Here I go ranting about BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) again.
In October 2007, I wrote about the problems of some clients regarding an ATM that supposedly did not dispense cash and a branch manager who allegedly stole someone’s remittance money.
In October 2008, I ranted about not getting connected to BPI’s Phone Banking hotline after several tries in my attempt to solve my BPI Trade password problem. I wondered then if BPI’s call center was terribly undermanned or simply manned by lazy employees.
Now, I’m beginning to have these thoughts again since no one from BPI has solved my new BPI Trade account problem for more than a month now.
Stock disappeared in BPITrade portfolio
Back in May 2009, I bought shares of Metrobank (Stock Code: MBT) and when its price had appreciated a few weeks later, I decided to sell them.
My first order transaction was accepted by BPITrade (Status: OA). A few hours later, it still was not matched probably because the asking price I set was a bit high. I canceled the transaction and this was properly recorded in my account (Status: XC). I then submitted another order with a lower asking price. This transaction was again accepted by BPITrade (Status: OA).
I then checked my portfolio and it showed all my shares of MBT had disappeared. However, when I viewed my transaction history, there was no “Matched” sale.
During that time, I simply dismissed it as delay in recording. A few days later, though, there still was no matched sale (Status: M) in the transaction history. And yet, all the MBT shares I held had disappeared.
That’s when I decided to call BPI for help.
BPI Phone Banking Experience #1
I called BPI’s customer support number at 89-100 but got surprised because there was no menu option for BPI Trade-related concerns. I then talked directly with a Phonebanker. She told me she has no access to my BPITrade account and was advised to visit my branch of account. Off I went there.
At the Branch of Account
There the staff told me they too don’t have access to my account since BPI Trade, according to them, is under BPI Securities. I asked if I could get the number of BPI Securities but they apologetically told me they are not at liberty to divulge the number. My best recourse, they said, is to connect to Phone Banking again who will supposedly direct me to someone who can solve my problem. Hmmm…
BPI Phone Banking Experience #2
I contacted BPI’s customer support hotline again and talked to a Phone Banker (891-00 then press “0” then “0” then “0” again). Expectedly, the customer service representative who answered told me she has no access to BPI Trade accounts and was told to dial 89-100 then press “0” then “0” then “6” this time. However, it turned out that “6” is for concerns regarding Corporate Accounts. Big fail.
BPI Phone Banking Experience #3
I desperately contacted BPI’s customer support number again and connected myself to a new Phone Banker. As usual, she told me she does not have access to BPI Trade accounts. Annoyed, I told her I’ve been passed around for more than 30 minutes already and yet no one knew who can help me or what number I should call. She apologized and asked me to hold “for a while,” while she looked for someone supposedly with access to BPI Trade accounts. A few minutes later, she told me she is transferring my call.
BPI Phone Banking Experience #4
A guy answered and asked what he can do for me. I told him, “I have a problem with my BPI Trade account. My call has been passed around for more than 30 minutes now and, it appears, no one knows how to solve it. I bought stocks before and tried to sell them via BPI Trade. There was no matched order in my transaction history and yet the stocks are all gone. Are you able to check that transaction?”
He replied: “I’m sorry, Sir, but I cannot access the details of those transactions for you. I can only see the same transaction history you see.” Big fail part 2.
I angrily responded: “So what do I do now? Don’t you have anyone competent enough to address my concern?”
He said: “Sir, I’ll just give you four numbers of BPI Securities. I think they are best equipped to handle your problem.”
Me: “Fine, fine. Give me those numbers.”
Calling BPI Securities
BPI Securities telephone number #1. Busy tone.
BPI Securities telephone number #2. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #3. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #4. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #1. Busy tone.
BPI Securities telephone number #4. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #3. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #2. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #1. Busy tone.
BPI Securities telephone number #3. Ring, ring, ring but no answer.
BPI Securities telephone number #4. Ring, ring, ring. After 15 minutes, finally, someone answered.
Me: “Hi. I have a problem with my BPI Trade account. I have stocks in my portfolio and tried to sell them but they disappeared in my portfolio although there was no matched order in my history.”
Someone from telephone number #4: “I’m sorry, Sir, but the guys at telephone numbers #1 and #2 are the ones who can handle your query.”
Me: “I know. But I’ve been calling them for some time now and all I got was a busy tone in line 1 and no answer in line 2.”
That girl: “I’ll check, Sir, if they are on their desks. For a while…”
Two minutes later.
The girl again: “Sir, the person in line #1 is busy talking with someone and the guy at line #2 went out. If you want, I’ll just get your number and I’ll ask them to contact you as soon as they’re available.”
Me: “Fine. Here are my numbers. Can you promise me they will contact me before the day ends.”
That girl: “Yes, Sir. I’ll tell them to contact you ASAP.”
Two Days Later
Today, two days later, no one has contacted me yet. Super duper big fail #3.
I decided not to call Phone Banking or BPI Securities yet until I have calmed myself down. Right now, I don’t know what I’ll be able to say to them after the horrendous experience I’ve gone through.
I busy myself at the moment looking at CitisecOnline’s trading system. This time, it may be goodbye BPITrade and hello CitisecOnline. But that doesn’t mean I’m done with BPITrade and my missing Metrobank stocks. Hell hath no fury like an investor with shares of stocks gone.
Related readings:
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
At least you have release your anger through a blog post 🙂
Anyways, I had no problems with CitisecOnline and I have done a number of transactions with them. Good luck.
.-= jhesqi´s latest blog ..Picking a Stockbroker based on your Stock Trading Personality =-.
Oh my…another negative comment for bpitrade…tsk tsk tsk! I’ve just transferred funds to my bpitrade account through bpiexpressonline. I just hope I’d be able to trade tomorrow…with no problems.
Hi,
So why isn’t this in the newspapers? This is a big deal as banks should be trustworthy above everyone else when it comes to money you entrust to them. These stories are hard to believe. I had only one ghost withdrawal involving debited withdrawal but no money. I used a megalink member bank, not my bank. The matter was resolved over the phone. They returned my money even if the truth is I wasn’t sure I lost that actual amount (I tried withdrawing again from another ATM with no receipt).
ATMs should be absolutely trustworthy. If you let them get away with a thousand pesos stolen, imagine how much they can steal from all of us. The aggregate amount would be so tempting.
yeah…… CitisecOnline is great…… i’ve been investing there for years now, and it’s fine, no hustle.
Hi James, I would like to say that I also use BPI Trade as my stock trading account because of the convenience of transferring funds from my BPI savings account and vice versa.
So far, I don’t have sour experience when it comes to BPI Trade. The BPI Customer Support number 89-100 does not have access to stock trading accounts. I always call the BPI Trade hotline whenever I have questions with my BPI trading account. I also email them and they are prompt in answering my questions. It usually takes at most 2 days and most often 1 day before I get an answer with them.
I was also puzzled by your problems. Sometimes, I do what you do before. That is, to put a sell order and have it float for sometime and then when it did not match, then I will cancel it and it usually goes back to my portfolio account. Did you view your stock trading history if it was really traded? I think you should call them early in the morning around 9am and talk to the stock traders and not with BPI customer 89-100.
.-= Tyrone | Millionaire Acts´s latest blog ..2009 Top Philippine Companies =-.
tsk tsk…all my friends who are into stocks use citisec. If ever I get into stocks, I’ll avoid BPI Trade!
I’ve been trading with BPI, so far, what I hate on them is that funds transferred from your savings online will take like 24 hrs to be credited to your bpi trade! The heck! I thought, this is for convenience (online). However, I’m looking forward with Philstocks and Citiseconline. So far, citiseconline are far getting good feedbacks than bpitrade. As of this writing, I’m checking my bpitrade funds, still, the funds I transferred yesterday from my Savings is still not reflected! Failed!!!
Citiseconline has been quite successful with its operations. It should recognize and reward the people to whom it attributes its greatest success and growth… BPITrade. Thank you BPITrade for all your help, we couldn’t have done this without you.
I hope and pray your problem will soon be fixed James and thanks for sharing. I have a bank account with BPI and was thinking of using BPITrade instead of Citiseconline as I currently can’t use online banking to transfer funds to my Citiseconline account. Looks like I will stick with Citisec to avoid the nightmare you are having right now. Yes, I am also into stocks, not just real estate, I want to practice and diversify… hehe.
.-= Jay Castillo´s latest blog ..UCPB repossessed cars for sale =-.
Hi James,
I have a BPI online banking account and I find it very slow! It’s just that online banking is very helpful as you can make payments online. Any suggestions on what banks have good track record in online banking services?
Citiseconline is a great company! I’m very impressed on how they give timely and accurate advise on where to invest your money. I have already gained 40% today since March. Not bad considering my mutual fund performance is almost the same.:)
Thanks for your post bro!
Bryan
http://www.investingpinoy.blogspot.com
Long time no read James ah, haha. Don’t worry, I campaign for your PMT Facebook fan page though. Hope to see more updates there. Well anyway I miss more posts about how to make money blogging. I just cashed out from SocialSpark, ang galing kasi mas malaki yung bayad nila sa mga PPC campaigns nila and yeah, they really pay out. To learn more about it, click nyo yung pangalan ko or sa commentluv. Na excite lang ako about it kaya naman share ko naman sa inyong lahat! First time kasi mag cash out..haha
.-= jonharules´s latest blog ..How I Made Money Online with SocialSpark =-.
The place to go is Securities and Exchange Commission, tell them your story, and they will tell you what is the best course of action. I am guessing they will trace the reference number from the pse of such transactions if you have your reciept that is send in your email. Your reciept and the trading history will say it all. And if BPI still failed to comply, they will probably advised you to file a civil case against them, compelling them to return the stocks and you can ask for damages, maybe you can ask for P1million for damages.
Good thing I already cancelled my BPITrade account a few weeks ago and open an account to http://www.2tradeasia.com. I also have a citiseconline account and this one is way above the rest.
BPI is very SLOOOOWWWWW….
@jhesqi, yup I needed to write this to vent out my anger at BPI Trade for the poor customer service 🙂
@lilywhite, rarely do I experience problems using BPI’s trading software. What I don’t like about them, though, is the sucky customer service. I called their hotline and no one’s able to solve my problem as soon as I called? That really sucks.
@BrianB, one reason why probably the media has not picked up these stories is because these appear to be isolated cases. You may be right, though, many Filipinos are probably being victimized too by banks somewhere. The only way for the media to pay attention to this is for all of us to report what’s going on.
@Tyrone, I wanted to talk to them directly but my branch of my account does not want to give BPI Trade’s numbers. The BPI Trade website surprisingly does not have these numbers too and they direct me to 89-100 that’s why I was calling that BPI Trade hotline. I finally got hold of the telephone numbers after talking to at least three Phonebankers but when I called, no one was able to solve my problem.
@Bullish Trader, I too hate that. Two weeks ago, my BPI Trade ran out of funds. I transferred funds from my BPI Savings Account the day before but a day after, there still was no money in my account. I too cannot trade! Big fail, indeed.
@Jay, thanks. I’ve been with BPI Trade for more than 5 years now. Can’t say I’m fully satisfied. I’ll try CitisecOnline to see if it’s really better.
@Bryan, congrats! Those research reports are also a reason why I plan to transfer to Citisec. BPI Trade doesn’t have it. BPI’s online banking service is already one of the best I’ve tried. Citibank and Unionbank online banking seem to be good too.
@jonha, welcome back. I’ll post another article about blogging and making money if I find a good thing to write. Hopefully that’ll be soon! 🙂
@kalakal, I’m hoping it won’t reach that level yet. If only BPI Trade has proper customer service, then this problem wouldn’t have extended for almost a month now.
have been using bpitrade for more than a year already and i never experienced your problem. have been floating most of my orders and it would be cancelled the following day…
anyways hope your problem will resolve…
the only thing i dont like in bpi trade is sometimes the online order is down for the whole day, im not sure if they cant establish a connection to pse or there’s something wrong with their system.
for citisec users have you experienced this?
james, i think you should have kept the numbers of bpi securities, everytime the online order is down there are i think 3 numbers in the screen that you can call and placed orders.. have kept than on my phonebook already, and i hate the phone banking service of bpi for non credit card units…
i have a very BAD experience with BPI too. last july i made 2 ATM unsuccessful ATM withdrawals worth 45,ooo pesos but was deducted from my account. i lodged my complaint immediately but until now BPI are just playing around with my withdrawal history insisting that i have withdrawn the money. reading between the lines of the responds from different CS – looks like they are very firm in their stand that the wtihdrawals were successful.
the problem is i donot have the cancelled receipt, in fact i really did not care that time thinking that BPI is honest enough. but even i if had the receipt, still it will not help as i read similar case where the BPI also ignored the receipts because they said their ATM sometimes will provide erroneous receipts.
given my situation now, what do you think i should do? appreciate your kind advice guys.
i too have had frustrations with BPI customer service. here are the details of my latest experience: http://frrfernando.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!EB1172B1D868F5BB!1470.entry
Very Sad, but once it dissappeared it will be reflected on your portfolio after the day of the transaction hours. I started with bpitrade almost a year ago, and I thought experienced the same instances but after 12:30 pm it was brought back to my portfolio. I believe you are not making any issue to endorse citiseconline in some sort right? But, let me ask you does Citiseconline give you interest on your available authorize balance? BPI does….:-)
I don’t know much about the specifics regarding BPITrade but to the people here who are complaining, have you read the user agreement when you opened your accounts per se? If they are the buyer or seller of the last resort (ie BPITrade buys when you sell and they sell when you buy) then that makes them a bucketshop, not a broker. It stands to reason that they will do everything they can do fleece you off your money if that is the case since they stand to lose if you profit.
You should report this to the proper authorities (but considering this is the Philippines, I doubt much action will be given) if the above case can indeed be found in the user agreement. It may not specifically say it but you should read between the lines.
Hello! I just opened an account with BPI Trade and already, I am finding it hard to contact customer service. I wish to inquire whether you have found your missing MBT shares with BPI. I found your blog post while searching how to transfer money to BPI. Now I am thinking whether I should just close the account and consider First MEtro. I hope you could get back to me on this. Thanks sir!
Charmagne
omg…good thing i read your blog. i was planning to open an account with BPI Trade…tsktsk…this is very disappointing…thanks for sharing this
thanks for this info, i was also planning to open an account with BPITrade, good thing i have read your article, thank you..
to all commentor for this article! that’s only a competitor for BPI because at last he mentioned about CitisecOnline trading accout…A ridiculous one!hehehehehehe
I am a CitisecOnline investor. So far, their website is quite easy to use. However, they have to look into their customer service. The lines are answered quickly, however, their agents can only help with basic stuff. I had to email to get an answer, but I was still not very satisfied with what they gave me. The scenario: I called customer service 3 x in a span of 6 months and I got the same (wrong, incomplete) answers. I told them I wanted to know how much money I have, after investing for more than 1 year. Agent said I’ll see it in my portfolio, under “total trade value”. However, I insisted that is not the one, since that did not include the compounded interest earned. I then emailed, and they replied to me attaching a “sample template” on how to compute my earnings. I dont need a template, I need an actual computation with the actual amount. For those in the know on LONG TERM INVESTING in stocks (NOT TRADING), is that really how it is in the stock market? When do I know my actual total earnings, when I withdraw my money? Thanks.
Graaaaabe! And to think that I was planning to open an acct with BPI Trade instead of CitisecOnline. Inisip ko kasi sa bpi nalang kasi syempre banko yan so mas reliable. Pero after reading this — total turn off to negative infinity 🙁 choices ko rin panaman para sa SDA accts are Metrobank at BPI tsk, tsk, tsk but i’m seriously reassessing after reading this. Kaya ko ayaw sa citibank coz of their scandals (remember brian ang evp ng citibank sa chinatown na nagnakaw ng millions, plus scandal nila sa US), tapos bpi din pala kulang sa integrity natakot tuloy ako sa kanila 🙁
So annoying!!! I applied for my BPITrade account last Feb. 7… it’s now Mar. 1. I’ve already called them many times and it’s so frustrating that my account is still “being processed” or “non-existent”. I should’ve just gone with Citisec 🙁 so disappointed since the other BPI services I use are pretty good.
Walang kwenta ang BPI Trade. I applied over a month ago and after many many frustrating phone calls (even after they already mailed and emailed me “welcoming” me to my new BPITrade account), I apparently still don’t have a BPITrade account and they can’t even tell me what’s the problem. So disappointing.
Buti na lang at nakita ko tong post na to.. naiinis kc ako sa phone bankers ng bpi.. ang ba bastos., imbes na akpo ang “Irate” sila ang “hi blood”. I have 2 bad experience with bpi phone bankers. Just 10 minutes ago I called their hotline to clarify regarding online transactions. Yung date kc hindi tama. Sabi nya basta daw nag fall ng saturday sunday at holiday ang transaction and posting would be the next banking day, maiiba din yung date ng transaction.. So ok I understand, sabi pero yung ibang transactions ko, didn’t fall on a weekend and hindi mag kakasunod and transactions. Please make I report regarding this matter.. sabi niya ok thank you for calling. Ang bastos, di pa ko tapos na nag go goodbye na tama ba yun.. akala ko she hanged up., I was waiting for her to talk., ako pala hinihintay nya mag salita, hindi pa tinanong kung na satisfy ako sa sagot nya.. ang sabi gumawa na sya ng report and thank you for calling daw. sa inis ko binagsak ko phone.. Hay di na ko uulit with BPI., 4 years na ko sa kanila., pero laging bastos ang mga phone banker.
Nag hahanap talaga ako ng forums regarding bpi.. If they don’t do something about their service, people would go to other banks.
Hi what happened with your problem? did they resolve it?
Yes! I had to call them again, but the good part was everything was sorted out. There was just a technical problem that caused some stocks to be gone, but everything was back to normal after a few days.
Thank you for your reply. What is happening to me with my BPI trade sometimes they don’t show trading and portfolio even if the market is Open. They say it is because of an intermittent connection, which sadly happens a couple of times a week. What is also bad about BPI Trade is that they do not have an App for mobile devices. I have a COL account opened and I am going to try it after a few days. Could you suggest any other Trading platform aside from COL, Firstmetro and BPI Trade?
Website loading and connection problems are, unfortunately, expected. You just have to choose which stockbroker’s website you’re most comfortable with. Here’s a list of online stockbrokers in the Philippines if you want to compare:
https://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/best-online-stock-broker-philippines/
Hope that helps!
Is there any government agency that regulates the trading platforms? BPI Trade seems to have a lot of issue. I transferred some fund on my trade account last 17 April 2019 but the credited amount was less than 1k…Since 18th was Holy Week I decided to call on Tuesday and the lady said they’re having issues since April10 and still reconciling the affected accounts by batch.Until now, no update yet…..tsk tsk tsk
i too have a really big problem with BPITrade. The buying power is showing negative which should be impossible especially since I just liquidated some of my stocks! I calledh BPITrade but all agents are ‘busy’. After 1 hour waiting on the phone, I emailed BPITrade but again no response! BPITrade is incompetent with these things, first in the unsolved technical issues but more importantly, they fail in customer service! Now I’m sitting with dead money which is half of all my savings, and I can’t do anything with the account until they correct the balances. I’m soo frustrated and angry!
Im also having problems with bpi trade. My cash balance is wrong. Its been two since i emailed my complaints and no action has been taken. I emailed them 3 more times, now they are just ignoring me, they aren’t replying anymore. Where can I turn to for help? I feel angry and helpless!