I don’t know if this is something everyone is already aware of and I’m just slow to jump on the wagon for, but I have seen plenty of talk regarding payment methods for Canadians, and I thought I’d provide a potential solution to our woes. I really wish I had thought of this sooner!
As a Canadian, my only option for receiving my earnings from certain cam/clip sites is by snail mail. Last month, my biggest check of the month failed to show up in my mailbox. I was later told that it was returned to sender, because apparently my address wasn’t up to date. The same address they’ve been sending my checks to every month for the past year. Talk about a shitty situation!
I hate snail mail paychecks with a burning passion. I hate the long wait times. I hate the uncertainty. I hate the fact that if a check fails to show up, I have to pay the cancellation fee before they send a new one.
I decided to look into getting an American bank account. Not just American currency, but one that’s actually set up in the US. After a couple quick Google searches, I found that there were indeed banks in Canada that provided that option (TD and RBC – RBC being the better choice, in my opinion).
Through RBC, I set up a couple new accounts, and now this is what I’m looking at:
US chequing account – $4 monthly fee (includes 6 free transactions)
Be sure to emphasize the fact that you want a bank account set up in the US, and not just a Canadian account in US dollars. The gentlemen who helped me get set up made the mistake of giving me a USD bank account, so I ended up registering for my American account over the phone
CAD chequing account – $4 monthly fee (includes 12 free transactions)
I can get most of my previously snail-mailed checks direct deposited/ACH transferred into my US bank account, then transfer it to my Canadian bank account via online banking at absolutely no cost.
Bonus: If the exchange rate is shit, I can let the cash sit in my US account until it’s a good time to transfer it to CAD.
Although I don’t know much about US-exclusive direct payment methods (I only use Giftrocket, Bitcoin, and Interac E-Transfer at this point in time), I also like knowing that this could quite possibly open me up to new direct payment methods as well.
The following sites will allow me as a Canadian citizen to receive payments via ACH transfer into my American bank account:
– NiteFlirt.com
– ClipVia.com
The following sites will not allow the aforementioned, as I am not a resident of the US and do not have a social security number:
They do, however, offer wire transfers for a stupid fee. Guess I’ll stick with snail mail for these guys.
– Clips4Sale.com
– iwantclips.com
All other sites that I currently run on luckily offer international sellers/performers the opportunity to receive paychecks via Payoneer or some other equally convenient, non-snail-mail method.