DianaTan.net

Just a few days ago, I went to the ATM in Public Bank to take out my Paypal money from USA. As I used my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit card in the ATM, and keying my password, there is an option to Transfer Funds. I selected it and key in my bank savings account number which was ready in my wallet. You need to know your bank savings account number first for the transfer which was so much more convenient than to take out the cash and put into cash machine to bank in again. The total so far was about RM2,000 taken out from my USA Paypal account for work done in writing articles plus paid blogging previously.

Just 2 days ago, I managed to withdraw my Paypal funds from my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card account for the first time. Before withdrawing, I checked the amount is in my account by internet banking that is linked to my savings account. You need to ensure that you have at least RM30 in your debit card before you can add your Visa card to Paypal. At the ATM, I had to key in my password 2 times, the first time is for the new card to accept it and the second time is to log in and transfer funds outs. I got about RM350 for less than USD100 that I withdraw from Paypal. I am still waiting for my USD500 or rather USD495 to be transferred to my debit card in the next couple of days.

Previously, earning money from USA was much easier but now you need to fill up a form to declare that you are a foreigner earning US money and don’t pay income tax to the US government. Some of the writing articles company insist that you fill up details including your Tax identification number to verify that you are a US resident. Gone are the days where you have free flow of US funds coming in so easily by paid blogging and writing articles.

I just came back from Public Bank in Bishop Street, Penang, the main branch. I am happy to say that I finally managed to add my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit card to my Paypal account in USA. This is possible after topping up my card to RM55 from RM25. I contacted the person in charge in KL and she informed me that in order to be able to add your Visa debit card account to Paypal for withdrawing US funds, you need to have at least RM30 in the debit card. When I applied for the debit card, I was told to put in RM25 which was the minimum but insufficient for Paypal transactions.

And true enough, I came back and logged in to my Paypal to add the Visa debit card (Note that Paypal only accepts Visa credit or debit card and not Mastercard) and it was successful. Such is the magic of online transactions via Paypal to receive US dollars. The US funds accumulated because of my work done mainly in writing articles for overseas clients and very little from paid blogging. I have about USD600 in Paypal since December 2008 and the money was stuck for 2 months as I had to wait for my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card approval which took about 3 weeks. I am relieved that by today, after a visit to the bank, everything was settled.