Online Freelancing (Part 6): How to get Freelance Payments?
(This article is a part of the Online Freelancing series.)
Timely payments are something every freelancer worries about, and more so, when you’re freelancing online. You don’t get to meet your clients face-to-face, and that’s sure to raise the level of anxiety if the payment is delayed.
Well, apart from having a freelancer agreement in place and wishing you don’t fall in the soup, there isn’t much to do. However, having a payment method for freelancers that you can trust would give some comfort. But which one should you choose?
Here are a few methods that my clients have used to send me payments, and these work without failing –
PayPal Money Transfer
PayPal is among the most favoured methods when you want to receive international payments, even though it’s pricey. It has built its credibility over time. And except for a few places, PayPal is available all over the world.
The transfers take place instantly, no matter how far you are. And what more, the one who’s sending payment doesn’t even need to have an account. So, your client can click your payment link and use their credit/debit card to pay the amount.
Read — How to set up PayPal account and the associated transaction charges
Global Direct Bank Transfer
Although it’s not as fast as PayPal, a direct transfer to your account would be economical for small amounts. You can save quite some which were lost as PayPal transaction fees. You will need to provide your account details, bank’s name and the branch’s IFS code.
Once the transfer is initiated, it can take about 3–5 days (depending on the intermediaries involved) to reflect in your account. There are, by the way, some services like Veem, through which you can send an invoice and get paid to bank account directly, using your payment link.
(Quick note — To set up an account on Veem, you will need the SWIFT/BIC code of your bank’s branch.)
National Electronic Funds Transfer
National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT, in short) is the standard for money transfer within India. You share your account details, and branch’s IFS code, which the client then adds to their online bank account. It takes anywhere between 30 minutes to 4 hours to be approved.
And after that, the client can initiate the first transaction. While you usually get the amount within 2–4 days, it may take up to 7 working days on some occasions. But the good thing is, NEFT doesn’t cost you a dime (as the recipient).
RTGS and IMPS are two other (quicker) methods to get money to your bank account within India. But the sender, your client, will have to pay higher charges in comparison to NEFT. So, refrain from using those two as your preferred method.
UPI Instant Money Transfer
It’s a new entrant in the market and is currently used only for small personal transactions. Moreover, there are daily/weekly limits too. So, for now, you can use it for payments worth a few thousand, from clients.
UPI stands for Unified Payment Interface and using this method, anyone can send money to any Indian bank account within seconds, for free.
All you need is to share your Virtual Private Address (VPA) linked to your bank account. When the person sends the payment to your VPA, it goes directly to the connected bank account within the next few seconds. There is absolutely no waiting time.
Read — What is UPI and how to set up VPA?
And those were the four methods I have tried. There are many other ways like using digital wallets, cheques or even cryptocurrencies to receive payments. But they have a few cons which make it troublesome to use them.
Converting cryptocurrencies to real money can be a hassle and accepting cash in different digital wallets would make it difficult to keep track of the earnings. So, better to stick with a separate bank account, only, and for all your freelance incomes.
Even accepting cheques aren’t feasible, especially when the client is a thousand kilometres away from you. So, decide for yourself what all methods you would like to use and tell me in the comments, what other ways you have tried to receive payments as a freelancer.
