Is there any other payment method for South Africa?

[Sabine3]

Please can someone hosting in South Africa advise me on what is the most cost effective payment method to choose now that direct payments are no longer allowed. At the moment I am being charged R100 per transaction which is almost half of the room rental for one night.

Thank you Sabine

[Ann35]

I am going through the same process - quite frustrating that your money is stuck somewhere else and you have to figure out the best method of getting to it.

[Tricia25]

Hi we have been hosting only for a couple of months and it seemed the only way to do this was to get paid into paypal and then transfer to my bank, Nedbank, via FNB.  You don't need to open an FNB account though.  You can register for an online profile anyway at fnb.co.za.  Onc eyou have a profile you can log on and transfer the money.  "Paypalenquiries@fnb.co.za" can tell you exactly what to do.  I applied for a payoneer card which arrived to day and am going to compare.

[Amy227]

Hi @Tricia25

When you withdraw the funds from FNB to Nedbank, what option do you select as your reason for withdrawal

and what documentation do you need? I recently set up my PayPal and online FNB accounts but am unsure of how to actually transfer the funds to my Nedbank account as I have no invoices or paperwork - any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards

Amy

[Tricia25]

Amy sorry I missed this - can you see my reply to Melissa which deals with the same question?

[Melissa217]

Hi Tricia, did you actually transfer funds from your Paypal account to a local bank account? If so, what BoP code did you use?

[Tricia25]

Hi, I'm sorry I can't remember what code it was - something to do with travel or tourist fees.  I found the paypal route a bit fiddly and changed the way I get paid and applied for an Airbnb payoneer card, which I find much easier. I have linked both mine and my partner's bank accounts to the card and can transfer straight into either on the payoneer website.  In other words:  AIRBNB pay into the payoneer card and you can either use the funds in the card (like a normal debit card) or you can transfer from the payoneer site to any bank account that you have linked - super easy and very quick.  My bank - Nedbank - does ring and ask where the money is from but as soon as I say Airbnb payment they are quite happy.  Hope that helps?  regards Tricia.  

[Melissa217]

Hi Tricia, thank you so much for replying! For now I'm just trying to get the money that's already in Paypal into my bank account - I already applied for my Payoneer card, although I'm a bit hesitant to have the money paid to the Payoneer card before I've actually received it. Glad to hear that it's working well!

[Tricia25]

Hi yes I would definitely wait for the card, mine took ages to arrive and it is just normal post.  I know it's a pain but if you want to send me a screen grab of the codes I will tell you which one I used to click - it didn't require documentation, which is where I think you are coming unstuck?

[Melissa217]

Hey Tricia, thanks so much for helping. Here's a link to the document that lists the codes, as well as an image showing the ones available when I try to do the transfer:

https://www.fnb.co.za/downloads/online-banking-documentation/BoP_Topup.pdf

I did see that there were these codes 260 and 261, but they both require quite a bit of documentation, including the name and resitential address of the traveller, and also this is supposedly only valid for foreign travellers.

[Tricia25]

Hi there

I am fairly sure that I used 261.  it’s not just for foreign travelers it says to/from and refers to local and overseas agents.

Have you tried clicking on it - does it ask for documentation?

Sorry I can't be more help.  I know I was confused by this at the time but did get it right eventually.  

[Melissa217]

Thank you! I used 261 and they did not ask for any documentation. Looks like everything worked fine!

[Tricia25]

nice one 🙂  

[Denise-And-Carlton0]

I changed from Capitec bank to Absa because R148.00 was deducted from what Airnbnb paid out and then Capitec also charged R80.00 for International Deposit Fees, which was a total of R 228.00, therefore I also did not make much for one night.

Absa sends me an SMS of a notice of payment from Airbnb, (nobody phone me) I then have to log into my Absa account. Click on "payments", then click on international funds transfer and follow the instructions. Once you have completed the transaction then you will get an sms within a minute to say that the money is in the account. Thus far only R148.00 has been deducted from Absa. I think they do have a minimum and maximum fee.

[Elizabeth187]

Hi Yes I'm also having a problem as South Africans who don't have credit cards are unable to pay directly using a local electronic transfer

[Charlotte69]

I received an email from an exchange4free requesting that I sign a mandate in order to complete the process of receiving money from abroad... a recent pending payout from airbnb. The Forex helpline can't help me. They suggested I go back to communication with exchange4 free and Mercantile bank (?) which doesn't really help as it feels like a scam. Does anyone have clarrification on this please? Thank you, Charlotte