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resultsassoc
Community Member

Freelancer with only a first name, no surname

A freelancer wrote to me that Upwork requires him to have a given (first) name and a surname (last name). He has no surname; this is not rare in tribal and/or nomadic cultures. He had to invent a surname to comply with Upwork's requirement, but now he cannot link to his bank account, which has his given name only.

 

I raise this here because (1) I am hoping a moderator will notice and contact me; (2) This is supposed to be a global platform.I was astounded to learn that UW cannot handle wire transfers, because much of the world's commerce depends on them. Now, I learn that US-based Upwork cannot handle single-name cultures. What other rocks need to be turned over?

24 REPLIES 24
kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Bill,

 

In cases like that we would suggest a user to use a formal salutation in the first name field (like Mr., Mrs, Ms.) and their name in the last name field. That would be unlikely to cause issues with adding their bank account. Feel free to direct that freelancer to us and we'll assist them further.

~ Valeria
Upwork

Hi Valeria,

I would really appreciate it if you can help.

I’m not sure if adding salutations would be a great idea — it would definitely raise questions from employers and therefore affect employability.

I do not have a last name on my birth certificate, local ID, driver’s license and bank account.

I do have a last name on my passport — the government allowed me to register my dad’s surname for this purpose. I used my passport for verification since Upwork makes the Last Name field mandatory to sign up in the first place.

I tried going to the bank to add a last name to my account — they said I need to get my legal name changed first.

Tried to open a new bank account using my passport as ID — got asked to present my local ID instead. Only foreigners are allowed to use passports as ID.

All I’m asking for is people should be allowed to register without the Last Name field being mandatory, especially if they have legitimate government-issued proof of ID (and a bank account that matches this information) to verify it.

I’m really at my wit’s end. Any help would be appreciated.


Kind regards,
Yessica
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Yessica,

 

I apologize for the inconvenience this caused. We'll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with this concern. 

~ Bojan
Upwork

Hi Bojan,

 

I have received a response that does not help solve the problem at all.

**Edited for community guidelines**

Seems like there is no real solution to the actual problem itself that Upwork is willing to help with. 

 

I can send funds from my PayPal to my local bank account just fine, because PayPal allows the Last Name field to be filled with a blank character / space -- that's what I did, and it worked great for as long as I've used Upwork.. Until Upwork just recently decided to require both First and Last Names to match those on PayPal. Why isn't it enough that both accounts are linked to the same email address? Or at least the First Name?

 

Things have been really hard for so many people with what's going on in the world right now, does Upwork really have to make it harder?

 

Please let me know if there is an actual solution to this.

 

Kind regards,

Yessica

Hi Yessica,

 

I followed up with the team that's handling your case so that they can assist you further regarding adding your Paypal account details. One of our team members will update your ticket. Thanks.

~ Joanne
Upwork

Yes, even I have only single name and having no sir name.
I got reply that we guys can use initials (like Mr/Ms etc) . What to do in that case.
Moreover last name is mandatory I think without filling last name we can't proceed further.

Also I'm having one more query : in my voter card, Adharcard and in pan card I have only single name but in my bank account I having my sir name.

It's a great confusion. Upwork please do something so that we guys never face any kind of problem as we are facing 😊

Hi Sundri,

 

While our system does require you to enter both a first and last name, we understand that not everyone has both names. You can go ahead and add your one name in both the first and last name fields.

 

To set up a payment method, your verified name in Upwork must match the name on your payment account. 

 

Let us know if you have further questions. 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork

Thanks for your email.

I'll try to add my name - Sundri in first and last name in both field.

But I am having Two more query

- 1st query - What about the PayPal account ?

- Because I think it required last name too.
So what we need to do in that case?

2nd query - if in case bank account having surname and in Adhar card having
only one name.
So what we need to do while creating PayPal account. Is it mandatory to
fill last name?

Thanks


Hi Sundri,

 

I'd like to reiterate that if you only have one name and don’t have a last name on your official ID, you can add that name into both first and last name fields. If there are any issues with the name not matching the payment method, the team will notify you.

 

Thank you.

~ Luiggi
Upwork
petra_r
Community Member

 wrote to lots of people. I already told him to contact Upwork

cj-shaw
Community Member

This is pretty common and I've seen this problem a few times when registering students in my day job. I tell people to just write their first name in both boxes, or if it allows 'special characters' to write 'n/a' in the surname field (though that might then show up in a profile as the surname). Would be so good if they didn't have to do either though!

sieyessica
Community Member

I have this exact same problem.

And since Upwork now requires PayPal account names to match first and last names on Upwork, I can’t even access the money I earned from the platform.

Please Upwork, give people without last names a chance.

Why don't all the organizations, banks, governments, upwork, paypal, visa, etc decide alltoghether to use something like: 'NOSURNAME' as last name/field of people that have no last name? This would be pretty clear for everyone. 

Blank field/space/NA etc don't help to clarify that this person doesn't actualy have a last name, as for example space could mean that last name was not filled by mistake, etc

c1bb601c
Community Member

Hi everyone I wanna ask.. So I only have one name and I already fill the last name with my first name too. Yesterday my withdrawal were being process but today they enabled the payment and money got back to upwork account. What can I do now? I already try to able the payment method and try once again. What if it fail again? What should I do? Anyone can help me? Thank you. 

Hi Jessica,

 

Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear about your recent withdrawal. One of our team members will reach out to you via ticket as soon as possible to assist you further.

 

Thank you.

Pradeep

Upwork
a1cb682a
Community Member

Hi everyone,

I also have only one name and I already filled the last name with my first name too. Yesterday my withdrawal was being processed but today they rejected it and disabled my payment method local account. The money got back to my Upwork account but Withdrawal Fee does not return. What can I do now? I have already tried to enable the payment method and tried once again to withdraw. What if it fails again? What should I do? Anyone can help me?

one more question, let me know how to connect with Upwork customer support online?

Thank you. 

Hi Afrin,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your tickets on this page.

 

~ Nikola
Upwork
neha_koundal
Community Member

I have only single name and no sir name.

My documents like voter card, aadhar card have only one name.

Can I add my name as 'First name Ms and last name as Neha'. Or 'First Name 'Neha' and Last Name 'Neha'.
I am facing this issue "Your payment account name does not match your name on Upwork".  I already generate ticket But no reply on it. 

Hi Neha,

 

I can see that you already have an open ticket regarding this issue. One of our agents will update your ticket and assist you further. 

~ Joanne
Upwork

Dear Joanne, dear Upwork team,
I also facing this issue,
I have only single name and no surname. My documents like ID card, driving license and passport also have one name.

I split my name 'Miftahullafid' become 'Miftahul' as first name and 'Lafid' as surname on upwork Profiles, because both of these fields must be filled. I am facing this issue "Your payment account name does not match your name on Upwork".

Kindly to support me to fixing this issue.

 

Thank You, Best Regards.

Hi Miftahul,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I checked but I don't see a name mismatch notification on your account. Could you please share a screenshot from your end so that we can assist you further? 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork

Hi Nikola,
Thank you for the fast responses,

Seem this issue is already solved because a couple of days ago I used both first name and surname to become Miftahullafid miftahullafid.

Thank you for your help.

f2521eeb
Community Member

Im having the same issue.

I only have single name and no surname.

My documents like Identity card, and other officials have only one name "Jawhar".

I am facing this issue "Your payment account name does not match your name on Upwork".  I already generate ticket But no reply on it.

 

I added my name as 'First name and last name also as first name'. Please help me with this issue urgently.  How do I verify my bank details with my upwork details.

Hi Jawahar,

 

Thank you for your message. I understand you have just one name. In this case, we suggest users add the same name in both the first and last name fields. Please update your account name so that our team can review and approve your payment methods.

 

- Pradeep

Upwork
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