Welcome to fourth and final part of my blog series on how Amazon Associates receives and redeems their checks in Republic of Georgia (South Caucasus).
How participants of Amazon Associates program are getting paid in the Republic of Georgia by a bank check is a blog series I originally made at the end of 2014 / start of 2015 while struggling to redeem my first bank check issued by Amazon,
Although it's still technically possible to withdraw bank checks in Georgia, at the end of 2016, I flew to the US and opened a bank account there, see: How To Open A Bank Account in the U.S., As A Non-resident Non - citizen, Wells Fargo Bank
For complete series of my adventures while living in Georgia with Georgian banks and checks from Amazon, please see:
- How Amazon Affiliates get paid in the Republic of Georgia - Part 1
- How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 2
- How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 3 - Waiting 40 Working Days
- How Amazon Associates Receives Their Checks in the Republic of Georgia - Part 4 - Bank Commission Fees
By writing these lines I can officially say - I have finally received my money (check sent by Amazon) on my Georgian bank account. I took some time, but as I said in previous blog posts - I was looking to set a precedent because I have never ever heard of some other Amazon Associates living in Georgia and receiving their checks in Georgian banks.
Now, here comes a full story
Back in November 2014, I wrote the following words:
I have a feeling this will be a long and fun experience on how to get paid in Republic of Georgia by Amazon Associates checks :)
It took another 2 months before I got my first check here in Georgia via a snail mail, and I finally received it at the end of January 28, I straight went and opened a new bank account at the branch which said, they don't have problems to redeem a check - Bank Republic.
Unfortunately what seemed like a nice option, turned out a bad user experience using it's internet-banking and unfruitful talking with bank clerks, you can read about how 2 weeks turned into 40 working days here
Luckily, yesterday I received a SMS from my bank, and here it was - money was deposited on my bank account.
- In total It took 56 days, or 1 month and 25 days between check was sent from the US (on December 28, 2014) and received in my bank account (on February 22, 2015)
- It took 31 days for a check to arrive here in Georgia
- And additional 25 days for bank procedure
Bank fees in Georgia
I was charged $35.00 for a check redemption here in Georgia. Since some of the online income money I have decided to put on my savings account (in another Georgian bank) I transferred some amount from one bank to another (I have a multi-currency account), Bank Republic took a $15.00 fee for a such transfer, and for my surprise second bank (ProCredit Bank) took another $7.00, in total adding a $22.00 fees for a such transfer.
From total amount I received as a check, I have lost pretty impressively $57.00. I doubt I have any legal ways to avoid $35.00 check redemption price, but speaking of second ($22.00 fee) I believe next time it would be cheaper to go to the first bank take out money in cash (not converted to National Currency) go to the second bank and deposit this money in cash. I'm not sure if this "scheme" is cheaper, but taking into account that I don't want to pay $22.00 in transfer fees between two Georgian banks, I will try this next time.
P.S. Direct deposit is not an option right now for me, because I'm not an owner of US bank account, neither I'm a US citizen. I'm left with two options - gift card or check.
