Mar
6
After nearly 5 weeks, Paypal resumed bank withdrawal to India on 4th March 2010 IST. No specific purpose code was to be entered, only the purpose for which the money was being withdrawn was to be selected from the drop down menu. The status of the withdrawal was shown as pending for about 24 hours and then shown as completed. Earlier Indian Paypal account holders could withdraw funds to their debit or credit card up to $500 per day, for a fee of $5 USD, but now that option is no longer available. Earlier all ad networks would pay Indians using Masspay, but now some are not using the option, especially if most of the Paypal accounts are personal or premier. Account holders who requested checks received them after 15-20 days.
Also some personal and premier Paypal account holders are reporting that their Paypal account have been limited. They have to provide proof of the source of funds like Invoices, emails, chat transcripts and then the limitation on the account is removed. Also many Indian paypal account holders have verified their account using Virtual Credit Cards (VCCs) linked to the bank accounts of the VCC seller, not their own bank account and may be facing problems.
Indian banks seem to be becoming more strict regarding wire transfers and people receiving payments from Moneybookers are getting phone calls regarding the transaction, especially HDFC bank. Many Indian banks charge a fee for an incoming SWIFT transfer and so check with the customer regarding the transfer. Sometimes, you have to fill a form confirming that you agree to transfer and pay the fees.
Mar
3
Making money online gets tougher – covers the business models and problems faced making money online in India. I have noted some of my observations based on personal experience, since I have a pure play online business model. Basically internet business income (not a service provider) is unstable, you can earn US$5,000+ in one month and less than $1000 the other due to factors beyond your control.
Your ability to make money online over the long term depends on a number of factors like:
- How you manage your overheads – if you keep them sufficiently low, it is much easier to survive.
- Your family responsibilities and finances – if you have a lot of loans, a dependent wife and children, it can be difficult to survive during the downturn.
- Level of technical competence and ability to learn – if you can do the server admin, content writing and manage advertising yourself it helps
- Diversification – revenue from multiple sources ensures that there are fewer variations in income.
- Ability to take risks – If your business is doing well, it is easy to become complacent, but if you do not take risks and fail, it can adversely affect your future business.
- Choice of business partners – it is important to work with reliable companies who provide good customer support.
- Compared to Western countries making money online is a lot more difficult, you cannot sign up for many advertising networks (since you are from India), affiliate commissions are routinely stolen due to cookie stuffing, so you have to spend a lot of time in front of the computer experimenting to find out what works. Some people may get bored or lack the discipline to do so.
- Lifestyle – If you lead a lavish lifestyle, parties,expensive luxury products, foreign holidays, you have less to see you through difficult times, so a job is better for you.
Mar
2
Paypal has published a list of export codes on their blog for bank withdrawals to business accounts, which will start from March 3, 2010.
Most codes are applicable for goods exporters and service providers. For bloggers and online publishers, the codes P0805 and P0806 seem to be applicable
They also seem to have started charging a fee for personal payments already. There is no mention of how Paypal mass payments will be considered. Some ad networks have already started sending checks and using other payment options, which are less problematic.
At present withdrawals to Indian bank accounts have been disabled, you get the following message
We are making some changes to our product in compliance with India regulations for settlements for exports of goods and / or services. During this time, we have temporarily suspended the ability to withdraw money to your bank account. We hope to resume settlements to enable you to withdraw funds to your local bank account without delays.
As part of the changes, you will also be required to fill out a new field entitled ‘Export Code’ when you request a withdrawal. This information is required in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.
Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience you must be facing. Please be assured that we are working to resolve this as quickly as possible and we will make sure to keep you updated.
Feb
27
It appears that Paypal will be resuming bank withdrawals to India by March 3, 2010, but business account holders will have to provide an IEC (Import Export Code) number.
I got the following email today:
Dear ***,
We have been diligently working with the RBI and our business
partners to resume Indian bank withdrawals for the thousands
of Indian businesses who depend on PayPal to sell their goods
or services in the global marketplace.
Today, we are happy to announce that the RBI has allowed us
to continue local bank withdrawals for settlements for exports
of goods and services. We are currently making changes to
comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of
goods and services, and we anticipate that, as of Wednesday,
March 3rd, customers will be able to use our
bank withdrawal service.
As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a
new field entitled ‘Export Code’ when you request a withdrawal.
This information is required under the current laws of India in
order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.
On Monday, March 1st, we will be back in touch with specific
instructions on how you can move your money into your bank account.
Moving forward, the RBI has told us that PayPal needs specific
approvals to allow personal remittances to India, which we
currently do not have. Until we get these approvals, personal
payments into India will remain suspended. However, if you are
an exporter, you will continue to be able to use the PayPal
service for payments of goods and services. In fact, with the
changes we are making to our system, PayPal is now set to be a
more powerful engine for exporters in India. With purpose codes
for export transactions and FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance
Certificates), you should now be able to get the export
related benefits you seek.
You can check the PayPal blog for additional updates.
www.thepaypalblog.com
We thank you for your business and for your patience during
the past few weeks.
Sincerely,
PayPal
Feb
26
Most of the media coverage of the Paypal problems in the Indian media have been just about RBI stopping Paypal operations, not about the inconvenience caused to the lakhs of Indian account holders. If a small co-operative bank collapses, RBI will take steps to ensure that the account holders interests are protected, but with Paypal, there seems to be no progress for a month.
This article http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/business-capital-stuck-in-paypal-accounts/386902/
mentions the problems faced by small business account holders in India, but underestimates the number of people affected. It is not 30,000-40000, it is more likely to be 400,000( my estimate is that it should be more). I have an old work at home website, about making money online, and the yearly traffic is much more than 30,000 – 40,000. If you make any significant amount of money online, and have diversified income sources, Paypal is the most popular payment option for online payments.
This issue has adversely affected many businesses, especially service providers who have to pay their employees and freelancers who have loans and families to support. It is nearly a month now, mass payments sent to even Indian business accounts between Feb 1-3 were reversed, and some senders are not returning the money. Both Paypal and RBI could have handled the issue better and at least indicated a time frame for resolution, so that users can plan for the future.
The mainstream media can give extensive coverage to film stars and cricketers, who are basically entertainers , but is totally isolated from issues which really affect people online. This could be the reason why despite all the investments they make, there is little growth in their internet business. Though Twitter, Facebook and social networking websites get a lot of media coverage, they are basically time pass activities. In India, people are looking for value for money, if I can make money online, I do not mind spending money online, but I definitely do not care for fake “friends”online.
Feb
21
For most users of Paypal, there has been no major update this week on transfers from Paypal to Indian bank accounts.
Direct transfer of funds from Paypal to Indian bank accounts is still not possible. Paypal seems to be contacting business account holders with large balances of over $10 K and offering them the facility to withdraw the balance by wire transfer to their bank accounts. Many eBay sellers need the funds for buying new stocks. However, many banks charge a fee for incoming wire transfer , but the exchange rates are usually higher for SWIFT transfers than the rate Paypal offers. The eBay sellers seem to have been contacted by Paypal directly or through their Paypal account manager.
Currently Indian Paypal account holders can withdraw using a credit card or check. For both there is a $5 withdrawal fee, but the $5 fee for checks will be reimbursed according to the official Paypal blog. Earlier there was no limit on withdrawals for certain business accounts, but now there is $2500 monthly limit for check withdrawal. The checks are sent in Indian Rupees, drawn on Citibank.
Many Indian freelancers with a verified Premier and Personal account could withdraw money from their Paypal balance using Xoom , but now they are facing problems since intra-India transfers using Xoom seem to be getting blocked since 21 February. RBI seems to have imposed restrictions on Xoom and the issue may be resolved in 2-3 months.
The issue seems likely to get resolved by March 10, 2010, when there is going to be a new Paypal policy update and all payments to Indian personal accounts will be charged a fee similar to that charged for premier and business accounts.
Feb
20
Hacking / fraud at Wipro
Most large companies dealing with physical products have a lot of internal controls and systems in place, every action is usually cross checked by people from at least 2 other departments. Things change in the IT and internet industry quickly, so it may be difficult for them to put proper systems in place, but it is also important to ensure that the people they hire are reliable and understand their personal value system. A person may be smart, but if he does not follow the rules, it can be a nightmare for the employer and others who deal with him.
In this case the password was stolen and money transferred out, but no complaint was filed with the cybercrime cell. I wonder how many similar crimes are hushed up?
Feb
15
Bank transfers from Paypal accounts have been stopped since 27 January 2010. Some ad networks are not resending the payments or even replying to emails regarding payments reversed by Paypal, even though they were sent by Paypal Masspay to business Paypal accounts, so some of the Paypal alternatives are:
Moneybookers
Liberty Reserve
PerfectMoney
AlertPay
Pecunix
EPassporte
Alipay
Web Money
Only a few of the above allow withdrawal/conversion to Indian Rupees for small amounts, but you can use the money for making purchases online like Web hosting, Domain registration or related services.
Feb
12
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article102659.ece
Victorian police chief Simon Overland has advised Indian students in Australia to keep a low profile and “try to look as poor as you can”
There are several advantages of looking poor
- Fewer people are jealous, so less attacks
- You don’t attract gold diggers , the kind who will after becoming “friends” say - we have an outstanding credit card bill, can you pay it off.
- People let their guard down and show their true character – after all very few bother to be nice to a poor person.
- People think you are stupid, so they lie to you and foolishly try to cheat you.
- People underestimate you, so do not prepare well when they attack you professionally or in business.
- Looking poor is low maintenance, a less expensive lifestyle option
Feb
10
This article on big companies and innovation – Microsoft’s creative destruction , explains why there is so little innovation at the largest companies in the world. Big companies are able to attract the best and brightest talent in the world, but usually there is so much office politics, that the best ideas are rarely converted into workable products.
If a large amount of investment required, large companies have a distinct advantage, but in terms of new ideas for low investment products/services, a smaller business can be better that a manager in a big company as they can spend time more productively. Not every idea works out, and few managers wish to put their career at stake if it does not.
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