Below-maintaining-balance penalty is the most common banking concern that account owners write to us.
There have been account owners who have seen their savings reduced by 600 pesos or 900 pesos or 1,200 pesos for failing to see on time that their account balances have fallen below the required balance.
There’s even one OFW whose account balance was reduced by 4,500 pesos! That’s 300 pesos x 15 months of falling below the required balance. This OFW did not know that the bank account’s maintaining balance requirement has increased. Two other OFWs lost 1,800 pesos and 3,500 pesos to this kind of penalty.
What Are the Common Reasons Why Account Owners Suffer This Penalty?
- They don’t know there’s such a thing as maintaining balance.
- They know there’s a maintaining balance requirement but are not able to maintain the required balance.
- They don’t know the required maintaining balance had been increased.
- They don’t know how the minimum average daily balance is calculated.
- They think the penalty is imposed only for one month.
Why Is There a Maintaining Balance Requirement?
Merong cost ang pag-maintain ng records of accounts sa systems ng bangko, like cost of payroll, computers, software, electric bills, etc. I-imagine mo kung karamihan ng accounts ay walang laman o konti ang laman. Ime-maintain pa ba nila?
Why won’t the banks shoulder this cost? Banks will say they are in business to make profits.
In the US, what they have is a monthly maintenance fee. Account owners pay a monthly fee to maintain their accounts. Common knowledge na hindi libre ang bank account, except yong mga nagpapa-promo. If they don’t like to pay this monthly fee, then they maintain a certain balance in their account. It’s the same cost concept. Ang difference lang sa atin is parang lumaki tayo thinking na libre ang bank account. At saka more often than not, nakakalimutan ng mga new account officers na i-emphasize yong maintaining-balance requirement. Ina-assume nila na alam na ng new account owner.
Can You Ask for a Refund of the Penalty?
Yes, you can ask, but most often, the bank won’t refund. Hindi nila tatanggapin yong rason na hindi mo alam, o hindi mo alam na ganun ang pag-compute.
But I think there are cases when you must complain and ask for a refund.
One case is when you’re an OFW, and the bank suddenly increased its maintaining balance, and you were not informed, and you lost some thousand pesos.
There’s a banking regulation that you must be informed of any change that will impact you financially. Under “Fees on Retail Bank Products/Services” of Part 2 of the Manual of Regulations for Banks, there is this rule:
“Complementary individual notices to a client shall be sent if the amendments pertain to or will result to fees to be paid or charged on the account of the client.”
Submit your complaint to the bank and request for a refund. Keep copies of your communication with the bank. You need these documents in case you decide to submit a complaint to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
There are instructions here on how to ask help from the BSP. The BSP reiterates that you should talk first with your bank before going to them.
Ngayong marami nang nakakaalam na merong maintaining balance requirement, naging popular na ang mga:
No-Maintaining Balance Accounts
As people become familiar with maintaining-balance penalties, bank accounts like the following have become popular:
- Kabayan peso and dollar savings account
- Metrobank OFW peso and dollar savings account
- BPInoy savings account
- PNB OFW peso and dollar savings account
- Landbank
- Other banks’ OFW saving accounts
- Some kiddie accounts
- Some basic accounts
Here are Common Bank Account Products, Maintaining Balance Requirements and Below-Maintaining-Balance Penalty Amounts:
| Bank | Account Product | Maintaining Balance | Below-Maintaining- |
| Required | Balance Penalty | ||
| Per Month* | |||
| BDO | Kabayan Peso | 0** | |
| Savings | |||
| BDO | Kabayan Dollar | 0** | |
| Savings | |||
| BDO | Peso Passbook | 10,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| BDO | Peso ATM | 2,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| BDO | Power Teens | 2,000 | 300 |
| Club | |||
| BDO | Optimum Peso | 30,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| BDO | Prime Savers | 2,000 | 300 |
| BDO | Dollar Savings | $500 | $5 |
| BPI | Express Teller | 3,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| BPI | Easy Saver | 0*** | |
| BPI | Passbook Savings | 10,000 | 300 |
| BPI | Jumpstart Savings | 1,000 | 300 |
| BPI | Express Dollar | $500 | $5 |
| Savings | |||
| BPI | Express Teller | 1,000 | 250 |
| Family | Savings | ||
| BPI | Passbook | 10,000 | 250 |
| Family | Savings | ||
| BPI | Jumpstart | 500 | 250 |
| Family | Savings | 500 | |
| BPI | Dollar Passbook | $500 | $5 |
| Family | Savings | ||
| BPI | Express Teller | 500 | 250 |
| Direct | Savings | ||
| BPI | BPInoy Savings | 0**** | |
| Direct | |||
| Metrobank | Debit/ATM | 2,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| Metrobank | Passbook Savings | 10,000 | 300 |
| Metrobank | Dollar Savings | $500 | $10 |
| Metrobank | Fun Savers | 500 | 300 |
| Metrobank | OFW Peso Savings | 0** | |
| Metrobank | OFW Dollar | 0** | |
| Savings | |||
| Landbank | ATM Peso | 500 | 200 |
| Savings | |||
| Landbank | Regular Passbook | 10,000 | 200 |
| Savings | |||
| PNB | Superteller ATM Peso | 3,000 | 300 |
| Savings | |||
| PNB | Debit | 3,000 | 300 |
| Mastercard | |||
| PNB | Passbook Savings | 10,000 | 350 |
- NOTES:
- * Penalty is charged on the last business day of the 2nd consecutive month your account fell below the required maintaining balance
- ** To maintain your BDO Kabayan account, you need to send money from abroad to your account at least once in 24 months.
- After 24 months of no foreign remittance to your BDO Kabayan account, your account is converted into a regular ATM account, and you’ll need to comply with the maintaining-balance requirement. Ang required maintaining balance ng BDO ATM account is 2,000 pesos. If you fail to maintain for 2 consecutive months, and your account balance is not enough to pay the 300-peso penalty, your account will automatically close.
- *** BPI Easy Saver has no maintaining balance requirement, but you pay 5 pesos for every ATM withdrawal and ATM balance inquiry. Itong BPI Easy Saver na naging BPI KAYA ay hindi na ino-offer effective April 20, 2020. Pero yong mga meron na nito prior to April 20, 2020 ay continuous pa rin nilang ma-enjoy ang mga advantages nito.
- ****BPInoy Savings Account has no maintaining balance requirement, but you need to send money to your account at least once every 3 months.
Good Day.
I just want to ask if my account is still on a below maintaining balance for almost 6 months, do I need to pay all the charges for 6 months before ko magamit siya again.
Thank you for your time and asking your assistance for this matter .
Hi Meljen, if your account is already closed, you can reactivate it if it’s BPI or any other bank that allows reactivation, and yes, you will pay all the monthly penalties before it is reactivated. But if it’s BDO, and your account is already closed, BDO does not allow reactivation – it allows opening a new account.
What if my bank account is not yet closed, I tried putting on an amount of 4000 and it stayed for a month there, BPI have not deducted any penalties yet, I have to zero it again today, the maintaining balance should be 3000 but for more than six months, I zeroed it before putting the said 4000
Hi Yce, when you said your 4k deposit stayed for a month, did you mean it stayed through the end of the month and the first day of the next month? They usually deduct penalties on the last business day or the first business day of the next month. It’s great if BPI did not deduct anything even if your account was zero for 6 months. I asked a BPI officer before about this, and she said they do deduct penalties when there’s a new deposit after having been temporarily closed because of zero balance. But maybe they’ve changed their policy, I’m not sure. There’s a BPI Kaya maintenance-free account if you like.
What if i withdraw all of maintaining balance at metrobank atm to zero, is that mean my account is already close? Or i can still have it as long as i pay the 300 peso penalty
Hello I have 3accounts in Metrobank when I told them that I will close it they told me that mag iwan daw ako kahit cents Kaya d nila tinatakan ng account closed, almost 7years na ngayon so my penalty pa Rin ba ako Doon ?this is my concern wala Naman akong narecieve na kahit anong letter galing sa kanila may mga penalties pa Rin ba akong babayaran pag I cloclose ko na ung mga 3accounts ko na yon m,maraming salamat po Sana matulungan nyo po ako
Hi Medy, maraming taon na ang lumipas, so closed na yan lahat, noon pa. Don’t worry about these accounts. It’s their fault kasi kino-close mo na eh they didn’t close them. If you ever receive letters about penalties, don’t pay anything. Kasi meron akong nababasa ring ganyan — and it’s a mistake in their system lang. Usually ang bank account, once na zero balance na or negative, automatically closed na. Yong sa yo, nag-penalty yon after 2 months, then na-close automatically kasi nag-negative
Hi miss nora,ung dakin 6months na po below maintaining balance last may po -900ph tapos i checked following month of june nagzero balance na po. Close na po ba account na yun or pwede pa basta bayaran ko yung penalties
Hi Maricel, did you mean nagamit mo pa ang atm card mo to check? That means the bank has not closed your account despite the balance being zero. Kung BPI ito or other bank that did not close your account, yes, puede mo pang ireactivate by paying penalties. Kung BDO, hindi na, open ka ng new account after 6 months.
Ask ko lang po kung halimbawa yung maintaining balance po na 2k mabawasan ng 1k magcoclose po ba agad pag metrobank or magpepebalty lang po? Thankyou po!
Hi Lindy, meron pang balance so hindi pa ma-close. Hindi pa ma-penalty kasi ngayong August ka pa lang mag-below maintaining balance. Dapat sa Sep, i-maintain mo ang account mo para hindi 2 consecutive months na below maintaining balance. Starting Sep 1, dapat meron ka nang 2k sa account mo, at dapat nasa account mo ang 2k everyday from Sep 1 to Sep 30.
For metrobank ATM account po, ask ko lang po. Kapag po ba nabawasan ng 1k ang 2k maintaining balance and sa sept 10 pa maibalik, may penalty na po ba agad?
Hi Cheska, wala munang penalty, basta last August ay na-maintain mo ang account mo, meaning merong 2k sa account mo everyday of August. Hindi mo man ma-maintain ang account mo this September, pero na-maintain mo last August, okay lang. Pero kung hindi mo uli ma-maintain ang account mo in October, magpepenalty ka sa Oct 31, kasi hindi mo na-maintain ang account sa 2 magkasunod na buwan (Sep and Oct)
Service Charge:
Coverage: Accounts falling below ADB requirement for two (2) consecutive month-end and every month-end thereafter.
Collection – Monthly to start at the end of the 2nd month
Dun po ba sa service charge, kung isang month pa lang na hindi mo na-meet yung required ADB, hindi ka mababawasan?
Hi Lav, yes, you’re right, wala pang bawas kapag isang month ka pa lang na below the required ADB.
What if po ung metrobank savings acct na nagpenalty na tas di mo binayaran magclose ba un or magcontinue lang ung penalty? and Ano po dapat gawin dun sa acct?
Hi Chu, dapat automatic close na ang account kapag zero or negative na ang balance. At wala ka nang obligation to pay any penalty. Wala namang banking rule na we have to close our account in person. Ilang beses na rin akong naka-receive ng comments about Metrobank na gaya sa iyo. Metrobank lang. So siguro merong type of account ang Metrobank na hindi automatic ang closure. Payroll account ba ang account mo?
Hi ask ko lang sa Metrobank atm account kasi last January 2020 nag deduct sila 300 pesos. So okay lang nag below minimum ako. Pero hinulugan ko sya this February para umabot na sya sa minimum amount. Pero pagcheck ko ulit this March nag deduct nnman sila ng 300 pesos. Bakit kaya nagdeduct ps sila eh lagpas naman sa mimum amount ung hinulog ko nung feb? Thank
Hi Aj, siguro nagdeposit ka middle of February na. Sana nagdeposit ka Feb 1, para every day of February (from Feb 1 to 29) ay enough yong balance to maintain your account. Ganito ang computation: Add account balance everyday. Balance of Feb 1 + balance of Feb 2 + balance of Feb 3, and so on, hanggang balance of Feb 29, then yong total ay i-divide mo by 29. Yong result ay dapat equal or more than maintaining balance. Ngayong March, lakihan mo ang idagdag mo kasi March 8 na.