Considering the numerous freelance payment methods, earning money as a freelancer can be tremendously rewarding or horribly frustrating, depending on your situation. Maybe it is because no school teaches students how to get paid as freelancers. This leaves the majority of us to fend for ourselves when the time comes to receive a paycheck. 

However, learning how to get paid as a freelancer is as complicated as it may sound. In my experience working as a freelancer for over a decade, I have learned that freelancers who get good and on-time payment have figured out the following:

• The best tools or apps for getting paid as a freelancer
• The most effective methods of freelancer payment.

Continue reading as we will dive into both aspects of how to get paid as a freelancer.

How Do Freelancers Get Paid?

Before we get into the best payment methods for freelancers, lets look at how freelancers earn. So, how exactly do content creators get paid by their clients? 

Generally, the process looks something like this.

• Register on a freelancing website or enter into an agreement with a client.
• Complete work and get paid.
• Collect payment via a payment portal

Top 5 Freelance Payment Methods

Payoneer

Payoneer is a popular digital payment company specializing in international transactions. They provide services such as receiving, storing, transferring funds, as well as providing a reloadable debit MasterCard. 

Pros

• Available in more than 200 countries and offers 150 different currencies, making the company ideal for global transactions. They are able to achieve this by using banking networks across the world, allowing receiving payments in foreign currencies to be cheaper.
• Compared to some other methods, payments are received relatively quicker. Expect payments to appear in your Payoneer account in less than two hours.

Cons

• During withdrawal of payments made in a foreign currency to your local bank account, you will be charged up to 2 percent above the mid-market rate. If transferred to an account operating in a similar currency, there is a flat fee, but only for EUR, GBP, and USD.

PayPal

Established in 1998, PayPal is among the oldest and most popular methods for people to receive and send money online. The company specializes in electronic money transfers only and electronic money transfers. 

PayPal is used by numerous websites, online stores, freelancers, and organizations as a primary method for sending or receiving payment. It is even the most preferred method of withdrawing money on popular freelance platforms such as Freelancer.com and Fiverr. 

Although not the ideal option for everyone, PayPal is currently the giant of online transactions. It is also one of the most common ways freelancers receive payment.

Pros

• Receive payment from clients by simply providing your email address. There is no need for disclosing any personal information, such as your bank account number, billing address, or even your name.
• Widely available and recognized globally. Currently, PayPal supports 25 different currency types and is available in more than 200 countries.

Cons

• PayPal restricts some countries from using their services, which include Pakistan. 
• It can be risky for sellers (which includes freelancers) as the company tends to provide far more protections for buyers than they do for merchants.

Stripe

Stripe is a main means of accepting payments from clients and is focused on the money moving services that other choices highlight. While relatively new in contrast to PayPal or Payoneer, Stripe remains a favorite to countless small companies and salespeople for their payment needs. 

Pros

• Some of the lowest fees among payment alternatives, at 2.9 percent, with an extra $0.30 flat charge per transaction. For international cards paying at varying currency, another one percent conversion fee may apply.
• No minimum amount for withdrawing funds aside from just a few select nations. But even then, the minimum amounts are unbelievably low, at approximately $1 (though this varies depending on location)

Cons

• Lacks the reputation and trust of established payment platforms. Because of being relatively new compared to other choices, like PayPal and Payoneer, Stripe has yet to receive the exact same degree of trust.

Wire Transfers

A Wire transfer is a process of directly transferring funds from one bank account into another. While maybe not the most usual choice among freelancers, some clients do pay through this method. 

Pros

• Available globally, although global processing charges may be expensive, and might also take a little longer.
• A very safe form of payment because the banks primarily deal with a wire transfer as an electronic cashier’s check, and will clear the funds when they are received.

Cons

• The high costs associated with this payment method.
• There are fewer chances of clients trusting a wire transfer.

WebMoney

This is among the most common Russian online payment methods. It suits people who intend to work with CIS or Russian freelancers. As of January 2019, this platform had over 39M million registered accounts.

Pros

• This system operates cross-border trades, in addition to CIS ones. What is more, it’s different currencies such as RUB, EUR, and USD, as well as major cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, lite coin, and bitcoin cash).

Drawbacks 

• The verification process is pretty difficult, and it may affect the limit of the operation.

Choosing the Best Freelance Payment Methods

Having learnt some ways on how to get paid as a freelancer, you need to make a decision on the payment method that suits you best. This depends on various factors, including client expectations, personal requirements, and geographical location, to name a few. When choosing a payment method, it is crucial to take everything into consideration to avoid any inconveniences down the line.