Updated January 5, 2021
Your BDO Kabayan Savings Account is active if you are sending money to this account from abroad at least once every 24 months.
Dati, ang requirement ng BDO is one foreign remittance at least once every 12 months, pero starting October 1, 2018, ginawa nilang at least once every 24 months.
Ang maganda pa na ginawa nila is kapag hindi mo napadalhan ang Kabayan account mo within 24 months, mako-convert ang Kabayan mo into a regular ATM savings account na ang maintaining balance requirement is 2k pesos lang. Sinabi kong “lang” kasi ito ay malayong mababa doon sa dati nilang policy na mako-convert into a regular passbook account na ang maintaining balance requirement ay 10k pesos.
Note about foreign remittance to maintain your BDO Kabayan account: Ang pag-deposit over the counter sa BDO branch ay hindi considered na pag-send money from abroad. The same with online transfer from another BDO account or from another bank or from an electronic money card — hindi rin considered na foreign remittance. Kelangang actual na padala from another country to your BDO Kabayan account.
Dormant BDO Kabayan savings account
Nado-dormant ang any bank savings account kapag ito ay hindi nadedepositohan or nawiwidrohan within 24 months or 2 years. Iho-hold or itatago ng banko ang account, meaning hindi na puedeng padalhan, widrohan o depositohan.
Ang dormant account ay puedeng i-reactivate any time ng account owner in person at the branch. Hindi puedeng representative. Magpapakita ang account owner ng valid IDs at pipirma ng mga forms.
Is there a fee to reactivate a dormant account?
Yes and no. Yes, if your account balance is below the maintaining balance requirement. It’s 30 pesos per month. No fee if your account is at maintaining balance level or more.
Is there a deadline for reactivation of dormant accounts?
Yes. 10 years. Once 10 years have passed, the bank will forward the dormant account to the Philippine government (Bureau of the Treasury under the Department of Finance). Puede mo pa ring habulin ang pera mo sa Treasury, pero it’s too much hassle.
Maintaining Balance Requirement for a Regular Passbook Savings Account
10,000 Pesos — this is the maintaining balance requirement for a regular BDO passbook savings account.
This change was put into effect on May 1, 2014. It was previously 5,000 pesos.
If you’re not able to maintain your account for 2 consecutive months, 300 pesos will be deducted from your account on the last day of the 2nd month. Another 300 pesos will be deducted on the last day of the 3rd month, if your account remains unmaintained. If you don’t restore your account, or if you don’t withdraw what’s left of your money, the deduction continues until your account is wiped out.
Note to OFWs:
Your BDO Kabayan account is a ZERO-maintaining balance account, BUT you need to remit to your account from ABROAD at least once in 24 months. This change from 12 months to 24 months took effect on October 1, 2018.
If your account does not receive a remittance from abroad within 24 months, your Kabayan is automatically converted to a regular ATM savings account — and will then require a 2,000-peso maintaining balance.
This is good news since previously unmaintained Kabayan accounts are converted into a regular passbook account which requires 10,000 pesos as minimum maintaining balance.
An over-the-counter deposit at a BDO branch to a BDO Kabayan account is NOT considered a remittance from abroad. Neither an online transfer from another BDO account or an Instapay/Pesonet transfer from another bank.
There have been several Kabayan account owners who have commented on our blogs about losing money to the 300-peso maintaining-balance penalty. Almost all of them did not know about the maintaining-balance increase from 5k to 10k pesos. Most of them lost more than 900 pesos each. The biggest loss was 3,000 pesos.
Is BDO the only bank implementing maintaining balance requirements?
No.
All banks have maintaining-balance requirements on almost all account types.
All of them impose a penalty on all accounts falling below their minimum monthly average daily balance requirement for 2 consecutive months. The deduction starts from the last day of the 2nd month, and it continues until the account balance is wiped out, or until it’s restored or closed.
If you’re not yet able to maintain a bank account, get a cash card, an electric money card like GCash or Paymaya, or open a digital bank account like Komo, or ING or GSave of CIMB.
Or find an account with a low maintaining-balance requirement.
The BPI Easy Saver account has a zero maintaining-balance requirement. You just pay 5 pesos for every ATM withdrawal or every ATM balance inquiry. (Sori, itong BPI Easy Saver account ay wala na, hindi na ino-offer. Effective November 2020)
Is Your BDO Kabayan Savings Account Active?
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