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In a third-world country like Nigeria, the means of livelihood is not so easy. It's one struggle to get "educated", the real struggle comes down to employment and job opportunities.
Africans and Nigerians are hardworking individuals, no doubt the youths look out for themselves and create solutions they need to make their own life and the country better.
Where an average salary earner earns nothing close to $100 per month, the citizens need to think for themselves and engage in "side hustles" which at the end of the day pay off more than the regular 9-5s.
Maybe 9-5 is sweer, but I can't relate since I've never worked as a salary earner. When I was a student, being a graduate without a job was my greatest fear. Besides, I'm not the type for 9-5. In short, I hate salaries.
I'm currently a freelancer, I've been a freelancer on Fiverr since 2017. Not that intense, just solo. My greatest year on Fiverr was 2020/21 when I was earning a consistent $1k/month. I'm into Digital Marketing (Direct Response Marketing and Copywriting). The earnings were consistent for 3-4 months, then sales dropped.
On average, I earn close to some Nigerian Professors (if not more), all my source of earnings combined - that's no bluffing, but I still never reach 10% of my goals.
At the beginning of 2022, I decided to try out Upwork. I got my first contract at $500 in January - which I completed in just a week.
For every platform, one problem any new freelancer will surely face is the Mode of Payment...
Back in the days when I started out on Fiverr, I had struggles...
As you know - the newbies are always in haste...
Due to excitement, they want to get their money out of the platform as quick as possible, and probably blow it...
Of course, I did the same (I used to be lavish though, but these days... "moti kalaa", lol).
I can remember my first pay on Fiverr in 2017 was $40. I got scammed $27 out of it while trying to invest in an affiliate marketing tool (which turned out to be a fake). Let's leave the details for another day (we've got many things to discuss now, lol)...
When it was time to make a withdrawal on Upwork, I didn't make it a big deal. There are many withdrawal methods by Upwork:
PayPal comes close as an option, but I can't bear the frustration that comes with it...
Other withdrawal methods come with extra charges, excluding the "Direct to US bank" method.
I am a Nigerian and I don't have a US bank account... I can't do Wire because it's too expensive for me....
The "local bank" withdrawal option won't save me...
Why?
The reason is that the banking system is messed up everywhere...
At the foreign exchange market, what you sell is not what you buy. Getting a dollar into your Nigerian Naira account is currently at the maximum rate of 406NGN/$ whereas Buying things in dollar$ with your Naira Debit Card is at the rate of nothing less than 480NGN/$...
Maybe that's how Banks work everywhere, but that's not my business...
... but here is my business
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The main purpose of this post is to introduce freelancers to a better way of getting paid handsomely in Naira to dollar rate (the black-market rate, and how to leverage on this opportunity and make a side hustle out of it)...
Even if you are not a freelancer, this is still for you, so pay attention (that's the only price)...
It doesn't matter if you work on either Fiverr, Upwork or not. At the end of these long words, you will be able to make withdrawals at the latest black market rate of 575NGN/$ - for 'buy' orders (that is, exchange to naira).
See for yourself...
Cool, ain't it?
Albeit, I have done this before and below is the proof of transactions...
At this high rate, you can still buy products and services in dollars at the local bank rate when you finally get credited by the exchange platform.
Exchange your dollars to naira at Aboki's rate... buy "stuffs" in dollars at the bank's 'mumu' rate....
Justice served!
And if you are not a Nigerian, you will surely be able to make withdrawals into your local bank account at the current black market rate provided to you (in your country) by the platform I'm about to reveal...
Just like me, many youths are working remotely to put food on the table, more reason I'm blogging from this great platform called Hive...
Many dreams are being made with freelance and remote lifestyles...
As youths, it should be in our responsibility to make things easier for ourselves... much reason why the platform was created (to ease borderless transactions).
There is no doubt that when considering payment options, PayPal has always been strict. Here in my country (Nigeria), PayPal has never been an option, but thank God for Payoneer...
That's a relief!
"But what happens to Payoneer?"
Well, PayPal is good (not for the faint-hearted ones though), Payoneer is better, but this platform I'm about to reveal is the best.
"Enough of suspense", you said?...
Don't panick, I gat you!
The amazing platform I've been ranting about is Grey.co, formerly Aboki.Africa...
It is a technology that offers foreign virtual bank accounts to its users across Africa.
With Grey.co, you can create virtual bank accounts in USD, GBP, and EUR.
Now, let's get even more serious... Back to my experience with grey...
MY EXPERIENCE WITH GREY.CO
Thank God for Grey's virtual USD bank account, after many days of patience, I was able to link my virtual bank account to my Upwork account and I made a successful withdrawal using the "Direct to US bank" (ACH method).
Just like that? Like I was a US citizen? Not even in my dreams!
But it was real, NO JOKES! 😲
Wonders what happened next?
I got an email...
Like I said - NO JOKES!
I got my funds...
I received my funds ($396- after 20% platform fee and $4 transaction fee) into my Grey virtual bank account in 2 days...
From there, I made a withdrawal into my local bank account (Kuda) at the rate of 566NGN/$ (back in February, which amounted to NGN222K after charges).
Isn't that sweet?
I bet that ain't sweet enough...
Do you wanna know the sweetest side of it all?
The sweetest side of it is that you don't have to be a freelancer...
You can earn a lot as an individual (leveraging on Grey.co to your own advantage, as a business), if you are not a freelancer...
and that's a guarantee!
Here is where the Arbitrage business comes in...
PAYONEER ARBITRAGE
If you use Payoneer, here is an amazing stuff for you...
LINKING GREY'S VIRTUAL BANK ACCOUNT WITH PAYONEER
You are free to link your Grey's virtual bank accounts with your Payoneer, whether GBP, EUR, or USD.
One secret about Payoneer that you might not know is that they also make use of virtual bank accounts, so you don't need to be worried about this...
All you have to do is to "Add new bank"...
Simply log in to your Payoneer, go to withdraw > to bank...
On the new page, you will see an option to "add new bank", simply click on it...
If you are linking a USD account, select the right currency (which is USD in this case). After selecting the currency type, click on "Next".
See below...
Seems I'm moving too fast, right?
Okay, take a deep breath...
Good enough... Now you can continue...
Next... type in the name of the bank. In this case, my bank name is "Community Federal Savings Bank" (the same bank being used by Payoneer for its services)... then search with the name of the bank.
If it doesn't display the name of the bank as you search, don't panic...
Simply select "other" and fill in the name of the bank as shown in the screenshot below...
Fill in the Account Holder Name and the Account Number as well...
Confirm everything and click on "Next". As you click on the "Next" button, your bank's SWIFT code will be requested. Go and copy it from Grey.co and paste it in the provided space.
see below...
Confirm everything and that's it.
Henceforth, you will be able to make withdrawals into your Grey account by using Payoneer's "withdrawal to bank" method.
Be mindful... Don't forget to choose the foreign account (the new account you just added), do not choose the local bank account...
Else, you know what will happen (if you choose the local bank account option)...
Therefore...
And Here finally comes the Arbitrage Business...
First off...
WHAT IS ARBITRAGE?
As you can see, you don't have to feel awkward about it as it's risk-free and easy.
It's simply buying of Payoneer funds (whether in USD, GBP or EUR) from local sellers like freelancers who obviously won't use the "Transfer to bank" functionality due to the bank's rate...
You simply buy (foreign currencies) from freelancers at a favorable rate and then sell it off on Grey.co and have your naira... mind you, Grey.co's buy rate should always be your determinant.
Here is an instance:
The current buy rate on grey.co is N575... I won't give them (the freelancers willing to sell their foreign funds) the exact rate. Instaed, I will tune it down. I can give them at N565 per dollar (if only I'm just starting out and I want customers as fast as possible). N555 isn't bad, and you can even tune it down a bit, but don't ever be greedy...
Most times, business should mostly be about the customers, not profit. Whereas it's hard to get a customer, it is also easy to lose them (nonchalantly), but honesty alone is what will keep them. Bear that in mind...
At the rate of N555 per dollar, you get to gain N20 on every dollar when you finally make withdrawal to your Grey.co's virtual bank account and then convert to naira on the platform...
Let's say you get to exchange $100 with your customer at N555 per dollar, then you are buying the funds ($100 dollars) for N55,500 Naira. At the end of the day, you will get to exchange the $100 on Grey.co and have your N57,500...
And that's a profit...
That's a pure N2k profit per transaction... It's okay, but not enough?
Well...
How about this...
How about you get to buy $100 funds in ten folds per day or even more from your customers?
Now, that is N20K profit per day...
And if you can't reach that amount, you can always stack up your Payoneer funds (for the long-term), then send it all into your Grey.co's virtual bank account and exchange all at once...
Now, you are happy?
"Yes!"
Well, I am too, Lol 😀.
That is Arbitrage Business.
Rinse and repeat...
Risk-free and very simple, ain't it?
Isn't this a business? 😀
Starting a business like this require capital (what business doesn't though), but don't ever borrow money to start a business. That's my one cent, but it's your decision to make.
PAYONEER REGISTRATION
If you are new to Payoneer and you want to register an account with them, simply click Here to do that.
PAYPAL ARBITRAGE
What you do with Payoneer, you can also do for PayPal.
PayPal can only allow you to connect only USD bank account, and not any other additional currency other than your own local currency - that makes it 2, but in this case we are only linking our foreign bank account (which is the virtual bank account, powered by Grey.co).
HOW TO LINK BANK ACCOUNT WITH PAYPAL
To get started...
All you have to do is link your USD virtual bank account to your PayPal...
Click Here to learn how to do that...
It might not work at first... Something as shown in the picture below might come up...
Do not fret... Simply give it some time (especially if your PayPal account is very new); two weeks, three weeks or more. At the end, you will link the USD virtual bank account successfully...
It happened to me... At the end, I got it done, and I did nothing special...
Below is the screenshot of a withdrawal attempt...
And here I got my Grey.co's wallet funded successfully...
That's it!
THE BUSINESS
For the arbitrage part of it, all you have to do is source for PayPal funds wherever possible and follow the illustrations below to get your funds transferred into your Grey.co's virtual bank account.
Let's get it done...
Log in to your PayPal account... Right in the PayPal balance section, click on "transfer money" as in the screenshot below...
Next, select the destination, as in the bank option as shown below and click on "Next" to proceed...
The next step is to enter the amount then click on "Next"...
Almost done...
The next step... Review the transaction in case of mistake in the funds destination and the amount. Confirm the transaction once you are sure you are satisfied...
And you are all done...
As soon as you click on "Done", you will receive a confirmation email from PayPal...
Afterwared, you will receive your funds in 2 days...
And that's it...
You've done well coming this far and I must commend your efforts... To keep to that, kindly comment below and let me know if you need my assistance...
If you need guidance on creating eligible PayPal account that can send and receive funds like mine, kindly let me know in the comment section...
You know what? I have this attitude of not knowing when to stop whenever I start writing... just like a video, I want whatever I write to be comprehensive as much as possible...
For coming this far...
Of course you are... and you deserve a trophy.
One last thing to discuss is...
GREY'S FLEXIBILITY
Another perk to Grey is its flexibility. Unlike Payoneer (which doesn't permit individual payment unless it's coming from a partner-company or a registered Payoneer user), you've got the option to receive payments directly from individuals in any of your preferred currency with your Grey.co virtual bank accounts - in USD, GBP, or EUR.
As you are about to check out and register on Grey, you should prepare your valid Identification Card and as well a Utility Bill, NEPA bill is an example.
The last thing, make sure to read their Terms of Service. This is a money subject we are talking about, so don't leave anything undone.
Was this blog helpful? If so, then I bet you will wish to know more about the person behind the blog...
If you are less busy, feel free to check out my introductory post...