Incomplete Payment by Upwork

marknatividad · ‎06-22-2019

Hello,
Last June 5, 2019, I requested withdrawal of my balance via
Direct to Local Bank Transfer for 5492.74 PHP. However, upon checking on my bank account, only 4,398.62 PHP registered in my bank account. This leaves a missing amount of 1,094.12 PHP. Where is now the 1,094.12 PHP? This is the first time I have experienced Upwork has transferred an incomplete amount of payment to me. Hoping for an immediate response and action. It's kind of disheartening that something like this has happened. I always trust Upwork but this incident is really an inconvenience.

AleksandarD · ‎06-22-2019

Hi Mark,

Thanks for reaching out to us. 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. I hope this helps clarify the situation. Should you have questions or need additional assistance, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar

tlsanders · ‎06-22-2019

Aleksandar D wrote:
Hi Mark,

Thanks for reaching out to us. 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. I hope this helps clarify the situation. Should you have questions or need additional assistance, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you.

This seems to come up quite often. Would it not be simple and useful to provide a link that allowed freelancers to check rates before initiating a transfer, since it seems that timing can make a significant difference?

petra_r · ‎06-22-2019

Tiffany S wrote:
This seems to come up quite often. Would it not be simple and useful to provide a link that allowed freelancers to check rates before initiating a transfer, since it seems that timing can make a significant difference?

This does not and never did sound like a minor difference in exchange rates at all, the difference is WAY too big. I think the above is the canned response meant for people who whine about their exchange rate, not for those who believe that they are missing a significant chunk of their withdrawn amount.

When withdrawing, we are shown the exchange rate last used so it never comes as a total shock.