I was at Paseo de Santa Rosa in Laguna yesterday. When I saw that the BPI ATM machine was unavailable, I drove around to check other ATM's where I can withdraw some money. I saw the Metrobank ATM and withdrew a small amount. To my surprise, when I saw the remaining balance after withdrawal, the bank charged me 200 pesos!

When I called BPI expressphone to check, it was only then that I learned from the phonebanker that Metrobank (with the Cirrus logo) charges US$2.00 for every withdrawal and US$0.50 for every balance inquiry. According to the phonebanker, the transaction is classified as international hence the dollar charges.

Hey, the amount maybe small but if I had known and had BPI informed their account holders including me, I would have chosen to drive some more to look for a BPI ATM. In these days when times are hard and money is scarce, 200 pesos is still 200 pesos.

I'm doing this so the public may know.