Jamaica

[Ann W]

Hi everyone, 

I am from Jamaica and have been trying to find other who have used the new option "Direct to Local Bank". I usuaally use Payoneer but had some recent issues at the atm and I'm now not so confident in using my card at the atm. Please let me know if anyone has used this new method and how it work, thank you for your help.

[Jellaine L]

It works the same as payoneer just that you will be charged conversion fees and depending on the bank they may take up to 4 business days to load the money to the card. It would work out better if you had a USD account. 

[Gayon B]

Hi Ann,

I currently use both. I'm in Jamaica btw. Sorry to hear you had trouble with your payoneer card, but payoneer is very reliable as I've been using it over a year now. Just request a new card if something happened to that one. Now as to direct to local, yes it works perfect. Just attach your ncb or Scotia bank acct, preferably ncb for faster transfer. Once you initiate a transfer a jmmb money transfer representative will call you and ask you to fill out a form. This is a one time process. From there on you'll be good to go, each time you send money it will be transferred to your account within 24hrs time in jmd currency.

I would advise you to keep payoneer so you can withdraw the US dollars from s Scotia abm and save it in a US account for accumulation and use direct to local bank to top up your regular jmd account with the amount you'll need for the week or bi weekly, etc. This also avoids payoneer fee's from multiple withdrawal.

Hope this helps.

[Ann W]

Thankk you so much for your response, I greatly appreciate it, I loved my payoneer card until now. I usually withdraw at the ncb atm but on 2 occasions, the atm decided not to give me my money. I check with NCB and they said they could not do anything, so I had to contact payoneer and it takes up to 90 days, now I'm out alot, while waiting on the dispute. But let me ask you as well, can can use other banks for the "Direct to loca bank" right, and what are the fees like when you do this and is the exchange rate better. 

No doubt I will keep my payoneer card to withdraw my USD, I just hope I dnt have any more incidents like these, thank you so much again.

[Gayon B]

You're welcome. Happened to me once, in my situation the machine was out of cash so no money came out. In 7-10 business days it went back to my card. Im not sure about other Banks other than ncb or Scotia but if you have ncb it's best to use that one.

It's only 0.99 cents per direct to local bank transfer. Once it hits your jm bank account after that you're crystal, no other fees.

[Ann W]

Thank you again for all your help. 

[Ann W]

Hi Gayon ot anyone else that can help. I don't know why I have not set this up as yet, but planning on getting it done right away. I dnt use scotia or ncb had some really bad experince with them, I do use JN however, wondering if that can work as well. So when I transfer from Upwork to my account for $0.99 cents or there more fees and if so any idea of what the fees are like. 

[Sanjii F]

I'm a Jamaican. 

Joined this platform last year but really got serious in June. Works perfectly fine for me.

So far, I'm loving the INDEPENDENCE and loving the opportunities available.

I'm making strides on my Digital Nomad phase of life!

[Vernon D]

Hi everyone. Kingston native here.

I actually did a search and there are a ton of Jamaicans on Upwork, and many of them are doing incredibly well. Which means that the rest of us can do very well also. Once we keep ourselves well educated and up to date with our respective crafts, Upwork itself and the freelancing/self-employment industry in general, and stick to it, then we are bound to find success.

I've been on Upwork for a while, back when it was still oDesk, but I'm only just now beginning to really take it seriously. I'm hoping that with a few more jobs, more certifications and an expanded portfolio I can command a higher rate and interest more potential clients.

I really appreciate the flexibility of commanding my own time, being able to work from where I choose and to be earning US currency. Not to mention, I'm less beholden to any one or singular group of persons. 

The only issues I have are 1) all of the fees involved when getting my money through Payoneer and 2) how long it takes to get it straight to my bank account, but as problems go those are not bad problems to have.

[Vernon D]

Does anyone know how long it takes on average for the Direct to Bank deposit to go through?