As a freelancer, we need ways to cash out our hard earned money.
There are lots of payment processors that do the job perfectly. But on some occasions, you're kinda forced to subscribe to a service just because there is nothing else left.
That was my story with Payoneer.
I first subscribed to Payoneer when I started freelancing on oDesk and Fiverr. That was back to 2009.
They sent me the card, was happy about it at the time, and it's been my main cash-out option for a couple of years.
I thought that the company was great and that the card was perfect. Until I was able to create a Paypal account.
I had to wait till I moved to the US (around 2011) to be able to get an account. Paypal didn't allow opening an account in my home country until late 2014!
So, with Paypal, I discovered a whole new level of payment processing, which put Payoneer into my drawer, literally.
But I kept an account there and sent some balance to have a backup card to use for emergencies or if I needed to pay with a credit card and I didn't want to use the one linked to my bank account.
The company's reputation and quality dropped around 2010, and it's got even worse now.
I had a couple of infuriating incidents with Payoneer through the years. But I've always resolved to keep my account open.
I will only share my last experience with the company 'cause it's the one that made realize that I'm done with these guys.
First thing, I have a clean Payoneer account. Never had any issue with a customer or supplier. Just a regular account where I drop my Fiverr earnings from time to time.
My credit card ends the 3/2019. It's almost a year from now. So, there's plenty of time to use the card.
Payoneer sent an email telling me that a new card was issued and shipped, but I can still use the old one until I activate the new one.
Okay. Cool! As long as I have access to my dough. No problem.
I had a set balance on card #1. But I needed to purchase something where I will need like 3 times the balance.
Looked into my freelancing platforms and I found out that I had a good bag on Fiverr.
So I sent it to Payoneer to get enough funds to proceed with my purchase.
When it arrived at Payoneer, and I paid an additional $3 for that, they added the balance to Card #2. The card that I didn't receive yet and that's not yet activated.
I reached out to the support service, which took me like 20mn to get an agent available, explained the issue, and waited like another 10mn waiting for an answer...
When the agent came back, he said that they're sorry, but they can't release the funds in Card #2 until it's activated.
I explained the urgency of the situation. And that moving my balance from Card #2 to Card #1 will fix the issue. Nothing will do.
Since I have my bank account linked to Payoneer, I kindly asked to send me the balance to my bank account. Will take a couple of days to arrive, but it will still help me fix my financial needs in time.
Their answer was the same. They can't send me the balance in Card #2 unless it's activated.
I've always thought that we had a unified balance in Payoneer and that the credit cards was just a way to cash the money out when needed. But it turned out that they are like pre-paid cards.
Disappointed, pissed, and kinda disgusted about the situation... I had lots of questions that needed answers, like:
But I eneded up simply forgetting about this whole thing.
If they can't fix something they're responsible of, there's no reason why I would keep my money stored their.
UPDATE #1
I received a notice asking me to use the balance in Card #1, and I quote:
We recommend that you use the remaining funds as soon as possible.
Seriously?
They're basically asking me to dismiss of my funds.
For me, Payoneer are amateurs. Plain and simple. End of story.
I will wait until the damn Card #2 arrive and I will take my money and close the account for good.
I'll leave it as it is. I'm curious to see if I'll be loosing them.
