**Instant Pay

Only customers that have a US registration country will see Instant Pay as a payment method but it is NOT preventing them from adding a Debit card that is eligible for payouts with a country outside the US.

Our payment vendor will automatically reject if a payout request is added for anyone that does not have a Debit Card in US. In OBO you will see the UPM status as 'MANUALREJECTED' and on their Get Paid view it says "Failed - Re-enable"

Example: https://int.upwork.com/obo/upm/8502306

Short Term: Solution: If customers contact CS to find out why their disbursement failed for IPO, please advise the user we'll have our Payment Operations team review. Then, please assign ticket to "Payment Operations." Payment operations can confirm in the vendor portal as to why it failed and they will instruct them to remove the payment method if it is because it is not available in their country.

Long Term Solution: Engineering will add to the logic of the validation check that the debit country is US to prevent anyone from even adding IPO as a payment methods. This will most likely be in second week of October. Once this check is in place then PayOps will manually remove anyone that has added in non-US countries and notify the customer.

We are also asking Engineering to update OBO to be able to display the failed auth's or failed transactions with the reason code similar to what is available for incoming payments for credit and debit cards. Until that view is ready in OBO, please send any IPO payment failures to Pay Ops so they can look up the reason for failure.

There is a mandatory screen within the disbursement setup flow that asks the freelancer how often they want the funds automatically disbursed. This is a legacy screen that will not affect how often the funds will be disbursed – freelancers will have to manually select Instant Pay each time they’d like to use it.

Screenshots (in the old style; new ones will be added):

Minimum amount of $3; must have decimal place; maximum amount of $2999.00.

How long will I have to wait to use this withdrawal method after I set it up?

Thanks for your question. For security reasons, verifying and activating your debit card may take up to 3 business days, so we recommend setting it up in advance if you would like to use Instant Pay in the future.

How long will I have to wait to receive my funds?

Thanks for your question. Your funds should be available in your linked payment method within minutes when you use Instant Pay (as long as your debit card is already successfully linked to your Upwork account). Depending on which bank you use, you may have to allow time for it to process your withdrawal. For security reasons, if you are adding a new debit card you’ll have to wait up to 3 business days while we verify it before withdrawing your earnings.

I want to set up Instant Pay, but I only want to select it on a one-time basis. Why am I seeing a screen that asks me to select an automatic withdrawal frequency?

Thanks for reaching out. The ability to set up automatic payments is an option when you are setting up your first Upwork payment method or if you’re designating your Instant Pay payment method as your preferred one. If you prefer not to set up an automatic schedule, you can set up your Instant Pay as a secondary payment method.

How much does it cost to use Instant Pay?

Thanks for your question. Upwork will charge a $2 processing fee for each Instant Pay transaction.

I signed up for Instant Pay but it’s not processing my payment automatically every month. Do I have to manually disburse each time?

Thanks for your question. To process your payment automatically every month through Instant Pay, you’ll need to first set Instant Pay as your preferred payment method on the “Get Paid” section of your account. Then simply edit your automatic withdrawal schedule by clicking “Edit Schedule.” Note: Your balance is only withdrawn automatically when it reaches $200 or more on your scheduled withdrawal date. You can manually withdraw any balance above $3 at any time by selecting “Get Paid Now.”

Are you going to expand Instant Pay to freelancers outside the U.S?

At this time, this feature will be for U.S. freelancers only. We are considering expanding it to other countries in the future.

Is there a limit on how much I can transfer to my bank?

Yes. At this time, the maximum amount you can transfer through Instant Pay is $2,999.00 USD per transaction. Freelancers would have to make multiple withdrawals if they are withdrawing funds more than $2999.00.

My debit card isn’t accepted, why not?

Thanks for your question. Only eligible Visa and Mastercard debit cards will be accepted. There may be instances where a Visa or Mastercard debit card may be rejected. In those instances, please contact your issuing bank to see if your debit card is eligible and setup for payout.

How is this different from when I click “Get Paid Now?”

Thanks for your question. Instant Pay is a payment method type, while “Get Paid Now” is a scheduling tool that allows you to manually override your automatic payment schedule and release your earnings sooner to certain payment methods. To set up an Instant Pay payment method, you must add an eligible Mastercard or Visa debit card to your Upwork account. You can then either use this Instant Pay payment method for automatic withdrawals or choose to use it to “Get Paid Instantly.”

Why can't I add my US Visa debit card, I checked with my bank and they state I should be able to receive instant payouts?

Thanks for reaching out. Upwork's Instant Pay payment method uses Visa's Direct Payment system to disburse funds to debit cards. This means when a debit card is added on Upwork for Instant Pay, the bank that issued your card lets us know whether it is enabled to receive these quick payments (specifically, the card needs to be set up for what banks call “Instant Pay” AND “Fast Funds”). If either of these is not enabled by your bank, the card cannot be added on Upwork. To resolve this issue, we suggest either contacting your bank and asking them to check to make sure your debit card can receive funds and is enabled for Instant Pay, Fast Funds and any related quick pay options, or trying a different debit card.