You can now withdraw up to P1 million without additional requirements. Here's what you need to know
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has released information to help depositors understand better its regulations about cash withdrawals in large amounts.
Recently, BSP increased the threshold for cash withdrawals that require mandatory checks, referred to as enhanced due diligence, doubling it from P500,000 to P1 million. This means customers generally no longer need to present additional documents when withdrawing up to P1 million.
The increase in threshold became necessary after BSP determined that many legitimate cash transactions, including payroll, loan proceeds, and project-based disbursements, normally go over P500,000.
This threshold, however, may be lowered by banks and other BSP-supervised financial institutions if their own risk assessments demand it.
Here's what you need to know about its EDD guidelines for large cash withdrawals.
The checks, or EDD, are done per customer
Banks will not conduct EDD for every large cash withdrawal made by the same account holder. The checks are done only per customer, not per withdrawal.
Transactions that fall under a customer's usual banking activities do not trigger EDD even if these withdrawals exceed P1 million. EDD is only carried out if a withdrawal is suspicious or has high-risk indicators.
If an EDD is deemed necessary, the bank will ask the customer to provide additional information to prove that the transaction is legitimate.
Risk profile
Bank personnel have been trained to process legitimate transactions efficiently, even if these will require EDD.
The checking process may also be simplified for customers who have a known low-risk profile, a legitimate nature of business or operations, and transaction patterns that regularly go over P1 million.
Electronic guidelines
The amount limit for withdrawals made digitally still depends on each bank's transaction rules, as well as the withdrawal method used, i.e, InstaPay or PESONet, or intra-bank and interbank transfers.
These transactions are fully traceable, but may still need to go through EDD, especially if the amount is over P1 million.
With the revised rules, BSP is streamlining legitimate transactions even as it maintains safeguards against activities deemed high-risk.
These checks and balances, says BSP, "are designed to prevent illegal activity and promote the use of traceable and efficient payment channels, such as electronic banking, ultimately protecting both customers and banks or financial institutions."
