Gaman in Sabahan.com highlighted the new PayPal withdrawal option to credit card, which I think is great news to all non-US users around the world. However, he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to withdraw due to the fact that his registered card was a MasterCard.

I was curious to try the new feature myself on my Citibank Visa card. You can see in the screen shot that my small USD transfer is currently pending, so until I see the fund reflected in my card statement, I wouldn’t say that the transfer was completely clear and successful.

I’m anxious to see what the final amount will be like, after taking into account both PayPal and Citibank charges. Obviously, PayPal charges $5.00 per credit card transfer, as well as a 2.5% fee if you choose to transfer in a different, PayPal-supported, non-US denominated amount. I’m assuming Citibank might charge me for conversion of the amount to Malaysian Ringgit, but again, I’ll have to wait and see.

One thing’s clear — I’m going to keep a closer eye on the Ringgit rate against USD. Although the determined rate between the two currency is using a managed float (boy, am I glad I’m teaching economics, otherwise that means almost zilch to me!), by scanning through my credit card statement, the difference can be significant once the transfer amount and frequency increases. It may be just a difference of around 5%, but when accumulated… I suppose you can do the math.

By the way, you can also transfer to your debit and prepaid credit card if you wish to do so. You may have better luck using Visa, as it is the most used credit card brand in the States as far as my experience goes.

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