Before you start

ACR I-Card
Passport with valid visa
A Tax Identification Number
Proof of a Cebu address, and often a certificate of employment

Step-by-step

1
Wait until the ACR I-Card is issued
This is the practical gate rather than a formality. Some banks accept alternatives for particular visa types, but the card removes all argument. It is also why the immigration sequence has downstream consequences that people do not anticipate: the card sits behind the 9(g), which sits behind the AEP, and a slow employer at the first stage delays your ability to be paid locally.
In personWho: YouFollows the immigration sequenceBureau of Immigration fee for the card
2
Choose a bank with a branch near where you live
BDO and BPI have the widest branch and ATM networks in Metro Cebu; Metrobank and Security Bank are strong alternatives and UnionBank is the most digitally capable. Branch proximity matters more here than it might elsewhere, because a number of processes still require you to appear in person at the branch that opened the account.
In personWho: YouSame dayFree to choose
3
Open the account in branch with originals
Bring originals of everything plus photocopies. Banks typically require an initial deposit and a maintaining balance, and will usually ask for a certificate of employment. Establish the maintaining balance figure explicitly and understand what happens below it, because penalty fees for falling short are real and enforced.
In personWho: YouSame day, allow a couple of hoursInitial deposit plus an ongoing maintaining balance
4
Set up GCash or Maya immediately
These wallets carry an enormous share of everyday Philippine payments — small merchants, delivery riders, motorcycle-taxi fares, splitting a bill, paying a utility. Linking one to your bank account is close to essential rather than optional. Note that they register against a mobile number, so your SIM should be sorted and registered before you set them up.
Mobile appWho: YouSame dayFree
5
Ask about a foreign-currency account if you are paid abroad
Philippine banks offer foreign-currency accounts, which let you hold earnings and convert deliberately rather than at whatever the rate happens to be on payday. This is rarely offered unprompted, so ask specifically. For anyone on the Digital Nomad Visa or with income arriving from overseas, it is the single most useful product the bank has and nobody mentions it.
In personWho: YouAt account opening or laterAccount terms vary; ask about minimums

Documents you’ll need

ACR I-Card
Passport and visa
Tax Identification Number
Proof of a Cebu address
Certificate of employment, where applicable
Initial deposit

Things most newcomers don’t know

The ACR I-Card is the gate, which means an immigration delay becomes a banking delay two months later.

Most banks will not open a standard peso account for a foreigner without the card, and the card sits behind the 9(g), which sits behind DOLE's employment permit. People experience this as three unrelated problems spread over a quarter, when it is one dependency chain. If your employer is slow on the AEP, tell them plainly that it delays your ability to receive salary locally — that framing tends to move things.

Source: Philippine banking know-your-customer practice for foreigners

GCash and Maya are used more than cards, and your mobile number is the account.

Small merchants, delivery riders and motorcycle-taxi drivers all transact through these wallets, and a newcomer relying on cards alone is constantly the awkward one at the counter. Both register against a phone number, which makes that number genuinely load-bearing — changing or losing it is disruptive in a way that changing a bank card is not. Pick one number, register the SIM properly, and keep it.

Source: Philippine digital wallet usage; SIM Registration Act

Maintaining balances are enforced, and the penalty is charged monthly.

Philippine accounts specify a minimum average balance, and falling below it triggers a monthly fee rather than a warning. This catches people who open an account to satisfy a requirement and then leave it near-empty while their salary goes somewhere else. Ask for the exact figure and the exact penalty at opening, and keep a buffer above it rather than at it.

Source: Philippine retail banking terms

Ask for a foreign-currency account if any of your income arrives from overseas.

Peso volatility means the timing of conversion has a real effect on what you actually receive, and foreign-currency accounts exist at most major banks precisely for this. They are almost never proposed to you unprompted, so a customer paid in dollars or euros can spend years converting on the day the money lands, which is the one day you have no discretion over. Ask at opening.

Source: Philippine banking products

Common mistakes to avoid

Trying to open an account before the ACR I-Card is issued
Ignoring GCash and Maya and struggling with everyday payments across the metro
Falling below the maintaining balance and accruing monthly penalty fees
Changing your mobile number casually after linking it to a digital wallet
Converting foreign income on payday every month when a foreign-currency account was available

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.