The Lady Programmer

I found a helpful video tutorial on how to link Paypal to Unionbank EON account – using the latest way. I just have to replace the old tutorial I’ve written previously in how to verifying one’s Paypal account which follows a new and easier process of verification.

Here’s a summary of the steps (as illustrated in the accompanying video):

1. Unionbank does NOT need any minimum balance requirements. However, one must pay P350 to open up a bank account and the accompanying Unionbank EON card.
2. Take note of the information written on the Unionbank EON card. The number at the middle of the card is the card number. The smaller number below your name is the bank account number. The bank account number IS THE ONE TO USE for verifying Paypal account.
   
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A few posts ago, I have shared you how I saved a lot by withdrawing from Paypal to Unionbank EON to Smart Money. Some asked me on how this procedure goes. Since mobile banking is not a feature that majority of the Filipinos would have on their mobile phones, the setup procedure is quite manual since it always almost needs the aid of the customer service to properly setup these accounts.

One has to exercise a great deal of patience in getting their accounts enabled for mobile banking. In the long run, this setup has saved me several hundreds of pesos.

Activate Smart Mobile Banking for Unionbank EON Account

me and my card

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Not all ATM/debit cards in the Philippines work with Paypal. There are some credit cards that work for verification, but I have not successfully identified which credit cards that work. But for those who do not own any credit card, then the Unionbank EON card is the only card that can work well for Paypal verification.

Many new Unionbank EON card users are not able to successfully continue with the verification process in Paypal. Even if they got the new card at hand and activated, Paypal would still return the message that it cannot verify the card. This could be frustrating, because it is not really so easy to wait for the Unionbank EON card then finding out that it would not work with Paypal verification.

I think this has something to do with a minor bug on Unionbank EON debit card. The card has to contain any transaction history, even just for one entry before it can be used for Paypal verification. One way to create transaction history is to deposit funds over-the-counter.

Paypal takes away a verification fee of $1.95 from the Unionbank EON bank account, so put in funds that will cover more than this fee in Pesos. If successful this verification fee goes into the Paypal account after a few weeks. If the Paypal verification does not work successfully then the amount deducted by Paypal will be returned in full to your Unionbank EON bank account.

Remember that the Unionbank EON debit card is simply needed for verifying Paypal so that funds can be withdrawn to any Philippine bank account by electronic funds transfer.

UPDATED: February 17, 2009

I’ve found out a quicker way to verify Paypal account without using a Unionbank EON card. If you happen to own a Payoneer card then you might want to verify your account using this card because the entire process only took me less than five minutes to complete. The Paypal expanded use (EXPUSE) number, which is used to change the status of Paypal accounts from “unverified” to “verified”, is reflected immediately in my online account at Payoneer’s website.

Using a Unionbank EON card to verify Paypal has a lot of disadvantages. A person had to wait for a few days up to more than a week before calling up the bank’s customer service for the EXPUSE number. Calling up the bank’s customer service is often difficult: a Unionbank customer often needs to call up several times to get through a customer service representative. The only option that the customer could find out the EXPUSE number is to make several attempts to reach the customer service to follow up the request.

Remember, you can opt to maintain an unverified Paypal account to receive payments. However, if you need to withdraw the funds to a Philippine bank account then Paypal verification is always needed.

Before doing the procedure, you need $1.95 or more in your Payoneer account for the verification process. That amount will be refunded back to your Paypal account. If you need to know how to load funds into your Payoneer account, then read this post on ways on how to load funds into a Payoneer card.

I’ve outlined the step-by-step procedure that I had followed:

1. Login to Paypal. Create a Paypal account if you do not have one yet.
2. Make sure My Account tab is active; if not, click on that tab.
3. Under the heading My Account Overview, click the link that says Unverified just beside the Status.
4. This will enable you to enter a card and verify it. Take your Payoneer card and enter all the card details that are asked on the screen. Guide instructions are provided on the screen.
5. Login to your Payoneer account and get the Paypal EXPUSE (expanded use) number that is shown in your list of transactions (View Transactions). It is a four-digit number within your transaction history that looks like PP *nnnn Expuse where nnnn is the four-digit number assigned by Paypal. (click the image below for a closer look)
   
6. Return to Paypal by logging in again. Enter the given four-digit number in the transaction statement to your Paypal account by logging in again to your account, under Link and Confirm Card. If this is successful then your status should change to Verified. (click the image below for a closer look)
   

If you still do not have a Paypal account, simply click on the banner below for a FREE account!