# Just heard about Payoneer as a solution for Australian author payments!



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

It's possible that other Australian authors already know about Payoneer, but I have only just learned about it. My book sales have been going well on Kindle and on Smashwords, and I've been getting a lovely direct payment into my Paypal account from Smashwords, but keep getting these pesky little cheques from Amazon. The more books you sell, the more of these cheques turn up as you get paid every time you earn around $100 in royalties (this information is for those US authors who don't have to deal with this). I had approached my Aussie bank about opening an American account that could transfer funds into my account without going through the process of having to cash the Amazon cheque (which entails a $10 cheque fee, then the cheque goes back to the US to be processed and I don't see my currency-converted money for four-six weeks) and was told it couldn't be done. I have protested to Amazon and pointed out to them that if Smashwords can do direct payments into Paypal, why can't they, and their response was that they "weren't set up to do it, but they were looking into it." Now, through another Aussie author, I may have found the answer. Here is her link: http://artsunshinecoast.weebly.com/blog.html
So do any of you have experience with Payoneer? I would appreciate any information that you may offer.
Kind regards to you all.
Carole


----------



## David Adams (Jan 2, 2012)

You have my full attention, sir.

I haven't tried it, but basically I put a hold on all cheques until I get more money. No sense getting $700 worth of income if I'm going to lose $150 to cheque fees. I'll look into it!

God, bring on Amazon.com.au.


----------



## Keith Taylor (Mar 12, 2012)

I've had a Payoneer card for quite a few years now, and I can vouch that they're safe (or, at least, as safe as any other online payment processor).  

Applying through the Payoneer site itself isn't all that user friendly for individuals, as I think most of their business comes from working with big companies running affiliate programs rather than regular folk. 

I recently had to renew my card as I'd allowed it to lapse, and I found the best way to get things sorted was to get in touch with David Stein, the Community Manager (whatever that is) at [email protected]  He pops his head up here and there on internet marketing forums to save overseas IMs working with the Amazon Associates program from dealing with cheques.  

Not sure how much hassle and time I saved, but within a couple of hours of emailing David I got word that my new card was being sent out to me.  Can't wait to get it, as my Amazon cheques currently take six weeks to clear in the UK, and since I live in Thailand I have to get my mother to pay them in


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I've seen Payoneer mentioned in different places, but it seems their fees are really, really high. Is that the case? I'd love to hear from somebody who's actually using them.

ETA:
Here's a link to their fees:
https://payouts.payoneer.com/partners/Default/Fees.aspx


----------



## AndreSanThomas (Jan 31, 2012)

Sounds like you're going to get nickle and dimed to death with this card and maybe even moreso than you would just depositing a check.

You're going to have a transaction fee from the ATM in Australia you withdraw the cash from.  You're going to have a transaction fee from the US bank.  And a transaction fee from these Payoneer people.  Then you're subject to the exchange rate that day and a fee for converting.  If you start bringing in several hundred dollars, you're going to run into ATM limits that require you to make multiple transactions to get your money out.

I'd go inch by inch through all their fees and service charges and do the math to see if this really helps you any.  Near as I can tell the only benefit is that you'll see the money faster than waiting for the check to clear.


----------



## Keith Taylor (Mar 12, 2012)

Fees seem to go with the territory with stuff like this.  I'm happy to pay a couple of dollars per withdrawal rather than wait 6+ weeks for a cheque to clear, but it's a judgement call.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Can you use the Payoneer card to get payments from both Amazon US and Amazon UK? How does that work?


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Thanks for raising this, Carole. Unfortunately, it seems Payoneer is not a viable option but I was pleased to read that Amazon indicated they were looking into using PayPal. Surely that's a no-brainer! JB


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

I've just sent off an enquiry to KDP regarding Payoneer. Will let you know what their response it.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

cahocking said:


> I've just sent off an enquiry to KDP regarding Payoneer. Will let you know what their response it.


They'll tell you it's ok (you can see a lot of people talking about it on Amazon's Kindle forums). Payoneer works by setting up a virtual US bank account for you, so you get payments directly deposited into the account. Not sure what happens with UK Amazon payments, though.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Well, I'm disappointed! Here is the reply from KDP I just received regarding Payoneer:

_"Hello Carole,

I'm sorry; we do not support payments through other services, such as AmazonPayments or PayPal and Payoneer at this time. We offer two payment options for publishers: payment via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or via a paper check.

If it is costly to cash out every check Amazon sent, we do hold on payments on request from publishers. You can request us to hold it up to reach a certain amount that you feel is enough to be sent to you as check. So, you will have to check your royalties now and then and once you feel is enough or comfortable to be sent to you as check, then you write to us for the release of it.

Check hold request option is available for international publishers if you wish to avail it.

I hope this information helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP."_

Now I AM confused. Are there any Australian Indie's out there in Kindleboard Land who are getting their royalties paid into Payoneer?


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Let me explain. Amazon does NOT pay through Payoneer. However, if you get a Payoneer card, you can then open a virtual US bank account through them (you have to get their card first). So then Amazon pays you to that bank account, which is based in the US, so Amazon can do EFT payments. Does that make sense? What you're doing is using Payoneer to open an account for you so Amazon can do deposits into it, but you're not really using Payoneer in Amazon's eyes. 

This only works for Amazon US, though. Not Uk or the other ones.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

dotx said:


> Let me explain. Amazon does NOT pay through Payoneer. However, if you get a Payoneer card, you can then open a virtual US bank account through them (you have to get their card first). So then Amazon pays you to that bank account, which is based in the US, so Amazon can do EFT payments. Does that make sense? What you're doing is using Payoneer to open an account for you so Amazon can do deposits into it, but you're not really using Payoneer in Amazon's eyes.
> 
> This only works for Amazon US, though. Not Uk or the other ones.


Thanks dotx. I THINK I get it, although I go mentally cross-eyed at anything to do with finance and accounting. I've applied to Payoneer for an account and will see what happens. In the meantime, Amazon need to get on board with Paypal! Everyone else seems to accept it.


----------



## leearco (Jul 17, 2011)

Isn't Amazon.com.au coming soon?
And with it I hope a new payment option.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Hi,

My name is Nissim, I'm a Community Manager at Payoneer. I'd like to thank you all for mentioning us and providing feedback to this community.

I'd like to explain a bit about who Payoneer is, and how Amazon authors can benefit from our service. Payoneer provides global payment solutions to over 2,000 companies and millions of users around the world. Payment solutions we provide include prepaid MasterCard cards, localized bank transfer solutions, international currency checks and more.

Amazon is not currently an official partner of ours, though we'd love for them to be. However, Payoneer offers its cardholders a US Payment Service that allows them to receive US ACH/Direct Deposits from select corporations (including Amazon) directly to their card. In addition to the Payoneer prepaid MasterCard, we provide you with an account/routing number for a US bank, that can be used to receive funds (not send funds). All payments received are then loaded directly to the Payoneer card, which can be used online, in stores and at ATMs worldwide where MasterCard is accepted.

You can read more about the service (and sign up) here: http://www.payoneer-affiliates.com/. At the start of the card application you will see a complete list of pricing and fees for the card. For the US Payment Service, you are charged 1% of all payments received.

If you have any questions or comments regarding Payoneer and our services, I'd be more than happy to assist.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

leearco said:


> Isn't Amazon.com.au coming soon?
> And with it I hope a new payment option.


leearco - I haven't heard anything about Amazon.com.au. Has anyone else? I hope it does happen!


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> Hi,
> 
> My name is Nissim, I'm a Community Manager at Payoneer. I'd like to thank you all for mentioning us and providing feedback to this community.
> 
> ...


Thank you Nissim! I have applied and hope it is the solution I have been looking for.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

I am one happy Indie Author right now! I applied to Payoneer, got accepted, changed my payment details on my KDP site and this morning woke up to an email informing me that two royalty payments had gone into my new Payoneer account! Thank you Nissim for all your help, you led me by the hand via our emails and simplified the process for me. And I recommend this now to anyone living outside the US. ALL my Amazon sites (UK included) pay into Payoneer. Solution!
Kind Regards
Carole


----------



## Christine Murray (Oct 4, 2011)

cahocking said:


> I am one happy Indie Author right now! I applied to Payoneer, got accepted, changed my payment details on my KDP site and this morning woke up to an email informing me that two royalty payments had gone into my new Payoneer account! Thank you Nissim for all your help, you led me by the hand via our emails and simplified the process for me. And I recommend this now to anyone living outside the US. ALL my Amazon sites (UK included) pay into Payoneer. Solution!
> Kind Regards
> Carole


I've checked the site and there doesn't seem to be a detailed breakdown of costs. You pay 1% of all payments received which is eminently reasonable, what are the other charges do you know? I'm really interested in this because not being able to get an electronic transfer in Ireland is a pain.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Christine Murray said:


> I've checked the site and there doesn't seem to be a detailed breakdown of costs. You pay 1% of all payments received which is eminently reasonable, what are the other charges do you know? I'm really interested in this because not being able to get an electronic transfer in Ireland is a pain.


There is a link next to the tick box for accepting the fee structure. The fees are a tad steep. It's $3 per cash withdrawal from an ATM, $1 for a balance, $1 for a ATM withdrawal decline, but purchases with the card are free if in US dollars. So assuming you get $1000 paid in, it will cost $10 for the 1% of all deposits, then $3 when the money is withdrawn. And there is also a $29 annual fee, which translates to about $2.50 per month.

I'm just wondering what their foreign currency transaction fees amount to. I think Amazon allows us to request all payments in $US if we have a US bank account, so it may be worthwhile for us aussies if everything is in US dollars considering that we pay about $15 for 5 cheques on each currency (I can never wait that long and always cash 3 US and two UK- never had a Euro payment ).

Hmmm, something to think about.

A little sting in the tail from their terms and conditions:

'A monthly account inactivity fee may be collected if no transactions and no payments have been posted to your account in the last 30 days.'

And in the fine print:

* When a transaction is made as a foreign transaction or is requested in a currency other than USD, charges of up to 3% may be assessed above all charges assessed by MasterCard for the transaction.


----------



## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

If you're in Australia, nab will clear foreign cheques within 3 days. They charge $10 per cheque.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Todd Young said:


> If you're in Australia, nab will clear foreign cheques within 3 days. They charge $10 per cheque.


Yep, I'm with them , and they charge per currency not per cheque for up to 5 cheques. So if you go in with 3 USD cheques, it costs $10 to cash all three. They did say the last time I was in that the fee is going up to $15 very soon.


----------



## Skate (Jan 23, 2011)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> Yep, I'm with them , and they charge per currency not per cheque for up to 5 cheques. So if you go in with 3 USD cheques, it costs $10 to cash all three. They did say the last time I was in that the fee is going up to $15 very soon.


I think they already have put it up. I went in only a few weeks ago and they quoted $15. It's still cheaper than any of the other banks, though.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

cahocking said:


> I am one happy Indie Author right now! I applied to Payoneer, got accepted, changed my payment details on my KDP site and this morning woke up to an email informing me that two royalty payments had gone into my new Payoneer account! Thank you Nissim for all your help, you led me by the hand via our emails and simplified the process for me. And I recommend this now to anyone living outside the US. ALL my Amazon sites (UK included) pay into Payoneer. Solution!
> Kind Regards
> Carole


How is that possible? I was told Payoneer would only work for Amazon US. Did you get a virtual US bank account? KDP doesn't pay directly into the Payoneer card, as far as I know, so you first need to get the card, then have the account approved, then enter the info into your KDP account. However, this is jut for the US payments. How did you manage to set up the UK payments?


----------



## christopherruz (May 5, 2012)

Skate said:


> I think they already have put it up. I went in only a few weeks ago and they quoted $15. It's still cheaper than any of the other banks, though.


Westpac is also quite reasonable - they charge $25 per currency/bank, and the money clears instantly (although they reserve the right to take all the money back if the cheques bounce).


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

I've just been to the bank with my fistfull of cheques and it appears that NAB also levy a fee of 3 cents per dollar when depositing in a foreign currency, which pretty much matches the payoneer foreign currency fee. Payoneer is looking better all the time, especially when considering that a US based credit card can be very handy for an aussie (all those mp3's and videos we can't buy _*may*_ become accessible if an account is properly set up).


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

dotx said:


> How is that possible? I was told Payoneer would only work for Amazon US. Did you get a virtual US bank account? KDP doesn't pay directly into the Payoneer card, as far as I know, so you first need to get the card, then have the account approved, then enter the info into your KDP account. However, this is jut for the US payments. How did you manage to set up the UK payments?


dotx - When I applied to Payoneer, I was given a virtual bank account with First Century Bank and they are the details you submit to KDP. As soon as I entered the details, KDP adjusted ALL the Amazons (UK, Italy, Germany etc) automatically to pay into Payoneer. I thought I would have to do each one manually, but it happened instantly. Which means my royalties have finally caught up with me across the globe! My Payoneer card was dispatched to me immediately, I haven't yet received it, but as soon as I have, I will "activate" the card online and then the royalties are transferred from First Century Bank to the Payoneer card, giving me instant access to them.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Is there any way to check balances and stuff of the bank account and credit card online?


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

I set up a payoneer account and organised the transfer option but KDP wouldn't let me change to EFT. When I queried KDP support, I got the following reply:

_Hello Hercules,

Once your country is set to a country located outside the United States, the payment option will default to Check.
This is why you are unable to save the EFT Details on your Account.

I have checked the status of your account, and see that you are currently residing in Australia.
As such, you will be unable to select EFT as a Payment option for your Country of Residence.

Thank you for using Amazon KDP._

I've sent a query just to confirm this, but it looks like only US residents can get EFT for US royalties at the moment.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Herc,

I have no idea why anyone ever thought any different. It says on the KDP site.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Patty Jansen said:


> Herc,
> 
> I have no idea why anyone ever thought any different. It says on the KDP site.


Ms Hocking posted that she'd had her royalties posted into her Payoneer account. I thought I'd give it a go, too.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

But neither of us are in the US. It clearly says ETF for US accounts only.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Patty Jansen said:


> But neither of us are in the US. It clearly says ETF for US accounts only.


Neither is Ms Hocking. She's in Australia and she's saying she changed to the Payoneer account with no problems. I'm confused.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

You mean Amanda Hocking

She's in the US http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/bio/


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Not Amanda  Carole Hocking. She's in Australia and earlier in this thread wrote:

_I am one happy Indie Author right now! I applied to Payoneer, got accepted, changed my payment details on my KDP site and this morning woke up to an email informing me that two royalty payments had gone into my new Payoneer account! Thank you Nissim for all your help, you led me by the hand via our emails and simplified the process for me. And I recommend this now to anyone living outside the US. ALL my Amazon sites (UK included) pay into Payoneer. Solution!
Kind Regards
Carole_


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

I believe the response mentioned above is referring to EFT payments to Australia for US Amazon earnings. Meaning Amazon cannot send US earnings directly to an Australian bank account.

The Payoneer US Payment Service provides you with a US account/routing number, which is linked to a Payoneer card and can be used to receive payments from select corporations (including Amazon). You can then use it to receive US EFT transfers from Amazon, and all payments received are then loaded directly to your Payoneer card, which is available to over 200 countries worldwide.

For more details you can visit our site or also feel free to contact me at [email protected]


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> Is there any way to check balances and stuff of the bank account and credit card online?


All Payoneer cardholders have access to an online My Account page, which allows you to view your complete account details, including load history and transaction details.

Once a payment is received to your US Payment Service (which is the US account/routing number linked to your card that can only receive funds) it is loaded to the Payoneer card and you receive an e-mail confirmation. It will also appear on your My Account page with a full description of any fees applied (as mentioned, there is a 1% charge per payment received).

Also keep in mind that US ACH/Direct Deposit transfers generally take only 2-3 business days to arrive (though officially they can take up to 7 business days), so once Amazon send your payment it will be available for use within that time.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

As far as I can see, it does not link to a bank account. I want the money in my bank account, not another separate account I'll have to enter at tax time.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> I believe the response mentioned above is referring to EFT payments to Australia for US Amazon earnings. Meaning Amazon cannot send US earnings directly to an Australian bank account.
> 
> The Payoneer US Payment Service provides you with a US account/routing number, which is linked to a Payoneer card and can be used to receive payments from select corporations (including Amazon). You can then use it to receive US EFT transfers from Amazon, and all payments received are then loaded directly to your Payoneer card, which is available to over 200 countries worldwide.
> 
> For more details you can visit our site or also feel free to contact me at [email protected]


Nissim, I have an account with First Century set up by Payoneer but Amazon will not enrol me for EFT because I am in Australia. I posted the reply Amazon sent me a few posts up.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> Nissim, I have an account with First Century set up by Payoneer but Amazon will not enrol me for EFT because I am in Australia. I posted the reply Amazon sent me a few posts up.


Does your account not have the option for Direct Deposit under the payment methods (to a US bank)? If not, please send me an e-mail and I will look in to this.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Patty Jansen said:


> You mean Amanda Hocking
> 
> She's in the US http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/bio/


 No. Look a few posts above yours. There's a woman posting on this thread called Hocking. She's in Australia and she's using Payoneer.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> Does your account not have the option for Direct Deposit under the payment methods (to a US bank)? If not, please send me an e-mail and I will look in to this.


I've sent you an email with the details.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> I've sent you an email with the details.


Great, thanks, replying now.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Hello All!
Just to clarify: I am NOT Amanda Hocking living in the US with over a million sales (sigh), I am C A Hocking (Carole) living in Australia with fewer sales than Amanda but enough to keep me smiling and to keep my Amazon royalties going into my Payoneer account each month. The only thing we share is a great surname. My books are getting good reviews and sales are increasing steadily. I love being an Indie Author!
I don't know what the problem was for Herc The Reluctant Geek (love the name Herc!), but once it is set up properly, it works like a dream. I got a bit confused when setting it up as the term "routing number" was new to me, but I googled it and realised which numbers Payoneer gave were "routing numbers" and which were "account numbers". I then sent a query directly to the MARVELLOUS Nissim (check the post from him above) who led me by the hand as I waded through the process (anything to do with money and accounting makes me go mentally cross-eyed) and the account was quickly set up with First Century Bank, the account and routing numbers. THOSE are the details I entered into my account details on KDP and it was accepted AND instantly changed all the European Amazon sites to direct credit into that account too. That was nice as I had small amounts of royalties waiting to get big enough to justify the dreaded check. My UK royalties and some books I'd sold in Germany and Italy went straight into my account. The First Century Bank account number is different from the Payoneer card number. When my royalties go into the First Century Bank account, they are then uploaded automatically to my Payonner Card, and I get an email to let me know when that happens. I can easily go online to check my Payoneer Card balance. There is no reason AT ALL why anyone else in Australia can't do this, but it is confusing to begin with. So please, if you are having trouble with it, send Nissim an email. He provides that rare thing that is missing in so many financial institutions these days - personal service! He is an asset to Payoneer and I hope he gets bonuses for the help he gives us. 
Good luck, my fellow Aussie Indie's, it's easy once you get the gist of it, and it's glorious to get those emails from KDP EVERY MONTH telling you that your money has gone into your account. You can access it easily by using your Payoneer card, which is a Mastercard. Beats that bloody awful check system hands down!
Kind Regards to you all!
Carole Hocking (NOT Amanda!!!!)


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

A financial institute that as 'real' person (like Nissim) who actually helps is worth paying a little extra. However, is it too much extra? Have you done a comparison of costs, Amanda - (just kidding) Carole?


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Hello JB Rowley - yes, I did a complete comparison over a period of weeks of all costs and Payoneer definitely comes out on top. My husband is a canny tight-as-a-fishes-proverbial Scotsman and he went over the details with a fine tooth comb. Payoneer worked out cheaper than the cheques, and appears, at this stage, to be the only way that KDP will direct credit royalty payments at this stage. They'll get on board with Paypal eventually and I can't figure out why they haven't already. Amazon ACCEPTS Paypal as a method of payment for things they sell, so should be too hard to set up their system to pay INTO that as well. Smashwords is a much smaller concern and they pay into Paypal.
The First Century Bank is a US bank which is acceptable to KDP, but the Payoneer Card that the bank uploads my money to is a universal Mastercard which can be used anywhere in the world. The First Century Bank fees PLUS the fees to use the Payoneer Card (which includes a yearly admin fee) still work out cheaper and more CONVENIENT than the check method. I keep wanting to write cheque as I am an Aussie, but am bowing to US wisdom with the English language - it SHOULD be check as that is how it sounds! Do your own comparisons with your bank fees etc and see how you go. My bank is St George and their fees are very competitive. I don't know how they compare with other Aussie financial institutions though. Payoneer is the way to go, I have no doubt about that!
Carole


----------



## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

This all sounds very interesting, thank you Carole for sharing your experience. I'll need to crunch some numbers to see how much I'd save but the sheer convenience of EFT would be wonderful. My only concern is that the money is stuck on the Payoneer card. At least with Paypal I can transfer the money to my linked bank account. Does Payoneer have this facility or is it something I need to ask my bank?


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Thanks Carole,

I'll definitely take the recommendation of a Scotsman when it comes to money wisdom. 

I agree with you re Paypal. Come on Amazon, everybody else in the whole wide world uses Paypal, why not you?

By the way, there is wisdom in spelling 'cheque' that way. When we see it spelled that way the brain does not have slow down to scan for the many different meanings of 'check' and 'qu' represents 'k' as well as 'kw'.

The American spelling of 'arse' (ass) is one that often causes me confusion. When I see a guy wearing a T-shirt that says "I like a nice ass' my mind boggles at the thought of what is sexual preferences might be.  JB


----------



## morantis (May 8, 2012)

This is not a direct answer to your problem, but be aware of a service called ez exchange, I forget their web address, but you can Google it.  I know they handle transfers from accounts like Paypal to other accounts that are not Paypal and vice versa, but in the middle of all that they also had strange transfer services, so you may want to check them out.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm pretty sure that the problems I'm having are on Amazon's end and not Payoneer. I just tried to update my telephone number and encountered the same problem - it refused to save. I've sent another support query and plan on nagging them into submission.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

JB Rowley said:


> The American spelling of 'arse' (*ss) is one that often causes me confusion. When I see a guy wearing a T-shirt that says "I like a nice *ss' my mind boggles at the thought of what is sexual preferences might be. JB


JB Rowling - Funny you should mention that! I've finished writing a TV series, now in pre-production (will take 2-7 years before you see on Oz TV though) in which the lead female expounds on the 10 commandments (it's a comedy, very Australian) and she firmly believes the "Do not covet your neighbour's ass" is a spelling error. After all, what's so attractive about a donkey ..... LOL


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

CJArcher said:


> This all sounds very interesting, thank you Carole for sharing your experience. I'll need to crunch some numbers to see how much I'd save but the sheer convenience of EFT would be wonderful. My only concern is that the money is stuck on the Payoneer card. At least with Paypal I can transfer the money to my linked bank account. Does Payoneer have this facility or is it something I need to ask my bank?


No, you can't transfer the money from the Payoneer card or account to your bank account. But you can withdraw all the money from an ATM and then deposit it into your bank account. An extra step, but I don't see as such a huge inconvenience.


----------



## Lalyn (Aug 14, 2011)

According to the Payoneer website, you can transfer the money to your bank account using the Local Bank Transfer service.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Lalyn said:


> According to the Payoneer website, you can transfer the money to your bank account using the Local Bank Transfer service.


We do not currently support card to bank transfers, however it is something we are looking in to for the future.

Payoneer currently provides payment solutions to over 2,000 companies. Our local bank transfer service is one of the many payment solutions we offer, and others are the Payoneer prepaid debit card, international currency checks, and local eWallets.

The way it works is that a company or small business partners with Payoneer to pay their members. The members can sign up with Payoneer and choose their payment methods (payments to the prepaid card, payments directly to their bank account, etc) and Payoneer sends the payments accordingly. So for the company, it's just one simple transfer to Payoneer, and we then make payments to all their members using the payment methods they've each selected.

I just wanted to quickly explain that so you could understand what the local bank transfer service is (though I know it's not specific to this case, as Amazon is not currently a partner of ours).


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

cahocking said:


> JB Rowling - Funny you should mention that! I've finished writing a TV series, now in pre-production (will take 2-7 years before you see on Oz TV though) in which the lead female expounds on the 10 commandments (it's a comedy, very Australian) and she firmly believes the "Do not covet your neighbour's *ss" is a spelling error. After all, what's so attractive about a donkey ..... LOL


That is funny. When visiting Indonesia I was told about a line in a movie that had the locals confused and amused. Apparently the subtitles had been translated from English to Indonesian but over there most people don't know the difference between AmE and BrE. Anyway, a particular line in the movie which was supposed to be an angry retort was incorrectly translated in Indonesian as 'Kiss my donkey'.

I had to smile at your use of 'JB Rowling'. Not sure if it was intentional or not but it's a good joke considering you were being confused with Amanda Hocking. Now they're going to confuse me with J.K. Rowling. LOL! JB 

PS: I checked your website for details of the TV series but you did not name it. I guess you're not permitted to?


----------



## Lalyn (Aug 14, 2011)

*confused* 

Nissim,

Do you mean I can't receive money through my local bank if the company paying me is not enrolled in LBT? 
My understanding was as soon as the money is deposited to my VBA (using Payoneer's US Payment Service) then I can withdraw it two ways -- using my Payoneer card or my local bank account.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Sorry for the confusion.  The US Payment Service can only be used to receive payments to the Payoneer card.  Once the funds are on your card, you can make purchases online, in stores, or withdraw cash from ATMs worldwide that accept debit MasterCard.

Our LBT service can only be used to receive payment from our official partners.  It cannot be used to receive payments via the US Payment Service.


----------



## Lalyn (Aug 14, 2011)

Nissim,

I see. I get it now. Amazon is not an official partner, so to receive royalty payments from them I must use Payoneer's US Payment service, then withdraw the money from an ATM using my Payoneer card.

If I'm receiving money from an official partner (such as Odesk/Elance?), I can use the LBT service and withdraw money to my local bank.

Thank you very much for the clarification.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

JB Rowley said:


> PS: I checked your website for details of the TV series but you did not name it. I guess you're not permitted to?


Hello JB. My working title for the TV series is Mrs Pastor, but the network may well change that, they often do. That is if it gets to the screen. All going well at present, but still a long way to go. It's a musical sitcom set in 1967 in rural SA and has got a very good reception in the industry so far. But writing it has kept me away from my true love, novels, and this year I need to get at least one new novel out. I just checked out your books and have downloaded them. I love the sound of both of them, one being about secrets and keeping them, and the other with an eleven year old girl as the main character. My two novels so far are dark dramatic fiction, all about secrets and keeping them, and I'm working on a series of children's books involving an eleven year old girl as one of two main characters! Love it! Perhaps I'll message you when I've read them? Oh, and please call me Carole ...


----------



## Ilyhana Kate Kennedy (Jun 3, 2012)

Thanks Carole for posting this issue, and letting people know about my blog on the Payoneer experience. I have my card but it takes so long before anything gets loaded, and I'm a new author, so we'll see if I get there with it. Thanks to everyone for your info on fees. Very helpful. 
But really Amazon, come on.
Cheers, Ilyhana


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Ilyhana Kate Kennedy said:


> Thanks Carole for posting this issue, and letting people know about my blog on the Payoneer experience. I have my card but it takes so long before anything gets loaded, and I'm a new author, so we'll see if I get there with it. Thanks to everyone for your info on fees. Very helpful.
> But really Amazon, come on.
> Cheers, Ilyhana


You are most welcome Ilyhana! My card was loaded quite quickly after the royalties went into the account. I simply haven't received my card yet! But it takes up to a month and I only applied a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not worried. What will be interesting now is talking to an accountant to work out how I go with tax, especially as the US tax system operates over a calendar year, and our outdated British Empire system operates on the fiscal year. I'll let the accountant work that out. I guess it means taking him printouts of all my royalty deposits up to 30 June and ignoring the annual tax statements that Amazon and Smashwords send us in the New Year. This year will be the first year I'll need to declare my writing income. I'm not complaining! I'm very pleased to have earned enough to warrant it!


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Ilyhana Kate Kennedy said:


> Thanks Carole for posting this issue, and letting people know about my blog on the Payoneer experience. I have my card but it takes so long before anything gets loaded, and I'm a new author, so we'll see if I get there with it. Thanks to everyone for your info on fees. Very helpful.
> But really Amazon, come on.
> Cheers, Ilyhana


Ilyhana,
Can I ask how long did it take?


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

dotx said:


> Ilyhana,
> Can I ask how long did it take?


dotx - My Payoneer card was loaded within days of my royalties going in. I don't know if this is the same for everyone though.
Carole


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

The payments are made by Amazon as US ACH/Direct Deposit transfers.  These generally take 1-3 business days to process (being a standard US bank transfer) however officially banks state that they can take up to 7 business days.

As soon as the payment arrives to the Payoneer account, it is automatically loaded to your card.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Just heard back from KDP support and, guess what, they do allow Aussies and other non-US national to use direct deposit:

_'As long as you've a valid US bank account (domiciled in the US,) you'll be able to enter it in to your KDP account and receive payments via EFT (direct deposit.)'_

And my updating issue was an Internet Explorer thing. Good ol' Microsoft. A pain in the posterior since the 1980's . Had I used Firefox, none of this would have happened.

There you go. Much ado about nothing....


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> Just heard back from KDP support and, guess what, they do allow Aussies and other non-US national to use direct deposit:
> 
> _'As long as you've a valid US bank account (domiciled in the US,) you'll be able to enter it in to your KDP account and receive payments via EFT (direct deposit.)'_
> 
> ...


Glad to hear that it worked out  I never thought the problem would actually be with Internet Explorer! I personally prefer Google Chrome, though Firefox is good as well.


----------



## Ilyhana Kate Kennedy (Jun 3, 2012)

reply to dotx. Madeleine it took at least a month if not longer for my card to arrive. It gets there eventually. Cheers, Ilyhana


----------



## mathewferguson (Oct 24, 2010)

Herc- The Reluctant Geek said:


> Just heard back from KDP support and, guess what, they do allow Aussies and other non-US national to use direct deposit:
> 
> _'As long as you've a valid US bank account (domiciled in the US,) you'll be able to enter it in to your KDP account and receive payments via EFT (direct deposit.)'_
> 
> ...


KDP allowing Aussies to use US bank accounts was never the problem. Due to the post 9-11 changes in the US it is virtually impossible for someone outside US to open a bank account.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Just to clarify, Payoneer's US Payment Service is not a US bank account.  

Payoneer provides you with a US account and routing number, however it can be used only to receive funds (it cannot send funds) and only from select corporations approved by Payoneer (which include Amazon, PayPal, Google, Apple, and more).  All payments received are then loaded directly to your Payoneer card, which is a prepaid debit MasterCard card and can be used worldwide.

The service provides a quick and simple solution for Payoneer cardholders worldwide to receive US ACH transfers from select corporations, when they would otherwise be limited to slower and less efficient payment options from those corporations (such as paper checks).


----------



## Keith Taylor (Mar 12, 2012)

This afternoon I finally managed to work through the bureaucracy of the British Embassy in Bangkok (my mailing address here - I often get called dirty words by embassy staff around the world for using them as post offices) and collected my Payoneer Mastercard.  Within ten minutes I'd almost dropped it down a grid, almost dropped it between platform and train on the BTS, and then cleared out the balance to pay my effing rent with my May royalties.  It's great to escape the dreaded Amazon cheques.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Glad to hear that you received the card, Aya!


----------



## Ilyhana Kate Kennedy (Jun 3, 2012)

Well done Aya. 
And apologies to dotx for my last reply that was somewhat dyslexic (I can be). But you got the message about the card.
And now I've discovered to my very deep disappointment that purchasing a Kindle Fire in Aus means you pay a heap more to get a lot less (no movies) and can't access apps unless you hack the thing and then you'll negate your warranty. So I'm not purchasing right now. But that's another thread story.
Amazon! We are waiting!

Cheers, Ilyhana


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Aya Fukunishi said:


> This afternoon I finally managed to work through the bureaucracy of the British Embassy in Bangkok (my mailing address here - I often get called dirty words by embassy staff around the world for using them as post offices) and collected my Payoneer Mastercard. Within ten minutes I'd almost dropped it down a grid, almost dropped it between platform and train on the BTS, and then cleared out the balance to pay my effing rent with my May royalties. It's great to escape the dreaded Amazon cheques.


Can I ask why you're doing this? I've lived in different countries and have always rented a PO Box for my mail.


----------



## traceya (Apr 26, 2010)

I've never heard about Payoneer but I bank with the Westpac bank and can cash my American cheques immediately and the cash is available immediately.  It's an easy way of doing it without having to go through any hoops.


----------



## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

I bank with the CBA and they charge $10 to cash foreign currency cheques, and then you have to wait about 4 weeks for the funds to clear.

A bigger nuisance to me is the 30% tax ripoff, but that just means I'll have to get my passport sorted so I can apply for an ITIN.

And finally, if Google can pay into aussie bank accounts (without deducting any tax, either) why can't Amazon?


----------



## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> Glad to hear that you received the card, Aya!


Nissim, can I get a clarification on something?

Is it an ATM fee PLUS a 3% fee on total transaction for ATM withdrawals in foreign (non US) currencies?

I'm currently running a foreign currency account and paying $60 a month for the account in fees but I'm reluctant to go with payoneer if the 3% is enforced.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Hi x2far,

The ATM fee is for the cash withdrawal, not related to the currency conversion.  You can avoid the fee by making purchases online or in stores.  The currency conversion, as with most debit/credit cards, would be applied to any transaction made in a foreign currency (in this case non-USD, as the card is held in USD).


----------



## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

Simon Haynes said:


> I bank with the CBA and they charge $10 to cash foreign currency cheques, and then you have to wait about 4 weeks for the funds to clear.
> 
> A bigger nuisance to me is the 30% tax ripoff, but that just means I'll have to get my passport sorted so I can apply for an ITIN.
> 
> And finally, if Google can pay into aussie bank accounts (without deducting any tax, either) why can't Amazon?


Simon, I'm with westpac and anything under 250 bucks is $25 dollars (unlimited cheques, same currency) plus they clear it immediately. But reserve the right to take it back if cheque bounces. I usually save my US and EU cheques for afew months then cash them in one hit.

For my Uk royalties royalties which yield more than $250 each cheque I have a foreign currency account that costs $60 a month but also clears immediately.


----------



## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> Hi x2far,
> 
> The ATM fee is for the cash withdrawal, not related to the currency conversion. You can avoid the fee by making purchases online or in stores. The currency conversion, as with most debit/credit cards, would be applied to any transaction made in a foreign currency (in this case non-USD, as the card is held in USD).


Thanks for the prompt reply, Nissim.

Cheers
Chris


----------



## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

Question for those already using payoneer...

Are your payments having tax withheld by the US now that you have a virtual US bank account? Ie, are you losing the 30% or the 10% tax treaty with ITTN?


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

x2far said:


> Question for those already using payoneer...
> 
> Are your payments having tax withheld by the US now that you have a virtual US bank account? Ie, are you losing the 30% or the 10% tax treaty with ITTN?


Taxes are withheld based on the address on your account, rather than the method of payment. So if you entered an Australian address, for example, having a US bank account won't make a difference.


----------



## WillemThomas (Dec 9, 2010)

Will a US funds Payoneer account accept Sterling and Euro deposits from Amazon and convert them automatically?


Willem Thomas


----------



## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

dotx said:


> Taxes are withheld based on the address on your account, rather than the method of payment. So if you entered an Australian address, for example, having a US bank account won't make a difference.


Thanks, Diana.

Maybe I'll have to move to the US when I crack a million bucks!


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

x2far said:


> Thanks, Diana.
> 
> Maybe I'll have to move to the US when I crack a million bucks!


But if you get an EIN you won't have taxes withheld. You can get the number over the phone, by calling the IRS. It's really not hard.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

WillemThomas said:


> Will a US funds Payoneer account accept Sterling and Euro deposits from Amazon and convert them automatically?
> 
> Willem Thomas


The Payoneer US Payment Service can only be used to receive US ACH/Direct Deposit transfers (in USD).



dotx said:


> But if you get an EIN you won't have taxes withheld. You can get the number over the phone, by calling the IRS. It's really not hard.


As dotx mentioned, if you're a non-US citizen/resident you can apply for an ITIN/EIN for US tax reporting reasons. It's a simply matter of filling out a form and submitting it in to the IRS (or going to a local IRS office in your country). The entire process normally takes 6-8 weeks.


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

Nissim-Payoneer said:


> The Payoneer US Payment Service can only be used to receive US ACH/Direct Deposit transfers (in USD).
> 
> As dotx mentioned, if you're a non-US citizen/resident you can apply for an ITIN/EIN for US tax reporting reasons. It's a simply matter of filling our a form and mailing it in to the IRS (or going to a local IRS office in your country). The entire process normally takes 6-8 weeks.


The EIN was simplicity itself. It took ten minutes on the telephone to organise the number, fifteen minutes to fill out the W8 form for Smashwords and Amazon and that was it. Amazon have dropped my withholding tax rate to 5% and I beleive Smash will as well come next pay day. I was a bit annoyed that I still need an ITIN to claim the back taxes from last year, but that's life in a bureaucratic world .


----------



## lorelei (Feb 25, 2012)

Herc,
  Why can't you use your EIN when you fill out a tax return to get your refund?


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

lorelei said:


> Herc,
> Why can't you use your EIN when you fill out a tax return to get your refund?


Sorry about the delay in answering, but the tax return seems to only have a place for an ITIN 

On a brighter note, just got my card and had my first US royalties loaded into it. It took about 3 days from when I got the remittance notice from Amazon for the money to make it onto my card. Sure beats the 2-4 weeks it takes for the cheque to get here


----------



## JGreen20 (Jul 10, 2012)

I know this topic is a few months old, but I'd like to know your experiences after a few months using Payoneer.

Did you have any problem with your Payoneer card? Are the fees reasonable? Did you find any hidden fees? 

Also, can you link your Payoneer Mastercard to Paypal and use it to pay online?

Thanks,


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

JGreen20 said:


> I know this topic is a few months old, but I'd like to know your experiences after a few months using Payoneer.
> 
> Did you have any problem with your Payoneer card? Are the fees reasonable? Did you find any hidden fees?
> 
> ...


Payoneer has been fantastic for me, but I buy a heap of stuff online and have subscriptions and stuff all of which are in US currency. I'm actually saving the foreign transaction fee my bank used to charge.

I've yet to withdraw anything from an ATM, so I can't comment on that experience.


----------



## Scarlett_R (Sep 30, 2011)

Okay I'm so ready to do this- but I have no idea where to even start on the website. Where does one go/how do I apply?


----------



## JuliaHarwell (Feb 19, 2012)

Scarlett_R said:


> Okay I'm so ready to do this- but I have no idea where to even start on the website. Where does one go/how do I apply?


http://www.payoneer.com/cardholdersIntro.aspx -- click green 'Sign up' button.


----------



## Scarlett_R (Sep 30, 2011)

Thankya Julia!


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

You can also use the following link to sign up, which has a bit more info and explanations as to how the service works:

http://www.payoneer-affiliates.com/


----------



## Ashna Emerson (Apr 22, 2012)

-


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

I do not want to get too much in to detail without allowing members of the community a chance to share their experiences first, but I just wanted to address some of the more basic questions:

- We do require a copy of your photo ID in order to begin using the US Payment Service (the US account that allows you to receive payments from US companies).  This is required in order to comply with online payment regulations, which include KYC (Know Your Customer).

- Due to US regulations, we cannot offer direct application for the card and service via our website to US residents. This is why US residents must apply via one of our partners. Payoneer currently provides global payment solutions to thousands of companies and millions of payees worldwide.

- Our Refer a Friend program allows you to refer new Payoneer cardholders and earn rewards.  As you mentioned, you get paid $25 for each new cardholder that gets approved for a card and receives at least $100 in payments (total payments, not all at once).  The person you refer will also earn a bonus of $25 (so you both get $25 each).


I'm very interested to hear what the rest of the community has to say about our service


----------



## Ashna Emerson (Apr 22, 2012)

-


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

I started this thread in May, so I thought I would respond to Ashna.
I have found Payoneer very easy, very cheap and very satisfactory to use. Nissim's online presence on Kindleboards has been very helpful indeed (and do I qualify for the $25 bonus for directing people to Payoneer, Nissim? LOL) and it was a simple matter of filling out a bit of paperwork to open an account.
Since setting up the account and receiving my Payoneer card, my royalty payments have gone into the account without any problems, and the card is loaded within a couple of days. This is not only faster (the cheques taking 4-6 weeks to clear from Australia), but is much, much cheaper. Before, I would present the bank with my little $100 cheques, sometimes several at once, and have to pay a $10 cheque fee on each cheque. After currency conversion, a much reduced amount would go into my account. It was disheartening and inconvenient.
With the payments now going into my Payoneer account automatically every month and loading up the card, I am able to use it as I would any normal credit card. I don't know about linking it to my Paypal account, I haven't needed to do that, but it's a thought.
Signing up with Payoneer came at a very good time for me. I recently did a Five Day Free Promo when I enrolled with KDP Select and had over 16,000 downloads during that time. When the Promo was over, my book sales increased ten fold, so it was well worth doing. My increased royalties are going straight into my Payoneer account, thank goodness, otherwise I would be taking many silly little cheques over to the bank and in this day and age, I find that ridiculous. The fees are SMALL compared to the cost of handling the cheques, so there is no going back for me. 
Kind Regards
Carole


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

Really happy to hear it, Carole!

Unfortunately I would have no way of making the referrals retroactive, as the program is entirely automated (and you receive your own unique affiliate link and account for tracking). You should definitely sign up, though. You can read more about the Refer a Friend program (and sign up) here: http://share.payoneer-affiliates.com/m/164278324


----------



## Ashna Emerson (Apr 22, 2012)

-


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm very happy with it too. Never had a problem getting the money out of the ATM and I think the fees are fair. Besides, my other option would be to wait up to 6 weeks for a check to clear!


----------



## Ashna Emerson (Apr 22, 2012)

-


----------



## Ashna Emerson (Apr 22, 2012)

-


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Ashna Emerson said:


> Another question: Amazon pays in US dollars, pounds and euros. Are you able to receive the latter 2 through Payoneer or do you still have to cash checks for the pounds and euros?


I get payments from all the Amazon stores through Payoneer.


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

I also get payments from all the sites. They seem to end up in Payoneer as US dollars.
Kind Regards
Carole


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

I am still hesitating about Payoneer. Although Nissim is definitely one of their major assets and has been helpful to me per email, I think the costs are high compared to my bank. 

With Payoneer, there is an annual fee of $29.95 - that's okay. In addition, there is a fee of 1% to receive a payment. That's okay up to a point. However, if I receive $3000.00 a month from Amazon.com (one US cheque per month) the Payoneer payment fee will be $30.00 per month but my bank (Bank of Bendigo) charges me a flat fee of $10.00 per foreign cheque transaction. So using this example, with Payoneer I would pay $30 per month and with my bank only $10.00 per month. I realise that because I have to wait for the money to be credited to my account I am losing out interest that might otherwise be earned but I don't think that will balance things out.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

JB Rowley said:


> I am still hesitating about Payoneer. Although Nissim is definitely one of their major assets and has been helpful to me per email, I think the costs are high compared to my bank.
> 
> With Payoneer, there is an annual fee of $29.95 - that's okay. In addition, there is a fee of 1% to receive a payment. That's okay up to a point. However, if I receive $3000.00 a month from Amazon.com (one US cheque per month) the Payoneer payment fee will be $30.00 per month but my bank (Bank of Bendigo) charges me a flat fee of $10.00 per foreign cheque transaction. So using this example, with Payoneer I would pay $30 per month and with my bank only $10.00 per month. I realise that because I have to wait for the money to be credited to my account I am losing out interest that might otherwise be earned but I don't think that will balance things out.


I think of the higher fees as a payment for convenience. I don't want to wait 4-6 weeks for a check to clear through my bank. I also have to wait 2-3 weeks for the check to arrive in the first place (and once it was lost). My bank charges $10 up to a certain amount. For $3000, they would charge me close to $50 in fees.

I think Payoneer is meant to speed things up (for us impatient people) and make them simpler. If you're willing to pay for that, then it's worth it.


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Yes, I guess it depends what your priorities are. My highest priority is always my 'hip pocket'. JB


----------



## cahocking (Nov 8, 2010)

Hi JB! I'm impressed with the Bank of Bendigo's cheque fees. If I receive $3000 from Amazon, it comes as about 30 cheques of $100 or so each. My bank, St George, charges a flat $10 PER CHEQUE. So I would pay $300 in fees just to get my money. I had a look at locations for Bank of Bendigo and they only have one branch here in Canberra in the city, which is miles from where I live, so I'll have to stick with my local bank. Pity. Having said all that, I'm very happy otherwise with my local bank, and very happy with Payoneer, but I can see why you don't need it as much.
All the best!
Carole


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

Hi Carole. Yes, I can see how Payoneer would be an advantage in the case of lots of small cheques. JB


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I'm still hesitating about going ahead as I have a few questions that I hope Nissim can answer. 

Because six of my Amazon cheques have been lost in the post, plus a card and letter from the US, how can I be sure of receiving my Payoneer card? Do you have a courier service, or register the cards?

Do the cards have to be loaded with money before being posted to the recipient?

Thanks


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I'm still hesitating about going ahead as I have a few questions that I hope Nissim can answer.
> 
> Because six of my Amazon cheques have been lost in the post, plus a card and letter from the US, how can I be sure of receiving my Payoneer card? Do you have a courier service, or register the cards?
> 
> ...


Well, I can answer one of the questions. "Do the cards have to be loaded with money before being posted to the recipient?" No. The cards come to you empty and you have to activate them online before any money can be loaded into them. So even if somebody steals them, they won't be able to use them.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

dotx said:


> Well, I can answer one of the questions. "Do the cards have to be loaded with money before being posted to the recipient?" No. The cards come to you empty and you have to activate them online before any money can be loaded into them. So even if somebody steals them, they won't be able to use them.


Thanks. That solves question one as well.


----------



## JRHenderson (Dec 4, 2011)

I don't know if anyone's already linked to this, but there's a Payoneer video that's quite informative...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BgdGiXJXU (1m 34s)

I love the Australian wearing a stetson.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

JRHenderson said:


> I don't know if anyone's already linked to this, but there's a Payoneer video that's quite informative...
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BgdGiXJXU (1m 34s)
> 
> I love the Australian wearing a stetson.


Thanks. I was able to watch it because yesterday our adsl lines were all upgraded to make them faster (I often used to give up with YouTube because I sat for hours waiting for the little circle to upload )


----------



## Neil Skywalker (Oct 5, 2012)

I'm also thinking of using payoneer. I'm from Holland and just had to pay nearly 20 euros (about 26 US) to cash a check and who knows how long it will take to actually receie the fund in my bankaccount. I have looked into several options to open an US account but find that also rather expensive. Most US banks charge a monthly fee of 15$ and transfering funds internationally costs about 30 - 40$

Not much to gain this way unless you're making some serious money through royalties. 

I still need to find out how much the ATM costs are when I use Payoneer. 

Cheers,
Neil


----------



## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Resurrecting this thread! I have a couple of questions for people, since I'm in the process of working out how to deal with my Amazon payments.

1) It's a little difficult to work out exactly how much banks charge for cashing foreign cheques. A lot of people in this thread have said things like "It's just $25 for unlimited cheques" or whatever, but I was under the impression there's always a currency conversion fee, something like 3%, on top of the basic fee. Is that accurate?

2) If you receive cheques from the smaller international Amazon bodies like Germany, are they in USD? ie: will all the Amazon cheques be in a single currency for those banks that charge a flat fee per bundle of cheques?

3) Has anyone worked out exactly what the fees are to withdraw cash from an ATM via Payoneer? That fee page that was originally linked is now gone, and their site isn't very transparent about it. I'd love to just leave the money on there and use it for internet transactions and such, but this is going to be rent and grocery money, so withdrawing and depositing into my own bank would be the only option.

I get the sense there may be the following fees: Yearly subscription + base 1% fee + 3% ATM fee + some kind of currency conversion %. If that's the case, they really are eating a lot of your money. At this point, I'll be looking at getting a fairly sizeable payment from Amazon in the next few months, and I'd hate to lose 7-10% to fees.

4) Have any Australians had experience with HSBC foreign bank accounts? There was some discussion in a thread on Facebook about these as a potential alternative, but nobody has yet to come back with results. Apparently you can open a US or UK account through them, and since they're multinational (unlike commonwealth or whatever), theoretically it won't suffer the same roadblocks that an Australian based international account will.

Sorry for all the questions! This is quite confusing unfortunately =(


----------



## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

Maya Cross said:


> Resurrecting this thread! I have a couple of questions for people, since I'm in the process of working out how to deal with my Amazon payments.
> 
> 1) It's a little difficult to work out exactly how much banks charge for cashing foreign cheques. A lot of people in this thread have said things like "It's just $25 for unlimited cheques" or whatever, but I was under the impression there's always a currency conversion fee, something like 3%, on top of the basic fee. Is that accurate?
> 
> ...


I'm awaiting an answer to this too


----------



## Herc- The Reluctant Geek (Feb 10, 2010)

The transaction fees are for foreign currency conversions and you can't get away from those. 

I've found the payoneer card very good when I use it as a credit card. There are no fees, apart from the foreign trans fees (which are ubiquitous) and the 1% fee they charge on all transactions. It's not as good as a transfer to paypal or direct to the bank, but it's the best we can get for now (imho).


----------



## leearco (Jul 17, 2011)

Maya Cross said:


> Resurrecting this thread! I have a couple of questions for people, since I'm in the process of working out how to deal with my Amazon payments.
> 
> 1) It's a little difficult to work out exactly how much banks charge for cashing foreign cheques. A lot of people in this thread have said things like "It's just $25 for unlimited cheques" or whatever, but I was under the impression there's always a currency conversion fee, something like 3%, on top of the basic fee. Is that accurate?
> 
> ...


1. I am with the NAB and cheques cost $15. It comes in US dollars and the have to convert it. They have never mentioned to me a 3 %

2. Pretty sure you get a US$, Euro$ total from Amazon so more than 1 cheque.

4. Interested to hear about the HSBC account. Would assume they charge a fee of some sort to convert US to Aus dollars?


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I'd say it comes to about 6-7% of the total for withdrawals by the time you account for everything. You also pay a $29 yearly fee for the US account (in order to be able to receive direct payments from Amazon). I think it's worth it, though.


----------



## Nissim-Payoneer (May 9, 2012)

For anyone interested in Payoneer I would suggest that you visit our website and take a look around (you can click here). If you click on "Sign up now" there is then a tab that lists all pricing related to the card - this is before you enter any information or begin any sign up process.

We do our best to have the fees as transparent as possible; here is a breakdown of exactly how it works:

- The Payoneer card itself has an annual charge of $29.95
- For any payments you receive from Amazon, there is a 1% loading charge. (You can also receive payments from other US companies listed here).
- There is no charge per online/POS (Point of Sale) transaction.
- If you would like to withdraw cash from an ATM, there is a $3.15 charge

As with all debit/credit cards and foreign transactions there is a conversion charge of up to 3%. The card is a prepaid debit MasterCard so the rates you get are based on MasterCard's official rates, which are generally among the best available. You can use the card online, in stores, and at ATMs worldwide that accept MasterCard.

I very much encourage any feedback or questions about our service, so feel free. Thanks again to everyone for showing interest in Payoneer


----------



## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Maya Cross said:


> 4) Have any Australians had experience with HSBC foreign bank accounts? There was some discussion in a thread on Facebook about these as a potential alternative, but nobody has yet to come back with results. Apparently you can open a US or UK account through them, and since they're multinational (unlike commonwealth or whatever), theoretically it won't suffer the same roadblocks that an Australian based international account will.


I asked Amazon this, and they said they can't deposit into it because it'll still be an account that is opened here in a local branch, not a US one. The important thing for Amazon is the Routing number. If you open an HSBC account in Melbourne, for example, it will have a BSB not a routing number. So the bank may have US branches, but unless you walk into that US branch and open an account there, Amazon won't accept it. That's what the support guy told me anyway.



leearco said:


> 1. I am with the NAB and cheques cost $15. It comes in US dollars and the have to convert it.


Is it still $15 regardless of the cheque amount? The reason I ask is because ANZ charge me $15 if it's under $2,000AUD. Anything over that has to go to the clearing centre, then it gets sent overseas etc etc. The fee comes in at over $90 - $45 goes to ANZ, the rest is the overseas bank's fee and a few miscellaneous charges. I rang the Commonwealth and their threshold was $5,000AUD - anything over that amount got sent to the clearing house etc, same as with the ANZ. Btw, this information is VERY hard to find out. The person in the call centre hasn't got a clue. They tell you the fee for anything over $5,000 is $45 or whatever, but when you ask about the overseas bank fee, other charges etc, they fumble around, call their manager and come back with a vague answer of "I suppose you're right". Anyway, I just assumed all the big banks did this, but probably had different thresholds. Since my US cheques are always over $5,000 it's not worth the hassle to change, and that fee gets claimed as a tax deduction anyway. I'd really like to hear from people who've banked cheques for amounts up to and over $10,000 in Australia and what they're being charged by their bank.


----------



## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

leearco said:


> 1. I am with the NAB and cheques cost $15. It comes in US dollars and the have to convert it. They have never mentioned to me a 3 %
> 
> 2. Pretty sure you get a US$, Euro$ total from Amazon so more than 1 cheque.
> 
> 4. Interested to hear about the HSBC account. Would assume they charge a fee of some sort to convert US to Aus dollars?


Yeah, this is what interests me. I've scoured the NAB site, and it says nothing about 3%. See here:

http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/personal_finance/15/8#sect5af

If you can avoid that, that's a pretty big deal when you're talking salary money. It seems like it must be too good to be true, but I'd like to know for sure. Maybe I need to go in and ask them.



Nissim-Payoneer said:


> For anyone interested in Payoneer I would suggest that you visit our website and take a look around (you can click here). If you click on "Sign up now" there is then a tab that lists all pricing related to the card - this is before you enter any information or begin any sign up process.
> 
> We do our best to have the fees as transparent as possible; here is a breakdown of exactly how it works:
> 
> ...


This is good to know. I can deal with $3.15 per transaction. I thought there may be two different % based fees. You say "up to 3%". I understand you can't make any binding commitments to it being any lower, but is that what it usually winds up being?



CJArcher said:


> I asked Amazon this, and they said they can't deposit into it because it'll still be an account that is opened here in a local branch, not a US one. The important thing for Amazon is the Routing number. If you open an HSBC account in Melbourne, for example, it will have a BSB not a routing number. So the bank may have US branches, but unless you walk into that US branch and open an account there, Amazon won't accept it. That's what the support guy told me anyway.


That's good to know. Thanks!


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Payoneer has been my saviour   I had numerous cheques from both Amazon.com in $ and Amazon UK in GBP go missing in the post. Having the royalties paid directly into my Payoneer account and then being able to use my Payoneer card locally couldn't be easier.


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

JRHenderson said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BgdGiXJXU (1m 34s)
> 
> I love the Australian wearing a stetson.


I think that's an American planning on going to Australia. Certainly, the only element there that indicates Australia is the kangaroo.


----------



## hyh (Jul 21, 2013)

Just resurrecting this thread again as I'm in Australia and about so self-publish my 1st book - so looking into the best payment options.

I'm sorry - I've read through the whole thread and I'm still confused - I don't understand why Payoneer is a better option because if you need to actually take your money out to for local use (eg, pay bills), rather than use it as a credit card for shopping in the US, then it seems that you're losing more money overall? (~ 4% per withdrawal from ATM + the yearly subscription)

1) It seems to me that the benefits of Payoneer only come into play if you're getting lots of little cheques of small amounts from Amazon - but surely you can ask Amazon to hold your royalties until they reach a certain amount and then just get 1 cheque? 
Yes, if you're getting lots of $100 cheques and having to pay $10+ on each at the bank, then that's a lot lost - but if you can ask Amazon to hold your royalties until a bigger amount - then you would only pay that $10 on 1 cheque.
Carole (Hocking!  ) - I don't understand why you didn't do this and hold your money to group into one cheque, instead of receiving them in lots of little cheques?

(ASSUMING YOU DON'T WANT TO KEEP MONEY ON THE CARD - THAT YOU WANT/NEED TO WITHDRAW THE MONEY TO PUT IN YOUR LOCAL BANK ACCOUNT)
2) If Aussie banks charge a flat fee for foreign cheque (usually $10 - 15) and don't charge any % conversion as well, then isn't that cheaper than Payoneer who would charge you 3% currency conversion ON TOP of the 1% for receiving payments from Amazon?

This means that if you earn *$1,000* in royalties from Amazon and you manage to get them to hold off on paying you until that amount, so you get it as 1 cheque only...well, to take this cheque to the bank, you would be charged say approx *$15* flat fee.

If you go with Payoneer, it would cost you 1% to have that royalty paid into your card ($10) and then you would pay ~3% currency conversion ($30) + $3.15 fee if you want to withdraw that same $1,000 from your ATM. So this means in total, you're paying * $43.15* - compared to the $15 you would pay to bank that same $1,000 as one cheque in the bank. That seems like a huge difference to me! 

I realise that you would still have the advantage of speed & security with Payoneer, in that the money gets paid to you faster from Amazon, you don't have to wait weeks for the cheque to clear and you don't have to worry about lost cheques in the post...but is the extra money (in this case, 3 times the amount) that you're losing on the payment worth that?

Of course, as I say, *it all depends on whether you can collect Amazon cheques into one cheque for a bigger amount. But if you CAN wait on your royalties and collect them as a larger amount, then isn't it still better to just pay the flat fee on that one cheque, rather than the 1% + 3% on Payoneer?*

Even if you didn't hold the money to such a large amount - say you choose *$500* as your payment threshold from Amazon - then getting one cheque of $500 costs you *$15* flat fee at the bank...whereas if you use Payoneer, that same $500 will cost you 4% + $3.15 to withdraw from an ATM = *$23.15*...which is still more.

And if you're lucky enough to earn more, the loss to Payoneer is even higher - the bigger the amount, the more you lose (eg, if it's one cheque of *$2,000*, you lose *$15 *on a bank cheque Vs. 4% + $3.15 with Payoneer = *$83.15* 

So *does this mean that Payoneer is only good if you're only going to earn smaller amounts?* eg, if the amount is *$200*, then Payoneer starts becoming the better option because the bank cheque would cost *$15* but your Payoneer 4% would only be $8 + $3.15 = *$11.5*. This becomes equivalent to the bank fees and you have the added benefit of speed & security.

I don't know if I'm doing the figures wrong - please tell me if I am - I'm just so confused right now.  I would like to use Payoneer but I just don't see how it adds up to being better - unless you know that you're only going to earn smaller amounts?

(*I hope this doesn't sound overconfident - I'm certainly not expecting to earn vast amounts starting out!!  But it just seemed worth the exercise to do all the different figures. Yes, I will probably only ever earn small amounts, in the beginning at least - I'd be very happy with $200! - and if I knew for a fact that all I was ever going to earn each month was $200, then Payoneer is a good option...but not if you're going to earn more...and we're all hoping to gradually earn more, so isn't it important to work it out for larger amounts too?)

Thank you,
Hsin-Yi


----------



## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm debating this at the moment, having just taken my first lot of cheques to the bank. It costs $10.50 to deposit a single cheque at St George and approx $16 to deposit 3 (If you have multiple cheques, St George process them in lots of 3)

I've found Amazon's 'holding cheques' thing to be patchy. Some they held, some they didn't (either that or they were lost in the post). Am going to have to chase up what happened now.

I didn't realise Payoneer charge a 3% currency conversion!


----------



## hyh (Jul 21, 2013)

Anya said:


> I'm debating this at the moment, having just taken my first lot of cheques to the bank. It costs $10.50 to deposit a single cheque at St George and approx $16 to deposit 3 (If you have multiple cheques, St George process them in lots of 3)
> 
> I've found Amazon's 'holding cheques' thing to be patchy. Some they held, some they didn't (either that or they were lost in the post). Am going to have to chase up what happened now.
> 
> I didn't realise Payoneer charge a 3% currency conversion!


Anya, the 3% currency conversion is only if you want to withdraw the money from ATM to deposit in your own bank (*which I would) - it doesn't apply if you just use the Payoneer card to buy things online in the US...but I would really want to deposit any royalties I receive into my local bank account and in order to do that, I would have to use an ATM - where I would be charged a $3.15 flat fee + the 3% currency conversion. This is on top of the 1% that Payoneer charge you to receive the money from Amazon in the first place.

That's why I worked out those figures and it seemed that Payoneer is good if you're just dealing in small amounts...but the extra % charge really adds up if you're dealing in bigger amounts, whereas the bank cheque fees seem to be a flat rate. ($16 for 3 cheques is not bad!  )

Oh - but I didn't realise that Amazon are patchy about "holding cheques" though!!  If that's true and you're likely to get lots of cheques of little amounts, then yes, Payoneer might still be a better option, I guess?

Hsin-Yi


----------



## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

Yes, I'd definitely want to move my money into my own bank account so that conversion charge would sting...
I'm not sure if the patchiness with cheques is just my experience, but man do I hate cheques and chasing them up is going to be a pain.


----------



## hyh (Jul 21, 2013)

Yeah, I hate cheques too!   but I'm willing to put up with them as a necessary evil if it means I don't lose as much money...


----------



## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm with you, Hsin-Yi, I could not see why Payoneer would be considered a better option. I certainly want the money in my account and my bank's flat fee is only $10.00, plus their conversion rate is usually better than most other places.

I think you've hit the nail on the head when you say Payoneer might be beneficial when receiving lots of small cheques.

JB


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I've been using Payoneer for about a year and it's made a HUGE difference to my royalty payments


----------



## hyh (Jul 21, 2013)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I've been using Payoneer for about a year and it's made a HUGE difference to my royalty payments


What do you mean, Jan, about the "HUGE difference"? 
Would you mind expanding a bit - especially with regards to my points on the extra charges on larger amounts? Is it because you're just getting smaller amounts each time?

I would really like to use Payoneer but it just doesn't add up at the moment - based on the calculations I explained in my post above about the 4% charge Vs. flat fee from the bank, if you can group your cheques into 1 payment. I'd love someone to prove me wrong.

Thank you! 
Hsin-Yi


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Bighoneydog said:


> What do you mean, Jan, about the "HUGE difference"?
> Would you mind expanding a bit - especially with regards to my points on the extra charges on larger amounts? Is it because you're just getting smaller amounts each time?
> 
> I would really like to use Payoneer but it just doesn't add up at the moment - based on the calculations I explained in my post above about the 4% charge Vs. flat fee from the bank, if you can group your cheques into 1 payment. I'd love someone to prove me wrong.
> ...


My royalty cheques were gong missing and as there was no payment advice from KDP I was never sure if the cheque had gone missing, or I simply hadn't earned enough to receive a cheque.
Now that I am paid into my Payoneer account in the US I receive a payment advice from Amazon KDP and also full details of all transactions on my Payoneer account. For a credit of $35 I will pay Payoneer 35c.
I use my Payoneer Mastercard to pay my bills e.g supermarket etc as I would any other Mastercard. I can get details of the exchange rate when I used the card, and it also means I can leave the money in my account until the exchange rate is favourable. 

Bank charges for depositing a foreign cheque were astronomical, as well as waiting for about 10 weeks for the cheque to be cleared


----------



## Julie Harris (Sep 25, 2012)

Draft2Digital pays non US authors via EFT.


----------



## Lissie (May 26, 2011)

2 main advantages with Payoneer - you are effectively getting a free US$ account - so if you are planning trip or to make purchases in US$ you a avoid losing money on 2 exchanges. Plus you get use of the money earlier if you are only making small amounts (remember Amazon actually sends 6 checks: one each euro/US$/Stirling for both kdp and createspace). 

But yes - don't withdraw via ATM - just use the card anywhere that takes Mastercard ie your supermarket. That's kinda the point of it.


----------



## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Thanks for this thread. I think I'm going to give it a go. Since I'm only making small amounts, it seems well worthwhile.


----------



## hyh (Jul 21, 2013)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> My royalty cheques were gong missing and as there was no payment advice from KDP I was never sure if the cheque had gone missing, or I simply hadn't earned enough to receive a cheque.
> Now that I am paid into my Payoneer account in the US I receive a payment advice from Amazon KDP and also full details of all transactions on my Payoneer account. For a credit of $35 I will pay Payoneer 35c.
> I use my Payoneer Mastercard to pay my bills e.g supermarket etc as I would any other Mastercard. I can get details of the exchange rate when I used the card, and it also means I can leave the money in my account until the exchange rate is favourable.
> 
> Bank charges for depositing a foreign cheque were astronomical, as well as waiting for about 10 weeks for the cheque to be cleared


Thanks so much, Jan, for sharing your info - I can certainly understand if you're losing royalty cheques that you would want an alternative method!

Hmm...I'll have to think more about it since I definitely want to withdraw the money out, rather than use the card to pay for things. I'll probably be putting any earnings into savings so I wouldn't need it immediately for anything and don't mind waiting for a bit - but I certainly wouldn't want to lose the cheque!



Lissie said:


> 2 main advantages with Payoneer - you are effectively getting a free US$ account - so if you are planning trip or to make purchases in US$ you a avoid losing money on 2 exchanges. Plus you get use of the money earlier if you are only making small amounts (remember Amazon actually sends 6 checks: one each euro/US$/Stirling for both kdp and createspace).
> 
> But yes - don't withdraw via ATM - just use the card anywhere that takes Mastercard ie your supermarket. That's kinda the point of it.


Thanks, Lissie - sadly, I won't be travelling to the US for a long time!  But I didn't realise that I would get 6 cheques...that would be a real pain and would put the costs of banking cheques up. I thought I could avoid that by asking Amazon to hold royalties until they reach a certain amount...but I guess even if I do that, I would still have 6 separate potential revenues of income, as you pointed out - so that's still 6 cheques, no matter what the amount.

Sigh. I just wish there was a way to transfer money directly from the card into your local bank account!
(without going through the ATM fiasco...)

Thanks again everybody!
Hsin-Yi


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Bumped from 6 months ago.

Lot of good info in this thread. While the issue seems to be sorted for Aussie indies now they have their own site, the issue for many other non-US/UK, etc.-resident authors remains. For example, I expect to have to wait quite a while longer before Amazon open an online store in Laos so I can receive EFT payments instead of paper cheques.

For those who have a Payoneer account for your Amazon payments, has it worked well for you? Any problems signing up? How about the cost structure and functionality where you are?

I am considering using their service having just been told by my bank (ANZ, Laos) that they will charge me $55 to clear and deposit a $150 cheque into my account, and that it will take up to 60 days.

My goodness!

I have made attempts to register at Payoneer but got stuck at the point where I had to enter a billing address and a (different) mailing address. I only have one functional address and that is a PO Box number in the capital. My street address pretty much amounts to "Go 18 kilometers south outside the capital, turn left, go 6 km. down the road, turn left again at the river and ask for Philip's house."

Would be very confusing for the postman/woman... if there were such people here that is.

Hopefully, the very helpful Payoneer representative who answered many questions earlier in this thread will also see this and respond.


----------



## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Philip Gibson said:


> I have made attempts to register at Payoneer but got stuck at the point where I had to enter a billing address and a (different) mailing address. I only have one functional address and that is a PO Box number in the capital. My street address pretty much amounts to "Go 18 kilometers south outside the capital, turn left, go 6 km. down the road, turn left again at the river and ask for Philip's house."
> 
> Would be very confusing for the postman/woman... if there were such people here that is.


 Oh no, what a problem!

Can you possibly enter something like, "Care of <PO name> Post Office, <PO address>"?


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

nomesque said:


> Oh no, what a problem!
> 
> Can you possibly enter something like, "Care of <PO name> Post Office, <PO address>"?


Creative idea... I may well try it. Thanks.

Reminds me of the early internet when, if one didn't put in a U.S. zip code, you couldn't sign up for stuff. But if one simply typed in: 123456, it would go through.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

I live in Thailand and I remember having to give a street address when I signed up. Not sure if that's still a must or if things have changed. 

I've been using Payoneer for over a year. No complaints, no problems.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

dotx said:


> I live in Thailand and I remember having to give a street address when I signed up. Not sure if that's still a must or if things have changed.
> 
> I've been using Payoneer for over a year. No complaints, no problems.


Thanks for that. My question to you then, if you care to answer, is: Was your street address necessary to receive important stuff from Payoneer, or just a formality needed to complete the registration process with no utility going forward?


----------



## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

I used a street address, so I didn't have the same problem. Can you just put in your P.O. Box as a street address? I would imagine that they will simply want to confirm that the address is the same one as on any ID documentation you send them.

Just as additional info, I'm mostly happy with Payoneer. (And unfortunately, having a .au store just means that you can get payments from that store through EFT, the rest are wire transfer, and can cost as much, if not more, than a cheque, though they are faster, so I still use Payoneer for most payments.) I've had a couple of issues with lack of communication and bad customer service, but still not enough to send me back to cheques! The fees are very reasonable, and I haven't had a single problem just using my card in Australian stores just like a normal credit card.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Philip Gibson said:


> Thanks for that. My question to you then, if you care to answer, is: Was your street address necessary to receive important stuff from Payoneer, or just a formality needed to complete the registration process with no utility going forward?


I actually can't remember, but I think they will only send the card to a street address and not to a PO Box. I'm pretty sure that's the case because I've had a PO Box since I first came to Thailand and have all my mail sent there. I NEVER use my street address for mail, but the card was sent to my home. I'm pretty sure that wasn't because I chose that option -- it must have been the _only _option.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

dotx said:


> I actually can't remember, but I think they will only send the card to a street address and not to a PO Box. I'm pretty sure that's the case because I've had a PO Box since I first came to Thailand and have all my mail sent there. I NEVER use my street address for mail, but the card was sent to my home. I'm pretty sure that wasn't because I chose that option -- it must have been the _only _option.


What blocked me when I applied was the fact that one of the required addresses (mailing or billing address - can't remember) could not be a PO Box.


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Philip Gibson said:


> What blocked me when I applied was the fact that one of the required addresses (mailing or billing address - can't remember) could not be a PO Box.


I think that's what it was. They have to send the card to the billing address you enter -- and that has to be a street address.


----------



## rinny (Feb 2, 2014)

I've been using Payoneer for around a year to receive my Amazon payments, I don't like cheques and a lot of my mail never finds it to my address so it was a good option for me. I use the Payoneer card for any online purchases so I don't worry about the ATM fees, well I've only had to use it once at an ATM when I was really short of cash and the fees weren't as bad as I was expecting.

The sign up fees can be a bit steep but you can get around it through their refer a friend program. You get a free $25 in your account if you sign up through someone's link. Here's some info on it.

http://smartadsensealternatives.com/need-a-us-bank-account-payoneer-mastercard-refer-a-friend-for-a-free-25/


----------

