Payout in bank is less a fee that I cannot find

[Colleen52]

The payout in my bank account is the total payment less the wire fee and another fee that I cannot figure out. Here is an example:

The total payout was $1457 but in my bank I received $1453.30 so I am trying to find out where the $3.70 is or why it was short this amount. Is it a conversion or tax? I am in Costa Rica. 

Payout - 164$ x 9 nights - $1472

Cleaning fee - $30

Airbnb Service Fee ($45)

Total Payout $1457

[Tim-and-Holly0]

Since we can't actually see the transaction in your account it's only a guess here:

The difference may be the currency exchange from the dollar. Airbnb pays in dollars and many hosts in foreign countries see variances in their pay.

Have you asked your bank? It may be easier to get your bank to answer their phone than Airbnb some days!

[Waltraud--Kiana-0]

I also live in Costa Rica and I'm hosting on Airbnb since more than 2 years. The payouts to my bank account here per international wire have been always very fast (3-4 days) to reach and just a moderate fee from my bank deducted ($ 15). Suddenly from maybe last September on I notice that it takes at least 8-9 days that the payout reaches my account and a whooping $ 52.00 is missing each time. I would like to know if anybody else has experienced this change?

I tried with the resolution center and they were not helpful at all. They only indicated that it must be intermediary banks, but they did not explain why Airbnb might be using a different bank and would not switch back to the original one.

I wonder what to do now!

[Marianne163]

Hi! I had the same issue... every payout from Airbnb, I receive about $50 less... after a lot of talking to a lot of people form Airbnb and from my own bank, I had to come to the conclusion that the intermidiary bank between Airbnb and the costarican bank (Banco Nacional in my case) is taking a huge commission of about 11%!!! Although this is usually charged to Airbnb, they deduct this from our payouts. Doesnt really sound that great to me but I cannot figure out what to do. Does anybody know what the best way to get payouts to Costa Rica is?

[Yvette76]

The best way may be through paypal. Open a new Paypal account from Costa Rica, with a Costa Rican address, etc. There you can add you debit card from your Banco Nacional account. Payout goes to Paypal and the deposit from Paypal to BN is $11 each time. So you can accumulate as much AirBnB income in your Paypal account before choosing to deposit it into your bank account.