oDesk Withdrawal Method - My Personal Dilemma

I was due to withdraw my odesk earnings today, July 18. Ever since I started withdrawing funds from my odesk account, I always use the LFT or Local Funds Transfer wherein I directly receive payment through my Metrobank ATM. Unfortunately today, I admittedly was kind of thinking it was like a default setting that when I click "withdraw", it will be just the same. In short, I was not in my proper frame of mind (hehe!). However, when I checked the transaction history on odesk, I withdrew funds and transferred it to my PayPal account! I was angry at myself for being so absent-minded. I registered my Paypal account as a backup payment plan just in case clients would ask if I have such thing. But, to actually transfer fund from odesk to Paypal, I must say is such a hassle for a newbie like me.

My Paypal account is linked to my Union Bank EON Card. I have separately set up my Paypal and EON Card accounts since last year but have not really tried if it actually works. Now, I finally got a taste of how tedious this process is. It was a few months back since I last visited my Paypal account because I do not really use it that often. Good thing I was able to retrieve my password and saw that my odesk money was instantly transferred. The problem now is when I was trying to transfer fund to my EON Card (debit card), I could not push through with the transaction because Paypal system was asking me to verify my debit card through a 4-digit number. Unfortunately, I did not have my EON Card with me and could not check these magic numbers being asked from me to successfully transfer my money from Paypal to EON Card.

Nevertheless, here are the realizations I ended up with:

1. oDesk charges a bit higher amount when you withdraw earnings through Paypal as compared to LFT (Local Fund Transfer). If you withdraw through Paypal, odesk costs $1 whereas LFT is only $0.99. You might say that there is not much difference, anyway. But, if you are going to withdraw a large amount, the decimal point does matter.

2. Paypal's money conversion seemed a bit lower as compared to the dollar-peso rate applied through LFT. Usually, when I withdraw funds from oDesk to my Metrobank account, exchange rate is around $1 equivalent to Php 41 - 42. On the other hand, I noticed that Paypal's conversion rate is a dollar lower thus, $1 is equivalent to Php 40. Apart from this, you will be deducted of the respective remittance charge from your respective bank, like in my case, Metrobank that charges roughly around Php 75 to 80 once money is transmitted to my ATM. In Paypal, different charges apply for different banks too, but the lowest  rate is Union Bank which is Php 50 based on what I have read in other blogs. For other banks connected to your Paypal it may cost to above Php100.

3. For the price that you are going to pay, I would recommend the oDesk LFT withdrawal since the end result gives you a slightly lower odesk charge and remittance fee which in my case is Metrobank. I think the deducted amount is fine since I get to receive payment after 2 to 3 days only. Say for example, I withdraw my odesk money on a Wednesday therefore, I would receive it by Saturday of the same week.  Paypal has a 5 to 7 day allowance before your money is transferred to your debit card which is a bit longer waiting time.


Lessons learned: Withdraw my oDesk fund through LFT, ALWAYS! And most of all, always double check on what you are clicking before finalizing any withdrawal transaction.

Goodluck to others (out there) who are experimenting on oDesk withdrawal methods!