Withdrawing to Paypal vs Direct-to-Bank, which one is more profitable?

[zen_abe]

Uhm so... I gotta pay the electricity bill soon...

So I have to withdraw my cute little "Upwork savings" to the bank account.

Any freelancers here have some experience withdrawing from both Paypal and Direct-to-Bank?

I want to know whether one method has less $ cuts than the other.

I have a hunch that Paypal is more expensive, but I haven't set up my Direct-to-Bank method yet.

Problem is, my previous works on the clients' websites (a.k.a my external portfolios before I joined Upwork) are using my nickname Zain "Abe" as the signature instead of the full last name. So if I change my Upwork profile to the actual name **Edited for Community Guidelines** (to conform with my bank account's name) potential clients would be rather...confused.

Besides, I've heard some horror stories of people verifying their IDs through Upwork even though we're 100% legit.

Cheers, and I wish you all a lucky day!

Zain **Edited for Community Guidelines**

(jezus I hate that last name...)

[petra_r]

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Zain A wrote:

Problem is, my previous works on the clients' websites (a.k.a my external portfolios) are using my nickname Zain "Abe" as the signature instead of the full last name. So if I change my Upwork profile to the actual name **Edited for Community Guidelines** (to conform with my bank account's name) potential clients would be rather...confused.

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If your surname is different to your profile name you must change it immediately because that is a policy violation.

How will you verify your identity when it comes to that (and it will before you withdraw) and your real name is different to your profile name???

[zen_abe]

Petra, thanks for the quick reply.

I have my Paypal account set up successfully as the Upwork withdrawal method (only the email needs to match, not my actual name). And that Paypal account is already connected to my bank account with the actual name "Zain **Edited for Community Guidelines**".

Anyway I'm new to Upwork but I have seen some freelancers here say they're not using their actual/full name and some representative said it's ok...but I could be wrong. 

[petra_r]

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Zain A wrote:

Anyway I'm new to Upwork but I have seen some freelancers here say they're not using their actual/full name and some representative said it's ok...but I could be wrong. 

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You are wrong. Some variations of the first name (like Jim for James, Tom for Thomas, Bobby for Robert, Alex for Alexander etc etc) are acceptable, but the surname must match the name on your government ID.  You WILL be ID verified and that will fail if the name on your profile and the name on your passport or ID card are not the same.

[zen_abe]

Now that's some clarification! Thank you very much, I stand corrected.

Will my account be put on hold/restriction while the ID verification process takes place? 

And what happens if I fail the process due to some grown beard and unkempt hair (God forbid), will I be banned?

[intancheria]

From my experience, if I want to withdraw small amount of money I am going to use paypal. Wire transfer for international transaction will cost $30+ cut, so it is good for $1000+ withdrawal.

And so far I know your surname means a good thing, I don’t understand why you hate that.

[zen_abe]

Intan, wow.. thank you so much that info! Guess I'm going the Paypal route then.

Anyway that's a silly story: So some years ago I'd been feeling unlucky and rather bored with my uhm...faith... so I visited this Kabalarian website, and kaboom I got a new name inspiration! LOL

My parents are still irked over it though (and probably Upwork will too).

[joansands]

There is a $1 charge every time you transfer money to PayPal. Transferring direct to your bank is free.

[petra_r]

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Joan S wrote:

There is a $1 charge every time you transfer money to PayPal. Transferring direct to your bank is free.

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It is only free to a US bank account, not an international one.