I was first forced to create a PayPal account when I had a client from the USA. Initially, I requested to get paid via Western Union. But after several attempts, somehow, the client was just unable to make the necessary fund transfer. And so instead, he just asked me to register a PayPal account. While the client waited on the other side of the great internet divide, I registered my PayPal account in about 10 minutes or so. And within two minutes of giving the client my email address linked to the freshly created PayPal account, I could confirm that he had made the payment. If only I knew that PayPal would be this painless.
From the PayPal account, I linked my Bank of the Philippine Islands peso deposit account so I could withdraw my money. PayPal auto-converts from USD to PHP using the official exchange rate at the moment of the transaction. Transactions of less than 7K Php are charged 50 Php while transactions over 7K Php are free. PayPal's website declares that fund transfers are completed in about 2-4 business days. All my completed transactions, thus far, has not exceeded 2 business days.
Remember that PayPal auto-converts from USD to PHP. I made the mistake of trying to withdraw from a PayPal USD balance into my USD bank account in the Philippines and this was not allowed. PayPal customer service explained to me via email that this has something to do with the Philippines' anti-money laundering laws, you cannot withdraw from a PayPal USD balance into a Philippine USD bank account. Take note that before making the fund transfer attempt I asked my local bank, Banco de Oro, whether the USD to USD transaction would be allowed and they answered in the affirmative.
Failed/returned fund transfers are charged 250 Php penalty. But in my case, PayPal waived the penalty as a "one time courtesy". That's great customer service right there. And not only that, while I was tracking down my money during the failed fund transfer fiasco, PayPal's customer service never failed to respond to my email queries within 8 hours or so. They are very polite and gives you detailed information. I was almost embarrassed that I was getting this great service from PayPal considering the small amounts I was dealing with.
I'd like to add, there was some stuff circulating around in the internets that there was an alleged way to trick the paypal server into telling you the account details of other paypal users.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS NOT TRUE.
I examined the procedures including the codes that they'd like you to use. It's basically a phishing attempt where you send an e-mail to a fake server (obviously a pre-made official sounding e-mail address.) and in the code, they tell you to include your password.
Whatever follows after that, I think we all could guess. :3
I think Paypal just has a local bank here in the Philippines to send out the Php currency and not $$$.
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly sure what you are trying to say here. But to clarify, PayPal is an online money transfer/payment entity, which allows one to make online payments. You have to register a PayPal account using a credit card or debit card which will be charged for the online transactions (I used my Smart Money card, it worked). The payee in turn will then see these payments deposited into their PayPal account. These can then be withdrawn into a linked bank account or debit card. You have to manually register or link your bank to your PayPal account. Important note, the bank account should be in the same name as the one you used to register the PayPal account. And also, in the case of the Philippines, ALL foreign currencies are automatically converted into the local PHP currency. Paypal does not have a bank in the Philippines. They do, however, have this money transfer arrangement with most local banks. My BPI account is my primary PayPal linked bank.
DeleteAnd oh yeah, PayPal is VERY USEFUL/IMPORTANT if you want to start picking up a few dollars here and there doing online work (like I do). Most online/work-from-home jobs require you to have a verified PayPal account. And it makes sense ... if you want to get paid, this is the most convenient method of payment at the moment. I would doubt an online job offer that does not require a PayPal account (or an equivalent).
ReplyDelete