Direct Deposit Inquiry

[jampimentel]

Hello. I'm new in Upwork and I can't get answers to my question in reading available materials. Can someone help me?

1. If I register my local bank as a payment method and Upwork will deduct $0.99 every withdrawal, regardless of the amount to be withdrawn, will my earnings in USD be deposited to my bank as PHP like how TransferWise do? This is important to me since my local bank will gonna charge me fees if the deposited currency will be in USD. On the other hand, If the money that will be deposited is already in PHP, I won't be charged any fee. 

2. If Upwork will be depositing my earnings to my local bank as PHP already, how much would be the currency conversion rate? This is also important to me since I am comparing Paypal's conversion rate to Upwork and TransferWise. Paypal's conversion rate is way too incompetent than TransferWise. Their conversion rate is always below the mid-range market. I want to verify if Upwork's conversion rate is good enough.

3. How long it will take for my earnings to be deposited in my local bank?

[BojanS]

Hi Charllie James,

When direct to local bank account is the disbursement method, the funds are converted automatically into your local currency. Please know that direct to local bank transfers take between 2 to 5 business days. You can check out this article for more information about fees and timing associated with the direct to local bank method.

If you set up Direct to Local Bank transfer as your payment method, you'll be able to click "Get Paid Now" at any time and select your local bank account to see the last used conversion rate for your currency. Unfortunately, Upwork can only provide information about the most recent exchange rate used by the bank and not the actual rate that will be used at the time of the transfer since it fluctuates several times throughout the day.

Thank you!

[11f7a755]

Some banks offer perks for direct deposit here in US. I understand I have to fill out forms with my bank, but if it comes down to whether contract via Upwork counts as employment or not, what can I say? I know in Certificate of Earnings it explicitly mentions Upwork is not my employer. However if I show my bank Certificate of Earnings and the fact that I have a direct payment setup linked to my account, will it establish "direct deposit" status with my bank?

Anyone experienced this issue before? Possibly it depends on the bank and outside Upwork's control, but if I get a regular payment, I do not see why it should not count as direct deposit.