Freelancers — those who work from home or remotely — require a secure method of collecting salaries or payments for products and services they provide. It is a fortunate time for remote workers, work from home employee, as well as every business that depends on digital technology to send and receive payments. And if you are still looking for the right payment processor to go with to get paid as a freelancer for the services that you will be providing, here are some things you may need to consider.
Features of Payment Processors
Online businesses have integrated payment processors that help them manage their businesses’ flow of finances.
If you are working remotely for established businesses through specialty websites like peopleperhour, Upwork, and Fiverr, you only get to choose from the list of payment processing platforms available on the site.
Freelancers who opt to offer their services to clients via can choose from several payment platforms to get paid easily and securely.
Not sure which of those available freelance payment methods is the right one for you? If you are looking for the most appropriate payment processor, you may want to consider these features before finally deciding which of the payment platforms to go with.
1. Transaction fees. How much does it cost to transact through the payment processor? Like any other service providers, each payment processor charges transaction fees. Pay attention as to fees associated with every possible transaction before finally deciding which of the processors to use.
2. Processing Time. How much time does it require for the payment platform to process payments?
3. Supported Country. There are times that your options for a payment processor will also be limited to those that can only provide service to where you will access the funds. For instance, in countries like Burma, Iran, Liberia, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Western Balkans, PayPal is not among the options.
4. Supported Currency. You also need to check if the available payment platform can receive payments in your currency.
5. Available Payment Options. When collecting freelance payments, you can request to have it sent through any of the following methods:
- same currency sent direct to your account on the platform
- sent to your bank account in the currency of your choice
- sent as check payments
- transferred to your credit or debit account
6. Transfer Limit. Another feature of the payment processor that you have to pay attention to before choosing the best option is the transfer limit of the amount of money that you may be allowed to receive or transfer at a time.
7. Convenience and Security. Receiving and sending payments online take away the pain of keeping track of your bank, debit, or credit card details. Once you’re done verifying your account and integrating related banking details, it will be a breeze to transfer money any time you would need to. You can also be at ease knowing that you will be receiving or sending money through a secured gateway.
8. Fraud Protection. Does the platform offers fraud transaction protection? Take note of how each payment processor keep you and your payments safe. Consider checking the protection policies that the company implements. Payment platforms, like PayPal, relies on data encryption, and Card Verification Value (CVV) real-time transaction monitoring to ensure that transactions made through the website is secure.
Ways to Get Paid As A Freelancer
Here are three of the popular payment processors that will allow you to get paid as a freelancer:
1. PayPal. PayPal has been around since 1990 and has been a favored method of payment for both freelancers and businesses. Setting up an account is easy and free. Once you are done with the verification process and linking your bank account, clients can start paying you electronically, Money sent from another PayPal account will appear instantly in your account. However, transfers made to a bank account may take about 3-5 business days. PayPal is available in more than 200 countries and support more than 25 currencies.
2. Payoneer. Payoneer is another payment platform that allows anyone to send and receive payments online. This method also allows users to transfer earnings to a Payoneer Debit MasterCard. Anyone with a Payoneer account may also easily connect with thousands of marketplaces and start getting paid with just a couple of clicks. Amazon, Upwork, iStockphotos, Fiverr, Clickbank, Canva, and Freelancer are just a few of the many companies that are using Payoneer.
3. Stripe. Millions of companies in more than 120 countries use Stripe, including Amazon, Google, Shopify, Microsoft, Expedia, Grab, and Nasdaq, to start, run, and scale their businesses.
In the end, choosing the best payment processor to get paid as a freelancer will all depend on which will provide the most features for you and your clients.
