eddy2099.com

About a month or so ago, someone on Digital Point forum mentioned that Payoneer.com was offering Virtual US Bank accounts to some members of some affiliate program but I as I did not see the option available in my account, I did not really think much about it.

However, all that changed for me on July 20th 2008 when I’ve received an invitation to join the closed beta group from Payoneer.com and I jumped at the chance of joining this trial. I had in the past wanted to set up a US Bank account because at that point of time, the US Dollar was strong but because of the US Banking regulations, I found that it was more difficult than I thought and I stopped pursuing that option. But the Payoneer US Virtual Bank account option rekindles that.

In under an hour, I received an email containing my Payoneer Virtual Bank Account Number and ABA Number.

At the same time, I have the additional option under the Payoneer Control Panel entitled ‘Services’ which contains details about my Virtual US Bank account.

I started adding the Payoneer Virtual Bank Account to Paypal and within a few days, I received the two small deposits in my Payoneer account which I keyed into Paypal and my bank account is confirmed.

Now if I pay through Paypal, I have the option to Pay through the Payoneer Virtual Bank Account via Immediate Load and e-Check option. At the same time, as I am from Singapore, I can only make fees-free withdrawal for amounts above S$200 but now with the US Virtual Bank Account, there is no fees and no minimum sum I can withdraw and it takes only about 2 days instead of 5 days (when I withdraw to my bank account).

I can definitely see that this option would benefit those who either wants to receive all US Payments from various affiliate programs into a single account which they can withdraw via the Payoneer Debit Mastercard through their local ATM or use it to spend in the stores or online. It will be an added benefit for those from the 19 Paypal Supported Countries which can send and receive payments but can only withdraw to a US Bank account. These countries includes Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Cypruis, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

From my understanding, this option is not free and would cost US$99 a year and the loading options are priced at US$5 for Immediate Load (2 hours) and US$2 for Standard Load (2 Days). As this is still under beta, the rates are subjected to change.

This certainly is a good initiative by Payoneer.com and would certainly be a godsend to many as we no longer need to fly into the US to establish a bank account.