(Photo Credit: Payoneer)
Many people are getting the error “you cannot add a bank account at this time” whenever they try to add Payoneer’s US Payment Service Account (formerly Virtual Account) to their PayPal accounts.
I am getting a lot of queries about this US Payment Service error and thought of writing up a quick blog post with a solution to this.
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Update: 4th July, 2013: After writing this post, many people gave their experiences with the problem on the comments section. I have added information to reflect the best way to fix the issue. |
Why am I being told – you cannot add a bank account at this time?
According to PayPal, their systems are undergoing an upgrade that is causing this problem. Therefore, there is no cause for alarm and there are no issues with PayPal and Payoneer.
How do I solve this and enter my US Payment Service Details?
The answer is simple, contact PayPal support.
Read carefully – How to effectively contact PayPal about this issue
Method 1
The first and simplest method is to call PayPal support. It costs Sh. 3 per minute to call the US at this time (date above). PayPal will sort out the whole issue via the phone. Check out his comment.
A follower of FreelancerKenya called PayPal support and shares his experience on the comments. This link will lead will take you straight to his comment.
Method 2
A friend called Timothy experienced this issue, informed me and we worked closely to get it fixed. You can see his detailed comment on the comments section below.
He used the straight forward method of emailing PayPal; logging in to PayPal, clicking on “Contact Us” at the bottom of page then clicking on “Send Us”. Eventually, he entered the option for bank account. The series of images below show his path.
This is where one is taken after clicking “Contact Us”
You’re asked to choose a topic. This is the default topic you can choose.
This method brings in the automated response below:
The same response will come regardless of how many times you do it.
When you get here, go ahead and reply to the automated response via email and they’ll sort you out. Don’t make the same request on the online form.
Method 3
Simply use a different path that doesn’t directly take you to the bank account option and thus the auto-generated response. Go to the contact page using the steps above then when you get to the topics part, choose the ones on the image below.
After that, simply type in your query and you will not get an automatic response.
You can simply state that you are trying to add the US bank account from Payoneer but it’s not working.
In a few hours, you’ll be able to add your US Payment Service details and all will work well as usual. I believe PayPal is doing its best to fix this issue and all will be well in no time.
Did you experience this US Payment Service error? Have the steps above resolved it? How’s your experience so far with this service? As usual, let’s talk in the comments!
hey Walter, can you help me add my Payoneer US Payment service account to payoneer? please any trick ?
and, can anyone here please be so kind to help me verify my paypal account by sending me $2 in payoneer card (its required by paypal, they charge the card and send back the money to verify the card) please, anyone, i will immediately send back the $2.00 or $3.00 after…. please help a brother out
Hi Waboraro
Sorry to disappoint you twice.
1. It is no longer possible to add Payoneer US Payment service to PayPal.
2. You can’t send $2 or $3 via Payoneer. Minimum is $20. If your account is new you’ll need to receive first payment from a partner e.g. Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr e.t.c.
Thanks.
Hi Walter,
I received the following email from PayPal a few days ago. Kindly read it and respond to my question that follows:
“We’re writing to let you know that changes we’ve made to comply with U.S. banking regulations may impact your ability to withdraw funds from your PayPal account. To ensure your future withdrawal attempts to a U.S. bank account are not impacted by these changes, we need your assistance in updating your current address information.
For security reasons, we can no longer accept a PO Box address on your PayPal account if you wish to withdraw funds to a U.S. bank account. This means if you have a PO Box as your address and you wish to withdraw funds to a U.S. bank account, you will need to provide a street address instead.”
In follow-up communication, PayPal specified that the street address must be located in the United States.
So my question: doesn’t this therefore mean that Kenya-based PayPal users can no longer withdraw from PayPal using US Payment Service?
Hi Jazzi. Thanks for your comment. No, you can receive perfectly as a Kenyan user. I received mine today! Just change the address from P.O. Box to street/physical address e.g. 123, Songa Court, Makongeni, Nairobi. Thanks.
Thanks for your response Walter.
Mosy welcome Jazzi
Dear Walter. It works! I couldnt do it myself so i asked them to try to add it themself. And they did it. Thank you for your advice!
Most welcome Serge. I am glad it worked!
Hello,
I have a PayPal account. I have been trying to enter bank account details for a visa card so as to be able withdraw money. However, for 4 days the only automated response has been that they are having problems with the credit card verification system. Which is the best way forward?
Hi Leopard
Sorry for what you are going through. Kindly email support they’ll give you the way forward.
Hi! After i ask them that i cant add my US bank account will i need to give them my banks detales? They will add bank account themselves? Or i have to tell them that i have a problem with it and will have to add it myself in a few hours?
Hi Serg. You will add yourself after a few hours.
Hi I tried to withdraw my paypal amount and to link my paypal with my payoneer card, but it failed, then i googled it and came to this article stating that paypal no longer supports payoneer ?. Is it true ? Its really a turning point for bloggers now.
Hi Makroben
PayPal still works great with Payoneer. The only challenge is adding a Payoneer bank account to PayPal. However, if you add without mentioning that it’s a Payoneer bank account they still accept. You can just state that you are adding a US bank. I hope this makes sense.
hey Walter,
so i did get help from a previous comment, now the hitch I have is linking my paypal to payoneer. used method two and this is the reply i got, sorry its a tad bit lengthy…
”While customers in various countries can link bank accounts to their PayPal account, some countries are limited to only linking US bank accounts. As outlined in the Payoneer US Payment Service Terms and Conditions, the Payoneer account is not considered as a bank account and therefore you would not be able to add it to your PayPal account. (Section 14. (Disclaimers), “The US Payment Service is not a bank account in the United States and funds received on your behalf are not FDIC-insured.”)
We are sorry for any difficulties this may cause but recommend opening up an actual bank in the United States to be able to withdraw money on PayPal.”
I am just wondering, when did this change?
Hi Simone
This is really strange. Sorry to hear this. Everyone seems to be getting that response. I think they have changed the rules. Send an email to Payoneer and let me know how it goes. I communicated with them on this and they said it should still work.
Thanks
Hi C-mone,
I saw your comment and couldn’t help but reply. Use the first method that Walter shared. I recently added my Payoneer USPS to PayPal and hand the same problem. A direct call to PayPal is the fastest and easiest way to solve the problem. The customer support agent I spoke with simply lifted some anti fraud measures from his end and I was able to add my bank account after 30 minutes. Calling it is not that costly either (Orange charges Ksh 2 per minute with their international calling bundles at the time of posting this comment). Try method 1 as Walter recommends and it will work.
All the best.
Thanks for your response James
However PayPal has now changed (from 2 weeks ago) and is not accepting Payoneer Bank accounts.
It is working for some people and not working for others, even if you call or email them. They simply reply and say they no longer accept those accounts.
Existing accounts are not affected.
Thanks
Hello Walter,
I have read all this info and this post relates best with my concern.
As you know already, Paypal doesn’t support Payoneer US bank account info. I have contacted them a couple of times but I got the same answer that they are no longer accepting Payoneer.
I was asked if I could provide bank statement with my name on it but of course – we can’t do it because it’s only a virtual bank.
Do you think/know if there is ANY solution to this issue? Is it possible to add Payoneer offered US bank account to Paypal?
Regards,
Brad
Hi Brad
They recently stopped taking in Payoneer bank accounts. The trick below works:
– Log in to PayPal and Payoneer
– Go to Profile then Add Bank Account on PayPal.
– Go to ‘Receive Payments” then US payment Service on Payoneer. You’ll get bank details there.
– Copy paste the bank details to PayPal
– Nowadays after submitting you’ll get an error saying you can’t add the bank right now.
– Go to contact us on PayPal and send them an email. Say you want to add a US bank account but it’s not working. DON’T MENTION PAYONEER. THEY WON’T ACCEPT. JUST SAY US BANK ACCOUNT
– They may reply with an autogenerated email stating that you can use Equity and Payoneer is off their books.
– Just reply to them stating you’re just adding a US Bank account.
– They’ll reply stating they’ve tweaked your PayPal settings and you can now add the US account.
– Paste the bank details again to PayPal as above
– They’ll now work
Bingo!
Hello Walter,
Thanks for your reply but unfortunately this method is not working. Well, at least for me.
The thing is that I have really tried to convince them that this is a normal US bank account. Twice. But after a few emails from Paypal they have taken out their trump card asking me to provide a full recent bank statement from Payoneer.
And while Payoneer is not a real US bank and we don’t have a true bank account so it is impossible to get or download a bank statement with all the info required by Paypal.
I have contacted Payoneer support but the only thing that they can offer for me was some statement about my recent activity (I don’t remember exactly how it was called) and it was not the one I was looking for.
A representative from Payoneer said sorry that she wasn’t able to help me and the conversation was over. As well as the Payoneer card being added to Paypal.
Hi Brad
I am very sorry to hear that. It seems like there are 50/50 chances of getting through. I have given the above tips to some and it went through. Others went exactly like yours.
I am so sorry about this.
Right now your only withdrawal option is Equity.
One day you can try calling and work it out on phone you see if they’ll accept but the chances are slim.
All the best.
Hi Walter,
Once again you have gone and done it! I have managed to link my paypal account with my US Bank account and I all the merrier. May God see you Walter:)
Hi Millicent,
I was happy to take you through this and happy to see that it has all worked out.
I appreciate your compliments and blessings.
God bless you too
I guess mine officially has an issue. I a not getting anything automated from method 2 or from method 3. Just brings this “Thanks for the note, and we’ll do our best to get back to you within 24 hours. It might take a bit longer (depending on the question), but we try hard not to keep you waiting longer than 72 hours” then an email that says Thank you for taking the time to email us. Customers who use this form tend to have questions about updating their account details and I wanted to share some information that you may find helpful.nkt Then i called like 7 times some lady who is not an actual individual i guess a machine keeps asking for my number then and directions to things i don’t want to do etc because i have tried to add the account number countless times
Hi,
What’s your name? Sorry but in my new policy I prefer people comment using their names and not site names like smarthustlekenya.
Anyway, that email you are talking about is the correct email. Just reply to that one and let them know that you are trying to add a US Payment Service Account from Payoneer. They will edit your settings and sort it out for you within one business day.
Sorry for the challenges.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
Moses Nderito
Hi Walter? Am facing the same Payoneer and Paypal challenges but I believe what you have posted gives me a headstart and I hope to be successful. Thanks for the good work. Regards Buddy
Hi Moses,
Thanks a lot.
Yes, kindly implement the above and it will work. I can assure you of that.
Thanks Moses.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, the solution I used upon the advice of Walter has worked almost instantly! I just called Paypal and the good lady on the other end sorted me out in seconds. I have just been able to connect commence the process of withdrawing my Paypal funds to my Payoneer Mastercard (US Payment Service). Thanks for your priceless help Wally. Cheers!
Hi Chandi,
I am glad it worked out. Thanks for your feedback.
which number did you use to call them cos iv been trying but i have never succeeded
Eddah,
The number is on PayPal’s contact page. Use a + before the number, the same way someone calling from US would do a +254.
I hope you get what I mean.
Hello, i have been a keen follower of these whole thing of withdrawing paypal money here in kenya. am glad that through this site have been able to add the US payment services bank to my paypal account. now the question is do i need also to add the payoneer mastercard since i had initially verified my paypal with equity visa card?
Hi Jesse,
Glad you’ve added the US Payment Service.
No you don’t have to add the Payoneer MasterCard, you can add a local card. The Payoneer card may be added after some time. Click here for more details.
Thank you for your assistance, I now have my PayPal liked to my Payoneer Card. It has been stressed ,looking at my cash and not being able to have it in my hands. it hurts. I applied for the card without second thoughts, received it with excitement. Then it occurred to me when I tried to link to pay and it gave error, again over an over. l buried myself in sand, could not even tell anyone, disappointed, I kept quiet. finally when I receive a good sum of money from a friend, the urge to withdrawal was making me go insane as it was that time of the month. ..BROKE.it was such a relieve when I came to your link.it was like breathing fresh new oxygen . Thank you Thank you and Thank you. Nancy
Hi Nancy,
That’s what I am here for. I am glad you found this content useful.
Blessings 🙂
I’ve been reading the comments on the previous posting “How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Kenya” and I am not certain I applied for the US Payment Service when applying for my card. Anyway, on the US Payment Service section of my account it reads
“My Account / Services – US Payment Service Print
Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard®
This service is currently active.
The US Payment Service allows you to receive payments from select US companies directly to your Payoneer card as a direct deposit transfer (US ACH).”
Below there is a US bank check graphic, complete with a routing number and First Century Bank account.I have been getting the same error. It would seem to me I don’t need to apply again for the service or do I?
I raised a PayPal support ticket and got the automated reply but I had nonetheless expected to get a response but it’s now a week since! I will follow up on the issue using the other method.
Thanks Walter for another great post!
Hi Njoroge,
You can reply to the automated response and let us know how it goes.
Thanks
I do not think you need to redo the request. When applying, Payoneer defaults to the US Payment System. Just wait for your card and follow through with adding it to your PayPal accout. It should be ok.
Thanks for the addition AJ.
Njoroge, how did it go? We just sorted it out with a friend, the fastest way is to call PayPal and they sort out the whole thing before you hang up in approx 5-7 minutes.
All the best 🙂
BELIEVE AND GET RELIVED
After all the hassle with the pay pal delay and the application process, I have a smiling face after a period of nervous days and night. Through Walter, I have managed to get my pay pal cash in Ksh. denominations. What a joy!!! Are you still in the boat of disbelieve.? I should be the last testimony that you should here from for you to believe. Transferring money from pay pal to the Kenyan ATMs should not be a bother again. I review the administrator of this site 6/6 star. Information generosity and trustworthiness.
Hi Timothy,
I remember you inspired this whole blog post in the first place. Through helping you out, many others have also been helped.
I also appreciate the fact that you used my link and we both got free $25.
Your comment is much appreciated.
Regards,
Walter
hey walter, ive sent two emails to payooneer about not receiving any information on my account confirmation but they havent replied….they even gave me a refferal number to use while contacting them on the issue but to no avail. Is there any way to contact them any faster?
Another question, can one cash USA checks in a kenyan bank? there is a client who only pays in checks so i was wondering if i should take up the job or ill be working while at the end i wont be able to cash my money?
Thanks
Hey Sal,
Please send me an email I’ll give you a direct contact that you can forward the issue to. I believe he’ll sort you out much faster.
Yes, you can cash US checks in a Kenyan bank. As an affiliate marketer, some of the companies I promote pay in checks. Just make sure you give them the correct name that you use in your bank and you’ll be alright.
Feel free to ask more questions.
I was able to sort out the problem through a direct phone call to Paypal Customer Care (number listed on the Contact Us page). It is the cost of a local call (Ksh. 3 per minute if you use Airtel). Simply go through the voice prompts until you get to speak to a human being. From my experience, when they tell to either spell your name or phone number, their system won’t get the Kenyan accent! Simply wait and they’ll give you the option of keying it it.
Once I was able to speak to someone and explained the problem, they adjusted said they are aware of the problem. They then manually changed some settings from their end and I was able to add the account while still on the phone. Pretty simple and straight forward.
Hope you succeed.
Thanks for the great information Ratego.
Let me change up the post to reflect all the awesome ideas shared here.
Blessed time!
it worked!!! (You have added a bank account. Now you can withdraw funds to your bank account in the U.S.)
Thanks Walter…did as you said..got an email like Timothy’s, tried again and failed…so I replied to that email and got another reply, same but slightly different and from a different customer care..
Yeeeeeey!
Happy to hear it worked. Thanks a lot for posting the feedback here.
Enjoy using the great services from Payoneer!
THIS IS THE MAIL THAT I RECEIVED AFTER REPLYING DIRECTLY
I have edited the name for ethical purposes.
Dear Timothy ,
Good day. I am ++++++++++ from PayPal Customer Support.
I personally take ownership of the concern that you have raised. I will look into the details of your account and ensure that it is resolved to the earliest.
We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. In an effort to provide the latest technology and best possible products and services to our customers, we recently conducted a system upgrade. In the process, the add bank feature were affected causing the system to unable to verify the bank account information.
To help you add the bank, I made some adjustments on your account. Kindly, try adding the bank account within four hours from the time you receive this message.
I can assure you that our technical team is actively working to resolve this. I have forwarded your account to the relevant department to include in the samples of accounts affected by this issue.
I’ll be glad to hear from you if you need clarification and I will do my best to give you immediate answers.
Thank you for choosing PayPal.
Sincerely,
++++++++++
PayPal, an eBay Company
yeah i also just got the same message…telling me to wait for about 4 hours
Great!
That’s exactly what Timothy received. Let us know how it goes in the next 4 hours.
Cheers 🙂
Thanks a lot Timothy for the update. I have also updated the post to reflect that one can reply to the mail from PayPal.
ARE YOU RECEIVING AUTO GENERATED MESSAGES TO PAY PAL?
Just reply direct from the mail. This one will give you a quick response and your account will be active in less than 4 hours. I did that yesterday but one.
Hi,
Through this site, I have come to
experience the process of signing
up for pay pal and payoneer, which was successful.
So far, I have managed to transfer my
paypal $100 to the US account,despite the
errors.Walter guided through. I received
the amount from a friend, and would wish also
to earn evn a single $ from writing. I tried
to join the sites like elance, o desk and freelancer
but their bidding process just took my guts off.
There was no one to guide accordingly. Anyway, I believe
that I will start very soon.
This site achieves greatly on its
two way communication between Walter
and the bloggers. Moreso, Walter is
a brother; He will always respond
to queries.
I am expecting to withdraw my money
via payoneer early next week. Be on the
look; I will confirm to you your doubts
right here.
you should try iwriter.com No bidding here…pay starts low but when u reach Elite, it will have been worth it…
Having this exact problem now…trying your solution.will post back if it works…
Have been getting automated responses all day..
Hey Aeonia,
Yes, please tell us how it goes. You can even just go ahead and reply to the automated response.
Cheers.
Hey Walter, could this be the same reason why some buddies are contacting me with challenges in linking Kenyan debit cards with Paypal for account verification? Coop visa (debit) card to be precise…
HI Charles,
What kind of challenges are they having? So far the Coop guys I’ve referred are happy 🙂
What I know about coop is that for them to link the card, they’ll have to first go to the bank and fill a form that instructs the bank to enable their ATM cards to do online transactions. Once the card is enabled, then that’s it..
Thanks
Yeah, that’s the drill but after doing all that, linking with Paypal is not successful. I’m sure contacting Paypal support should help. Thanks for this post.
You’re welcome Charles.
hey walter…do you have any information on the Western Union prepaid mastercard?
can one use it the same way as payooner, to withdraw cash from paypal?
I applied for the payooner card through your link but its over two weeks and they havent confirmed my application, so i was wondering how long it takes for them to confirm.
Thanks.
Hi Sal,
Sorry you cannot use any other card to withdraw from PayPal in Kenya, only the Payoneer MasterCard with the US Payment Service. You can email Payoneer and ask about the status of your application. It usually just takes 1-4 days for them to confirm.
Thanks
Keep it up Walter. This is very helpful to many who are having the same problem. This a global problem affecting Paypal accounts from other parts of the world and yes, it has absolutely nothing to do with Payoneer.
HI Esther,
Thanks a lot for your kind words.
Yes, due to the upgrade, it affected lots of people all over, but once one contacts PayPal support, all should be well.
Thanks
This is very helpful Walter. I am currently experiencing this difficulty and hope to make headway using ideas from this article .
Hi Simiyu,
I am glad it helps. Sorry about your difficulty. Let us know how it pans out after implementing the tips.
Walter
Yap, I had the same problem of adding a US bank account. I contacted Paypal four times. Finally they called me back and added the bank account details to my account.
Hey Jimmie,
Sorry for the challenge but happy to hear you were sorted.
Cheers,
Walter