As a freelance writer, I was hit hard by the recent Paypal outage which prevented me from withdrawing funds from Paypal into my Bank account. Out of desperation, I decided to try Moneybookers [That's an affiliate link btw :) ] as an alternative to using Paypal for withdrawing money to my Indian bank account. And while I still get payments into my Paypal account, oDesk has an option to withdraw my funds into a Moneybookers account.
I was a bit hesitant going into Moneybookers because I had heard a lot about how they supposedly freeze accounts and charge high fees. But as I said, I was desperate and I’m glad I decided to open a Moneybookers account – it’s cheaper than Paypal with better currency conversion fees and it delivers cash into my account just as fast. The only hurdle to using Moneybookers fully is their highly strict verification process. I had to verify my Email ID, my card, my Bank account, my address (twice) and finally my ID. After all the verifications however, my account is fully operational with very high limits.
Moneybookers - An alternative to Paypal in India
Moneybookers is based in Europe, and their strict verification rules stem from implementing the UK’s anti money laundering procedures. People who have their accounts frozen have likely not completed all the procedures required by Moneybookers.
For those in India thinking of using Moneybookers as an option for withdrawal of funds into Indian bank accounts, here is a detailed account of how I set up my account and got verified step by step.
Opening an Account
Opening a Moneybookers account is simple. Head over to the Moneybookers home page and click the “Register” button. Be very careful while filling out the registration form, cause I gotta warn you – they’re going to check everything! Also, ensure that you choose your account’s currency carefully. You can never change it after this. And finally, be warned that you can have only one Moneybookers account. If you try and create two (they’ll likely find out if you do), your accounts will be frozen and there’s no use crying afterwards. They take their security procedures very seriously.
I receive all my payments in USD and I chose to have my Moneybookers currency set as USD, since this allows me to escape two currency conversion fees. If you instead choose a currency such as Euros and you receive a payment in USD, you’ll be hit with currency conversion fees twice – first from USD into EUR and then EUR into INR when you withdraw to an Indian bank account. So choose carefully!
Email ID and Physical Address Verification
Once you’ve opened your account, you’d better start the verification procedures ASAP. Your account is never fully functional until you do and even if you don’t hit your withdrawal limits, Moneybooker’s security team is likely to force you to verify your account if you don’t do it soon. The Email ID verification is simplicity itself. They send an email to the address you provide and you click the included link to verify it.
There are two physical address verifications. The first verification is designed to check whether the person who has opened the Moneybookers account really lives at the address provided. Mind, this isn’t a name verification yet. Just a check to see if you’ve given a valid address. When you try and verify your Indian address, Moneybookers will send you a physical letter containing a 6 digit number which you have to key into the Moneybookers verification page. If you enter it correctly, your address is verified and your money sending and withdrawal limits are increased.
I live in Chennai and I got the letter from Moneybookers in 5 days or so. Pretty neat!
Credit/Debit Card Verification
The second step is to verify your card. It’s important to note that you can verify your card only if the name on the card is the same as the one you signed up with on Moneybookers. For verification, they charge your card a small amount and you have to then enter the exact value taken from your card. This proved to be a bit difficult for me for two reasons. First, I don’t have a credit card and when I tried using my ICICI debit card, the verification failed. Apparently Moneybookers didn’t like it.
I bank with ICICI and some time ago, I signed up for a b2 branch banking account – a completely online bank facility which has an “eWallet”. I tried using these details for card verification and it worked! But then a problem occurred. Moneybookers wanted me to enter the amount debited in USD and since my ICICI account was in INR, I only saw the INR value! I tried guessing the value based on the conversion rate and was confronted with a stern message in red saying “Please DO NOT TRY and guess the amount” after which they disabled the verification for 24 hrs – Ouch.
So I contacted the b2 bank using their online chat facility (damn neat that is) and asked them to give me the exact USD value debited. After a bit of checking, they confirmed that it was exactly $1.51 . I waited for 24 hrs, input the amount into the Moneybookers verification screen and voila! It was correct, I was verified and my account limits were increased further.
Adding and verifying a Bank account
This was the most difficult part of the verification procedure for me. There are two ways to verify your Indian bank account with Monebookers. First, you can upload some funds to the Moneybookers account via a wire transfer. The other is by withdrawing some funds to your bank account from Moneybookers first and then entering the verification code that they send along with your first withdrawal. Neither of them worked for me though…
The first step is adding your bank. You need to know the SWIFT code of your bank for Moneybookers to wire the funds to you. On the receiving end, my ICICI bank charges me Rs. 25 for each incoming wire transfer – quite reasonable. Sadly, though all banks have a SWIFT code, not all branches do. After trying in vain to find out the SWIFT code of my ICICI bank branch, I decided to call ICICI and find out what it is. The customer rep asked me if the sender was sending funds in USD or INR. I naturally assumed that the funds were being sent in USD (since my funds are stored in USD) and I obtained the USD specific SWIFT code for ICICI.
However, when I put in the SWIFT code, Moneybookers didn’t recognize it as an Indian bank. So after a lot of searching around, I finally got the correct SWIFT code for ICICI which is ICICINBBNRI . What seems to be happening is that Moneybookers is first converting my USD to INR and then sending it to the bank I specify. So naturally it counts as an INR transfer and not a USD. At least, that is what I think is happening. At any rate, my funds sailed through to my bank account in just two days. To be on the safe side, I had withdrawn only the small amount of $14 the first time. I was pleasantly surprised to find a conversion rate much better than Paypal’s.
Moneybookers Bank Verification
Eagerly I searched for the verification code that was promised along with the wire transfer details, but didn’t find any such code. I was informed by Moneybookers that it would be a 6 digit alphanumeric code preceded by “VRF CODE”. But after many calls to the ICICI NRI department, no such code was found.
Disappointed, I decided to opt for the other method of verification namely uploading funds from my bank account to Moneybookers. Armed with all the details I walked over to ICICI to make the transfer, when I was informed that each transfer would cost me more than $30! I couldn’t afford that, and so I came home disappointed.
I contacted Moneybookers customer support over the phone (using Skype) and told them that it was too expensive for me to upload funds to Moneybookers and that I hadn’t received any VRF CODE in my first withdrawal either. They kindly offered to verify my bank account manually and asked me to send over either a screenshot of my online bank account or a scanned copy of my bank statement. The details they wanted shown on the document were:
- Bank account number
- Name of the person (my name)
- Transaction details showing the withdrawal into ICICI from Moneybookers
- Date of the Transaction
- Moneybookers as the sender of the funds
I took a screenshot of my online statement and circled the relevant details in black. Here is what I sent over:
Bank Statement showing Moneybookers transfer
Unfortunately for me, all the needed details are visible except No. 5 – the name of the sender (Moneybookers). Their security team rejected the screenshot saying so, and asked me to send them the physical statement of the bank. I called ICICI and asked them if the physical bank statement would show Moneybookers as the sender, and they told me that they couldn’t see the details of the sender themselves!
I was stymied and once again called up Moneybookers and pleaded with them saying that my bank couldn’t provide me with a statement showing them as the sender. They got back to me saying that if that was the case,I must at least get a full print out of the SWIFT transaction from my bank, scan it and send it to them. So off I went to ICICI the next day to do just that and obtained this document:
Moneybookers SWIFT details
Praying to the (non existent) gods that they accept this as proof that I am indeed the owner of the Bank account in question, I sent it off to them and was rewarded two days later with an email from the security departing saying that my bank account has (at last!) been verified by their department. And my withdrawal limits were raised once more.
After my bank account verification, there was just one more thing for them to check up…
Commercial account vs Personal Account
I was reading some forums a week ago, when I came across the disturbing news that if I was using Moneybookers to receive payments for goods or services (which as a writer, I am), then I must have a commercial account and not a personal one. When you sign up for a Moneybookers account, you’re asked if you’re an individual or a company. Since I’m an individual, I got a personal account instead of a commercial one.
I went back and read the Moneybookers TOS and saw that if they suspect that I’m using a personal account to receive commercial payments, their security team will freeze the account and ban me. I was scared, and once again placed a call to them telling them that I’m a freelancer and that though I use my account for commercial purposes, I’m not a company but an individual. They got back to me with a mail saying that if that was the case, they would treat my account as a commercial one and that they wanted two further documents from me to prove my identity, namely:
- A scanned copy of a government issued document with an expiry date
- A utility bill that has actually arrived by post in the past 3 months
I was only too happy to send them a copy of the front and back of my passport, but I had a problem with the second requirement. Internet techie that I am, I pay every single bill of mine online and when I sent them my reliance Internet bill which arrived by email, the security team told me that it must be a scanned copy of a bill that was actually received by post in the last 3 months. Since I’ve just got back from outside India, I don”t have any such bill and had to wait for a while to obtain it.
They also sent over a “Merchant questionnaire” word document requesting details about my business and what I do etc etc. They told me to leave out the fields which are not applicable, and there were many like this since I’m not a company.
As matters stand, I’m still waiting for my Internet bill to arrive by post so that I can finish up this final verification stage. I finally got my Internet bill by post, scanned it (and scanned the envelope before opening it for good measure!), filled out the questionnaire with all details that were applicable to me and uploaded all three documents to the Moneybookers security team. I got back a reply in less than an hour thanking me for sending across the documents and informing me that all was well.
So that was the end of the verification procedures for me. I’m completely verified and all set to go! I’ve already withdrawn several thousand rupees into my ICICI bank account from Moneybookers and it’s been a better experience than Paypal due to the higher conversion rates.
I only wish there was some way to transfer money from my Paypal account to Moneybookers, since Paypal withdrawals into Indian bank accounts are more expensive and are fraught with complications thanks to the recent RBI ban. Moneybookers seems to be a professional company, and though their verification procedures can get a bit on one’s nerves, it’s that very scrutiny that inspires trust.
So here’s hoping that more Indian providers will ask their clients if they use Moneybookers for payments and if so, open an account with them.
Awesome post! I didn't expect so much details regarding Moneybookers in India. Thanks for sharing. I will try it too.
Yes, Moneybookers is the best alternative for Paypal.
Hi,
Thanks for the information regarding the Moneybookers….
I need few clarifications on this
1.I have registered with Moneybookers…I have added my bank details as well…Not yet received a address verification letter(it may take another 4-5 days)…Now can I upload funds to my moneybookers account?
2.Do they support withdrawal to local banks in India?
Help appreciated
Me – Uploading funds using your bank account will require a wire transfer from your Indian bank. Very expensive (around $30 for ICICI). You can upload funds from your debit/credit card if you can get it verified.
And yes, they support withdrawals to local banks in India. My bank charges me Rs. 25 for incoming wire transfers. Check your bank for theirs.
I had opened a Moneybookers account sometime back and also blogged about it. It sure did seem better with their conversion rates. Since I am yet to make a transaction, I have not faced the verification issues yet.
Your post is quite detailed and will prove to be very helpful for all Indians. Will be blogging it soon, look out for the trackback! :)
Hi,
Thats a lot of useful information. But quite a tiresome process I see. Can you please tell me what exactly is their fee for processing credit cards?
-Regards,
Akash
Me – The fee for uploading funds from a card into your Moneybookers account is 1.90% . Moneybookers doesn't support withdrawal to Indian Credit cards AFAIK. They have a list of some 30 countries in which they do support it, but India isn't one of them. You can only withdraw to your Indian bank account.
Aren't you using their merchant features (http://www.moneybookers.com/app/help.pl?s=m_fees) ? I am specifically interested in using the Quick Checkout feature but confused about the fee charged.@Akash
Me – Yes, those are the exact fees mentioned on the page for Moneybookers Quick checkout.
On that page:
Moneybookers Quick Checkout = 2.9% + 0.29 €
Chargeback protection = 7.9%
So how much I am gonna lose. I am confused. You have any idea?
Me – I haven't used the quick checkout system yet, so I'm not sure as to all the details. But these must be standard fees – I would assume the chargeback protection is refunded after some time. Perhaps their TOS will be helpful?
Moneybookers is really good. I have quit using PayPal.
Total PayPal charges come to about 6.5%, for th complete process, when the foreign client pays up an you withdraw to your Indian bank.
Whereas with Moneybookers, this is less then 4%.
This is a smart choice, go for it.
Good post this, it's got all info that you need.
Use his link man, he's done all the effort for you.
Quit PayPal. Be Happy.
You can quit PayPal if you are willing to loose 50-60% of your potential customers. Thats my personal experience though. A majority of US and UK clients prefer to pay using PayPal instead of anything else. Still it doesn't hurt to add alternative payment options like Moneybookers etc.
Whats the recent RBI bans to limit Paypal ? any idea about that?
Bhagwad, I got a mail from MB recently stating this;
"We would like to kindly inform you that payments between US customers, and US customers and international customers using the Send Money service are not supported according to the Moneybookers policy. Therefore, please note that you will be not able either to receive or to send payments from the 'Send money' section to customers from the United States."
What do you say about it?
Me – sad but true. It's the reason why I still need to use Paypal for some of my work. However, those working on Freelancing websites usually have Moneybookers as a payment option even though those sites are based in the US. But it's less than ideal…
@Bhagwad
While creating the Moneybookers account I have selected my currency as INR.
Now suppose If I transfer say $100 to my bank account(ICICI) , do u have any idea how much I will get?Let me know…
Thanks,
Ajit
Me – Have you already received the INR funds into your Moneybookers account? If so, I don't THINK you'll be hit with currency charges when you transfer since you're already using INR. Do the transfer and let me know…
Ajit,
If you have account in INR in moneybookers, then there will be two currency conversion charges….like…..if you transfer $100 you will get equivalent in INR after currency conversion deduction. Again, if you want to withdraw the amount again the INR is converted in Euro and sent to our bank accounts after deduction of conversion charges to Euro.
Below is the details, I transferred to MB a sum of $125 and got INR 5648.45 @ 1 USD = INR 45.1900 i.e, equivalent of USD 123.583. So $2.5 loss in first conversion.
Again I transferred INR 5000.00 (USD 109.362) to my bank account and received INR 4833.11 (USD 105.711). MB commission to bank transfer is INR 116.97 and conversion of INR 5000.00 in equivalent Euro and to transfer to Indian account is USD 2.64893.
So you calculate the loss. It is better to have MB account in USD to avoid atleast one conversion rate.
@Ajit
As far as I know, if you create your MB account in INR, then the money that comes to your account, in whichever currency (dollar, pound etc), will firstly get converted to INR on the MB currency conversion rates, which are higher than the currency conversion rates of the Indian banks, for eg. ICICI charges only Rs25 for whatsoever amount to be converted (in case of dollars, that I know).
I have selected my currency as USD, as I was suggested by others, and you shall not be able to change the currency selection if even a single transaction has been made using the MB account.
Hope this helps.
Me – I'm wondering now if it might not have been better for me to have my currency in INR after all. I mean, right now it's ok since I get paid in USD. But what if I get paid later in EUR? Then I'll be slapped with two conversion fees namely EUR => USD => INR (To Bank) . But if I have an account in INR, then there'll be just one conversion from any currency XXX like so: XXX => INR => INR (To Bank).
What's your opinion?
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1…
Here, I would like to share some of my personal thoughts:
if you are programmer and get paid through freelancing sites, then we may have 2-3 options.
1. PayPal: Though they give us lower exchange rate but seems okay for fast payment.
2. Moneybookers :Their currency conversation rates are high- They are from GB, currency is EUR, my account is in INR. I did a test withdrawl USD $55 from a freelancing site, MB account balance became INR 2428.67 (1 USD = 44.157 INR approx. INR 0.90 higher than PayPal on the same day). I transferred the same amount, moneybookers deducted INR 117.64 for Bank transfer fees, so INR 2311.03 was sent from moneybookers. I got INR 1,918.00 – (FIR EUR 34.49 @ 65.2025)!
So ultimately I got USD $55 = INR 1,918.00 (1 USD = 34.87 INR)
If I could get it through PayPal then it would be INR 2373.63 (Considering paypal currency exchange USD 1 @ 43.157 on that day) – INR 50.00 (for withdrawl less than Rs. 6999.00) = INR 2323.63, so lost Rs. 405 = $9.5 approx.
I am not sure for large payments, if any body have already transferred $200 or more kindly let us know.
So, I should try to avoid MB.
What do u say about this Guys?
Me – Keep in mind that this was before Paypal halted personal payments to India which were free. Now all Paypal payments are for exports of goods or services for which we will be charged ~3% more by Paypal which we didn't pay before.
Also, he seemed to have EUR somewhere in the middle which means he might have gotten slapped with a double conversion fee ie USD => EUR => INR. Best to keep your Moneybookers account in a currency that is either the receiving or bank withdrawal currency.
Moneybookers charges a $2.15 flat fee for withdrawal to Indian bank accounts. So what we actually pay is Incoming wire transfer charges + slightly higher conversion rate (compared to Paypal) + $2.15.
Paypal on the other hand charges Rs. 50 (for less than 7,000), and has high conversion fees. Since I've used both, I find Moneybookers to be cheaper overall.
I am wanted to now whether you received their address verification letter by normal or registered or speed post?
-Regards,
Akash
Me – I think it was normal post, but I'm not sure. The logo on the envelope was Royal post service or something like that.
yes me too address verification in 5 days.
I got it by normal post in 5 days
@ Akash,
I got address verification letter by Air mail within 5 days.
I stay in Pune India.
i stay in pune too.
hope i ll be lucky like you.
it’s my 2nd days waiting for that letter
3 days remaining.
hope it ‘ll come
thanks,
"I’m wondering now if it might not have been better for me to have my currency in INR after all. I mean, right now it’s ok since I get paid in USD. But what if I get paid later in EUR? Then I’ll be slapped with two conversion fees namely EUR => USD => INR (To Bank) . But if I have an account in INR, then there’ll be just one conversion from any currency XXX like so: XXX => INR => INR (To Bank)."
I am also confused as to whether choose USD or INR as my MB account currency. From my understanding even if someone pays you in EUR but if your product price is quoted in USD, there won't be any loss in EUR => USD conversion. If the product price is $10 for example, the buyer will be shown the relevant price in EUR which actually converts to $10 as per MB xchange rates. So the seller will eventually get $10 in his account. Buyer might get charged a little extra for paying in EUR instead of USD.
If I select INR as my currency, all the payments irrespective of the currency paid in will get converted to INR according to the MB's exchange rate on the date of sale. This sounds good as we won't have to face any Xchange loss at the time of withdrawl. But I sense a loss here too. Even in this case one conversion is happening so count it. Secondly you lose the oppurtunity to make a profit by withdrawing at the time when USD => INR conversion rates are better. For example if $1=Rs.40 at the time of sale, you might get Rs.390 something credited into your MB account for a $10 product. In a way its good as you will always be knowing the exact amount present in your kitty. Personally I can wait for 5-6 months to get better exchange rates. So if my MB account is in USD and I do a $10 sale, I can wait to withdraw till $1 reaches Rs.45 or atleast something considerably better than Rs. 40 which will cover the losses. So I think thats the disadvantage of a INR account. But thats just my take and I am not sure whether its correct or not. I also need more opinions.
-Akash
Me – Good points! Though I'm not sure about waiting for higher currency rates since that's a bit like playing on the stock market short term…
But I just thought of something. When withdrawing my funds from Moneybookers to INR, I didn't get any instant conversion rate on the screen – only after withdrawing do I find out what the conversion rate was. Makes me think – perhaps they don't do any INR conversion and send it in USD and the bank performs the conversion. I'd like to hear the story from someone who has a Moneybookers account in INR.
Good News!!!
Paypal has enabled Bank withdrawal to India!!! Hurraaaaaaaaaay :)
Me – You're right. Withdrawals are on! Just checked the conversion rate Paypal is giving us though. It's Rs. 44.39 instead of Rs. 45.83 . Full 2% conversion charge. And this doesn't include the ~3% charge for Incoming payments now that personal payments have been scrapped…
Great post with very minute detail covered for Moneybookers account opening and getting verified. Hope that help a lot of people over here in India with internet businees.
Great post with very minute detail covered for Moneybookers account opening and getting verified. Hope that help a lot of people over here in India having business through Internet.
Hi bhagwad,
Is the Referral thing working for you? I mean, I have had quite a few clicks on my link. Acc. to MB I should get a report under history->referral report. But I get nothing there.
Also, how can I get the swift code for my bank(ICICI, Bangalore)
Like you I registered for an individual account but I am a freelancer, so I think it should be made a commercial one. Should I contact MB via mail or is there a better way?
Thanks
Me – Referrals seem to be working for me. I have accounts listed under "progenies" so it must be ok. Are you sure that the people who clicked on your link went on to sign up for a Moneybookers account?
AFAIK, the ICICI SWIFT code is the same as the one I mentioned in the article for all branches. I use USD for my currency and this MIGHT make a difference, so use the same SWIFT code I used if you have USD as well. What is your currency?
I've found the best way to get your personal account changed to a commercial one is by calling them via Skype – you get a good response and they'll send you an email as confirmation. Remember though that making it commercial will cause you to get a 2% charge on incoming funds. But if you don't do it, Moneybookers will likely just suspend your account after a while and then you're screwed. And now Paypal also charges this amount since personal payments are suspended, so there's no way out of it…
This is the reply I got from MB, when I told them that I was a freelance writer.
***
Dear Mr XXXXXXXX,
Thank you for contacting us again regarding this issue.
We would like to confirm that unfortunately, your US customers will not be able to send you funds via Moneybookers, as we do not provide our full range of services in the US. However, you will be able to receive funds from oDesk and other freelancing sites.
As you’re using your account for business purposes and in order to welcome you as a trusted business partner of Moneybookers you need to get your account verified. Therefore we kindly ask you to provide us with the following documents:
1. A colored copy of a valid official identification document of the Moneybookers account holder such as your international passport, national identity card(front and back) or driving license
2. Please fill out the attached merchant Questionnaire (in case some of the fields are not applicable to your business status / model please kindly mention in the relevant field "not applicable"
Additionally, as you are using your moneybookers account for commercial purposes it is now considered a business one, and therefore from now on we are applying our standard fee on the processed 'receive money' transactions.
Thank you in advance. We are looking forward to your reply.
With kind regards,
Moneybookers Merchant Services
***
Hope this helps.
bty, PayPal is back on track, just received the withdrawal money in ICICI.
Hi,
Let me share my experience with Moneybookers account in INR. I withdrew $30 from ODesk to MB.
1. Received in MB = Rs. 1330.68 ($1 = Rs. 44.356)
2. Withdrew from MB = Rs. 1218.96 (Afterwithdrawal Fee Rs. 111.72)
3. Received in my bank account = Rs. 1138.36 (My bank converted EUR 19.15 @60.75. I paid here few bucks as bank fee.)
Assuming $1 = Rs. 46, I received Rs. 1138.36 ($1 = $37.94).
I paid for 3 currency conversions (1) USD -> INR, (2) INR -> EUR and (3) EUR -> INR. I created MB account in INR assuming I would have to pay for currency conversion only once. But then this is what MB replied me:
"…please note that such transfers are handled through our correspondent bank, which operates in EUR currency. Therefore upon the procession of the transaction in question, the sum would be first converted to EUR and then to the currency of your bank account, which would cause some additional charges, regarding the conversion of your funds…."
So I recommend to have your MB account in currency in which you receive your payment. I am following MB to help me convert my account currency. Don't know whether it will be possible at all.
1. Can anyone tell me whether having MB account in USD will really prevent first currency conversion I encountered?
2. Can anyone provide details of Wire Transfer option of ODesk? What details to specify for ICICI bank? What are the charges, etc.?
Me – Yes. Having account in USD will prevent the first currency conversion. In fact, for my withdrawals, there is just ONE currency conversion i.e USD to INR (when I withdraw). I don't know why that happens but obviously it's pretty cheap.
Haven't really tested out oDesk's wire transfer option. But using the SWIFT transcript above, perhaps you can get some details?
Thoroughly impressed with your post..really helpful for clearing some of my inhibitions with Moneybookers.Just wanted to know that Moneybookers is asking me to give SWIFT Code for my bank branch(PNB Bank, Hari Nager, New Delhi). I looked for it and found that my bank branch doesn't have a SWIFT Code but only IFSC code. PayPal, on the other side asked for IFSC code, which i easily produced. Can i put IFSC code instead of SWIFT code in my Moneybookers account. Will that do the needful?
Yes, they are all the same :)
Bhagwad: That was quite a help. Great Article!My larger customer base falls in US/Canada. I wanted to know whether we can receive commercial transactions initiated from US to our MB account. I am getting mixed reviews on the net. Do you have any experience dealing with US based customers via MB?Also any clarity over "should we choose INR or USD as our currency in MB"? I am yet to open the account.
Hello Bhagwad,
A great effort to use internet for helping so many people but my bad luck I found this post only after i had opened the moneybookers a/c, so i now realize that I have committed few mistakes & since i have transferred funds i cant change the currency from INR to uSD.
Regarding personal vs company (commercial account) i thinks it sheer stupidity on moneybookers part that they ask you to convert to commercial account bcoz on their website its clearly mentioned
"What is a personal account?
A personal account is a Moneybookers account registered in the name of a person. Payments and account management are in the name of the registered person"
So indeed any wise person will sign as a personal account & not as company account.
I have gone ahead with personal account bcoz i am a person not a company & work from home as a service provider, to add to my trouble i do all my banking online so I wont have any paper document for verification & now i am left wondering how should I go about the verification & fund transfer to my Indian bank account, seems a long battle ahead before i can rest in peace with my money.
Thanks for all the effort.
No – the IFSC code isn't your SWIFT code. Paypal and Moneybookers don't transfer money the same way. Paypal uses NEFT and Moneybookers uses SWIFT.Call your bank and ask them for the SWIFT code. Hopefully they will give it to you.
If I were you, I'd choose USD. I've been charged just one conversion fee (USD => INR). Whatever you do, don't choose Euro!I think there may be problems using Moneybookers with US clients. On the other hand, I myself use Moneybookers with a company called oDesk which is a US company. And there may not be a problem with commercial transactions. So you'll have to find that out for yourself. Sorry for not being more helpful there…
No – the IFSC code isn't your SWIFT code. Paypal and Moneybookers don't transfer money the same way. Paypal uses NEFT and Moneybookers uses SWIFT.Call your bank and ask them for the SWIFT code. Hopefully they will give it to you.
First of all i’m very impressed on your post about opening and verification about moneybookers. i’ve a problem about SWIFT code, even though the bank branch doesn’t have the SWIFT code wat’ll i do sir. I called the branch manager and ask about it, he told that the branch doesn’t have the code. Is it neccessary to add my bank account to moneybookers?
If I were you, I'd choose USD. I've been charged just one conversion fee (USD => INR). Whatever you do, don't choose Euro!I think there may be problems using Moneybookers with US clients. On the other hand, I myself use Moneybookers with a company called oDesk which is a US company. And there may not be a problem with commercial transactions. So you'll have to find that out for yourself. Sorry for not being more helpful there…
Hi Bhagwad,
Nice article.
What are your thoughts on Xoom ? oDesk allows you to "park" your funds, so you can withdraw when you want it. But say you were freelancing outside oDesk and you had to get a payment from your client on a particular day (say today), then do you feel Xoom is a better service.
Do you have any experience with Xoom ? I see from the Xoom site that a US client can directly send money from his saving account or credit card to my bank account here and Xoom supports many banks in India. The current exchange rate is also displayed ( on Xoom currently its 45$ to the INR when actual rate is Rs45.5).
So the service is something like Western Union and not like PayPal, where funds can be parked.
I have read on forums that Xoom charges 8$ flat for transfer of 25-500USD and 15$ for higher amounts while making a payment from PayPal, but there is no mention on the Xoom site (atleast I didnt come across)
Can you share your experience ??
Thnx
Hey Bhagwad, it is really an awesome post. I had so many questions after Paypal blues, but all my questions are answered here. I am also a freelancer registered with odesk. I have fes questions.
1. Suppose, I chose to verify my address, do moneybookers charge any fee for that.
2. My email verification is done, my local bank verification is done, that is enough, or do I have to verify Moneybookers Bank Verification.
Please advise.
Thanks.
G.M. Peerzade
Hi Peerzade,
1. No fee for address verification. The letter is free from Moneybookers
2. What is Moneybookers Bank verification over and above local bank verification?
3. Make sure you contact Moneybookers and tell them that your account is being used for commercial purposes. Otherwise they will freeze your account after a while.
Hi Mr. Bhagwad
Thanks for your reply.
Now the second question was about bank verification process. My local bank or say ICICI bank is verified. Do I have to go through "Moneybookers Bank Verification" process also. I am refering to this post under heading "Moneybookers Bank Verification" in between your two screenshots.
Sweet, you gave a very useful tip about personal/commercial account type.
Regards.
GMP
I transferred $30 from account to moneybookers account….from there to ICICI and I got only 1141Rs….if it was a from paypal I would have got 1332Rs :(
Hi Ajit – that's too bad!
Which currency is your Moneybookers account in?
INR :(
That's probably the reason. It's best to have it in USD. But looks like you can't change that now…
Though I really wonder why you're being charged so much. Can you tell me the following:
1. Amount transferred to Moneybookers (In USD)
2. Amount that reached Moneybookers (In INR)
3. Amount that you wanted to withdraw from Moneybookers (in INR)
4. Amount Moneybookers said they will send you at the the withdrawal screen
5. Amount received
Perhaps we can diagnose the problem…
Guys
Is it confirmed that paypal money can now again be transferred to Indian bank accounts ?
Yes, it's confirmed
Hurray thats great news .Thanks for the reply.
Thank you Mr.Bhagwad,I would like to appreciate your detailed post.
After so much hassles what are the limits of your account.
Also when you withdraw money into your account,Does TDS get deducted.
Please help me.
Also how much time does the entire process take.
Waiting for your reply.
Sahil
Hi Sahil,
My account limits are now $28,350 outgoing in any 3 month period. And no – no TDS is deducted when I withdraw cash into my bank account. It cannot be deducted since it may not be classified as income. Depends on the situation.
Finally, it takes 3-5 working days for the cash to reach my bank account from Moneybookers. Hope this helps you out :)
Hi all,
Just now I created one account at MoneyBookers and I choose INR as the currency and
now after reading all the comments here I think I should better have it in USD.
I have not done any transaction yet so it should be possible.
But do not know exactly how to go about it??
Anybody successful in changing their MB account currency? Please let us know ur exp..
Bhagwad, thanks for the detailed article.It was really helpful.
Hi bpr,
You're in luck :) . If your transaction history is empty, you can change your currency. Follow the instructions here.
Hi,
I too live in Chennai and its been about 7 days yet I havent received my address verification letter. Is there some way I can get in touch with these guys and find out the status?
That sucks I'm sure – not having got the letter yet. I would wait another week and then call them up on Skype to find out if there's any other way to verify the address.
Thank you all for your wonderful insights.
I have a MB acc and wish to withdraw my funds.
Problem is I have a Standard Chartered acc.. which I have been informed by MB, is having technical problems iand is currently not receiving payments from MB.
I have another acc in IOB but they are not being able to tell me whether they use a correspondent bank or not.. as it is mentioned on MB website that they dont process withdrawals to bank accounts using correspondent banks..
Has anybody tried IOB before?
Hi All
Can someone tell me if i can use my Moneybooker account to send money in following countries.
1) AUSTRALIA
2) USA
3) PHILIPINES
If yes ..how will the reciepint get this money sent by me. WOuld be helpful if detailed steps may be explained to me..
Pleas help
VM
Hello Bhagwad .
I need some suggestions from you. Sometime back I started a small outsourcing company.
The mode of receiving payments for the services is PayPal. Uptil now i used to receive small payments usually in the amounts of 20-50 $. Recently i bagged a somewhat larger order and i would be receiving a payment of 400-500 $ within 10 days time.
My question to you is – Is there a possibility that PayPal can block my account ?
I have read many horror stories at aboutpaypal.org and i dont want to be a part of it.
What measure can i take in order to avoid such situations ? Do i need to give them any bank statements or invoices in advance ? Giving an invoice would be difficult as all the work is for services ( mostly freelance)
Also , when i receive a large payment , lets say 1000$ or more, do i get some time so that it can quickly be transferred to the bank account without giving time for Paypal to block it ?
Thanks
Oh BTW, I have a verified Premier Paypal account.
Hi,
Can you please provide Moneybooker's Skype id ? I dont seem to get it anywhere.
Thanks
You have to use Skype to call their offices – no Skype ID. It's a regular phone.
thanks.
hi Bhagwad,
I have a problem regarding moneybookers withdrawal to my Indian Axis bank Account? Can u Please tell me the solution!
About two Months ago i withdrew 32 eur to my Axis bank account account. I got a call from Axis Bank within 2 business days and was told to sign a inward remittance form and i did. the next day i got another call from axis bank and they ask me details like what is moneybookers and how i got the fund. I told them moneybookers is an e-wallet like pay pal. we can fund our account using credit to make purchases online. They told me that there is no remittance code or like reason. eg. like whether its reason code is import export something like that. I told them , i just log into my moneybookers account n to the withdrawal section and withdrew the funds to my axis bank account, in moneybookers there is no option like reason code for foreign remittance. Thay said this time they will put import export as reason code and processed the funds but next time they are advising me to withdraw funds to my credit card or order a check. Like icici or hdfc banks i would like to withdraw funds to my axisbank account. can you tell me a solution?
Thanking you for your time!
Regards
Sam
Hi Sam,
I wish I knew how to help you out here. If this continues, try switching your bank. If Axis Bank makes it so difficult for an honest person to get paid, then they don't deserve your business.
Hi, Bhagwad!
This is a detailed and very useful post.
Though after reading full post, all comments and your replies to the comments, some things didn't clear in my mind yet. Like –
"Which currency should I keep: USD or INR? (Some thoughts in the discussion contrast on this issue)"
"Is it cheaper to withdraw small amount like $100 via moneybooker? (This question arose after reading Ajit's comments)"
By the way, I have opened an account on moneybooker yesterday but didn't make any transaction yet.
I work as a freelancer on Scriptlance.com, Elance.com and Freelancer.com. I have $100 in my Scriptlance's Escrow account.
==================
Scriptlance provides the following options to withdraw money :
Check – Regular Mail ($3 fee)
Check – FedEx Overnight ($38 fee)
Paypal (No fee)
E-Gold (No fee)
Moneybookers (No fee)
Payoneer Debit Card (No fee)
Bank Wire ($35 fee)
==================
What do you think : Which of the above options, except Paypal (I don't have a PAN card so I am not able to create an account on Paypal.com), would be the good choice for withdrawing a small amount like $100? How much I will have to pay and How much time it will take?
You said that you use Skype to contact MB and it’s a regular phone. I think it's not free but is it cheaper than regular Land line or Mobile Phone call?
Thanks for your time and kind support.
Regards.
Murtaza Kapaasi
Which method you use will depend on your objectives. Do you need money in your bank account, or is it ok if it's on a credit card? How fast do you need it?
If I were you, I would go for MB. The more you withdraw, the cheaper it becomes for you. With everything set up, it'll take you just a few working days for you to get your cash.
Hi, Bhagwad !
Thanks for the reply.
I have been trying to withdraw my money since last couple of weeks as I am in urgent need of money but unfortunately it didn't happen till now.
Scriptlance don't allow to withdraw money for the first time from Bank wire, Moneybooker and Payoneer Credit Card (And I didn't aware of the rule). It just allow to withdraw money by Cheque and through PayPal. I didn't wanted to withdraw money by cheque because I had thought that it takes time too much. Now I think that there is no other option except "Cheque". If I had known all the rules and I had chosen "Cheque" I might have received my money till now. My bad luck.
You have told in a reply to a comment that PayPal has started to accept transfer to and from India again but I have read on their site that they did not allow transfer money to and from India for Personal account at present.
Murtaza Kapaasi
Paypal doesn't allow personal transfers. It'll have to be a business transfer for which they'll charge you 2%. That's perfectly ok and I've been doing it all this while for some clients. Ask your client or the freelance website what kind of transfer they make. Most likely after the last paypal crisis they have made it a business transfer for Indian clients.
Bhagwad,
Since you have been using it for some time can you tell how much commission moneybookers charge for Personal account used for commercial purposes?
Around 2% I think
and one more thing i would add is that i came to know that only visa electron debit card works from india to moneybookers , please tell me do you have any information about electron card
Debit & credit card transfers are not available for Indians, seems RBI has some restrictions for it, you have to transfer to a bank account only.
i came across your page when i was googling , good to hear your experince . let me tell you that i also am having problem these days and i dont know what to do .icici bank debit card wont work ,idbi gold debit card wont work either for moneybooker but certianly they have varified my bank account so tell me which bank debit card will work for transfering funds because i am soo confused these days .neteller is saying that there r ristrictions on my side of my bank and you must be knowing about our wonderfull bank icici there bank wire transfer rates r flat 1300 inr wether you send 10$ or 1000$, rates r highest among all banks so give me some suggetion please for smooth transastion s to moneybookers
Hi Bhagwad,
First of all, thank you so much Bhagwad for your detailed posting.
I am in the final stage of my bank account verification process. I am also having the same problem as the verification code is missing in the bank statement. So I contacted my nearest ICICI branch for the SWIFT transaction printout as you did, but they couldn't find the option to generate the printout in their banking software.
They told me that it is not possible to take the printout of the SWIFT transaction details. I replied them that one of my friend in Chennai( its you ;) ) got it from an ICICI branch in Chennai. They requested me to ask you the exact branch from which you got the SWIFT transaction printout so that they can contact the branch to know about it.
Please update the ICICI branch name in this thread or send it to my email address.
Hey Sreeji,
I got it from the Nungambakkam branch in Chennai in the NRI section on the first floor. You have to go there personally – I don't think it's something you can do over the phone.
Thanks Bhagwad, actually I am from Kerala so I am not going to go Chennai for this. Anyway, I will update these details to my nearest branch. I hope they can find out the details by contacting the Nungambakkam branch in Chennai.
Visit your branch in person and go to the NRI department. Or call your ICICI branch and ask to speak to the NRI department. They will tell you if they can give you a printout or not.
My address verification letters has not arrived even after 4 weeks so I used the “Identity verification through a bank account” & withdrew INR 600/- in my a/c it arrived in 2 days now in my online banking I don’t see any code.
I wrote to MB about it & their staff want a scanned copy of bank statement showing moneybooker as payee which its not showing, nor the verification code is visible online in my statement. I called up my delhi SBI branch to know the details of this payment & all they can tell me is that this amount is transferred from kolkatta SBI forex branch. I asked them for a printout of the swift document & they say that you have to contact kolkatta branch for that as they are the one who will have the swift records.
Need help, what else can I do?
I open MB account recently 25 days ago. i tried for verify my PNB mastercard debit card but this not verified.please help me for solve this problem.
Miracle happened!!! but I am not sure if it was a miracle. :)
I have been fighting to obtain the SWIFT transaction printout for 3 weeks. I got it from my nearest ICICI branch but unfortunately the required details are missing in the printout as it doesn’t show Moneybookers as the sender and mysellf as the receiver.
I showed them the SWIFT printout that Bhagwad posted in this thread but the bank officials told me that they used the same software to take the printout so this is the maximum they can provide in this regard.
I sent several emails to ICICI customer support from my net banking account but they didn’t respond to any of my emails. What a poor support from a bank like ICICI who claims to be the No.1 in customer support. Anyway, that is not the main issue here.
After sending several emails, I started thinking to drop the idea of using Moneybookers to transfer my odesk earnings as I didn’t see any other option to get my bank account verified.
Two days before I checked my Moneybookers account where I could see my outgoing transaction limit is 23285.95 USD. Suddenly I thought why don’t I give a try to withdraw the remaining amount to my bank account because the outgoing transaction limit is 23285.95 USD. I withdrew the remaining amount and the money has been credited to my account today. Hooorraayy!!!
Yes, I was able to withdraw USD197.53 from Moneybookers. The conversion rate is better than Paypal but not that beneficial if we consider the amount Moneybookers deducted as fee.
Please nobody update this matter to Moneybookers because I need to confirm whether PP or MB is better to transfer the money from odesk by transferring same amount through PP and MB.
Bhagwad, What do you think, Paypal or Moneybookers? Anyway thank you once again for your help so far.
I’m glad you were able to get your money. But I would warn you. If your bank account isn’t verified, one day your transaction from Moneybookers will be blocked and they’ll ask you to verify your bank account. Then you’ll be really stuck.
Have you made your account a commercial one?
If I were you, I would take whatever print out of SWIFT details my bank is giving me, and send it to Moneybookers explaining the situation and telling them that the bank is refusing to give me anything else. Let’s see what they say.
It’s outrageous that these idiots don’t even know the basics of banking. Are they claiming that the sample SWIFT statement you showed them is fake??
Hi if i have a paypal account and currency set in USD then what will be charges they will be charged when withdrawing it to Indian local banks.
please any one tell me in details.
there is a currency calculator in paypal.
it calculate only the USD=>INR conversion or they deduct there fees from that and give the final INR amount what we are going to get in our bank
Bhagwad, I already did what you have mentioned in your reply. I sent the SWIFT printout the Moneybookers but they rejected the document saying the document should show all of the following details.
- your name as the account holder
- at least part of your bank account number
- Moneybookers as the sender of the funds
- the exact transaction with all its details- date, time and amount
So I went to the ICICI branch several times for this but they don’t know how to generate the complete printout like the one you got it from the same bank. So I sent several emails to the ICICI customer support requesting the SWIFT printout.
I got fedup with sending emails to Moneybookers and ICICI. Anyway, I am going to contact MB once again but I don’t think I will get a positive response from them.
Ranjan's reply below seems to suggest that you should ask them to get the details from another branch…
If you look at the printout sample, you see the application which generated it (https://10.16.58.212/SMSA/reports). You can ask the ICICI people what that application is and why they can’t use it if the staff in Chennai can.
Don’t know what else can be done…
I have faced this issue with ICICI & can confirm this,
“ONLY” overseas branch or branch “directly” connected with SWIFT network can use that software to print the actual details other branches cannot do it.
I faced the same issue 2 years ago It was a direct transfer to my ICICI a/c not via MB & my ICICI branch had to call up Mumbai overseas branch to email them the actual scanned copy, they could not get the full access, internal network security prevents the local branch to have full privilege.
i have moneybookers account.. i am trying to deposit through HDFC Debit card.. but i cannot..why?
You can't use a debit card to deposit funds like that. Try a Virtual Debit or credit card instead. See if that works.
thank you for the information.. pls answerfor the following qns.
1. i started the account just 2 days before. i also varify account through my email link.. is they also send physical address varification letter?
2. i have only HDFC Debit card for deposit fund. bank transfer method is too costly.. so can i varify my card or account through net banking facility of HDFC as like u mentioned in b2 bank account?
Your questions are answered in the main post :)
[...] buck. Just solve the damn problem. It’s not the first time this has happened, and since then, I’ve found other solutions that work. You can’t get away with treating your customers so shabbily. We pay you every time [...]
Hey bhagwad,
Great article!!
I have signed up for the MB account and when I contacted them for converting my account for commercial purposes, this is what I got as a reply:-
“Further to your enquiry we would like to kindly inform you that you can use your Personal Moneybookers account for your payments as a freelancer. Moreover, we would like to kindly confirm that your account with us is open, active, fully operational and ready to use.” — without asking for any extra verification procedure. Did their rules changed or something in between? I just dont want to get my account blocked later :|
I also asked for the same clarification & got the same reply, they just want that all verifications are completed as they need to ensure under UK law that the person are genuine & are receiving funds for genuine services from freelancing job sites.
Even if your account is locked they will give you reasons & ask you for additional verification which once done all should be fine. Their main concern is funding to terror organizations via job sites which they surely want to keep a check & we should all appreciate that.
@Sandeep
@Ranjan
Great news guys! Let me know if they charge you a fee when you receive commercial payments like PayPal…
Hi Bhagwad
very useful post, it seems u have good experience in dealing with payment processing methods.
I am a freelance developer from India. Soon i am going to start a website offering few downloadable products. So i am looking for a payment processing method for my website. I opened an account with paypal but unable to get verify it since it requires a credit card and i dont have one. Even i am looking to open a moneybookers account.
Please suggest me a good payment processing method to sell products online to international customers and transfer payments to my indian bank account.
thanks
ALL THIS TALK OF MONEYBOOKERS AND EXCHANGE RATES ETC ETC. LOOK I AM ENGLISH AND I HAVE MONEYBOOKERS. I JUST CLICK THE DROP DOWN BOX AND PRESS INR THEN I FOOT THE EXCHANGE FEE. I CAN SEND THE PAYMENT IN WHATEVER CURRENCY YOUR ACCOUNT HAS (DEFAULT CURRENCY) JUST PUT THIS INFORMATION IN WHEN YOU SELL SOMETHING. IE PRICE 100 POUNDS GET YOUR BANKS EXCHANGE RATE ON THE DAY, CONVERT IT INTO RUPEES AND TELL THEM TO SEND IN RUPEES AND THEY WILL PAY THE COSTS. THEY ARE BUYING YOU ARE SELLING. BETTER STILL ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT IN RUPEES AND INSERT A DISCLAIMER THAT ALL PAYMENTS WITH MONEYBOOKERS WILL BE SENT IN RUPEES AND PASS THIS CHARGE ONTO YOUR CUSTOMER. EASY PEEZY!!
Hi Bhagwad,
I intend to use Moneybookers for forex trading purposes.
1. Will Moneybookers allow me to transfer the sum deposited to an FX broker?
2. What will my account type be – personal or commercial ? I would be transferring my own money from here to there.
Please advice.
Hi Bhagwad,
It seems I cannot withdraw funds from Moneybookers to a bank account in Cyprus.
http://www.moneybookers.com/app/help.pl?s=fees
Can you please confirm my understanding?
Thanks a lot.
Few more questions:
1. Can I associate more than I bank account with Moneybookers?
2. Can I withdraw funds from my Moneybookers account through cheque in India?
Thanks again.
I meant the following:
Can I associate more than 1 bank account with Moneybookers?
Hi Aniket,
You’ll need to make it a commercial account if Moneybookers is being used as part of a commercial transaction.
Also, I think you can add more than one back account. Why don’t you sign up for an account and find out? Same goes for the cheque options. I don’t think you can withdraw via cheque in India, but not harm in checking it out…
If there is someone there has opened a moneybookers in India and are wiling to help me. My supplier in India is wanting to open one as this would make life easier for us both. However the whole process is quite complicated and although he does write English quite well i find it hard to explain things in a way he understands. Example: if i say this is tree! he will say, what fee! I will say not Fee, Tree!! Oh ok what about a tree. I was just saying this is a tree!! OK now i understand. Only god know what will happen opening a moneybookers account!!! :))
I set up moneybookers account and they closed it after sending initial money for “security reasons” and then asked for identity documents (passport + utility bill). I am NOT comfortable sending this information over the internet to ANYONE as you have no guarantees these documents to be safe. It is easy to commit identity theft using these and to make moneybookers take responsibility is for sure almost impossible (who to contact and where). If this would happen in your bank atleast you can go to the counter and talk to someone in person.
No matter what the regulations are I am not going to give them information (they might even sell it, who knows) and I rather lose the initial amount.
They should ask this WHEN OPENING the account, NOT AFTER, like they do in normal bank (as they claim to be…)
You only have to scan and send them a digital copy of your documents. Not the originals…
Yes I do agree too, that they should ask or rather list the documents required for operating the account. I may be wrong in my assumption but my guess is that they don’t do all this document verification for European /American natives its mostly done for users from 3rd world country.
Identity theft is real issue on the internet but still you cant operate bank accounts based on someones identity if you get access to the documents as they ask part of the info when you register & rest of the docs afterward.
Ranjan and HL. You are both wrong in your assumptions. I am English and everything you do to verify your account in India i had to do the the same in the UK. HL this one is for you. This is a multinational company taking billions of dollars a year through it. You are thinking with reverse psychology. I would be extremely worried if a company DID NOT ask you for these documents. Of course you must reveal this information when opening an account of this nature, that part should be self explanatory you don’t need a school backboard to know this. They are protecting your interest making you go through such a vigorous verification process. If it worries you send it to them through the post, it will be safe once it gets out of India.
Thanks Lee
for confirming that even UK based users are also needing this verification.
I surely can help but wonder if he is able to understand Hindi or not, which part of India does he belong to & what is his native language?
Hi Rajan yes thank you. His language is Hindi and he is from Moradabad. His name is Abdullah. I have only recently realized the complex language difference in India. As you can imagine my country is very small in comparison, so we all speak the same. His number is +91 9456223434 although this is the number i ring internationally so i am not 100% sure of the internal method. Please ask for my details from him! but not my passport and utility bill haahahaha. warm regards Lee.
Recently Paypal started electronic transfer to Indian customers. I just wanted to check Whether Moneybookers or Paypal gives the best conversion rates to Indian customers.
On August 5, 2010 I withdrew 174 USD from Odesk to Paypal. USD 169.91 were credited to my Paypal account. On that day USD rate was 1 USD = INR 46.175 and Paypal’s 1 US Dollar = 44.6842. Eventually USD 164.76 (after deducting their service charges) Paypal converted to INR totalling to Rs.7,458.23. On 12th August 2010 the exact amount of Rs.7,458.23 was credited to my bank account thru NEFT.
Now to check Moneybookers rate, On August 11, 2010 I withdrew 174 USD from Odesk to MB on that day USD rate was 1 USD = INR 46.675 (and Paypal’s rate was 1 US Dollar = 44.72) after deducting their service charges Rs. 7616.30 were available for transfer from MB to my Indian bank account. On 16th August 2010 Rs. 7178.42 were credited to my HDFC bank account with Rs. 90.66 deducted as incoming SWIFT charges.
I have my observations here :-
PAYPAL
1. The total amount available for transfer what you see in your Paypal account after conversion+paypal fees is the actual amount you receive in your bank account and there is no NEFT incoming charges. Like in my case Rs. 7,458.23 were transferred and I received the same amount.
MB
2. The total amount available for transfter what you see in your MB account after conversion + MB fees falls short when you receive in your bank account and you have to pay incoming SWIFT charges (though it differs from Bank to Bank). Like in my case I received Rs. 7178.42 (where as Rs. 7616.30 were availabe for transfer) with deduction of Rs. 90.66 as incoming SWIFT charges.
After going thru the above experience, I am of the opinion for Indian freelancers that it is better to use Paypal service.
Wow – HDFC is really high! You tried to transfer 7,616 and got only 7,178? That’s way more than I get charged with ICICI. So perhaps the final answer is it depends on which bank you have.
Also, was your Moneybookers account in USD or INR? If it was in INR, it’ll cost more. If it’s in USD (like mine is) it’s much cheaper since there are fewer conversion charges.
OK thanks, when you say transferred, i assume the India pay pal account can withdraw to their bank? And the money goes via electronic transfer not E check. Basically i accept the money request, the funds show up in the India account. He then withdraws to bank, so all in all we are looking at 3 to 5 days?
Pretty much. Though I don’t know if PayPal allows personal transfers like that for Indian accounts. As I said earlier, you’ll have to give it as a payment for services rendered (and PayPal cuts around 1.75% as commission). But try the personal transfer. If it works, then you’re set!
Thank you for the information. The problem is i have a pay pal account outside India and i need to send money to a pay pal inside India. Until such time as pay pal or Bank of India allow Indian accounts to do electronic transfer into India banks we have the same problem of using electronic checks, whatever way you look,, it roughly takes a month to process. Who knows maybe this extra charge of swift indirectly goes to the Indian government and so this is the reason money bookers do not have the same problems as pay pal do!! Time is money!! i would gladly pay more to an Indian pay pal account to cover costs incurred to do an electronic transfer from your pay pal to your bank. This is 3-5 days and the cash is in your bank not a month with electronic check.
What you can do is make the Indian Paypal account invoice you for services and then you can pay them using your "out of India" Paypal account. The Indian PayPal account can then transfer the funds to an Indian bank account.
Ok, well the commission is of no importance seeing as western union is the only other option. I am sure it will still work out cheaper. It is for commercial goods so if he sends me a money request and i pay it, i dont want it taking him 30 days before it goes into his account. As others have mentioned in this post. This is the worry. If it will go via electronic bank transfer and not electronic check we are OK. So i recon a small tester is in order, thanks for your help.
can i withdrawl money to my bank account if it doesnot have swift code from monerbookers and if not how can i withdrawl?
You can’t. You need to get a SWIFT code to withdraw your funds.
so what should i do,i have an account in union bank of india,orissa
All "banks" have SWIFT code & NEFT code, its mandatory, however not all branches may be connected with swift network, in that case you use the main city branch or state branch of your bank's swift code, it will take more time than usual to get the money to your bank account but you will get it. Best is to ask the bank manager of your branch.
i also have account in Bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know can i use new delhi main’s branch’s that is NEW DELHI NRI Branch SWIFT code is
BKIDINBBDNI
2ND i also have account in STATE Bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know which one i have to use new delhi MAIN ’s branch’s SWIFT code or
NEW DELHI NRI Branch SWIFT code is
SBININBB153
2ND i also have account in state bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know which one use
new DELHI MAIN’s branch SWIFT code SBININBB104
or
delhi NRI branch SWIFT code SBININBB153
i have account in union bank of india,orissa.it has ifsc code but does not have SWIFT code .what should i do?
I really dont know…I would suggest you get a bank account bank which is a little more modern and supports SWIFT transactions.
How do you know your branch doesn't have a SWIFT code? I see lots of "Union Bank of India" SWIFT entries on Google – surely your branch must have one?
For example, if you're in Bhubaneshwar, the SWIFT code is UTBIINBBBBS. Go here for more SWIFT codes for the Union Bank of India: http://www.ratekhoj.com/swift-code/results.php?se…
i have account in state bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know which one i can use
new DELHI MAIN’s branch SWIFT code SBININBB104
or
delhi NRI branch SWIFT code SBININBB153i
please reply bhagwad please
@Ranjan well said.Yes we can make use our bank’s H.O’s SWIFT code .It worked for me though no delay found i got funds in 4 days on my bank account.
hey ranjan or anyone tell me wt is bank’s H.O’s swift ..means wt mean H.O here
and please reply i have account in state bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code. i want to know can i use new delhi main’s branch i mean state bank’s swift code?
i also have account in Bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know can i use new delhi main’s branch’s that is NEW DELHI NRI Branch SWIFT code is
BKIDINBBDNI
2nd i have account in bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know can i use new delhi main’s branch i mean state bank’s swift that is NEW DELHI NRI branch SWIFT code BKIDINBBDNI
want to transfer from moneybookers to paypal
thanks
Hi the information you have posted is very helpful but I am facing a few problems. I am expecting to periodically receive funds from the US for a religious charitable trust in India and was searching for a simple, cost effective way to receive it. I registered with moneybookers (currency code: USD) and gave them the Indian bank account. Now what would be the procedure to get the funds deposited into this account from the US. I tried to do a sample upload using a US bank account but that is not possible as moneybookers is located in Europe and you cannot do an online bank transfer from the US to a non US bank account. I tried using a US debit card to do a sample transaction but it did not go thru. I will be very grateful for any suggestions that would help straighten things out.
regards
What you went through, I am going through the same.
Today they have aksed me for my bank statement. Lets see how long does it take for me to verify everything.
My recent post Dead Space system requirement
Hello
Thanks for this detailed post.
I am having slight confusion with the MB withdrawal system. While signing up, I mentioned USD as preferred currency. Now I received a payment from a client and on 30th Sept, 2010 I placed withdrawal request. The INR was coming to 1600/- after MB deducted their fees.
I checked on 7th October and my account was credited with only 1231/- and not 1600/-. Do you have any idea why this happened? You have mentioned in your post that MB charges lesser fees than PayPal but if you see this situation, they charged me more than what PayPal charges.
I emailed MB and I received this reply:
“Dear Ms. Sinha,
Thank you for contacting us.
Please be kindly advised that withdrawals to your country of residence are considered as international and as such are being processed in USD or EUR on a sole discretion of the bank correspondent we use to process the funds. Moneybookers is a payer and not a processor in these occasions.
For transactions involving currency conversion Moneybookers adds 1.99% to our wholesale exchange rates for foreign currency. This charge serves as a protection against the volatility and risk associated with FX markets. The Moneybookers exchange rates are updated on a regular basis throughout the day.
Additionally, note that such transactions may be also subject to additional charges coming from intermediary parties involved in processing which are beyond our control.
As a result of the currency conversion in your occasion an amount of EUR 25.73 left our system.
Should you need any further assistance please do contact us again.
Sincerely,
Scarlett
The Moneybookers
### end###
Can you tell me what the above means?
Please help. I am not sure whether I should continue with MB or not.
Regards
Chitraparna Sinha
Hi Chitraparna, can you tell me which bank you used to withdraw your money?
Hi Bhagwad, thanks for replying back. I have account in Syndicate Bank. Its verified with Moneybookers.
I went to the bank yesterday and they also said the same thing that MB sent 25.73 Euros only…
Tell me one thing – when a client deposits to your account, does it show in your account balance as USD or INR amount?
Chitraparna
Since my MB account is in USD, I get my account balance in USD too. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally open your MB account in Euros? Which currency are you seeing your Moneybookers balance in?
I tried checking online by it looks like Syndicate Bank has a horrible website. Could you call the NRI department and ask them what the fees are for incoming International wire transfers?
It’s either the wire transfer fee or you accidentally opened your account in EUR…
Okay…I remember that I opened my account in USD but when I receive the pay, it automatically gets converted in INR and my account shows the converted balance… :( :(
When I withdrew, the account showed by withdrawal as 1600 INR, not USD or Euro!!! I don’t know what is happening!!
Maybe they are converting the INR into Euro at the time of processing and then when the Euro is getting transferred here, an additional fees is applied for the exchange from Euro to INR…Is that possible?
I message MB a while back asking for confirmation about the currency I opened my account with.
What do you suggest?
Chitraparna
I think you did the right thing by calling MB. It looks as if you opened your account in INR – and you’re being hit with a double fee of INR – EUR – INR.
Let’s wait for Moneybooker’s reply and see what they say…
Did you get any reply about the double conversion from MB, I wonder why they ask us to open a/c in INR when we actually receive money in USD or EUR.
Hey Bhagwad,
After reading your blog, I have joined money bookers to receive the payments from odesk. However, i am unable to find the swift code for the ICICI Indira nagar branch in Bangalore. Could you please help me with that?
Anjali
Hi. As I’ve suggested in the post, you can use ICICINBBNRI as the SWIFT code for ICICI. But before you do that, call your branch, ask for the NRI department , ask for the SWIFT code for INR remissions and confirm that it’s the same one.
Hi Bhagwad
Nice to get so much info from here. I also have an account in ICICI. And can’t use PayPal due to PAN issues as I don’t have one.Presently I have gone for Moneybookers and applied for the address verification for the time being.
What do you think is more beneficial direct wire transfer from companies bank account to our bank account via swift to some intermediate bank or I should prefer it receiving via Moneybookers?
I will be receiving this payment in EUR and want it in INR in my bank account. What will be the charges in INR lets say I am receiving a transfer of about 100EUR. Do respond I am in a big trouble as my companies payouts have started.
I think Moneybookers is best. But you really should get a PAN card for Income Tax purposes otherwise you’re liable to be caught and questioned. The recent trouble with PayPal was because of things like this.
You can get the exact updated fees on the Moneybookers site in either INR or EUR.
Thanks for reverting back.
But I had another query.
I am receiving an amount in EUR. And want cash in INR.
My moneybookers.com account is in INR. What do you think will occur?
Conversion of money would be ONLINE in my E Wallet only? Or it will occur when I transfer the amount to local bank?
I am also a part of ICICI but they tell me Wire Transfer is better. Its cheap and more competitive rates are given in this transfer than via moneybookers.
Bank is taking about Rs.25 for whole transaction but moneybooker is not only taking commission by less conversion rates but is also taking 1.8EUR as remitting charges.
I think you made a mistake by keeping your account in INR. You’ll be hit with double transaction fees as you can see elsewhere in this comment thread.
It’s true that ICICI charges only Rs. 25 for an incoming wire transfer. But what about the sending bank? Have you asked them how much they charge for an outgoing international wire transfer? It’ll likely be $30 or something like that.
If your account was in EUR to begin with Moneybookers would have been a lot cheaper.
Thanks for reply again.
But is there any way out I can change my account to EUR now??
It is not my responsibility what sending bank takes as my company is paying me. They are paying that cost.
Nope – you can change your account currency only if you haven’t made a transaction using your MB account till now. If you haven’t, you can get instructions on their website.
Hope your stuff works out.
Hi All,
Today i went to both HDFC & ICICI banks wherein i had a salary a/c., i wanted to do an International WIRE transfer to Moneybookers a/c (in order to verify my a/c) BUT :-( both the banks rejected saying International WIRE transfers are prohibited by RBI for online shopping/payments/Funding Trading accounts/etc…
I really don’t know when will this Stupid ban be removed.,
Can anyone help in this regard, all the other verifications for my MB a/c is done.
And i would like to know how to declare tax for all the incoming funds to my HDFC/ICICI bank through online a/c such as Forex trading/MB/PayPal/AlertPay?
U can assume i will be getting ~500-10000$/month in few months time (which might also increase in dew course depending on my online earnings through 4x commissions )
Kindly Help,
Thanks One & All :-)
Use the verification methods described in my post. As for declaring income tax, you’ll most probably need an ITR 4 form.
Thanks yaar, i’m trading forex n i’ll be getting money to my actual bank a/c in 3 ways, Alertpay/MoneyBookers/Wire Transfer from the fxbroker for the rebate commissions i’m earning, can you plz elaborate on how to declare tax be on the safer side always,
BELATED HAPPY DIWALI MY DEAR FRIEND :-)
You need to fill out ITR IV. If you’re earnings are greater than $25,000 per year, you also need to apply for an IEC code
Thanks a lot 4 ur help, is there any other way to reach u faster in order to seek ur guidence?
I am facing the same problem in credit/debit card verification, I dont have CC and they don’t accept my ICICI bank debit card, and it shows as transaction failed, you completed the verification with b2 branch banking account but I don’t have that as well, Is there any alternative? are ICICI bank debit cards not authorized for International transactions?
Nope – As far as I know, you have to use either a CC or a b2 branch virtual CC. Why don’t you apply for one?
Nice post sir, my client or person for whom i am working , don’t use paypal , he first transfer money from bank account to paypal then to me ,
today has told me to make money bookers account so i was searching about their deduction fees and other things and found this wonder ful post .
Hi bhagwad,
Your blog is very useful for me. Now i have opened moneybookers account. When I entered “ICICINBB009″ swift code in the moneybookers website to create an account it shows my branch that is nungambakkam branch. In this blog you have given a swift code for icici banks as “ICICINBBNRI” . Is it for all icici bank in india to transfer amount from moneybookers or only for the mumbai branch. I have an account in the Nungambakkam branch, chennai. I am not clear whether i can use the swift code you have mentioned in this blog for my account. Please confirm which code should I use.
Customer care official in icici bank do not give clear information regarding the money transfer charges. Charge for a single transfer is only 25/- or any service charges other than this.
Which bank do you prefer for me “Saving A/C” or “Current A/C”?
Thankyou,
Ramesh
Hi Ramesh,
My account is in the Nungambakkam branch as well and I’ve been using ICICINBBNRI all this while without issues. I don’t know whether or not the code you give works and what the fees are like. Why don’t you make a test transfer and post your experience here?
Yes, the transfer charge is just Rs. 25. Nothing more. I use a savings A/C.
I am a freelancer working on odesk.Since I don”t have a pay-pal,I prefer money-bookers.Does money bookers support local Indian banks like (Federal Bank).How much will it charge for transferring $100 for my odesk account.Is the fess $30 for each withdraw,as it is a wire transfer.Does debit card support Money-Bookers.(Which bank you use Account for money bookers).
I’ve answered these questions in my post.
Can you please clarify the answer?Is it $30 per withdraw
Hi Bhagawad, I have done the fund transfer to my icicibank account on Monday (6.12.2010). (ICICIBBNRI) How many days it will take to come my account? Please clarify my doubt.
Thanks,
Ramesh
Around three working days.
Hi Bhagwad,
I have received the fund to my bank account from moneybookers. Actually I have transfer USD 21.00 from moneybookers. Moneybookers charges is 2.40 per transfer.
The details are below:
USD [email protected] = 821.00
FCST Charges (ICICI) = 25.00
Total = 796.00
I really appreciate you for this blog. I am sure you are a “LIGHT HOUSE” for who wants to make foreign transfer from India. Sorry for my bad English.
Once again Thanks for your help,
Ramesh
Thanks for the update Ramesh – that sure is useful. And ditto for the compliment!
Hey Bhagwad,
Thanks for the detail post on this. I had couple of questions regarding following topics and would appreciate your timely response. I am planning to open this account when I go to India this month and ur response would definitely be of a great guidance.
Opening Moneybookers Account:
1. As I am in US right now, I do not have any utility bills in my name (besides I would be staying at my parents). Is there any other means I can verify the account.
Taxation:
Since I would be transferring funds from moneybookers to my NRE account (which basically doesn’t tax principals wired in), how do I pay my taxes. Does ICICI give out any form to fill out?
Regards,
Rahul
Hey Rahul,
You need some sort of utility bill to prove your address. Otherwise you can’t get an account. Sucks.
Regarding taxation, depending on your business you’d have to fill out the applicable ITR form – probably ITR IV for your purposes.
Dang..How about Driving License..I can get mine updated in a day or two in India with the address ( We recently Shifted) . Cant wait for a utility bill since I would be in India only for a month :( . So even if I subscribe I wouldn’t be having it until for a month :).
I basically do bit of online selling stuff, casino’s (on and off) , free lance projects etc. So for taxation purposes, is it advisable to transfer funds to NRE account or a normal account in India. I am bit confused as to how would I have to file my taxes if its in NRE account.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
You can ask for normal address verification as mentioned in the post. For making it a commercial account you’ll have to send them a utility bill though…
As for taxes, download the ITR IV forms from the Income tax website.
hello bhagwad
i tried to create moneybookers account, but while verifying my AXIS debit card the amount debited was in INR but not in EURO. i called the bank but they could not tell me what the amount was in EURO. how do i verify my card now?
suggest please….
You certainly have a problem. You need to get the exact Euro amount to verify your card. Perhaps you’re not talking to the right person in the bank?
hello BHAGWAD Please reply :
my moneybooker currency is usd and they are going to debit some usd from my credit account &
but show in INR as i m indian but ihave to enter usd in moneybooker to verify my card(same PROBLEM like u).. ineed ur help
u told that ur INR amount is 1.51 $ after enquiry as u get from icici bcb .you just give me date on which
DATe they debit 1.51 $ from ur card & what is INR amount. i want just to compare it using curreny
converter usd/INR chart . so i get my debit amont inUSD dollar
hello lalit ,are axis debit cards are verified by money bookers?
you can transfer your money
SYNDICATE BANK
Branch: TOLI CHOWKI.
Name: mohd azeemullah
Account Number: 30542210014234
Type Of Bank account: Saving Account
Micr Code Of The Bank: 50025056
Branch code of the bank: 3054
IFSC code: SYNB0003054
I play travian from past 5 yrs and from past 2 yrs I have Moneybookers account. Travian is an international/indian game also. But I play on an international server for which I need to purchase 600 gold for 24.99$.
I don give so much attention as I know that under Rs 1200 or less then that gets deducted every month. Also from past 2 yrs I have never increased any amount from the MB account. I verified it easily and it worked. So no hassle or anything as such.
Hi Bhagwad,
Do you know any money exchanger (person/company/website) by which I can get the payment in my MoneyBookers account in exchange of my balance in my PayPal account?
Hi,
I have withdrawn Rs.X from Moneybookers and the status for this withdrawal in Moneybookers is in Processed.
How many days will it take to get credited to my ICICI account ?
thanks & regards
Jaggi
I am really new in all this internet account servises. I start working online so I need to create an internet account. I was told that paypal didn’t work ok in India, so a friend of mine tell me that he is using http://okpay.com/ for his transactions. he told me that the fees are very low and aslo it pays him back thgrough its referral syste . I also register to Okpay before 1 week and i am think they are good too. But as I said I am pretty new on this stuff and as I see you are very good at and I will be very happy if you give your true oppinion about that site. Thank you in advance.
RBI has just killed paypal
http://www.justskins.com/ecommerce/paypal-india-problems/2616
Now you can directly transfer fund from odesk to your local bank account.
First transaction is free. Next transaction at $1.99.
hi
i m ankit
can u transfer some money to my moneybookers account.
and i will pay u in india.
that will be good for u.
bcoz i m having hard time uploading funds in my account.
thank you
i have account in state bank of india (uttam nagar) & my branch do nt hav SWIFT code.
i want to know which one i can use
new DELHI MAIN’s branch SWIFT code SBININBB104
or
delhi NRI branch SWIFT code SBININBB153i
please reply bhagwad please.
Harsh, I wish I could help you out but I have absolutely no clue. I know this may sound obvious, but have you found out if SBI has an NRI department and asked them what to do?
2Checkout is an integrated payment gateway cum online shopping cart solution-http://paypalalternatives.in/payment-gateways/2checkout.com
Hi Bhagwad, I have a ICICI savings account. But my branch doesnt have a Swift code.
My moneybookers account currency is INR and I have around 7000 rupees in it.
Can I use the above mentioned Swift code, i.e. ICICINBBNRI?
Thanks.
Yup – that’s the idea.
Thanks.
I have requested to withdraw the funds using that Swift code. The withdrawal status shows “Processed” in Moneybookers.
If there is some problem in the code will the funds return to the MB account?
Yes, it’ll come back.
Great, Thanks
This post is amazing. Lots of questions come to end with this post.
Thanks a lot for this post.
I have some questions-
* What is the maximum balance which you can keep into the moneybookers a/c. and for how long you can put that ?
* Is there any limitation like paypal that one has to withdraw or transfer whole funds to your bank account.
* If you have balance with moneybooks then what are other options other than withdrawal (like online shoping or something else)
Please answer this questions which will be more helpful to us.
Thanks
Jatin
1. Maximum balance depends on how many verifications you’ve completed. My limits are very high since I’ve completed all the procedures.
2. No limitation like Paypal
3. Any site which accepts moneybookers and you should be good to go.
Thanks Bhagwad
One more question
* If we buy with this moneybookers balance do moneybookers take any charges for the transaction?
Thanks
Here’s the Moneybookers FAQ: http://www.moneybookers.com/app/faq.pl?gid=2
I switched from paypal to moneybookers and requested a small withdrawl on 28 Feb 2011. As of today writing this message the fund still not deposited in my OBC bank. MB didn’t traced where they sent the fund. Hope to get the fund soon may be after 1 month… Haha.. paypal just take 3-5 days with prompt reply. Quick Service. It’s my bad experience with MB.
Is anybody else not able to login to their ICICI internet banking account? When I try to login I get this error –
The page you were looking for is temporarily not available. This issue has been logged and
we are working on it. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Though all banks have a SWIFT code, not all branches do so if my branch doesn’t have SWIFT code then what should i do
Vikas, if your branch does not have a swift code then the city main branch or state main branch code can be used & the bank will redirect the payment via that branch.
can i delete my moneyboookers account and re open a new one ??
Hi,
What if my bank branch does not have the SWIFT code. I’ve an account with State bank of Patiala at Patiala. Although they have only one SWIFT enabled branch here but by account is with another branch. Would I be able to use my account with other branch’s SWIFT code on MoneyBookers?
Thanks.
I really don’t know…you should speak to your bank and ask them about this.
You can use your head branch swift code that way the branch will transfer your money in your account.
Does anyone know, what is the maximum amount of funds that we can keep in our MoneyBookers & AlertPay account & for how long?
Hi,
In order to verify my bank account I have followed your instructions and collected the SWIFT Transaction printout from the bank even before contacting Moneybookers for the absence of VRF code in the bank statement. Now I want to contact them via email to solve this issue. But in the Moneybookers website I couldn’t find any email address to contact. In the email support center under “My Profile” it is clearly written:
“A bank account verification code has not been sent since we are unable to support bank account verification in your country of residence. If you wish to increase your account limits please proceed to the view limits page.”
Now please tell me how to contact them via email?
Give them a call using Skype – it’s faster and you can get the instructions much more easily. Their support telephone numbers should be easily available.
Only icici bank will work or any other bank will work for example AXIS ,SBI
Hello Sir,
My name is Srinivas. Everything was verified for my Moneybookers account except E-wallet (B2B ICICI). I used details of the credit card (E-wallet) and marked as “for gaming purpose only” in the moneybookers website then I got a message as “Transaction rejected by your bank – probable reason is the “gaming” description sent to your bank. We recommend you to contact your bank directly and communicate the issue with them.” I have contacted B2B online chat regarding this, they told me that “E-wallet is not working on some sites, please try another site”.
Please let me know can I use the E-wallet for Gaming Purpose or not?
Hi,
I withdrew the money from MB on 5th September at around 11pm to my ICICI account .. Used the ICICINBBNRI swift code and my saving account’s number ..
I still haven’t got my money .. How many days it usually takes? I should have got it by today.. isn’t it?
My MB account is in INR …
Regards
Sachin
If its your 1st withdrawal then it takes 15 days if not then usually it takes 3-5 days, I normally get 4th or 5th day in my account.
15days??? r u sure?
This is not stated anywhere on MB .. Many ppl have got it within 2-3days ..
Can anyone else also pls confirm if wht Ranjan has said is true ..
Also Ranjan to which bank u withdrew?
Also I have verified my address.. added the credit card also .. and deposited the money from credit card too ..
I don’t understand the logic behind 15days waiting time .. No wire transfer ever takes this long .. Isn’t it?
Is there some process behind this 15days rule Ranjan? Can u pls explain it ..
Anyways .. I got the money today ..
But the money I withdrew was Rs.800 and what I got was Rs.734.57 ..
ICICI transaction is showing SRS/[email protected]/INREM
When MB sent the money in INR so why ICICI is showing in euros? I should have got 774 (after deducting 26 as service tax) ..
This will incur loss to me if I withdrew a large transaction .. Isn’t it?
My MB is in INR .. so tht payment I get is automatically shown in INR ..
Good you got your money,
Regarding 15 day wait I was wrong on that its not applicable for MB but for other freelancing site. MB does not send in INR, inspite it ask us to have the account in INR, since it send in Eur the conversion takes place & a small fee for conversion is deducted, that’s how it is as of now.
I agree with many comments here .. MB is not the best option..
It is one of the most expensive option .. They are earning just by charging massive conversion rates ..
If your account is in INR then any payment which you get in USD or EUR .. It will be first converted to INR .. So you are losing firstly here ..
Then when u withdraw you are basically purchasing foreign currency .. So this is the second place where you are losing ..
Lastly when money arrives to your bank you will be given the existing conversion rate which your bank has .. So you will be losing again .. Cos in 2-3 days conversion rates won’t increase tht much to cover your purchase cost (the cost at which MB converted ur INR to EUR)
Try having the account in USD .. Don’t opt for INR in any case ..
Hi,
I live in Bangalore.
I want to use MB, so that I can transfer money from my HDFC Bank credit card to my Citibank Savings Account, and be able to make use of the 50 days interest free credit period from HDFC.
Here are my queries:
a. When I use the HDFC Bank Credit Card, would it be treated as a “Cash Advance” or a “Purchase” transaction?
b. Would it be advisable to select currency at INR or USD?
c. Approximately how much would be the nett charges If I do a transfer of Rs. 50,000.
Regards,
Immanuel.
Hi there,
I’m also a freelancer based in Bangalore and I just opened a Moneybooker account. I will also be receiving money in USD through ICICI. Does my bank SWIFT remain the same as yours? When I do a search in the SWIFT directory it shows me ICICI bangalore as ICICINBB002.
I’m a little confused here. Please help.
Many thanks
Pat
Mostly main branches in the cities have the swift code & are directly linked to swift network rest of the branches use the main branch code only & credit the payment to your account.
Use ICICINBBNRI … or any other swift code of any branch ..
It doesn’t matter .. Cos they all r linked.. So if u r from Delhi and even if u use the chennai branch or Kolkatta branch swift .. U will still get the money to ur account ..
Although officially ICICI gives ICICINBBNRI swift code for cross border payments ..
@Immanuel you will lose money on currency conversion and money loading fee etc.So.Don’t try to be smart.
Hi Bhagwad,
Great post! I can’t believe that it is attracting comments even after a year! I already have an MB account. But I have recently opened a corporate acc with ICICI and thought of transferring some money to this acc from MB. It’s been a almost 5 working days and the money still doesn’t appear. I am a little unsure about the SWIFT code you are telling about. That is for the NRIs. My banker asked me to add a different SWIFT code – a centralized Mumbai code, which I added. Perhaps that is for corporate accounts. There was absolutely no problem in adding that code to my MB acc.
My dilemma is when everything was done without any problems, why is it taking so many days? Have I done something wrong? I am so confused about this SWIFt code part! Does anyone has a corporate acc here who would know better?
Thanks,
MK
@ MK,
Have you got the money, I did for personal account through HDFC. First time took 5 days, second time it was 3 days.
Please, update yours!
Imdad
Hi,
There is no problem with a personal account. It was a blunder I did that prevented money transaction in my Corporate acc.
Thanks
Thanks for the update Manishak!!
Imdad
What would be the difference between Personal & Commercial account in terms of fees? Will I’ve to pay small percentage if someone sends me the money? If not what will be the percentage/amount the sender will have to pay if I use Commercial account instead of Personal?
@ Harry
I think you get the money as it is – no percentage paid, but you have to pay fee for withdrawing that money to your bank. It is double for the commercial account as compared to the personal account.
Thanks
hai i need some help from u…i belong to india..and i hwe account in axis bank…i created a account in moneybookers…and in process to get verified with master card..moneybookers has deposited certain amount 112.46 indian rupees..and in order to get verified….i hwe 2 enter in USD..can u plz help me …i contacted local bank ..but no use..plz plz help me..wht is the exact amount …AXIS BANK….is it 1.51$ ??
Hi Farzeen,
To know the exact dollar or euro amount deducted from your master card, call the customer care and ask them that 112.46 INR was deducted. Ask, how and what currency it was deducted.
Hope, it helps you…..
Imdad
Thanks! Very useful.
Hi..
Everything was verified for my Moneybookers account. I used all Indian credit card and marked as “for gaming purpose only” in the moneybookers website then I got a message as “Transaction rejected by your bank – probable reason is the “gaming” description sent to your bank. We recommend you to contact your bank directly and communicate the issue with them.”
Now Whats the way /by which mode ihave to Verify the Credit/Debt card when no credit cards are working..
anybody please tell me.. have all of you used wht cards..??
Bye ABHI
Hello Sir,
Can I prefer paypal over moneybookers? Because I am currently living away from my home so I want to avoid that tiresome verification process carried out by moneybookers. So is it safe to use paypal? Are you still using it?
Yes, I still use Paypal regularly…
Thank You Sir…:-)
Hi all,
Good stuff.I am a freelancer at Elance. I don’t have a credit card, and have a savings A/C with AXIS BANK, plus a debit card. Can anyone tell me what is the cheapest way to withdraw money to my bank? Details would be highly appreciated. I heard wire-transfers charge upto $30!
Regards,
Abhijit
Hi. Can anyone suggest a service which is like paypal means i can send money from paypal balance without having a bank account or credit card.
Just if i have money in my paypal account I can use it.
Nowadays in india we cant do it because we cant send money from paypal balance.
So any other service?
And any other service which does whatnimstated above and also is supported for selling on ebay?
Thamx a lot
For upload wire transfer it says we have to use details as below:
Account holder: Moneybookers Ltd.
Bank: Commerzbank
City/Town: Frankfurt am Main
SWIFT: COBADEFF
IBAN: DE23500400000581732500
Account currency: EUR, GBP, CAD, JPY, SGD, HUF, AED, SAR, QAR, MAD, JOD, TND, OMR, RSD, RON
Reference: 27283496 Your user ID – MUST BE PROVIDED!
Does it mean, in sender field, we will put the user ID?
Can third person upload money, i n our behalf?
Please help
Well, I have faced a problem. I was trying to link my debit card to moneybookers and the deducted amount from my card is 119.37 INR. I have contacted my bank but they are not giving me exact USD figured. I have tried currency converter from Web but that gave me wrong value. Now how can I find out the equivalent amount for charged amount of 119.37 in USD for moneybookers so that they may accept that value as the currency converters on web are not updated according to moneybookers rates. Can anyone help me out please???
Regards.
Did you actually spent 2 months to verify your MoneyBookers account? With all the respect to UK laws I see no point to go for Moneybookers in such a case, I can create a bank account with credit card in less time.
Oh! I have faced a problem. I was trying to link my ICICI VISA debit card to moneybookers and the deducted amount from my card is 159.91 INR. I have contacted my bank but they are not giving me exact EURO figured. I have tried XE currency converter from Web but that gave me wrong value. Now how can I find out the equivalent amount for charged amount of 159.91 in EURO for moneybookers so that they may accept that value as the currency converters on web are not updated according to moneybookers rates. Can anyone help me out please???I tried it three times but it is incorrect so my optinos are over now they tell me make deposit from bank then and only then they verify it.
hey
Which is the best indian bank to use it for moneybookers for withdrawing funds{icici, hdfc, axis or any others}
And also for uploading funds …wat is the fees for it.. Or is there any other ways to upload funds..? Plz help me