There will be a slight change that will affect Freelancers and all Paypal users who use Unionbank EON debit cards to withdraw their earnings. Starting August 1, 2010 there will be a new policy regarding card holders withdrawal fees. As indicated in Unionbank website advisory:

For oDesk users who regularly withdraw their earnings every Wednesday, this simply means that on the third and fourth week of your earnings will be slashed P20 ($0.44) when you withdraw. And if your withdrawal is below P7000 ($155 based on a $1= Php45 exchange rate) this means you'll get another P50 ($1.11) deduction.

This may not be so big a change, but for those who are earning a little less than $155 per week, it may be a wise decision to withdraw your earnings every two weeks. Otherwise, you may want to get an extra work to exceed the $155 mark to avoid the deductions. Is there a better alternative to this? I'm not sure. But it would be good to check on other banks if there are current offerings for Paypal users where you get less charges and no maintaining balance as what is currently being offered by Unionbank.

And to make sure that you don't get shocked when you check on your EON accounts, here are the current charges and fees being imposed on your EON cards for your reference:

Balance Requirement
Initial Deposit NONE
Maintaining Balance Requirement (MBR) NONE
Minimum ADB to Earn Interest PHP 10,000
Interest Rate 0.25% (for accounts with ADB of Php 10,000.00 and above)
Visa Electron Annual Fee PHP 350.00
Inactivity Charges
No Transaction Penalty (no transaction for 1 year) PHP 200.00 per month starting on the end of 12th month of inactivity until the account becomes dormant
Dormancy Charge (no transaction for 2 years) PHP 500.00 per month starting on the end of 24th month of inactivity
Closure Within 30 days NONE
ATM Withdrawals
UnionBank ATMs PHP 10.00 (after the 3rd withdrawal)
Non-UnionBank ATMs within the Philippines PHP 12.00
International VISA Plus ATM
Balance Inquiry Php 75.00
Withdrawal Php 175.00
Withdrawal declined due to insufficient funds Php 75.00
OTC Withdrawal Convenience Fee PHP 100.00
Fund Transfer (OUTWARD)
Send Electronic Funds Transfer to another E-ON Account NONE
Send Electronic Funds Transfer to another UnionBank Account NONE
Send Electronic Funds Transfer to other Banks PHP 10.00
Fund Transfer (INWARD)
Receive Electronic Funds Transfer from another E-ON Account NONE
Receive Electronic Funds Transfer from another UnionBank Account NONE
Receive Electronic Funds Transfer from another Bank NONE
ATM Card Replacement PHP 150.00
Transaction Diary PHP 200.00
NOTES:
* Some local banks may charge a fee on the EFT transactions sent by our E-ON account holders. These banks charge a Receiving Fee from the amount that is to be credited to the account. This is an addition to the PHP10.00 that will be charged to the client.
* For Incoming Remittances with incorrect account numbers and/or account names, a Repair Fee of PHP100.00 may be charged.

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