Will a client pay for my services?
Every freelancer asked this question at least once in his/her career. This question is still topical for many of us – translators who work online. Everyone likes big projects, when contractual relations ensure safe payment, however, we all have to deal with short-term and relatively small tasks (50-200 bucks per project in my case), when signing an agreement is not feasible.
If you don’t have a documentary proof of services provided and your client lives on another side of the Earth, you may have certain doubts about being paid on time or being paid at all.
However, there is a secure option to ensure payment for your freelance services. This option is called “Escrow payment”.
In simple terms, a client reserves the payment for services on your escrow account. You can see the deposited amount, but cannot access this money until certain conditions are achieved. When the job is done and accepted by the client, the client releases the reserved money and you get full access to such amount. Everyone is happy!
Until recently, only some of the freelance portals like UpWork and Freelancer provided an opportunity to use escrow payments. I don’t like all these bidding things with a price race to the bottom and commission fees, so I stopped using freelance portals several years ago.
And I’ve been waiting for a decent solution available to freelancers working with direct clients without intermediaries.
Finally, I found the one I can use for my freelance business: Payoneer Escrow
I’ve been using Payoneer for two years, and in 2017 I received a good deal of my annual income through this system (over 8K USD). Now Payoneer offers Escrow payment services for freelancers and companies operating in the b2b sector.
If you are a registered user, you can create a Payoneer Escrow account with the same email address and then link your Payoneer account to your new Escrow account.
If you don’t have an account in the Payoneer system, you can withdraw the money right to your bank account or register with Payoneer using my referral link (you will get 25$ bonus for registration*).
A few words about Payoneer.
Payoneer is a US-based payment gateway used by millions of people worldwide. Unlike PayPal, which is not supported in many countries, e.g. in Asian countries like the one I live in, Payoneer operates globally (200+ countries) and offers very competitive services and withdrawal fees.
After registration, you can get a pre-paid Payoneer MasterCard and use anywhere in the world to withdraw money from ATMs (I’ve tested my card in 5 countries), make payments online and via terminals.
Share what payment gateway you use for your freelance business in the comments section below. Also, let us know if you can recommend any other Escrow systems.
