MAJOR NEWS
Skip down to the last parts of this post if you’ve read it before.
Excerpts from the GSoC mailing list (before we were warned for off-topic discussion) -:
- Payoneer does not issue prepaid cards in India because of a RBI directive.
- The bank transfer facility allows for transfer as USD or INR.
- For transfer as INR, the charges are $3 + 3% of the transaction amount per transaction – this amounts to ~$150 for three transactions.
- For transfer as USD, the charges are flat $15 per transaction – amounting to $45. One needs to check with their bank regarding any extra charges, forex rate charges, service tax, etc.
Clearly, transfer as USD is the best option at this time.
Apparently, there is some confusion regarding the transfer fees. The FAQ and pricing page at Payoneer says that the fees are $0. If someone could clarify this, please post a comment!
EDIT: For those who have questions, please refer to the comments thread of this post. Nissim, head of community at Payoneer, has decided to lend us a helping hand.
SECOND EDIT: This chat with the Payoneer representative that I had a while ago should clear everything -:
Bella: Hello and welcome to Payoneer Customer Support.
Pritish: Hello!
Bella: Before we proceed, please provide me with the answer to your security question:
Bella: What was the name of your first pet?
Pritish:
Bella: Thank you.
Bella: You wish to switch to a USD transfer?
Bella: The fee for the USD transfer is $15 per transfer.
Pritish: Yes, I’d mistakenly selected INR
Pritish: Wait, I had a doubt regarding this
Pritish: Sending a page link from Payoneer to you, gimme a min
Pritish: This page says that the fee for USD transfer is $0
Pritish: I live in India and this is regarding my stipend for Google summer of code
Bella: Let me look into this for you.
Pritish: Thanks!
Bella: Please hold one moment.
Bella: I see, you are affiliated with Google Summer of Code and therefore the fee setup is different than usual. There is no flat fee for the transfers apart from the conversion rates that apply for certain transfers.
Bella: You wish to use a USD transfer instead?
Pritish: So if I transfer as USD, the only charges I will have are those relating to exchange rates and other associated fees at my bank, correct? Nothing from Payoneer’s side?
Bella: Yes, correct.
Pritish: Please do set my transfer mode to USD. Thank you!
Bella: We will transfer your request to the relevant department and keep you updated via email.
Pritish: Right, thank you.
Bella: Are you still to use the same bank account?
Pritish: Indeed, I am.
Bella: Okay. Thank you. We will keep you updated and let you know once this is done.
Bella: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Pritish: This was it, thank you so much!
So, in conclusion, I have an account at HDFC bank – to clarify, they charge the following -:
- The forex rate, let us call this the base rate.
- Some percentage of the base rate as conversion fees.
- Now from the money that is deducted by 1 and 2, 12.5% is charged on this difference as service tax.
Transfer as USD is *still* the winner.
I am posting a link to a blog regarding the tax issue. Apparently, stipends are exempt from taxes, and we need to declare exemption.
Link: Click Here
Conclusion
Payoneer recently conducted an experiment with me as their recipient to see which transfer mode would be more beneficial to students residing in India. They sent money through two transactions, one in SWIFT/USD mode and one in INR mode. Long story short, INR mode yielded around Rs 200 extra for the same transaction amount. For larger amounts, such as those distributed by Google, the difference could be larger. It may or may not depend on the bank your account is linked to, but so far, I’ve found that very few banks have been favourable in USD mode (such as IDBI Bank). Most banks, SBI in particular, and surprisingly, even HDFC (experiment confirms for HDFC, since I’m an HDFC account holder) is better off with INR. So whatever you do, choose carefully!
My GSoC Journey 
Hi – my name is Nissim, I’m Head of Community at Payoneer.
Thanks for sharing your feedback about Payoneer! I wanted to follow up with some of the detailed mentioned above:
– It is correct that due to RBI regulations, non-Indian companies cannot issue cards to Indian residents (this unfortunately includes Payoneer)
– There is no charge per transfer to your bank account for GSoC payouts, which is why the fee table lists it as free. This is true both for the $3.00 local bank transfers, and $15.00 USD wire transfers.
– Payoneer supports local bank transfers to India. This means we’ll send your funds from a local bank in India, in INR. For INR the conversion rate is only 2.75% above the official mid-market rate.
Local bank transfers much quicker (arriving within 1-3 business days) and also avoid any international landing fees charged when receiving SWIFT transfers. Depending on the conversion rate offered by your bank in India, we generally recommend this method.
If you have any additional questions about Payoneer, or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Hey there Nissim!
Thanks for clarifying the Payoneer process. I’ll add a note on my post that directs people to this comment thread! That way, if they have questions, they can directly approach you.
Great – thanks!
Hi Nissim,
For local bank transfer, we will get an exchange rate that is 2.75% above the mid market rate and we will be charged 3% fee for conversion?
Hi Shivanshu,
No – the rate Payoneer uses for local bank transfers to India already includes the conversion charge. The easiest way to confirm would be to check the mid-market rate (using a site like XE.com) and add a charge of 2.75% to it.
Hi Nissim,
To confirm if I got it right, assuming the current mid market rate to be say 61 INR/USD, local bank transfer would transfer [Transaction Amt] * 61 * (1-0.0275) INR – the effective exchange rate being 61 * (1 – 0.0275) = 59.3225 INR/USD ?
Regards,
Gaurav
@Gaurav: Yes, your breakdown of the rates used for conversion to INR is correct.
Hey, Is it possible to transfer amount to bank account that is not under my name?
Yes, this is possible, however if the bank account you are receiving payments to is under a different name we may ask for confirmation of your relationship to the recipient (such as a photo ID or similar documents).
Hi Nissim,
I am from India. I didn’t know that we have USD option also for bank transfer. So I went with default INR option. Now I want to receive payments in USD. I have sent the mail to payoneer support but still no response yet. Can you please take a look at it?
Ticket# LTK1216101679643X
Regards,
Sid
Hi Sid,
E-mails generally take 1-2 business days to be reviewed by our Global Bank Transfers Department.You should be receiving a reply shortly.
I would also suggest checking with your local bank in India to see what rates they offer on conversion from USD to INR. Note that our local bank transfers in INR are much quicker and already sent in INR from a local bank in India. If the rates offered by Payoneer are more competitive than those offered by your local bank, you may be able to save on both cost and time by using the local bank transfer option (in INR).
Reblogged this on Kumar Rishav's Blog.
The winner is not certain till one knows ones bank’s conversion rate i.e. percentage of the base rate charged as conversion fee (2). If this rate is greater than 2.75 (not considering service tax), then INR may be the winner.
Now in India, this conversion rate is floating & decided by bank’s higher authority according to market.
Hello Nissim,
I am trying to register for Payoneer account in order to receive stipend through Google Summer of Code 2016 program. I don’t have last name on my government-issued id but it is compulsory to fill the last name column for registration.
Kindly help.
Hello,
I am trying to register for Payoneer account in order to receive stipend through Google Summer of Code 2016 program. I don’t have last name on my government-issued id but it is compulsory to fill the last name column for registration.
Kindly help.
Ok, the post says USD is better, and the comments says INR will be better most probably. -_-
@Aditi – yes it’s required, but you can fill in the same name twice (first name in the last name field also)
Hi Guys – wanted to update that the Payoneer conversion charge is now only 2% above the mid-market rate. This provides an even more attractive rate and I do highly suggest the INR option over USD.
@Pritish – can we update the original post?
Hi everyone,
I have been selected for GSoC 2017 and while i logged in for the first time in my payoneer account it asked me for the purpose code according to rbi guidelines.What should i enter?
Hello Nissim,
@Nissim
Does this blog still apply in 2022? If not, whats the current status.