Komo by EastWest – How to Sign Up and Start Saving Money – Updated 2021

I have recently signed up with two digital banks yesterday. The first one is DiskarTech powered by RCBC and the second one is Komo by EastWest. I already have a CIMB Savings Account but I have decided to open a few more high-earning savings account with digital banks to help me save more money.

The main reason why I’m opening up savings accounts with other digital banks is to help me save more. I know I can save more by just using my CIMB account, however, it became so easily accessible for me and I find myself often using up my savings in order to buy new stocks beyond my target budget.

What I’m trying to do starting from November 2020 and onwards is to have a set budget for buying new inventories. Having other bank accounts will help me save more because as they say – “Out of sight, out of mind.”

I know that it’s just a matter of discipline and proper prioritization and budgeting but I’m still working on those skills and I’m hoping that keeping money in separate bank accounts will be my temporary solution for now.

Note to Readers: Please be advised that the information written here is valid as of the time of writing but may have been updated by the time you see/read this post. Please refer to your Komo’s website to get the updated details. If the links are not working by the time you see the article, please go to Komo’s homepage.

What is Komo?

Komo is a digital banking service created by EastWest bank. The future is digital as they say, and banks in the Philippines are slowly opening up digital bank subsidiaries to meet the increasing demand.

Komo is a fully digital bank meaning all transactions are done online. These transactions include making deposits, withdrawing money, and making money transfers as well.

Is our Money Safe with Komo?

The money you will be depositing to Komo will be held by EastWest Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, EastWest Rural Bank which is a member of PDIC. It means that deposits are insured up to P500,000.

How Much Interest Can We Earn with Komo?

This is one of the reasons why I opened an account with Komo. The interest is 2.5% for all Komo accounts for initial deposits up to P500,000. 1.5% for the next P1,500,000 and 1% on remaining deposits beyond P2,000,000. Please be advised that the dashboard will only display the base interest rate (2.5%) but the computation of interest earned will follow the above-mentioned tier.

Please also note that just like any bank, interest rates may change in the future.

How to Sign Up with Komo?

Signing up with Komo is very easy. Just follow these simple steps to open an account with Komo:

1. Download Komo by EastWest App from Google Play Store of Apple App Store.
2. Once downloaded, open the app and click on “Create an Account.”
3. You will be asked if you’re a Filipino and just toggle the switch to use “Yes.” As of the time of writing, Komo is only open to Filipino citizens.
4. You will be taken to the sign-up page asking for an email address and your mobile number. This is also the same page where you can find the Terms and Conditions. Be sure to read that before you sign-up with Komo.
5. Enter the One-Time Pin that will be sent to your account to continue.
6. You will be asked then to type-in your 6-Digit Passcode on the next screen. Type the information needed.
7. Verification will be the next step, where you will have to take a picture of your valid ID and a selfie. You will see the instructions on your mobile phone’s screen on how to do this so don’t worry that much if it’s your first time going through this kind of process. Please note that Komo accepts the following government IDs:

• Passport
• Driver’s License
• Unified Multipurpose ID (UMID)
• Social Security System ID (SSS ID)
• Professional Regulation Commission ID (PRC ID)
• Taxpayer Identification Number ID (TIN ID)
• Postal ID
• Voter’s ID

8. Please allow a few minutes for the photo of your ID and your selfie to be uploaded. Usually, it takes a few minutes.    This is a compliance requirement set by BSP which regulates all banks including digital banks such as Komo. So to speed up the process, be sure that you are typing in all your information correctly.

9. Next step is to confirm the name that will appear on your card and also the delivery address. Again, be sure that you are typing in the correct information to avoid delays. If there are corrections needed to be done (which happened to me), just go back to the previous pages.

That’s it! Once you have completed all the online forms and submitted the selfie and photo of your valid ID, your account will be activated and you can start using your Komo account! Isn’t it simple and straightforward?

How to Deposit Money to your Komo account?

Unlike my GCash, CIMB, and DiskarTech accounts, there is no cash-in/deposit button on the screen of Komo which got me confused at first. The reason for that is because, as of the time of writing, the only option to make a deposit to your Komo account is by transferring money from your EastWest bank account or from your other bank accounts.

If you’re going to transfer money from other e-wallets or bank accounts, be sure to choose EastWest Rural Bank as the receiving bank and use the account number on your Komo app as the receiving account number (starts with 5000).

Transferring money might incur fees so be sure to check which option is the most cost-efficient for you. After checking my GCash account, it seems that starting November 1, 2020, transferring money to other banks such as Komo will cost P15.

How to Withdraw/Transfer Money from your Komo account?

Withdrawing your money from your Komo account is easy and you have two ways to do that. You can either withdraw your money for free using the debit card provided by Komo in any EastWest ATM. You can also make 4 free* withdrawals per month for other Bancnet-affiliated ATMs in the Philippines.

Please do note that the free withdrawals through ATMs outside the EastWest network will be initially charged to your account and automatically refunded after 2 log-ins on the app.

The other option is to transfer money to your other bank accounts or e-wallet through InstaPay, for free.

Please note that Komo only supports outbound fund transfers using the InstaPay network right now.

How to Pay your Bills with your Komo account?

Aside from the usual saving money, withdrawing money, and transferring money capability, you can also pay your bills using Komo. Personally, though, I do make some of my bills payment via Shopee since I get rebates via discount vouchers. In case you are wondering what the available billers in Komo are, here’s a list arrange per category:

Cable/Internet

• Cablelink
• Innove GlobeQuest (G-Net)
• Innove GlobeQuest (G-Quest)
• Planet Cable
• SkyCable

Electricity

• FDC Misamis Power Corp.
• Meralco
• Surigao del Norte Cooperative
• Visayan Electric Company

Government

• NSO Helpline Plus

Loans

• East West Bank Personal Loan
• East West Rural Bank
• Chinatrust Salary Stretch
• Citibank Savings Loan
• Citifinancial
• HSBC Personal Loans
• PSBank Loans
• Radiowealth Finance

Real Estate

• Bali Oasis
• Capri Oasis
• Filinvest Alabang
• Filinvest Alabang – Fastbytes
• Filinvest Alabang – South Station Terminal
• Filinvest Alabang – South Central
• Filinvest Alabang – West Gate
• Filinvest Asia Corporation
• Filinvest Corporate City Association
• Filinvest Land, Inc. (FAI)
• Filinvest Land Incorporated
• Filinvest Lifemalls
• Filinvest Lifemalls Tagaytay
• Maui Oasis
• One Oasis
• One Oasis Cebu
• Sorrento Oasis
• 2301 Civic Place
• Celebrity Sports Plaza
• Cityland Pioneer
• Civic Prime
• Cyberzone Properties
• Cyberzone Properties – Cebu
• DMCI Project Developers
• Entrata Hotel Services
• Festival Supermall
• IPM Realty and Development
• La Vie Flats
• Mainsquare
• Mimosa Cityscapes
• Palms Country Club
• Palms Pointe
• Philamlife Tower Condominium
• Pioneer Pointe
• Ramzen Realty
• Rockwell Residential Towers
• Studio City
• Studio One Alabang
• Studio Two Alabang
• Vivant Flats
• West Parc Alder
• West Parc Birch
• West Parc Cedar

Telecoms

• Bayan Tel
• Globe Telecom
• Innove Globelines
• PLDT
• PT & T
• Smart/ Sun Cellular

Water

• Filinvest Land Water Collection
• Manila Water
• Maynilad Water Services
• Prime Water
• Subic Water

Credit Card

• East West Bank Credit Card
• BDO Equicard
• Citibank Credit Card
• Equicom Savings
• HSBC Cards
• Metrobank Card
• RCBC Bankard
• Security Bank Mastercard
• Union Bank

Foundation and Charities

• East West Calamity Assistance Fund
• Bantay Bata
• Piso Para sa Pasig
• Resources for the Blind
• World Vision

Insurance

• East West Insurance Brokerage
• Troo Life
• Fortune Care
• Great Life Financial
• Grepalife
• Loyola Plans Consolidated
• Paramount Life
• Philam Life
• Philcare
• Pioneer Life
• PNB Life Insurance
• Pru Life UK
• Prudential Life

Schools

• Andres Bonifacio College
• Don Bosco Technical Center Cebu
• Fatima College Antipolo
• La Salle Greenhills
• Miriam College
• University of  San Jose – Recoletos

Transportation

• Cebu Pacific
• Easytrip

Others

• FDC Utilities Inc.
• Eagle Cement Corporation
• Eurotel Hotel Management
• Far East Broadcasting Phils
• First Peak Resources
• KaPartner Corporation
• Knowledge Channel
• Magnacycle Sales Corp.
• Manila Memorial Park
• MAPECON Philippines
• Multipay Corp.

Here’s a step by step process on how to pay your bills via Komo:

1. Open your Komo app and login
2. At the bottom navigation, click on “Pay”
3. Click on the relevant category and then choose the specific biller you would like to pay. For example, if you’re going to pay for your Globe Postpaid bill, choose “Telecoms” and then choose “Globe Telecoms.” Alternatively, you can also use the search bar on the screen. Just type the name of the biller and click on the magnifying glass icon.
4. Type in the required details such as Account Number, Amount, etc. You can also add a note to your transaction if you wish to.
5. Swipe up to send/make the payment.
6. Enter the OTP that you will receive on your phone as a text message.
7. If you will make a regular payment on this biller, save it so it will be easier and faster the next time around.
8. Click on “Done” and that’s it!

Final Thoughts

I will be using my Komo account only to save money and nothing more. And what I am still trying to find out is how to deposit money to my Komo account without incurring any fees.

As I have mentioned above, Komo does not have a cash-in option via 7-11 unlike CIMB, GCash, and DiskarTech and the only way to deposit money is to make bank transfers which will incur a cost. I tried checking both my CIMB and GCash transfer money options and it seems that there’s a service fee involved.

Anyway, it’s not that much, I would probably schedule the frequency of transfer to minimize the cost.

What I love about Komo is, just like CIMB, they’ll also give you a free Debit Card which you can use to withdraw money for free using any ATMs under the East West network. I don’t intend to use it though for withdrawal since I’m intending to just keep the money and let it earn interest on this account.

Another thing that I love about Komo is transferring money from Komo to another bank account is free (as of the time of writing). Again, I won’t probably be using this feature since I only intend to save money on Komo but it’s good to know that if in case I need to do that, it will not incur any cost. Please note though that this might change just like any other banks so always check with Komo just to be sure.

Note: Updated June 20, 2021.

How about you? Do you also have a Komo account? Feel free to share your tips and suggestions in the comment section below.