I'm being paid in £. Why am I receiving less than UpWork say has been paid to me?

[collarddominic]

I'm being paid in £. But I'm getting paid less than UpWork say I should be receiving. I'm wondering if that is to do with UpWork using a different exchange rate, or if my bank is levying a charge for processing an international transaction? 

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Dominic,

Please keep in mind that the difference in exchange rates is not something Upwork can control. When a bank converts a transaction, they will mark up the interbank rate to buy or sell a currency. Online calculators will not take into consideration the mark up that is applied. Since rates constantly change throughout any given day, the rate you received is the rate offered by our bank at the time your specific transaction was processed.

[collarddominic]

Hi again. I’ve just been paid again and once more about £30-£40 is missing.
I have checked with my bank and they don’t charge for processing a deposit
from a foreign bank, so I presume the charge is being levied by UpWork’s
bank. Please can you confirm if this is the case, and if so how much they
charge?
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*Dominic **Edited for Community Guidelines** *
*Business Writer & Content Consultant *
***Edited for Community Guidelines***
*Portfolio>>
*

[collarddominic]

Hi again. I’ve just been paid again and once more about £30-£40 is missing. I have checked with my bank and they don’t charge for processing a deposit from a foreign bank, so I presume the charge is being levied by UpWork’s bank. Please can you confirm if this is the case, and if so how much they charge?

[jr-translation]

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Dominic C wrote:
Hi again. I’ve just been paid again and once more about £30-£40 is missing. I have checked with my bank and they don’t charge for processing a deposit from a foreign bank, so I presume the charge is being levied by UpWork’s bank. Please can you confirm if this is the case, and if so how much they charge?

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Are you using wire transfer?

[collarddominic]

We call it BACS transfer here, but I think it’s the same as what you call wire transfer in the US. Basically a bank to bank transfer of funds.

[jr-translation]

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Dominic C wrote:
We call it BACS transfer here, but I think it’s the same as what you call wire transfer in the US. Basically a bank to bank transfer of funds.

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There's your answer. Upwork charges a $30 fee for each U.S. dollar wire transfer. There are several ways to get paid so there might be another method that will cost you less.

[collarddominic]

Why? Are you charged that fee by your bank, and simply pass it onto the freelancer?

[petra_r]

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Dominic C wrote:
Why? Are you charged that fee by your bank, and simply pass it onto the freelancer?

---

Please check which bank transfer you are using: Wire transfer (which costs $ 30) or

"Direct to local bank" which costs $ 0.99 

And clearly Upwork passes on costs related to transactions, but the fees for the various withdrawal options show clearly when you withdraw.

[collarddominic]

I have chosen Direct to Local Bank option from the start - see screenshot below. And indeed am being charged the £0.99p withdrawal fee for every transaction. See second screenshot. So I am unsure why I am being charged for the wire transfer option. Please note I have been charged this fee for the last five transactions.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[petra_r]

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Dominic C wrote:

I have chosen Direct to Local Bank option from the start - see screenshot below. So I am unsure why I am being charged for the wire transfer option. Please note I have been charged this fee for the last five transactions.

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What makes you think you are being charged for wire transfer?

What are you actually comparing to what? Not the mid market rate to what you actually receive in your bank account, hopefully? (That is not what any bank gives retail customers.)

Direct to local bank always results in a fairly poor exchange rate. You may want to experiment with withdrawing to a $ balance on PayPal and then transferring to your bank from that. Maybe withdraw an equal amount to each next time.

[collarddominic]

I don’t know what the charge is for, but I am being charged for something because even the worst case scenario exchange rate doesn’t account for what I’m losing. Presumably you will have a record if I’m being charged for a wire transfer or not? So please can you tell me?

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Dominic,

I can confirm you weren't using Wire Transfer for your most recent withdrawals. You're using Direct To Local bank and the withdrawal fee for that method is $0.99. You can see the withdrawal and the fee recorded in your Transaction History. In the same Transaction History report you should be able to see the amount in USD and in GBP. I'll check with the team if there are any issues with the rate but, generally, the conversion is performed by the bank and not by Upwork, so we don't have much control over it. 

[collarddominic]

Thank you for offering to check. It does seem a strangely high foreign
exchange fee, and not variable either, so appreciate you checking. Look
forward to your response.
--

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[jr-translation]

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Petra R wrote:

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Dominic C wrote:
Why? Are you charged that fee by your bank, and simply pass it onto the freelancer?

---

Please check which bank transfer you are using: Wire transfer (which costs $ 30) or

"Direct to local bank" which costs $ 0.99 

And clearly Upwork passes on costs related to transactions, but the fees for the various withdrawal options show clearly when you withdraw.

---

I only used withdrawl to local bank once. One problem was the currency from US$ into EUR and then back to US$ because I have a currency account. But any time I'ld use withdrawl to local bank I'ld pay double conversion fees because withdrawl to local banks in Europe are made in EUR, no matter what currency the country uses.

[petra_r]

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Dominic C wrote:

I'm being paid in £. But I'm getting paid less than UpWork say I should be receiving. 

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What exactly do you mean by "what Upwork say I should be receiving?"