As a new Philippine Account holder with Paypal, you are limited to transferring a maximum of $500 per day from your Paypal account on to your EON card.  There is also a $5 fee to make any transfer.  Because of the $5 fee, it would be my recommendation to transfer big amounts (i.e. $500 at a time) so that the $5 fee is a relatively low percentage.  Once you have built up the amount that you wish to withdraw, you can log on to your Paypal account, and click on the big blue button at the top that says “Withdraw Funds.”  Then select the place where you want to transfer the money to (for those following this series of articles, you will be transferring to your credit card).

When you have submitted the transfer of funds, Paypal will notify you that the transfer can take up to a week on Paypal’s end, and they tell you that your financial institution may take a little more time to complete the transfer.  Generally speaking the time will be much quicker!  In my experience in making a withdrawal to my EON card, it took Paypal only 1 day to complete their part of the transaction, and it took 2 1/2 more days for the money to show up in my EON account at Union Bank.  So, total transaction time was 3 1/2 days from the time that I submitted the withdrawal request until I had cash in my hand.  I consider that a pretty good transaction, especially given the fact that the process is happening in more than one country, etc.

So, good luck with your Paypal account!  Good luck with your EON card!  And, good luck with your sales or other money making activities so that you can put the whole Paypal system to good use!

The next step that you will need to complete is to complete the “Paypal Expanded Use Program.”  Basically, the Expanded Use Program allows you to get money out of your Paypal account, and raise the limits on the use of your account.  Your EON card (or other credit/debit card – we are using UnionBank’s EON card for this series of articles) is the key to your being able to complete the Expanded Use Program.

When you are on the Paypal Website, in your account, you will see a link to verify your account and add a credit card.  You click on this link and you will be asked for permission for Paypal to charge your card $1.95 to participate in the Expanded Use Program.  You will need to click “Yes” to allow this to happen.  Don’t worry, the program is free.  While you will pay $1.95 to participate, after the program is completed, Paypal will refund this $1.95 to you the first time that you buy something using your Paypal Account.

The next thing you need to do is to wait for about 5 days so that the $1.95 charge can work it’s way through the system.  After 5 days or so, you can call the phone number on the back of your EON card, and talk to a Union Bank Customer Service Representative.  Just tell the Union Bank Rep that you need to know the code number that Paypal gave when they charge your card $1.95.  Union Bank is very familiar with the information that you are looking for, because the heavily promote the fact that their EON Card works with Paypal.  You will be given a 4 digit number, which you should write down.

Go online and log on to your Paypal account.  There is a link that you can click on to complete the Expanded Use Program, just click on that and you will be asked for the 4 digit number.  Enter the number carefully, making sure that it is the correct number, and you are done!  Your Paypal account is fully functional, and can be used to send money, receive money, and now you can even transfer money from Paypal to your EON card and use it anywhere that the Visa Logo is accepted!

Congratulations, you are now a full-fledged Paypal Account holder!

Until 2006, Paypal did not accept accounts in the Philippines.  But, in the 4th Quarter of 2006, Paypal opened up the Philippines as an accepted country.  However, there were severe limitations on Paypal Philippine accounts, which made the use of Paypal here virtually impossible.  For example, you could not withdraw your funds into a Philippine Bank Account, or any other type of Philippine Account.  In addition, you could not use your Paypal account to send a payment.  So, not being able to get money our from your account, and not being able to use the money in your account to buy anything, the account was basically useless.  That all changed in the 4th Quarter of 2007, though.  Paypal started accepting Philippine Credit and Debit cards for payment, and also allowed you to transfer money from your Paypal account on to your Philippine Credit or Debit card!  Now the Philippine truly was open for use of Paypal!

When I heard about this change, I immediately went to Paypal and opened up an account.  I had wanted to have a legitimate Philippine Paypal account for sometime, and I was indeed excited to be able to get one.

In order to get a Paypal account, just go to the Paypal Website and click on the  “Sign Up” link at the top right side of the page.  Answer all of the questions that Paypal asks in their application, and you instantly have an account!  Having an account is not enough, though, you need to do a few more things in order to make Paypal functional.  If you have a Credit or Debit Card, you need to tie this to your Paypal account.  Check with the card issuer and see if the card will be usable with Paypal, including being able to accept payments from Paypal.  This is very important, because it is through your card that you will be able to withdraw money from Paypal.

In my case, I opted to get an EON card from Union Bank.  EON is a Visa branded Debit Card that is tied to a bank account at Union Bank.  Tomorrow, I will cover the process of how to obtain an EON Card from Unionbank, and on Thursday I will cover the procedure to make your card work with Paypal.  Be sure to come back to read those articles.

So, basically, it’s short  and simple to get a Paypal account.  Keep following along on this blog this week to find out how to make your account more functional.

See you tomorrow!