Today, we’re going to be looking at the legit way Nigerians can get a US bank account and US Mastercard with Payoneer in Nigeria.
For many years, Nigerian webmasters have suffered to make ends meet on the web due to the lack of proper means to collect payments for work done. This is because many big websites chose to pay their members with PayPal. And as we all know, PayPal still doesn’t allow Nigerians to receive money with their personal account. As such, many Nigerians resorted to doing menial jobs with sites that can accept to pay via Wire Transfer, Cheque, or other smaller payment platforms like Skrill, Payza, and co.
Then came a long-awaited answer to our prayers – a means to get paid for our work by the major website. And that answer came through the introduction to Payoneer in the industry. Although Payoneer was founded in 2003, it didn’t gain much traction till 2015 when the e-commerce giant, Amazon, partnered with Payoneer to pay their members. That was a major breakthrough as other major companies and websites followed suit when they saw how successful the partnership Payoneer had with Amazon was.
The fact that Payoneer accepted over 200 million countries including Nigeria, India, and many countries that PayPal rejected opened a new market for Amazon. People from these long disadvantaged countries saw an opportunity to make money with Amazon. I did too as I made some hundreds of dollars by self-publishing a book on Amazon and got my payments via Payoneer.
It was refreshing to have a legit way to make money and collect your payments without having to hide behind a VPN or paying to get an “illegal” US PayPal account which was dangerous as PayPal is famous for freezing suspicious accounts without warning. Many Nigerians were victims of this and still are.
This is why I am elated to write this piece on Payoneer in Nigeria because it was a major breakthrough for Nigerian webmasters.
So today, I will be sharing with you everything you need to know to open your own Payoneer account, get your US MasterCard and see your US bank account which is usually available once you open your account.
But first, let’s learn more about the company.
What is Payoneer?
Payoneer is a global digital payment service provider that offers direct payments solutions, currency conversions, integrations, and other services to help businesses pay their employees, contractors, and vendors. They provide accounts to professionals and businesses in more than 200 countries with over 4 million customers.
This means that you can use Payoneer to pay your employer, customers, and members as a business – just like Amazon and other businesses are doing. And you can also use it to collect payments from businesses that have adopted it as a payment processor. This is because once you open a Payoneer account, you automatically get a US bank account and even EUR, GBP, and JPY accounts.
There are just so many benefits you can get with Payoneer in Nigeria and it’s all for free. So what are you waiting for?
Let’s talk about how to open Payoneer in Nigeria and the requirements you will need to create one.
Basic Requirements to Open a Payoneer Account In Nigeria?
Opening a Payoneer account in Nigeria requires the following basic things –
- An email account.
- Your home address with zip code: It is important that you use your correct home address and zip code. The zip code will be used to locate the post office that they will send your US MasterCard to.
- Bank Statement: They will request your bank statement. This is easy to generate with any bank app. I easily generated mine with my GTBank app and got the Statement of Account in my email immediately. Then I uploaded it to them for verification and it was accepted immediately.
- Utility Bill: If you provided a Bank Statement, you will no longer need to provide a utility bill as you either provide one of the two for verification. If you choose to provide a utility bill for verification, make sure it is a recent one and has the address you used when opening the account.
- Means of Identification: This can be your voter’s card, international passport, or driver’s license.
Who Needs a Payoneer Account In Nigeria?
Still wondering if having a Payoneer account is right for you? While it has great benefits it may not be right for you if you have no intention of ever working online or paying or receiving your payments online. However, the following people will need a Payoneer account in Nigeria.
- Freelancers who want to receive the money you worked for on freelance websites like Upwork, Fiverr, People-Per-Hour, etc.
- Sellers or Merchants on eCommerce websites like Amazon, eBay, or the likes, that need a means to receive their payments for the goods they sold on those platforms. Just like I self-published and sell Kindle books on Amazon and then when people buy my books on Amazon, I get paid through Payoneer.
- Affiliate marketers who need to collect your commissions from affiliate networks that pay with Payoneer.
- Business owners that needs to send out mass payments to a large number of people just like Amazon does.
- If you simply want to send and receive money abroad.
- If you need a USA bank account.
- If you need a US MasterCard for your PayPal account. As you know, PayPal doesn’t accept Nigerian debit MasterCards. They only accept the Nigerian dollar Mastercard which requires you to have a domiciliary account to get. Payoneer Mastercard can save you the stress of opening a domiciliary account in Nigeria.
If you fall into these categories, you should get a Payoneer account and Mastercard.
How do I open a Payoneer account?
Once you have the requirements ready as discussed above, you can then take the following steps to open a Payoneer account in Nigeria.
- Visit the Payoneer homepage
- Click on “Register.”
- On the registration page, fill in the information required as it appears on your government-issued ID such as Name, Address, Date of Birth, ID number.
- Enter the correct zip code for your address as post offices rely on this to send you your package. You can search google.com for your “zip code” or “postal code”.
- Once you’ve filled in the correct information, click “SUBMIT”. You will be taken to another page that informs you that your account has been verified.
- They will verify that the information you have provided is correct. Finally, they will inform you if your account was approved.
What happens next after approval? After approval, you will need to link your bank account.
See also: How to Open a domiciliary account in Nigeria
How to Fund Payoneer in Nigeria
With your Payoneer MasterCard, you can buy anything you want online. As such, you will need to fund your Payoneer account. There are two major ways to fund your Payoneer account in Nigeria.
Method 1: Earned Income
One of the major ways to fund your Payoneer account in Nigeria is through earned income. When you get paid from sites you worked with, you automatically have funds available in your account. This is one great way to fund your account.
Method 2: Buy from Online Exchangers
There are a lot of online exchangers you can buy Payoneer from. You pay them in Naira and they credit your Payoneer account with the dollar equivalent. You just need to Google them online and then choose the one you feel is trustworthy.
How can you connect your local bank to Payoneer in Nigeria?
- Visit the Payoneer homepage and log in with the email and password you used to register your verified Payoneer account.
- Click on “SETTINGS”, which is located in the header of your dashboard. You will see a menu, click on “BANK ACCOUNT” to open it.
- You should either use a computer or the “desktop view”, on your phone, to do this.
- Click on the icon to add bank account.
We will now discuss how to link your Nigerian bank account to your Payoneer account in just 3 steps.
Step #1 – Add bank details
- Choose from the ‘Personal or Business’ account types.
- Payoneer will automatically select Nigeria as your country of choice
- Payoneer currently shows that the default currency for Nigeria is “USD”.
- Click on “Continue”
Step #2 – Enter account details
- Enter your bank name first, such as Guaranty Trust Bank or something similar.
- Input your bank name
- Enter your account number
- Input your bank SWIFT code. You can search online for your Bank Swift code in Nigeria.
Step #3 – Confirmation details for the payer
- Verify that all information is accurate
- If the information is correct, click “SUBMIT”.
That is it! You have now added your Nigerian bank account details to Payoneer. You can now withdraw your earnings from Payoneer to your Nigerian bank account.
How to Withdraw From Payoneer in Nigeria
I will show you three ways to withdraw your Payoneer funds in Nigeria.
Method 1: ATM withdrawal
First, you can use your Payoneer MasterCard on any Nigerian ATM. The first money I withdrew from Payoneer was through this means. I used my MasterCard on a Nigerian ATM, just as you would use any Nigerian debit card. Although the money is in dollars, it converts it to its Naira equivalent and pays you in Naira. However, it uses the official CBN rate to convert the dollars to Naira. I quickly found out that I was cheating myself through this means which led me to start withdrawing with the second method.
Method 2: Online Exchangers.
I soon learnt about online exchangers. These are people who can buy foreign currencies on different platforms from people and pay them in their Nigerian bank accounts. The operate just like the “black market” exchangers in Nigeria except that they buy and sell currencies from online payment platforms like PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill, Neteller etc.
Method 3. Withdraw to Bank Account.
This feature was added a few years ago and thanks to it, you can withdraw your funds to your Nigerian bank account directly from Payoneer without any middleman. Just make sure you follow the procedures listed above to add your bank account to your Payoneer account.
The Benefits of Opening Payoneer in Nigeria
- It’s free to register.
- You get a free USA bank account, with bank account number, bank name and routing number.
- You get a free USA MasterCard that also works in Nigerian ATM machines.
- You don’t need to hide your identity as a Nigerian or location with VPNs to work online.
- You get to use a trusted, safe and reliable platform.
- You get opportunity to make money with their referral program. You get $25 for everyone you refer with your unique code. The code is available once you register an account.
- You can use it to receive your payments from freelance marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork.
- Not only will you get a USA bank acccount, but you also get a UK bank account.
- You can make purchases online with your Payoneer US MasterCard.
Conclusion
A Payoneer account allows you to easily receive money from foreign clients right here in Nigeria.
Payoneer account holders can open a virtual USA bank in Nigeria to receive payments. You can also apply for a Payoneer MasterCard for online payments in Nigeria.
