If we buy something online, how much would it take for the fee?

nandyajoe28

Warm regards.

Today i just recently bought something from eBay for $3 and paid it with my Payoneer (via Paypal). But after i paid, then i checked my payoneer balance, and i realized it also took my $1.22 from my balance so i spent $4.22. My question is, is that ($1.22) the fee that we should have pay when we buy something online? I'm a newbie Payoneer user so please pardon me if i make mistake. Thank you!

Adam_Payoneer

One of the most uncommon card fees in the industry that card holders may come across is titled the cross border fee. In a nutshell, cross border fees apply when the issuing bank of the card you applied for is issued outside the country you are living in but the currency of the card matches the one that is being charged by the merchant.


So even though your card is a USD card, because the bank who issued the card is located outside the US a fee will apply. This works very similar to currency conversion and the fees that apply tend to be the same (between 1%-3.5% depending on the issuing bank).

I am familiar with the fees that apply with most of Payoneer's services however a $1.22 charge on a $3 purchase is basically a 40% fee which is extremely odd. In this case I would  recommend you talk to Payoneer Customer Care so they can look at the transaction history and see why such a high fee is being applied.

If my suspicions are correct, your Paypal account is treating your Payoneer MasterCard as a GBP currency card (most of the cards are issued in Gibraltar). This means that a double conversion is taking place which is done automatically. Payoneer nor MasterCard charge such ridiculously high fees, but a high fee will apply if the merchant (in this case Paypal) is treating the card in a different currency (GBP) rather than the actual currency (USD) that is supported by the card. 
Should that be the case, to fix it you will need to either change the currecy of the card to the correct one from your account with them or contact Paypal to assist you in changing the currency from GBP to USD so you won't be over charged for every transaction is made. 

rzhossain

IF the Base Currency in payoneer account is set to USD , will the payment gateways apply any "cross border fee" while purchasing ?? if so, whats is d use of having a Virtual account in Payoneer??

Adam_Payoneer

@rzhossain said:
IF the Base Currency in payoneer account is set to USD , will the payment gateways apply any "cross border fee" while purchasing ?? if so, whats is d use of having a Virtual account in Payoneer??

Don't mix the MasterCard with the Payoneer account as the two have nothing to do with one another. The answer I provided back in 2016 is in regards to card based transactions only.

The Payoneer account is designed to assist you in collecting your payments online and withdrawing it to your bank account. When you withdraw the money to your local bank, the whole aspect of cross border fees does not apply as the fees structure based on the banks.

If you ordered the card and you are trying to use it for online purchases with a website that charges in USD (or you fly to the US), then the fee structure you need to adhere too is for the card, which can bring you face to face with cross border fees.

rzhossain

Arghhh.. my head is spinning now !!! Means I dont pay cross-border fee while purhcasing online in USD. Is there any difference between "withdrawing money to my local bank in my local currency" and "withdrawing money to my payoneer "prepaid debit card". Once I have balance in my payoner account , this money is already available in my debit card, right ?