BPI’s Visa Signature Credit Card: A Review

BPI’s Visa Signature credit card, launched in 2018, is made to cater to the needs of the increasing affluent market.

Although the Visa Signature is more of a general-use card, I will be reviewing the card for its mile-earning capabilities. This, as well as its usage as a travel card. Because of this, my review may not provide the correct value for you so it’s best you check it yourself

What’s the BPI Visa Signature Card?

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 50.00 per mile (or PHP 20.00 per Premium RTR point)

Annual Fee: PHP 5,500.00

Lounge Access: Pacific Club Lounge in NAIA Terminal 3

Airlines Partners: Air Asia, Get Go, Kris Flyer, and Mabuhay Miles

As a BPI card, it’s good for foreign spends because of the low foreign exchange conversion fee. There are also some privileges which you can enjoy since it’s a Visa Signature card.

However, there aren’t any multipliers built into the card (Diners Club Premier, HSBC Platinum, etc.) so earning points might take longer. There doesn’t seem to be any multiplier promos so far as well. The annual fee is also quite expensive when compared to other cards with better benefits, say American Express Platinum CC. Lounge access is limited and so are the airline partners for points/miles transfer.

How did I apply for it?

May 2019

7: Applied online via BPI’s website.

8: Submitted passport to serve as valid ID and 2 Statement of accounts from BDO and Citibank to bpicardsales@bpi.com.ph. Given a generic response that the application will be evaluated in 7-10 banking days.

20: Decided to call BPI for a follow-up since there wasn’t any feedback. According to the CSR, she will be forwarding my concern to the appropriate department and that I will receive an update in 2-3 days.

24: Called for another follow-up. This time, I was told to re-submit my documents to documents@bpi.com.ph. Apparently, they can’t find my application nor my documents. 

25: Received an email from a CSR confirming receipt of my re-submitted documents.

June 2019

4: Asked to be escalated to a supervisor, instead CSR asked me to wait for another 2-3 days for an update. 

6: Called BPI and was told that my application wasn’t encoded yet. Seriously, WTF BPI. 

Note: In between all these, I was also making follow-up requests through BPI’s email.

10: Received a reply from the email team that my application’s documents were set for verification. Deadline? June 18. Again, my application hasn’t been encoded yet.

Also went to the nearest BPI branch and submitted my application. According to the branch manager, credit card application usually takes around 3 weeks. 

11: Asked to get a callback from BPI. CSR told me that there are still no records on their database. Mentioned to the CSR about the email I received regarding the documents’ verification. Supposedly, if it’s being verified, it should appear on their database…

14: Called BPI. CSR gave me two deadlines for their marketing/card processing department – June 17 and 21.

17: Called BPI again. Still no update. Apparently, when CSRs make a Service Request Number (the reference number they give you), it’s not a “true” escalation. They actually have to send an email. So what have the previous CSRs been doing? I don’t know. CSR told me that I’ll be updated when they receive a feedback from marketing.

June 2019 – Requesting for Supervisor Escalation 

18: Called BPI because the first deadline of June 17-18 was up. Asked to talk to a Supervisor. Supervisor told me that there was a problem with my application because I don’t have a middle name/initial. My submitted documents clearly reflected this so I don’t see the problem. She asked me to submit my NSO if I wanted to. I asked her to coordinate with the marketing department on how this is a problem. 

She promised to escalate this and will call me back the following day. This was supposed to be another 5-7 days turnaround time but clearly this is unacceptable already.

19: Received callback. No update.

20: Received callback. Still no update. Asked BPI phone banker to initiate a 3-way call if there’s still no feedback by Monday.

Received update from BM after I texted – application still in process.

June 2019 – Awaiting feedback from Marketing 

21 Second deadline: Seems like marketing accepted my documents supporting my having no middle name. According to the supervisor, my application is with the credit evaluator and would require 15 days at most for evaluation. However, since it’s already under escalation, the process should be expedited.

24: Did not receive a callback. Called them instead. No relevant update. Filed another follow-up/complaint.

25: Received a call from BPI’s credit card processing unit at around 1:30 pm. Asked for business’ personal references but was unable to provide any. This seems to be fine though. Hopefully, I receive a status by today or tomorrow. 

Received another call at 2:15 pm. Asked about other sources of income this time.

26: Received a text at around 11:00 am that I got approved for BPI. Delivery will be in 5 days. 

27: Received a call from the supervisor telling me about the approval of my application. Special thanks to Ms. Polie for assisting me all throughout!

28: Received my card via Air21. Great job to Air21 for delivering the card to me at my business address even though my home address was written instead!

Thoughts: The card looks very sleek and luxurious in person, with its gold on black design. It’s also textured very differently from your usual credit card.

Honestly, the application process has given me a very bad impression of BPI. I have never experienced something like this with all other banks I have a relationship with. Before the supervisor escalation, I had to be the one to call for an update. I heard nothing from BPI regarding my “missing” application or documents and even their issue with my middle initial. I have even asked them to check my records with ARC, Avida, Alveo, TransUnion and Credit Information Corporation should they wish to. Really bad.

Note: To spare me the hassle of waiting for a CSR, I would sometimes log-in to ARC and ask the concierge to connect me to BPI. If you’re eligible for ARC, make sure to get it.

Why am I getting it?

Currently, new-to-bank clients who apply for the Visa Signature card and meet the requirements can earn 90,000 bonus Premium Real Thrill Rewards. This is equivalent to around 36,000 Mabuhay Miles which I am after.

They also announced the launching of BPI myVoyage. Based from my understanding, this would be similar to Citibank’s ThankYou Rewards portal which allows you to book flights or hotels directly using your points/miles. So, this is one future consideration if it’s worth keeping the card.

BPI Visa Signature Card holders also have special access to a group of phone bankers. This should somehow lessen the waiting time on the phone.

Overall, there’s not much the card has to offer that my other cards don’t. If not for the sign-up promo, I probably wouldn’t think of getting this.