Although we’ve covered the basic set-ups for both withdrawal options, I think it’s best to bring up 10 of the most common PayPal and LFT questions and answer them one by one.
- Is BPI Express similar to BPI Family Savings Bank?
BPI Express is not similar to BPI Family Savings. The latter is a subsidiary of BPI, so try not to mix the two up. I suggest BPI Express since I’ve been a client for 3 straight years and had no problems with them for both withdrawal options.
- What is a BRSTN code? What is a bank code?
A BRSTN code is a Bank Routing Symbol Transit Number, otherwise known as the bank codes that we use for PayPal.
If you need the BRSTN code for LFT, you can either refer to this list or enter the name of your bank when adding an LFT account. oDesk will automatically detect its correct BRSTN code.
- For Unionbank EON users, which one is the card number and the account number? What number should I use to withdraw?
Use the account number when adding your bank account details for PayPal or LFT.
- Why haven’t I received my money yet? It’s been 3 days!
PayPal takes about 1-2 days while the improved PHP Local Funds Transfer takes 2-3 days to deposit funds to your bank account.
Withdrawals from PayPal or LFT can be delayed for several reasons, particularly holidays and non-banking days. If your funds haven’t arrived yet, check your calendar to see if you withdrew on a day that’s close to a US/Philippine holiday or a weekend.
- I just added a withdrawal method on oDesk. Its status is currently inactive. How long will it take till it is active and ready?
After adding a new withdrawal method on oDesk (PayPal or LFT), you need to wait for about four (4) banking days till you can use it.
- I don’t have a bank account, but my sister/dad/mom/aunt/second cousin does. Can I use that instead?
oDesk has released a new policy last July 21 that requires your bank account name to be exactly the same as the name in your verified oDesk account. This means you can’t use your family member’s bank accounts any longer to withdraw using LFT. According to oDesk,
…in compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, we will only be able to send payments to bank accounts that are owned by the oDesk contractor who performed the work and earned the payment.
- “The amount you are trying to withdraw is greater than your withdrawal limit. Please link and confirm a debit or credit card to lift this limit.” Why do I keep getting this message? What does it mean?
This message means you did not successfully verify your PayPal account. Unverified accounts can’t withdraw funds to a bank account, so you’ll have to complete the process first before anything else. Check out How to Verify Your Philippine PayPal Account for more information.
- Is it possible to transfer funds even if my PayPal account is unverified?
Nope, it isn’t.
- What can I use to verify my PayPal account?
A Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card. You can either open a credit account at your bank of choice or use Unionbank’s EON debit card. Check out How to Withdraw from PayPal to Unionbank EON for more information.
- My money was refunded to my account. Why is this so?
The most common reason is because of inaccurate bank account information. Make sure that your name is exactly the same as what is in your PayPal or LFT account, as well as your bank account number, bank name, and BRSTN code.
If everything seems to be correct and your money still hasn’t arrived, contact oDesk customer support, PayPal customer support, or both. They’re the best people to turn to for technical problems.
Photo credit to ugaldew
I still don’t know how the charges/fees on PayPal work. E.g. when I transfer an amount from Elance or oDesk, I get the exact amount that I transferred. However, when client pays me directly, I think there’s a charge for it. Like recently someone paid me 377 USD and there was a fee for 15 USD.
15 USD sucks since it’s the same as my monthly phone bill. Lol.
Hi Jessica,
I think that $15 charge you mentioned is the fee PayPal deducts when someone sends you money in foreign currency and if the client is paying in credit card (not sure about this one though). You can read more about this in PayPal’s fee page on their official website, if you’d like. 🙂
Really helpful post, Stef. Don’t you wish you can post this in the oDesk forums? hehe But then again, people won’t read it anyway. They just find it easier to ask!
Hi Aleah,
Not a bad idea actually. I think I can re-post the questions over at the Tips and Best Practices thread. Even though I know people will still ask the same questions and won’t read the post entirely, at least they’ll have the answers to their questions already. 😉
Another helpful article, Stef! This issue has been asked many times already. But, reading this post, I doubt they have a hard time understanding how this system works. Anyway, I have retweeted this to my networks (and it was even featured in our paper.li!). Keep ’em coming Stef! You are definitely one of the Freelance Jobs Guru!
Thanks Freelance Jobs Guru for the comment and for retweeting the post! I appreciate it and I really hope this will help many Pinoy freelancers with their PayPal and LFT withdrawals.
Hi! Thanks for this informative article. I would like to suggest one bank account, SmartMoney.
I’ve been using SmartMoney ever since I began my freelance career because:
1. Notifies you through text that your money has arrived;balance check your card using your mobile phone
2. Has internet transaction protection. You cannot purchase online unless you unlock it using your mobile phone.(it saved me from scam sites before when I didn’t know about scams and I entered my Smart Money number)
3. Mobile Banking support.
4. Can be used for Paypal verification.
Obtaining a card is only P30 however, this is only exclusive for Smart subscribers.
Note: SmartMoney is BDO, use the bank code for BDO.
Thanks for the suggestion arnel! If you’d like, you can write a guest post on how to use SmartMoney for oDesk withdrawals. That would be a great source of information for those who are interested to use it. 🙂
I am tortured of how i am going to get my salary from Odesk. I choose BPI nung una pero nung andun na hindi tinanggap ung Philhealth ko which is a Government ID, problem is nagalangan ako kumuha ng sss id kasi it takes weeks and sometimes (though sana hindi) years. Unfortunately for me wala akong passport which could have been easy for me to apply. I am now torn with Unionbank and Smart Money. Mukang mas mura kasi ang smart money. Sana you can make a post about smart money through paypal. More power stef.
Hi Angela,
I’m sorry you’re having a difficult time deciding on what account to use to withdraw your funds to. Now, I only write about procedures and processes that I’ve actually tried and tested, so it wouldn’t be wise for me to write about something like “how to withdraw from PayPal to Smart Money” when I haven’t tried using SM to begin with.
So in cases like this, a quick search on Google does the trick 🙂 : http://macqueletmen29.sulit.com.ph/index.php/page/id/14362/How+to+Verify+Paypal+Account+using++Smart+Money
Hi. I would like to ask how much is the fee waived upon withdrawals using Smartmoney?
100php, mine is now verified using smart money but im confused if i should use it as bank account or debit card. (free kasi pag bank account more than 7,999 ata)
Hi, What’s the process for the SMARTMoney on BDO?? The fees and the likes?
That would be a great idea! I’ll have things prepared.
Uhm..I’m new in guest post, so would you send me a mail about your rules,etc. with regards to guest posting?
Hi arnel! You can check out this link for the guest posting guidelines: http://thefreelancepinoy.com/write 🙂
Thanks! Looking forward to reading and publishing your guest post.
Hi! I am new at Odesk. I would like to ask if I can already start applying/working even if I still don’t have a PayPal account? I’m in the process of getting my EON Card, got an SMS saying my card is ready for pick up from my chosen UnionBank Branch. I called the branch and the employee told me that their card printer is out of order, and asked me to call back again for follow up in the next 5 days. I can’t wait to apply for the listed jobs, they are so tempting! Do I need to really wait for my EON card and then apply for Paypal before accepting jobs? More power, Stef!
Hi, Yukime! Nope, you don’t need to have a verified PayPal account in order to apply for jobs and work on oDesk. 🙂 Your PayPal account simply serves as your “2nd wallet” where the funds you’ve withdrawn from oDesk will be transferred to. Hope this helps!
hi.. i used my smartmoney card for odesk local fund transfer and i uses bdo bank code. odesk notify me that money is expected to be receive by oct 31. but until now i have not receive the money on my smart money. i asked bdo but they said they do not have access on smart money. any suggestion about this matter? tnx
Hello mnavos,
I don’t quite understand what your question is about. You mean to say you used the account of your Smart Money to withdraw your funds using oDesk, but used the BDO BRSTN code in your bank details?
yes, i used bdo brstn since they are the issuer bank of smartmoney.
Oh, I did not know that. Never used Smart Money before. 🙂
arnel just provided the answers you need. You can refer to the comments he posted below.
anyway thanks to your website. it helps me a lot. 🙂
Hi mnavos,
SmartMoney is my only card to withdraw my oDesk funds to. Don’t worry about the bank code because you got it right. The delays you have experienced is probably because of the holidays here in the Philippines. Oct31, and Nov1 is our national holiday so my guess is that your money will be transferred either today by 6pm or Tomorrow in the morning.
I experience delays most of the time.
Especially when I use oDesk’s Local Funds Money Transfer. Try using Paypal next time. It transfers funds faster than LFMT.
i used ltf since my paypal is not verified. and once have transferred money on my smartmoney card, I will use smartmoney to verify my paypal. So that I dont need to load my smartmoney money with p200. I will just used my earnings from odesk. thanks for your info.
you said smartmoney is the only card you used. can you withdraw your paypal using smartmoney? i have read a lot of forums and they said that smartmoney can only be used to verify paypal but you cannot withdraw paypal funds via smartmoney.
Before there was LFMT, I use SmartMoney to transfer funds from my PayPal account. Enter your smart money card number as your account number.
thanks.. I have already received my money last night. 🙂
Glad to hear that. 🙂
LFT ba from odesk or through paypal as bank account? Salamat po!
Hi arnel, What are the fees & requirements in acquiring smartmoney from BDO? Is it easier and more convenient than EON? Thanks =) +)
hi i cant verify my smart money in paypal..i have 500 amount in my smart money..i followed the steps to unlock the internet purchase but still its invalid…can i still use smart money to verify my paypal accont?..help please thanks..
What specific steps did you do. Did you activate the internet transaction in your mobile number’s Smart Menu first before you requested PayPal to activate your account?
yup…my card is already activated..i enter the information needed then beforei click continue i unlock first my internet transaction in smart money using my mobile..i did it twice..but still i cannot verified it..
sabi kasi sa isang site:
-bago mo iclick ung “add” or continue, kelangan i-unlock mo ung smart money mo using your phone. tapos pag naadd na iunlock mo ule to verify. ang issue ko nalang kung pwede sya as bank account sa paypal.
I should have seen this website before applying for EON account which is the biggest mistake i maid. 🙁 Thanks for the SmartMoney tips, aside from the BPI Direct, this can also be an option 🙂
*made typo :p
Hi Stef! Glad I found your blog. I just want to ask if I can use the LFT method using my EON? I’m still waiting for it to be activated by tomorrow. I’ve read some of your posts that it’s way cheaper compared to PayPal (bec I haven’t linked it yet to PayPal). Hope you can help me. Thanks! 🙂
Hi Krizia and thanks for visiting The Freelance Pinoy! LFT works for all Philippine banks so long as it has the correct BRSTN code. 🙂
just to clarify, ung banks listed sa odesk KB ay ang only banks na pwede ka mag deposit to (LFT)? I have Psbank prepaid card and it would be such a waste not to use it and apply for another one, as you can see, mejo kulang ako sa mga valid ids. (ang tagal ng process ng pagkuha).
I am rceiving error “Please check out again and try a different credit card or bank account for your PayPal payment” when making a payment using the Eon card after cheking out in EBay and one merchant website. My Paypal is verified and linked to my eon account.
Hello Stef! This is really heplful but I still have problems.
I have successfully linked my BPI account, paypal sent me this email:
Congratulations! You have successfully added a Philippines bank account to your PayPal account. You can now withdraw funds from your PayPal account to this bank account.
Sincerely,
PayPal
Still, I have an unverified status and I cannot withdraw my money. I have only linked a bank account with my BPI Debit card. What to do, now?
Hello, Kim. Verifying your PayPal account is different from adding a bank account to deposit your funds to. You’ll need a debit card like Payoneer or an actual credit card (Mastercard or Visa) to verify your PayPal account.
Hi Stef,
First I want to say your site is a Godsend. You provide concise and clear information and you respond to comments and questions. So thank you.
This sounds to me like a stupid question, so please forgive me if it is. Just to clarify with Q&A number 8: “Is it possible to transfer funds even if my PayPal account is unverified? Nope, it isn’t.”
When you said “transfer”, is that the same as “withdraw into a bank account”? See I withdrew the money on my PayPal account (it’s only 4,500php) into my BPI savings account last Tuesday. But I do not have a credit card so my PayPal remains unverified. I just assumed that since the amount is less than 7,000php, it’s OK. This is now the fourth day (the fifth day, if you count the day I made the withdrawal), and the money hasn’t come into the bank account, but I never got any email that the money was reversed or returned or anything. So do I really have to verify with a credit card? There’s really no way around it? (This is irrelevant to you, but I’ll say it anyway,) All my attempts at applying for a credit card has been unsuccessful because I’m a freelancer or a miscellany of other reasons. It would really be depressing if it would turn out that I still won’t be able to accept payment for my freelance work through PayPal.
I hope you find the time to respond. 🙂
Hi Iris,
Yes, “transfer” does refer to withdrawing your funds from PayPal to your bank account. I’m actually surprised that you were able to make it through the entire withdrawal process even without a credit card to use. It’s not supposed to work that way as PayPal would notify you that your account is still unverified and so you have a withdrawal limit to lift. Were you able to consult the customer service staff about this?
To answer your second question, yes you do need either a debit or credit card (the best is the latter) to verify your account. I’m actually planning on writing a post about this issue within the week with solutions, so stay tuned for that. 😉
Hi. At this company where I work as an independent contractor, I just spoke to two colleagues who have taken out money from their PayPal through their BPI accounts several times and both their accounts are unverified and they also have never had a credit card. They just told me it took a LONG time for the money to reflect, but just advised me to be patient. I have also read the same in this thread http://talk.thewebhostingdir.com/paypal/23080-encashing-money-case-unverified-paypal-accounts.html (although it’s not BPI, but a bunch of foreign banks). So I don’t know what to believe.
Hi Iris,
The policies could have changed as I opened my PayPal account back in 2007 I believe. I could never make any withdrawals if I could not verify my PayPal account and lift my withdrawal limit.
When you think about it though, verification is required also for the security of PayPal users. This guy (in the same website you pointed me to) provided a good explanation:
So verifying your account allows you to withdraw and to prevent PayPal from limiting or suspending your account out of the blue. It may not happen to your two colleagues today, but it could happen in the future if PayPal will notice. So I’d still encourage you and many other PayPal users to verify just to stay on the safe side and to always have their money transferred to their bank accounts in just 2-3 days.
I get that. The most painful part is having a credit card application denied by four different banks because my company lists me as an independent contractor and not an employee. In that case I can only accept payment for my freelance work via Western Union, and it makes PayPal absolutely useless to people like me. 🙁
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! Your site is very helpful.
Why go for Credit Cards when you can easily use EON and the like. Try SmartMoney ma’am
Hi Stef,
I just would like clarify something. I have a BPI Express Teller (International) – the blue one. I know I can use it in Odesk, but what about Paypal? I don’t see VISA or Mastercard logo in it, but I’ve already verified my Paypal account using my credit card. I’ve tried going to 2 BPI Branches, and the tellers I asked didn’t have any idea what Paypal is, which was surprising for me. Anyways, I know you’re the right person to ask since I’ve read on this post you are using a BPI Express account.
Thanks again. You’re doing a great job providing tons of useful information for Pinoy Freelancers! God bless!
-Baron
Stef, thanks for this 🙂 Very helpful!
Okay, I’m a bit confused. PayPal did identify that a debit card can be an ATM card. And I have to verify by using a credit/debit card. I am using my ATM. I am not confident about this because I do not know where the security code on my card is and the expiry date is not indicated on my card or anywhere on the letter. And if I move on, I do not know what might happen to the money. HOW can I link it to my PayPal account? Help please.
Joel,
You can’t use an ATM to verify your PayPal account. And just as you said, there’s no security code available to do so. You can always visit your bank of choice and inquire about their debit card options. You’ll see that these have the security code needed for verification and the Mastercard/Visa logo. In my case, I use BPI ePrepaid.
Hi Stef,
I’m planning to open an account at BPI, but I don’t know which type of account I should choose Are you referring on BPI Direct express teller savings account on this post? I’d like to do the same :p
Hello YourFan,
You can use BPI Direct, but I use and recommend the BPI Express Teller International (the regular BPI savings account). It’s worked for me when setting up both LFT and PayPal.
Hi Ms. Stef G
I am currently setting up my Odesk account. I would like to know if I can use an EON account as my one of my withdrawal method on LFT? Hope to find answer here.
Thank you very much and god bless
Hi, I’m still confused with the account number and card number on EON debit card. So should I enter the card number (16-digit) to verify it and then use the account number (12-digit) if i want to withdraw money from my paypal account through my eon card?
I ‘m also a online writer. I would like to ask if it is really possible to withdraw my money from PayPal directly to my Smart Money? I don’t have a bank account, credit card or debit card other than my Smart Money. My card is already verified from Paypal and I’m just having second thoughts from withdrawing since I’ve been reading from different websites that it is not possible, others say possible, to withdraw money from PayPal to Smart Money. Thanks!
Hi Stef,
Im still confused with the Smart Money thing to receive cash from odesk. From my understanding, Sir Arnel uses Smart Money both for Paypal and LFT (correct me if i am wrong). If so, can you please provide with a more detailed procedure for each? I would love to withdraw my money from Odesk and it terrifies me (to be brutally honest) to do so without specific detail. I am just new to this and unfortunately i do not have the required IDs (yet, as i am skeptic of getting my SSS ID due to the long wait) Christmas is coming and it scares me more. Looking forward to your answers. More power.
Hi,
My oDesk financial account has been suspended for several weeks now and my account is still under investigation. oDesk required me to send screenshots of my conversation with the client with regards to my hourly rate and job responsibilities. I send the Skype conversation I had with the client and never got any response from oDesk for 4 days now but worst thing is they reversed my pay back to the client while my account is still under investigation. Aren’t they supposed to just hold my pay until the issue is resolved? Will oDesk pay me for 3 weeks that I have hardly worked @ $6/hr since Client’s account has been suspended just this week due to his payment method had failed?
Hi I would like to ask how many days exactly you can withdraw your salary? I mean, Im about to pick up my EON card, then they said I need to wait for 5days pra ma activate, then if I will link it to my paypal account sa Elance, It will take again another 5days? the process is killing me OFF! ugh HELP. im newbie Freelancer.
Hi Stef,
I have a question, is elance offering LFT too? Like, I can also use BPI express to withdraw the funds? My paypal account is still unverified, and am not planning on verifying it using debit card or cc….I’m not that sure yet.. 🙂
When I opened elance, I don’t see on the help page what local banks are they supporting….
I just noticed that they wont accept paypal that’s unverified too, so I thought that elance has the same process as odesk – they accept BPI express, or other local bank accounts. So I was wondering how will this gonna work in elance too….
🙂 Hope you can help me.
Hi! Have you resolved this issue? Btw, elance also has an option to withdraw your funds directly to your local bank.
I’m an elance newbie and my first project paid 0. Now my question is, has anyone tried adding his BPI Express bank account for payment? I saw that option and I added mine. There’s a 5-day waiting period before I could withdraw my funds. I am not sure if that would be successful. I don’t wanna add my paypal account then transfer it to bpi, parang nonsense at doble gastos. So I tried directly adding my bank acct.
Hi! May bawas ba sa BPI nung nagdirect to local bank ka? Thanks!
450, not zero as shown on my last post…lol
i received an email from paypal that my payment for a purchase was refunded. but when i checked my account online, the refunded payment was not yet added. does it take days for my money to be added on my account? or was there a problem
Hi Stef,
I just got my ePrepaid from BPI but somehow when I try to verify my PayPal account using it. This is the error that is showing? “The bank that issued your card didn’t approved this transaction. Please contact the card issuer customer service department if you have any questions. Or you can add a different card now to continue”Help! What should I do?
Hi Jen, it also happened to me. All you need to do is to go to your bank and let them activate your card.
Helle Stef!
I enrolled my BDO kabayan account for LFT in oDesk it’s the 5th banking day now but it is still inactive. Do you happen to know why? I thought it would only take 4 days to be activated?
Thanks.