he charged late last year was the hospitalization bills of his mother (God bless her soul). Because his family didn’t want to bring such a huge amount of cash, hubby just volunteered to charge the bills to his card and the payment will just be paid off online.

I wish I could say that we’re both eager to charge a lot of purchases in my husband’s newly granted credit limit. But commonsense tells me to just let the daydreaming pass. Masarap lang mangarap pero hindi masarap magbayad ng utang.

Turned down by BPI

Every February, I am charged by BPI the annual fee for my BPI World Perks credit card. This is the second year that I am using this credit card. In February last year, I was granted a 50% waived in the annual fee.

This year, I requested to waive the annual fee again. So I emailed BPI via expressonline@bpi.com.ph and made my request. After all, the annual fee for World Perks is P2,500! To my dismay, I received this email, informing me that BPI will not waive the annual fee.

Dear Pinay and Money:

We received your e-mail regarding your request for the reversal of your membership fee. We regret to inform you that we cannot grant your request for Annual Fee waiver. Please use your BPI Card more to qualify for Annual Fee waiver next year and enjoy more perks such as free Goldilocks signature dish for a minimum single receipt of P1,000 from any establishment or cash advance transaction using the BPI Express Credit Card.

If you need further assistance or have other concerns, you may send us an e-mail at expressonline@bpi.com.ph. Thank you for choosing to bank with us online!

Sincerely,
The BPI E-mailbanking Team

The key words are “Please use your BPI Card more to qualify for annual fee waiver next year.” This simply means that I haven’t charged enough to my credit card. So I replied and inquired how much is required to qualify for the annual fee waiver. Here’s the reply:

Dear Pinay and Money:

Greetings from BPI Express Online!

For the BPI Express Credit WorldPerks MasterCard, simply spend an average of PhP 30,000 per month to qualify for an Annual Fee waiver next year.

Sincerely,
The BPI E-mailbanking Team

Wow! This means PhP360,000 worth of purchases a year! I wonder what compelled BPI to give me a 50% waive in my first year. I certainly didn’t charge even half of PhP360,000 in the first year. Otherwise, I would have earned enough airline miles to get tickets anywhere to Southeast Asia.