Only very few local shops and supermarkets in the Philippines accept debit/credit cards, as most Filipinos prefer to use cash payments. Look for a sign with “We accept credit/debit card payments” or Visa/Mastercard logos if you need to use your debit/credit card.

In large international hotels and luxury shopping malls in Manila, Quezon City, Davao City, Caloocan and other large urban areas in the Philippines, credit/debit card acceptance is more widespread.

If you are going to pay by card in the Philippines: Be aware of steep currency conversion fees and bank fees for card payments: Your bank’s PHP to GBP exchange rate may be quite bad. This is how banks make money. Before using your bank card for payments in the Philippines, it’s certainly a good idea to contact your bank. This will avoid your card becoming blocked due to international transactions that your bank may find suspicious.

Yes. The economy of the Philippines is very much cash-based. The popularity of cash is embedded in the Filipino culture, a remnant of Spanish influence.

Electronic payments by debit and credit card aren’t widespread in the Philippines. This is a result of a very restrictive banking system in the Philippines, where many Filipinos are unbanked.

There are emerging mobile electronic cash payments in the Philippines, like Gcash and PayMaya, but payments only work if the sender and receiver of the payment have the same telecom operator.

As a result, the vast majority of payments in the Philippines is made in cash. Cash is an essentiel method of payment in the Philippines and we recommend that you bring plenty of PHP cash.

Prices in the Philippines are lower than prices in the UK, on average by 43%. A coffee in a cafe in Manila will cost around 50 pesos to 150 pesos.

For a three-course meal in a mid-range restaurant the bill will be around 500 to 700 pesos.

Tipping is not expected in Filipino culture. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t tip.

Some restaurants even have signs reading that tipping is prohibited.