COL's New Transfer FEES and its Accumulated Loss in the Long Term
This is late information, but I thought of still sharing it anyway in the off chance that there might be newbies who just signed up for COL. COL or formerly Citiseconline is now called COL Financial Inc. COL is my chosen online stockbroker. To those who haven't heard of COL, you can find their site at colfinancial.com. Click on the picture below to direct you to their site, in case you might be interested in getting into the Philippine stock market.
screengrabbed from colfinancial.com
When funding one's COL account, one has the option to use the services of major banks in the Philippines such as BDO, BPI, and Metrobank. I just recently learned that one may now also use the services of Chinabank to fund one's account. Through the bank's Bills Payment facility, one may pay online or pay OTC (Over-The-Counter). In the past, I've used either BDO or Metrobank. Whether you pay online or OTC, there is NO charges incurred. But just last December 27, 2015, I received this mailer in my inbox:
According to this e-mail, effective January 15, 2016, COL will no longer be shouldering the bank fees collected by the bank through the use of their deposit facilities. I actually didn't know that there is such a thing as bank fees. Honestly, I still don't understand the rationale behind it. In my very limited understanding, when funding for COL account, one uses the bank's Bills Payment facility and NOT their Deposit services. I've used either banks' Bill Payment facility and I have not tried ever paying for a transaction fee. That's the prime reason I choose paying bills through banks instead of other payment channels. But possibly these merchants are actually subsidizing the transaction fees so their clients won't be burdened. Whether that's the case or not, the letter above indicates that COL Financial Inc., is NO LONGER subsidizing such fees. Thus, COL users will have to pay for the corresponding fees depending on which payment channel he or she opts to use. The above screenshot shows the different bank's transaction fees.
Clearly, I should no longer fund my COL account over-the-counter. As I'm only a BDO and Metrobank user, I can only choose either one. Let's suppose that a COL user fund the account on a monthly basis, each month that he/she funds the account, an extra twenty pesos (BDO) or twenty-five pesos (Metrobank) is paid. It may not be big, but still the little amounts can add up. One year of doing so will cost a client extra PhP240 (BDO) / PhP300 (Metrobank) a year. That's practically one meal's worth. Presumably, a client is in this for the long haul, say ten years, twenty, or even thirty more years. That little amount could really add up and you lose a big chunk without realizing it. Check below how much you can actually lose in the long term. Just imagine how much more if you fund your COL account more than once a month.
Based on the above computation, Metrobank's online banking should be the chosen option in funding the account. Note that the minimum amount to top up one's account is PhP1,000. So, if you use Metrobank's online banking facility, the amount that will be credited to your account is 4-peso less, unless you paid PhP1,004 pesos so the whole 1K is credited to your account.
When funding one's COL account, one has the option to use the services of major banks in the Philippines such as BDO, BPI, and Metrobank. I just recently learned that one may now also use the services of Chinabank to fund one's account. Through the bank's Bills Payment facility, one may pay online or pay OTC (Over-The-Counter). In the past, I've used either BDO or Metrobank. Whether you pay online or OTC, there is NO charges incurred. But just last December 27, 2015, I received this mailer in my inbox:
According to this e-mail, effective January 15, 2016, COL will no longer be shouldering the bank fees collected by the bank through the use of their deposit facilities. I actually didn't know that there is such a thing as bank fees. Honestly, I still don't understand the rationale behind it. In my very limited understanding, when funding for COL account, one uses the bank's Bills Payment facility and NOT their Deposit services. I've used either banks' Bill Payment facility and I have not tried ever paying for a transaction fee. That's the prime reason I choose paying bills through banks instead of other payment channels. But possibly these merchants are actually subsidizing the transaction fees so their clients won't be burdened. Whether that's the case or not, the letter above indicates that COL Financial Inc., is NO LONGER subsidizing such fees. Thus, COL users will have to pay for the corresponding fees depending on which payment channel he or she opts to use. The above screenshot shows the different bank's transaction fees.
Clearly, I should no longer fund my COL account over-the-counter. As I'm only a BDO and Metrobank user, I can only choose either one. Let's suppose that a COL user fund the account on a monthly basis, each month that he/she funds the account, an extra twenty pesos (BDO) or twenty-five pesos (Metrobank) is paid. It may not be big, but still the little amounts can add up. One year of doing so will cost a client extra PhP240 (BDO) / PhP300 (Metrobank) a year. That's practically one meal's worth. Presumably, a client is in this for the long haul, say ten years, twenty, or even thirty more years. That little amount could really add up and you lose a big chunk without realizing it. Check below how much you can actually lose in the long term. Just imagine how much more if you fund your COL account more than once a month.
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