We have received a couple of emails asking us about alternatives to PayPal, often the default payment method for many digital nomads and remote workers.

While PayPal is internationally known and used by many companies and services, using PayPal is not cheap, especially when multiple currencies are involved.

Many people aren’t aware that there are actually other alternatives to PayPal. Check out these alternative for online payment methods.

TransferWise

For the best cross-currency payments, we highly recommend using TransferWise. From the people who built Skype, TransferWise lets you get the real exchange rate without adding a markup like what the banks and other providers do. It is much cheaper than using a wire transfer and equally as easy to use as PayPal.

• To use TransferWise, you would first need to set up an account.
• To receive payment, simply create a request by indicating the amount, what’s it for and your bank account details. If you are setting up the account as a business, make sure you’ve selected your business profile in the menu when creating a request.
• Send the request link to your client.
• Your client joins TransferWise and pays. Note that if your client is a company, they’ll also need to be verified before they can pay the request.
• Save money by requesting in your currency (e.g. £100 into a UK account) -  your client covers the transfer fee. If you want to request in your client’s currency (e.g. €100 into a UK account), you cover the transfer fee.

Skrill

Skrill lets you send money to other users and receive payments. Setting up an account with Skrill is pretty quick plus it is easy to use.

• Receiving money into your Skrill account is free.
• Sending money to an email address or another Skrill wallet costs 1% of the amount sent, with the charge capped at €10.
• Once you receive the money, you can choose how you would like to withdraw or spend it: directly to your bank account or Visa card, or accessed via your Skrill Prepaid MasterCard® at over 1.9m MasterCard ATMs worldwide.

Payoneer

Founded in 2005 and based in New York, Payoneer is available in 200 countries and include over 100 currencies. The client does not pay for the transfer fees, instead you are charged a single transfer fee of $3 on average. Payoneer also provides you with a prepaid Mastercard which can be used anywhere that accepts major credit cards and can also be used to withdraw cash from any ATM.

• Sign up with Payoneer and send your receiving account details to clients.
• Once you receive payment, you can withdraw your funds at any time to your personal bank account.

Revolut

Revolut is a mobile app connected to a physical MasterCard (RevolutCard™). With Revolut, you can transfer money in 20+ currencies and spend it in 90+ currencies via the RevolutCard™ provided.

When you spend or use an ATM, the card automatically converts your money into local currencies at the best available rates. Spending with the Revolut multi-currency card in store or online and using the Revolut app to transfer money is free.

Withdrawing cash from an ATM with your Revolut multi-currency card is free for £500 (or equivalent) each calendar month, after which there is a 2% charge.

If your client does not know your bank account details, they can transfer payment via the ‘Send’ function in the app. Your client can then choose to send the money via e-mail, WhatsApp or SMS. You will receive a message notifying you that they’ve initiated a transfer. You then has 24 hours to collect the money by clicking on the link and entering your account details.

Bitcoin

Lastly, another option is to move Bitcoin between wallets. The biggest advantage of Bitcoin is that it doesn’t cost anything to send bitcoins to another account (though exchanging them with USD does cost 0.25%-1%). However, Bitcoin is a highly volatility currency. It could depreciate immeasurably by the time it is exchanged to a non-crypto currency.