How to receive money through paypal to sri lanka, the easy way...

I know as a freelancer in Sri Lanka the first major issue you face is that you cannot able to receive your earned income to a bank account in here because PayPal Pte Ltd only allow Sri Lankan PayPal account holders to send payments and Sri Lanka Central Bank still not looking at that matter at all. But there is a very easy and secured method to receive money through PayPal to Sri Lanka as I describe below

In this case you have to do a little trick but do not hesitate to do that because it is not illegal. OK so let's begin.

First you have to go to a Hatton National Bank branch in your area and create a savings account there. If you already have one then skip that step.

Then you will be given a form to fill for getting a HNB debit card so before filling that form go and talk to them informing that you need to activate internet money transferring facility for your card. They will then give you extra set of forms. Fill them carefully and return them to the reception informing again to ensure that they remember your need.

As I remember you have to wait for two weeks to get your debit card but make sure to call them after two weeks of requesting, then you must go to the branch again and collect your card.

After that you have to activate your new card by inserting it to the ATM machine. You can then use your card for local transactions.

Then go home and call HNB card center. Tell them you need to activate your debit card for joining a PayPal account. They will then ask you a few personal questions and ask you how much longer do you want to activate it. You can tell them to activate permanently but I recommend you to activate for a year. After that year has been passed you can again call them and ask to activate.

Now you are almost done so let's begin the connecting process of your card to a verified PayPal account.

Open up your internet browser and go to PayPal.com and click Sign Up. If you already have a Sri Lankan PayPal account you also have to create a new account as I say because you can only send money via your Sri Lankan account but cannot receive.

As the screenshot above, choose Malaysia as your country. Then click Get Started button for a Premier account (Premier accounts have cheaper rates than Personal accounts when sending and receiving money). Fill in the details of yours in the given form but always use your real name and real details as you provided for your bank account, otherwise your account will be banned from the system. Leave the country as Malaysia but use your real personal address for the rest.

After creating log in to your account and click Profile>Add edit credit cards. Fill the details as mentioned in your HNB debit card and finish up the process. Then wait for two days and go to your PayPal account home. Click Get verified. It will ask you for a four digit number. Now call HNB card center again and ask for the PayPal verification code. They will again ask you some questions and provide you the code. Enter it in the field and your done.

Now you have a verified fully functional international PayPal account so you can use it to receive and send money to anywhere around the world. Your received money will transfer to your HNB bank account so you do not have worry about it either.

Using the HNB debit card will not cost you any yearly fees or hidden charges as Sampath web card do. I always prefer it no matter what.

Enjoy earning and buying!!