Receiving Amazon KDP payments may not be an issue for the US and UK-based authors since they have the option to get paid using direct deposit.

But if you live elsewhere?

Well, you have to resort to using a paper check as a payment option.

It’s already bad enough that you need to wait around three months to get paid. And now you have to reach the minimum threshold of $100 to get paid in a paper check.

That may not be an issue if you’re raking more than $100 per month in sales.

But if you’re just starting out, it can feel like forever. And it’s even more so when you have to forfeit 30% of your book sales to the IRS.

Okay, I can’t help but throws the IRS into the conversation since 30% of your book sales is a lot.

There’s no doubt that it’s going to take even longer for you to meet the minimum threshold just to get paid.

Even if you’re swimming in money ala Scrooge McDuck right now, it’s still a hassle to deposit the check since it’s an international check.

You can’t deposit the check using a check deposit machine and call it a day.

The alternative way to receive your Amazon KDP payments

Just open a US bank account so you can opt for the direct deposit.

That should solve the problem, right?

Well, you’re right about that since the reason why most international authors can’t opt for the direct deposit is that they don’t have a US bank account.

But here’s the thing when it comes to opening a US bank account.

I doubt that any US bank would allow a non-US citizen who doesn’t live in the US to open a bank account in the US.

Yes, that’s a mouthful to say.

But that’s the truth. I bet that none of us would want to go through the legal hoopla for the sake of receiving book royalties from Amazon.

And yes, even for the authors who are swimming in money ala Scrooge McDuck.

You’re better off receiving your Amazon KDP payments in a paper check even if you have to pay a bit of a transaction fee for the check issuance.

It’s not worth your time and money doing it.

The good news is there’s another way for you to receive your Amazon KDP payments without having to go through the hassle of opening a US bank account.

If you haven’t heard of Payoneer yet, I bet that you’ll be thrilled to find out that Payoneer makes it easy for you to receive your Amazon KDP payments.

In case you’re wondering, this is what I use to receive my Amazon KDP payments and affiliate programs that only pay using direct deposit such as ShareASale, ClickBank, and Awin.

What Payoneer can do for you

The good thing about Payoneer is that not only you can receive payment in USD. But you can also use Payoneer to receive payments in other currencies such as GBP, Euro, and JPY.

Thinking about going direct with Amazon UK and Amazon Japan?

Now you can receive payment from Amazon UK and Amazon Japan since Payoneer has a dedicated bank account for the direct deposit in these currencies.

That sounds similar to PayPal, right?

Yes, you’re right about that. But the difference is you’ll get a dedicated bank account with the account number, the bank’s name, and the routing number used for the direct deposit.

Just use this information when you set up the payment on your KDP dashboard and you’re good to go.

Payoneer then will notify you through email whenever Amazon deposited your Amazon KDP payments to your Payoneer account.

You can then transfer the fund to your local bank account if you’d like.

Keep in mind that there will be a small fee when you transfer the money to your local bank account. And there’s a minimum threshold for the withdrawal too.

Think it’s too much of a hassle to transfer your fund to your local bank account?

Well, your Payoneer account also comes with a debit card that is linked to your Payoneer account.

And the debit card that you’ll receive is a physical one too, not a digital card.

They even send you a new debit card if your card is almost close to the expiry date too.

You can pretty much use the card anywhere including Amazon since it works like your typical debit card.

You can even add the card to your PayPal account if you want.

The caveat of using Payoneer

Guess what? It’s not the fee that you have to pay when you transfer the fund to your local bank account that is the drawback.

And the fee that Payoneer will deduct when you receive your Amazon KDP payments isn’t the one that I’m concerned about either.

It’s the annual fee of $29.95 that you need to be concerned about the most.

In case you’re wondering what the annual fee of $29.95 is for, it’s the annual fee for the debit card which they will deduct from your Payoneer account.

So, be sure that your Payoneer balance is enough to cover the annual fee.

And if you don’t have any transaction in your Payoneer account at all within twelve months?

They will charge you a fee which is $29.95 per year.

This may not be an issue if you’re raking money in book sales or affiliate commissions. But if you’re not making that much money on Amazon or anywhere else, it’ll be hard to sustain your Payoneer account.

If that’s you, then it’s best to consider using Payoneer once you already have consistent sales on Amazon or you’re receiving affiliate payouts frequently.

Wait, is that even legal?

Okay, I don’t blame you for feeling skeptical about Payoneer. You don’t want to land on hot water with Amazon just because you’re using something that is against Amazon’s policy.

Well, here’s the good news for you.

It’s not against Amazon’s policy to use Payoneer to receive your book royalties.

In fact, Amazon Seller Central lists Payoneer as one of its approved Payment Service Providers.

While the article tends to focus more on people who are selling physical products on Amazon, it applies to authors as well.

My experience with using Payoneer

It’s amazing to know that I’ve been using Payoneer to receive my Amazon KDP payments for almost seven years as I write this!

Did I have any issues throughout my seven-year stint of using Payoneer?

Well, the only issue that I had was the verification for my existing debit card at the time.

Just to let you know that the issue wasn’t about me not being able to pay the debit card fee.

Rather, it’s more about Payoneer requiring me to submit a bank statement that stated my home address.

While submitting the bank statement to Payoneer is as simple as uploading the document on their website, it’s still a hassle for me since I have to go to my local bank to get my bank statement.

As a result, Payoneer disabled my debit card when I didn’t submit the document past the deadline and transferred the balance to my US bank account instead.

Not going to lie that it was messy considering that I always use the debit card to purchase books on Amazon.

But on the flip side, I save money too since I no longer have to pay the debit card fee anymore.

Yes, I know that I sound like a cheapskate.

But hey, it’s still a huge saving considering that my book sales on Amazon aren’t like what they used to be.

Will I be making a switch to a different payment service?

If you take a look at the list of payment providers that Amazon approved, you’ll notice that Payoneer isn’t the only service that you can use to receive your royalty payments.

Will I be making a switch to a different payment service someday?

Well, not surprising that I will.

But I’m going to stick to using Payoneer for now.

If you think that Payoneer is a good fit for your current situation, you can take a look at it right here:

Sign up with Payoneer

P.S As much as social media can be beneficial for authors, I don’t recommend you to use it to blast about buying your books all the time, particularly on Twitter.

But social media can be a good place to share interesting content to establish a deeper connection with your readers.

Wondering how you can use Twitter without feeling like it sucks the soul out of your life? You can take a look at my guide, Twitter Marketing for Business right here on my Payhip store.

Twitter Marketing for Business guide on Payhip

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