I put up a topic on the best way to receive oDesk payments in the Philippines within the oDesk community forums. With the growing number of Filipinos who are into freelance jobs, particularly in oDesk, I find it the need to create such post – hoping that post would not get buried into other oDesk community posts as well.

The payment methods is from what I have experienced so far, and the information is NOT absolute. This is a written advice to Filipinos who like to know how they can get paid.

From the five payment methods available in oDesk, there are only four that can be used by Filipinos to withdraw cash. From these four, the only two methods of withdrawing cash interests me: Payoneer and Paypal.

The method that is not readily available to Filipinos is the ACH method – which requires a US bank account. Transfers from oDesk to this method is free though, but for a transfer from the oDesk account to a US bank account and then to the local Philippine banks, you will still have to pay for the fees involved in these bank transfers.

Now let us look at these comparison:

  • Payoneer
    • PROS:
      • fastest payment method: get your card loaded within two days or get the funds in your card immediately in more or less two hours by paying $3 immediate load fee
      • most flexible: you can use the card for with any Mastercard merchant purchase or choose to withdraw the funds in the card for $2.15 per withdrawal
      • card can be used for online shopping
    • CONS:
      • ATM withdrawal limit: you are limited to the maximum withdrawal limit in which the ATM is designed, therefore, if the limit is P4,000 and you need to get P7,000 from the card fund, you need to pay $2.15 for every withdrawal (that is, $2.15 for the first P4,000 then another $2.15 for the remaining $3,000)
      • if you lose your ATM, you need to wait quite a long time (a month is long enough) after requesting a replacement card
      • disclosing the card account information can be less secure (prone to losing the funds to a hacker)
  • Paypal (Verified Personal accounts)
    • PROS:
      • Could be cheaper to use than when withdrawing funds with Payoneer: just pay $1.00 withdrawal from oDesk and only P50 from Paypal to the Philippine bank (withdrawal is FREE if the amount to be withdrawn is P7,000 above); Unionbank does not charge for incoming transfers from Paypal while BDO charges P200.
      • provides a secure way to shop online. It is way better than using Payoneer card for purchase.
    • CONS:
      • If you are using Unionbank EON card for verification, it could take several days to a week before the account is fully verified
      • it takes a longer time to withdraw the money to a local bank and there is no other way to expedite the transfer (5 to 7 working days)
  • Moneybookers
    I have not tried to withdraw money into my Moneybookers account so I am not able to provide information on all the details. I still spent time to set up my Moneybookers though, in case the first two methods are not available. oDesk to Moneybookers account costs only $1 for every withdrawal.
    Moneybookers works on submitting the payments through the SWIFT network of banks, so it is best to know the SWIFT code by calling the bank’s customer representative.
  • Wire transfer
    This is another method that is possible, but I would not recommend using this. Withdrawal from oDesk can be quite expensive ($30 per withdrawal)

So which one?
The best payment methods that work for me so far is using Paypal and Payoneer methods. Paypal is great when I need to withdraw huge amounts of cash from oDesk. It is also great when I do not need the money for daily expenses. On the other hand, Payoneer works for me when I need some funds for these daily expenses.

Moneybookers can be a life-saver for me if the first two methods fail. With better options above, I think Direct Deposit is the method that I never be able to use.

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