BDO has sent out a notification alert earlier this month to all its banking subscribers that they will start collecting “transfer fees” on BDO to BDO transactions. Currently, the transfers are free of charge but BDO is shifting to the Php10 per transfer starting March 15, 2017 and also increasing the daily limits to Php50,000.

We are pleased to announce that effective March 15, 2017, BDO Online and Mobile Banking customers will enjoy higher limits for Send Money to Any BDO Account and Send Money to a Paycode transactions. The new daily limit will be increased to Php 50,000.00. Starting March 15, 2017, a fee of Php10.00 will be charged on all Send Money to Any BDO Account and Send Money to a Paycode transactions. You may still enjoy these transactions free of charge until March 14, 2017.

It’s usually an inherent benefit for customers to maintain and transact with the same bank as transactions are free of charges (intra-bank) compared to other banks (inter-bank). This is no longer the case with BDO. This could significantly affect people who regularly send out remittances to multiple accounts.

(UPDATE as of 1/31/2017, 6:13PM): BDO has issued this advisory on Facebook: “Fund transfer to enrolled BDO accounts will remain free of charge.The new transaction fee shall only apply to Send Money to Any BDO Account and Send Money to a Paycode transactions. You may continue to enjoy free of charge fund transfer transactions by enrolling the destination account in your Online Banking account.”