Payoneer For Payments? Be Very, Very Cautious!

19 replies
I work occasionally with a first rate programmer from Mexico and in the past I've always paid him using PayPal. At the end of November he did some work for me and he said that because of ongoing problems between his bank and PayPal, he has switched to a service called PAYONEER.

I had never heard of them before, but fair enough, when the job was complete I went to their web site to pay him. I was immediately concerned when as well as the standard information associated with making online payments, they also asked for my driver's license number and social security number. I was extremely uncomfortable but I needed to pay the guy so I gave them what they asked for.

No more than thirty minutes after I had authorized the payment, I received the following email:

We're sorry but we were not able to approve your credit/debit card payment request #####


Your credit/debit card has not been charged. The temporary hold on the funds will be released automatically within a few business days. You will not be charged for this payment.


The reason we were not able to approve your payment request is administrative and related to Payoneer's policy. The decline was not made by your bank or by your card issuer. For more information regarding Payoneer's decision to decline the payment, please contact the owner of the Payoneer account which you attempted to load funds to.

Unfortunately, due to security measurements, Payoneer cannot provide you with the reason why the transaction was decline, and can only tell you that the problem was NOT on your side.
That was 7 days ago. The problem is, they have NOT released the hold on my funds. I have emailed them repeatedly but to no avail. Meanwhile, I cannot pay the guy who did the work for me. He's out of pocket and so am I!

I have contacted my bank of course, but they tell me that because it's classed as a "hold" on funds and not a completed charge, there's nothing they can do.

So be warned - DON'T TOUCH PAYONEER WITH A BARGEPOLE!!!!!

#cautious #payments #payoneer
  • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
    It's your service providers responsibility to provide for means, or inform you in advance of payment terms.

    I would suggest you have them setup an alternate payment solution, such as Google checkout.

    I hope you get this issue resolved, have yet to hear much good about this company.
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      Originally Posted by Eric Lorence View Post

      It's your service providers responsibility to provide for means, or inform you in advance of payment terms.

      I would suggest you have them setup an alternate payment solution, such as Google checkout.

      I hope you get this issue resolved, have yet to hear much good about this company.
      He did tell me in advance that he had switched to Payoneer, but it wasn't until I actually used them to make my payment to him that these issues arose.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bane
        Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

        He did tell me in advance that he had switched to Payoneer, but it wasn't until I actually used them to make my payment to him that these issues arose.
        Perhaps suggest he switch to AlertPay? It's been gaining a lot of traction of late, and has been around in excess of five years. It has the same sort of 'scam' sites as most large legitimate businesses have. (but nowhere near as many as PayPal have!)
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  • Profile picture of the author JDArchitecture
    Thanks for the warning.

    I would have never given them DL &/or SS numbers.

    I would have just mailed a check.
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      Originally Posted by JDArchitecture View Post

      Thanks for the warning.

      I would have never given them DL &/or SS numbers.

      I would have just mailed a check.
      I was very uncomfortable doing it, but I needed to pay the guy and when he told me he was using Payoneer he said he was receiving good service from them. I was uncomfortable giving them the additional information but my programmer had stated he had switched to them several weeks ago and had received payments without any problems.
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  • Profile picture of the author shuvo
    There are much complaint about payoneer here.Most freelancing sites like odesk and freelancer has this option for the contractors to get their payment and I have seen lots of complaints against payoneer in odesk forum.You may check out them yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rukshan
    So far payoneer is doing well for me. You can decide it with your experience. Mainly we use payoneer debit card to withdraw cash from vendors. I'm not sure about payoneer payment processing system. You can direct him to 2checkout, fastspring or plimus. All these merchant account providers give a payoneer debit card. So both you are safe!
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  • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
    Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

    Huh?

    There tons of people using Payoneer with no problems. They even have a debit card you can use to receive your affiliate payments. Clickbank announced a partnership with them which should see Payoneer payout options in the near future.

    So be warned - DON'T LISTEN TO A SINGLE REVIEW BEFORE MAKING YOUR MIND UP ABOUT A COMPANY
    Well, this is my one and only experience with Payoneer and as far as I'm concerned they SUCK! They have put a hold on quite a substantial amount of my funds and will neither release them back to me or pay my provider.

    Under these circumstances I believe I'm 100% justified in posting a warning to other Warriors.

    Also, much too late for me (I should have done it before attempting to use them) - just Google the two words "Payoneer complaints" (without the quotes) the results will show you I'm certainly NOT alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author orezzoli
    I got an account with 2checkout, and they offer Payoneer for money withdrawal.
    I had no problem...
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    There tons of people using Payoneer with no problems. They even have a debit card you can use to receive your affiliate payments. Clickbank announced a partnership with them which should see Payoneer payout options in the near future.
    +1 to this.

    There is nothing wrong with Payoneer. It's the primary payment method for Envato (themeforest, code canyon etc...) and I've never seen any complaints about them.

    Have you contacted Payoneer to ask why the funds were being temporarily held?

    You mention that it's a substantial amount so it could be a security check to avoid potential fraud.
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    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    I haven't had any problems with payoneer here. I trust them.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Annie,

    They really had no right to ask for all that info. Assuming all told you the truth, as you have said here, it sounds like what they did was an AUTH without a capture. That puts your funds in limbo. BASICALLY the credit card company told payoneer that they can have the money, when they do the capture. And YEP, I don't think they can really cancel it. The GOOD news is I don't think they can hold it forever. It may roll off in even less than a month.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author ajetayo
    Thanks for the info, I just got a payoneer mastercard but I'm yet to use it. u could have easily wired the money to him. He'ld have gotten it within the week
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      Well, it's now Monday and my funds are still in limbo, being held by Payoneer. They have replied to my emails informing me that due to their "Administrative security measurements, they have "rejected my payment."

      My provider has received a notification from Payoneer, informing him that my payment to him was rejected, they explained that he has to receive a payment directly from vWorker first and then they will accept private payments after that.

      It is clear that the rejection is final, but what is completely unacceptable is their refusal to remove their hold on my funds. In fact, more to the point, why was there ever a hold placed on my funds if they had no intention of ever completing my payment???

      payoneer complaints - Google Search
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      • Profile picture of the author Rukshan
        Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

        Well, it's now Monday and my funds are still in limbo, being held by Payoneer. They have replied to my emails informing me that due to their "Administrative security measurements, they have "rejected my payment."

        My provider has received a notification from Payoneer, informing him that my payment to him was rejected, they explained that he has to receive a payment directly from vWorker first and then they will accept private payments after that.

        It is clear that the rejection is final, but what is completely unacceptable is their refusal to remove their hold on my funds. In fact, more to the point, why was there ever a hold placed on my funds if they had no intention of ever completing my payment???

        payoneer complaints - Google Search
        Even Paypal have so many complains. Payoneer provide snail slow support for many cases. Normally I complain by using twitter page. Use twitter page to complain it. Then they will take an action.
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      • Profile picture of the author StanCan
        Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

        Well, it's now Monday and my funds are still in limbo, being held by Payoneer. They have replied to my emails informing me that due to their "Administrative security measurements, they have "rejected my payment."

        My provider has received a notification from Payoneer, informing him that my payment to him was rejected, they explained that he has to receive a payment directly from vWorker first and then they will accept private payments after that.

        It is clear that the rejection is final, but what is completely unacceptable is their refusal to remove their hold on my funds. In fact, more to the point, why was there ever a hold placed on my funds if they had no intention of ever completing my payment???

        payoneer complaints - Google Search
        I think I know what the problem here is. It seems your worker got the Payoneer card through vWorker and just like oDesk that also uses Payoneer as one of its payment options, the worker has to transfer funds first from vWorker before he can receive private payments. If the provider has received payment from jobs he got through vWorker (i.e., employers pay to the freelance site first), you can ask him to withdraw some funds from vWorker to his Payoneer account to release the hold. Payoneer issues cards through their "partners" and have to be activated through these sites. Do let us know if this resolves your issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    Debit/credit card authorization holds can last anywhere from 1 to 30 business days from the date of the original authorization, with debit card authorization holds normally lasting between 1 and 5 business days. It all depends on the policy of the card-issuing institution.

    It's rare to get a card issuer (your bank) to release a hold prior to the end of their standard hold period. They have no way of knowing whether the merchant will capture the funds or not, so they play it safe.

    The merchant, unless they have an unusual agreement in place, can't 'undo' an authorization.

    Your best bet to get your 'how long?' question answered is to contact your bank, or whatever institution issued the debit/credit card that you used.
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  • Profile picture of the author ~Davor Debrecin~
    I agree with Chris Kent here.

    Don't want to get into the details about what happened in you case, I'm sure there are reasons you shouldn't use Payoneer, but don't make such claims because as a business person you have to be aware that sometime something can go wrong.

    Image just how you would felt if you screwed something up and that customer starts bashing you on the forums and advising people to stay out of your way.. You wouldn't be very happy, right?

    Even more, Payoneer is a good company and many reputable companies use them like Odesk.com, 2checkout.com and even ClickBank (only announced) for paying their affiliates, service providers, etc.

    I hope you will resolve your issue soon.

    Take care,

    ~Davor
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  • Profile picture of the author herisetiyawan
    Thanks for your info..Actually i don't have payoneer..I use paypal..But it has problem too..My account get limited account so I can't send or receive money...Because of that i can't pay my hosting and i move to local hosting..well, i think we have to be more careful...Good luck..
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