SWIFT/BIC codes in Philippines: banks starting with G

Bank SWIFT codes for Philippines

Here you will find codes for 411 institutions in Philippines. A BIC tells the banks handling a transfer exactly which bank should receive an international payment.

Every bank has its own page with the head office code and, where available, branch codes. The rest of this page covers the structure of the codes, what transfers cost and the checks worth doing.

Incoming international payments in Philippines

Someone abroad who wants to pay you will ask for several details about your account. Give them your name as registered with the bank, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and your address.

The code of your bank appears in the list on this page, yet the version on your own statement or in your banking app is leading. Certain sending banks also want the name and address of your bank, so keep it at hand.

What lands in your account is often less than what was sent. Correspondent banks can take a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and when currencies differ, a markup on the rate comes on top. On invoices, agree who bears the costs, so nobody is left short.

How SWIFT codes from Philippines are built

Each SWIFT/BIC code has 8 or 11 characters. It starts with four letters for the bank, followed by two letters for the country and two characters for the location.

For banks in Philippines, letters five and six show the ISO country code of Philippines. When those two letters do not match Philippines, you are looking at a bank in another country – worth double-checking.

The last three characters, if present, stand for a branch or department; XXX is used for the head office. Use a branch code just when the recipient’s bank asks for it; otherwise the head office code is the safe choice.

Sending PHP to Philippines

Philippines uses the Philippine Peso, with the currency code PHP. When you pay money in a different currency, the amount has to be converted at some point: by your bank, an intermediary or the receiving bank.

Where the conversion happens has an effect on the final amount, as rates and margins differ per bank. Often it is cheaper to send PHP straight away through a provider with a good rate rather than letting the receiving bank convert. With bigger transfers, even a small difference in the rate adds up quickly.

Check the code before you pay

The safest source for the BIC is the bank details provided by the recipient: an invoice, a statement or their online banking. If the code you have does not match the code listed here, do not guess: check with the recipient or the bank.

We gather bank codes using publicly available data and update our list regularly. Even so, banks merge, rename themselves or change codes and our data may lag behind. Use our data as a reference rather than the last word. We are a comparison service, not a bank.

Be wary of invoices with changed bank details, especially when they come by email. Before paying, verify changed details through a separate channel, using a number you already had.

Banks in Philippines beginning with the letter :letter

The letter filter limits the list down to banks from Philippines that begin with :letter. The counts in the introduction still refer to the whole country, not just this letter.

Some banks appear under their legal name rather than the name on their app or website, so the letter can differ from what you expect. The full overview for Philippines remains available when the letter filter does not help.

Transfer times to Philippines

How fast a payment reaches Philippines is determined by a few things: the currency, the number of banks in between, cut-off times and differences in time zone. Public holidays in Philippines or in the sending country add a day or more.

A growing number of banks are connected to SWIFT gpi for faster and traceable payments. Every payment carries a unique reference, the UETR, which the sending bank can use to trace it. Specialist transfer services often provide tracking in their app so you can follow the payment.

The largest SWIFT network in Philippines: Asiatrust Bank

Asiatrust Bank tops our list of Philippines banks in SWIFT/BIC codes. The head office uses ATDBPHM1XXX, which is the code to use when no branch is specified.

Many codes often reflects separate codes for branches, departments or services – it says nothing about the size of the bank as such. If not the recipient asks for a branch, ATDBPHM1XXX is fine for transfers to this bank.

International payments to Philippines and the BIC

Philippines is outside the SEPA area, so European euro rules do not apply. Payments from abroad normally travel through the SWIFT network, and the BIC of the receiving bank is required.

Not all countries use IBAN numbers; in that case the local account number is used instead. Check with the recipient exactly which details their bank requires for incoming international payments – many banks give clear instructions for this. International transfers can pass through one or more intermediary banks, each of which may deduct a fee.

What a transfer to Philippines really costs

An international bank payment to Philippines often costs more than the fee suggests. Besides the fee, correspondent banks may deduct a charge and, if currencies are converted, the bank usually applies a rate below the actual market rate.

Most of the cost usually sits in the exchange rate, not in the fee. An easy check: set the offered rate against the mid-market rate and work out the difference on your amount.

For many routes, a specialist provider is less expensive than a traditional bank transfer, mainly because of the rate. GoldexPay compares what recipients in Philippines receive across services, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot.