Last visited: May 1, 2016. Please note that I am no longer on Upwork (formerly oDesk) so I can no longer comment on the process of withdrawing funds from Upwork. Best to visit the Upwork support/help page for new updates and information. Thanks!
Most of my online jobs have me working for international employers and I receive payment through oDesk or PayPal since these are the most viable methods of payment available for Philippine freelancers. Accessing my millions (hur hur) money in both accounts is no problem at all. It’s really easy to withdraw from oDesk and PayPal and transfer funds to my bank accounts here in the Philippines. In this post I’ll just do a quick run-through of the process of withdrawing funds from oDesk and PayPal.
Withdrawing funds from oDesk
(Edit: I wrote this post in 2012. This may no longer be applicable since I haven’t been using Upwork (formerly oDesk) since 2013. Best to visit the Upwork support/help page for new updates and information. Thanks!)
oDesk has a pretty nifty system that’s very easy to navigate so you won’t have a problem at all. You can select from a variety of withdrawal methods, but the most relevant to Philippine freelancers are the following: Local Funds Transfer and transfer to PayPal.
To enable Local Funds Transfer of your earnings, you’ll need to add your bank account. All you need to do is follow the step-by-step process and that’s it. You’ll also need to know your bank’s head office Bank Routing Symbol Transit Number or BRSTN code. oDesk already has a list of the BRSTN codes for major banks in the Philippines, but if your bank isn’t there you’ll have to inquire from the bank yourself. You need to be specific that you’re looking for the head office BRSTN code that you can use for withdrawing money from oDesk. I’m not sure though if oDesk can transfer to all Philippine banks.
My bank account is with BPI Family Savings (BPI-FB), which is technically a different entity from Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), but I still use the BRSTN code of BPI. So far, it works. I’m not quite sure, but I think it has something to do with both banks being BPI after all or something like that. I’m just guessing here. Who cares as long as I get my monies?! (evil laugh)
To transfer your earnings to PayPal, you just need to add your PayPal account, provided you already have one. oDesk also has a minimal transfer fee (as low as $0.99) per transaction.
Personally, I prefer to withdraw my earnings via Local Funds Transfer because it has a lower fee. YES, all these withdrawal methods have a small fee. Plus, transferring from PayPal to a local bank account entails another set of fees.
Withdrawing funds from PayPal
PayPal also has a pretty solid system when it comes to withdrawing funds. Of course, you also need to add your bank account or credit card. To add your bank account, you’ll need the bank code, which is kind of like the BRSTN code, but it is NOT the same code.
For my account, I just googled the bank code for BPI-FB. I found the blog of someone who successfully withdrew money to her BPI-FB account using this particular code. Sorry, I can’t remember what blog it was. The PayPal bank code that I use to transfer PayPal money to my BPI Family Savings Bank account is 021000021. From what I understand, this is the code for BPI (not BPI-FB), but I use this code and so far it has worked for me. If you have a different bank and you can’t find a reliable online source for the bank code, it’s better to ask the bank yourself. You just need to be specific that it’s for withdrawing funds from PayPal.
I have never withdrawn PayPal money to my credit card because I think it’s not practical, so I wouldn’t be able to comment on the process.
Transfer fees and time frame
As of this posting, every time you withdraw funds via Local Funds Transfer, oDesk takes a mere $0.99 for every batch. Based on my experience, the transfer usually takes 3-4 days from the time I initiated the transfer. With PayPal transfers, oDesk takes $1 for every batch and your money is credited in PayPal within a couple of hours.
For me, withdrawing funds from PayPal is more expensive, but this may be due to where I hold my account (BPI-FB). On the website it says withdrawals are free for every PHP 7,000 and it’s PHP 50 for anything lower. In my case, however, BPI-FB deducts an additional PHP 150. I think this may be because BPI-FB has its own fees. I’m not sure if other banks have extra fees. Similar to oDesk withdrawals, the transfer takes 3-4 days from the time the withdrawal is initiated.
Key things to remember
To make things easy, hassle-free and with minimal fees incurred, there are a few things to remember when withdrawing funds from oDesk and PayPal or when adding bank accounts.
- Make sure you use the correct BRSTN code for oDesk or bank code for PayPal. Wrong codes may mean unsuccessful transfers and added charges.
- Make sure the bank name is correct. You have to use the correct and full name of the bank (e.g., Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI Family Savings Bank).
- Make sure the account name is correct. The account name you put in must match the account name in your bank statements. Incorrect names can mean unsuccessful transfers and added charges. PayPal has a return fee of PHP 250.
- It may be more practical to pool your earnings first before withdrawing so that you won’t lose too much in transfer fees.
That’s it. Withdrawing online monies is easy-peasy.
Edit: November 26, 2012
Around Nov. 9, oDesk was having issues with LFT or local fund transfer to the Philippines. They advised their members to use an alternative withdrawal method temporarily, especially if you’re using BPI Main and BPI Family Savings. I, myself, was affected by those issues. I made a withdrawal a few days prior and it didn’t come through. I was advised to wait until they can credit it back to my account. They were able to credit it back to me about a week after and I was able to withdraw my oDesk funds to my PayPal account. I haven’t received any notification saying the issues have been resolved so I’ve decided not to use LFT just yet.
Regarding withdrawals from PayPal: I haven’t encountered any problems withdrawing my PayPal funds to my bank account.
Read the previous posts in this series:
0 – Going Freelance a.k.a. Operation Jump Series
1 – Going Freelance, Part 1: Jumping ship
2 – Going Freelance, Part 2: Getting online jobs
Update lang guys.
https://support.odesk.com/entries/23149426
Hello I just want to know if how long it will take after my transferring on my bank account has been declined how long it will take to come back on my PayPal account thanks please answer ASAP
Hi John. I haven’t experienced that with PayPal so I don’t know the actual number of days it would take for the funds to be credited back to your account. PayPal will usually give you an estimated time frame for any transaction to be completed and they usually go by that time frame. Sorry I can’t give any specifics since I have no first hand experience with declined transfers with PayPal. :)
Hi Leah,
i just want to confirm, is the bank code for BPI Family Savings Bank still
021000021 (this is for paypal)?
I’ve talked to customer representatives and bank branch representatives and they are giving me different answers with regards to bank code.
Thanks
Karlo
I actually have no idea if 021000021 is the official PayPal routing number for BPI-FB, but it works for me. :/
Hi. Leah. thanks for the quick response. I contacted paypal and this is there response:
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. My name is Shen and it’s my privilege to respond to you personally.
I understand that you want to withdraw money using your bank account and you are looking for the bank code for BPI Family Savings Bank.
Please be advised that BPI Family Savings Bank is not yet supported by PayPal. The bank code you saw in blogs 021000021 is not correct.
Here are the available banks that PayPal supports:
Bank Codes of Major Banks in the Philippines
In the Philippines, to complete your PayPal withdrawal, you will need to enter the name of your bank, your bank account number and the corresponding 9-digit bank code, which identifies your bank.
BANK NAME
9 digit bank code
ALLIED BANKING CORP
010320013
AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND
010700015
ASIA UNITED BANK
011020011
BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS
010030015
BANGKOK BANK
010670019
BANK OF AMERICA
010120019
BANK OF CHINA
011140014
BANK OF TOKYO
010460012
BANCO DE ORO (& EPCIB)
010530667
BANK OF COMMERCE
010440016
BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS
010040018
CHINA BANKING CORP
010100013
CHINA TRUST COMML BANK
010690015
CITIBANK N.A.
010070017
DEVT BANK OF THE PHILS
010590018
DEUTSCHE BANK
010650013
EAST WEST BANK
010620014
EXPORT & INDUSTRY BANK
010860010
FUJI BANK
010640010
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK
010060014
INTL COMML BANK OF CHINA
010560019
INTL EXCHANGE BANK
010680012
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK
010720011
KOREA EXCHANGE BANK
010710018
INTL NEDERLAND BANK
010660016
LAND BANK OF THE PHILS
010350025
MAYBANK OF THE PHILS
010220016
METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO
010269996
PHIL BANK OF COMMUNICATION
010110016
PHIL TRUST COMPANY
010090039
PHIL NATIONAL BANK
010080010
PRUDENTIAL BANK
010150018
PHIL VETERANS BANK
010330016
RIZAL COMML BANKING CORP
010280014
SECURITY BANK & TRUST CO
010140015
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK
010050011
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK
010299995
UNION BANK OF THE PHILS
010419995
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK
010270189
Problem is I don’t have any other bank accounts other than bpi family savings.. hmmm… withdrawing funds via bpi family saving does really work?
Karlo
Hi Karlo! I do understand your hesitation. I also can’t find the official code for BPI-FB anywhere on the net and even the BPI-FB here don’t seem to know. I still use 021000021 to withdraw my PayPal funds. So far it has worked for me and it still does. If you’re still unsure, you may want to switch to a major bank listed above to be sure, or try a withdrawal (although I know that’s a bit risky). Sorry I don’t know how else to help.
Hi Leah. Thank you very much!
Karlo
Hi. Is the Bank code for BPI family savings bank still 021000021?
I have talked to customer representatives of bpi and bank representatives on bpi family savings bank itself and they are clueless with the bank code. they are telling me different things.
thanks
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
How about the W8BEN form they are saying? I have not filled up that form but I already gave them my bank accounts and infos.,etc.
Hi Aileen!
I haven’t been on oDesk for a while so I haven’t seen the W8BEN requirement yet although I’ve come across the W8BEN twice before with non-oDesk clients. You can check out this post on The Freelance Pinoy about it. :)
http://thefreelancepinoy.com/news/odesk-implements-a-new-withdrawal-requirement-for-non-us-contractors
Some US employers do request you to submit the W8BEN form. I’ve done this twice before. As I understand it, it’s related to withholding tax. The W8BEN is used to indicate that you are not a US tax payer, among other things. I have yet to fully understand the withholding tax rules if you have a US client/employer.
Hi Leah,
Please help. Really confused on what is the correct brstn / bank code for BPI. Is it 10040018 or 021000021?
One post said that 021000021 is the correct one since he has already withdrawn too many times.
But per reading this one (http://writerjj.hubpages.com/_1zjgyxt0grnhr/hub/Steps-on-how-to-transfer-Paypal-to-BPI-tutorial) which has step by step pictures using 10040018 and the withdraw is successful.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi! I’m not sure which one is the official code, but I still use 021000021 for withdrawing from PayPal to BPI FAMILY BANK.
Hi everyone. I just had a chat with oDesk help desk and they informed me that the issue with LFT to BPI has been resolved. They also informed me that BPI-FB has a fee of 150 bucks per transaction. They do not have the BRSTN code for BPI-FB, but I was informed that if I have the BRSTN code of any bank I can transfer my funds without any problem.
Okay, so now I have to look for the BRSTN code for BPI-FB. :P Sorry, I don’t have this information at the moment, but I will post get back to this when I do. :)
Thnx for your diligence. I have gotten a solid answer from the help desk recently. But before I post it for all to use as solid advice, I will wait for you to see if you get the same results from them. Then it will be credible advice.
Another BIG question. I have started a hourly job on Odesk and the employer had Verified Payment Method during the first few hours to see my finished product on the 1st assignment. On the 2nd project assigned, that I am completing now, I noticed that the Payment Verification has changed to Unverified. I am still putting in the hours and it is adding up in Odesk. Should I be concerned since payment is only given 2 Wednesdays after the work week is done on a Sunday (Odesk payment timelines) ??? That is the only time it seems you know that your money is available to withdraw.
Hi Leah,
Thnx for the reply…if you have opportunity can you ask the help forum if it is fixed. I am new to odesk and have tried to get a straight answer. Seems to be that it is fixed, but I would rather have an experienced person ask the question and decipher their answer.
Thnx Again
No problem! I would definitely inquire soon because withdrawing my funds via LFT saves me more money than withdrawing via PayPal and I would love to be able to use LFT again!
Hi have they fixed the odesk LFT problem for BPI Family Savings Bank transfers.
I cannot get a straight answer from odesk help staff
I have no idea at the moment since I’ve stopped using LFT. :/
Hi Miss Leah,
From your blog, am I correct in saying that there is no charges when transferring funds from oDesk to PayPal? I thought PayPal will charge some 2 – 3% as merchant fees. Also, is it true as well that PayPal will not charge transferring money to a US Dollar account here in the Philippines as long as the amount to transfer is more than 7000 pesos in dollar equivalent?
Thanks and your blog is truly helpful!
Hi! As far as I know, oDesk deducts $0.99 per withdrawal to PayPal.
I’m not sure if it also applies to dollar accounts, but PayPal usually deducts PhP50 for withdrawals less than PhP 7,000. I’m sorry, I have no way of verifying since my PayPal withdrawal experience is limited to a peso account. :P
Hi Miss Leah,
I have another question regarding this one. Do you know what is the BRSTN Code of BPI-FB account? Because, whenever I do transfer my money, the bank deducts 150 from it. I supposed that this happened because the BRSTN code I used is BPI’s.
Hoping for your response. :)
Hi! Unfortunately, I do not know the exact BRSTN code for BPI-FB. Prior to November 2012, I used the BRSTN code for BPI and I did not have any problems with Local Fund Transfer from oDesk to my BPI-FB account and the only deduction was the $0.99 withdrawal fee of oDesk. Back in November, oDesk advised that they were having issues with LFT especially with transfers to BPI-FB and my understanding was that the BPI BRSTN code did not work for BPI-FB accounts anymore. I’ve asked oDesk support if they have the code for BPI-FB but the person I talked to didn’t have that information. I haven’t used LFT since then so I wouldn’t know if there are any updates.
When it comes to withdrawing funds from PayPal, I still use the bank code I mentioned in my post above (021000021) for my BPI-FB account. PayPal deducts 50 and another 150 is deducted by BPI-FB.
Hi Leah,
It is my first time withdrawing through my bpi account. sad to say, after 6 days of waiting, the money was reversed and I wasn’t able to withdraw bpi. I’m wondering now maybe it is because of my account number.. I input the account number itself because in odesk it says “account number”.. should I really put the card number instead of the account number? If you have any idea? Thanks!
Hi there! You need to put in the account number itself and not the card number. Did they give a reason for the reversal? They have been having issues with BPI withdrawals and I’m not sure they resolved them yet. You can check through their helpdesk. They’re usually very helpful. :)
I used the account number itself in withdrawing but I had no luck and again, money was reversed. I chatted with helpdesk and told me it was reversed because “wrong account number”. However, it’s the same account number I am giving to my relatives who are sending money to me and I received their money. oDesk is weird though saying that it’s wrong. I’m curious though.. should the account number entered should be 10-digits or 12-digits.. I entered ten digits because I omitted the two zeroes in the beginning of the account number. Please let me know. Thank you.
That’s strange. I use 10 digits as well (written at the back of my ATM card). This is BPI not BPI-FB, right? I haven’t used LFT for a while though because I’ve been using PayPal. I’m sorry, I’m not sure how else I can help you. :(
The account number for bpi and bpi-fb is, as far as I know is the number written at the back of the card. That is what I use when I’m paying or someone needs to deposit on my account. Card number in front of the card is different from the account number at the back.
The card number is written at the back of the card
For my bpi-fb, it is ten digits.
Wow. Thanks for the warning. I’ve withdrawn money from Odesk to my BPI account before and it went out well. But recently, I also received a notice from Odesk about the problems their clients encountered due to (accdg to Odesk) wrong bank info given by their clients. If I may clarify, what you are saying is that the means of withdrawing from Odesk is taking some time right now even though it worked out pretty well before? Because if this is so, it’s not really the information you provided that’s the problem but their system… Sorry, I’m just a bit concerned and trying to figure out where the problem really is coming from… Thanks!
Hi there! Yup something to do with their system. They were able to credit back my funds and I was able to withdraw them to my PayPal account. They haven’t sent a new notice yet so I’m not sure if the issue with the LFT has been fixed.
Do you how long it takes fom paypay to bpi when its cleared in paypal already? thanks
Usually takes 4 days for the fund to be credited to your BPI account. :)
Hi! Thanks for the information, I’m new at oDesk and I used my BPI family savings bank account to transfer my earnings.. I just want to know how long will it take to transfer the funds in your BPIFSB account after you withdraw your earnings from oDesk and how many days will it take after your funds will be available for withdrawal?.. thanks..
Hi Angela! Welcome to the online freelancer’s world! ;P
It usually takes 4 days for the amount to be credited to your account, and once credited you can already withdraw it on the same day. :)
Thanks for dropping by the blog. Good luck with oDesk work!
aw.. thanks again for the info.. =) I just received my first earning at oDesk.. ^_^
I’ve tried to withdraw my money through BPI ATM, and the Odesk said that the process has been done, but I have been waiting for 10 days but it’s still not on my savings. I checked my odesk again, and the money is still there and when I withdrew it, they charged me .99 even though that was my first transaction. Up to now, I still didn’t get my money
Oh dear, I’m not sure what went wrong. So far, I haven’t had any problem withdrawing money from oDesk. I hope you were able to contact oDesk about it.
Hello! Good day. I just wanna ask if I can still use Bank of Phil Island’s code even if I use BPI Fam.Sav.Bank? Are those the same? Thanks for your reply. :)
Hi Weird Apple! As I mentioned in my post above, I use the BRSTN code of BPI (even if my account is with BPI-FB) for oDesk local funds transfer. So far it works. For PayPal, I use the PayPal code I mentioned in my post.
Thank you very much Miss Leah. I just thought that need to use other codes for BPI-FB. Thanks again!
Thank for this information, though it is hard to accept that you have to pay for different fees such as Odesk fees, Paypal fees, etc. Its a good thing though that Odesk has introduced a feature for a local bank transfer but with an additional fee. There are also other similar sites like Odesk which is Staff.com which transfers your payment directly to your bank account so you do not have to do the online transfer yourself which is much more effective for me.