Elance to offer Prepaid MasterCard for service providers starting March 2008

Elance is an online workplace where businesses find and hire people “on demand” to get work done quickly and cost effectively.

I have been using elance during the past 3 years, effectively helping me to build my freelancing career. Even now, since I am no longer actively looking for new projects, I am still rated as one of the overall top 10 individual providers (from a total of 34,121) - username net-force. I still have a few projects I am working on, and normally I am looking at elance’s new projects to see if there is something interesting and challenging to bid on ;-) .

Today when I got the elance notification that they will be offering a prepaid MasterCard® as an alternative withdrawal method, I immediately applied for it. Yes, it comes a little late, even after smaller marketplaces offered this, but in any case this is good news and I will definitely use it; and I am sure many people will be happy by this addition also.

The Elance Prepaid MasterCard® (Payoneer powered as GAF card) is a debit card that has a prepaid limit and can be used everywhere that MasterCard® is accepted. Any service provider with a paid membership can apply for the Elance Prepaid MasterCard®.

• Use Everywhere MasterCard® is accepted. MasterCard® is accepted by more merchants around the globe than any other card. Use your Elance Prepaid MasterCard® anywhere to purchase more supplies and services for your own business, or for personal use.
• Withdraw cash from any ATM. MasterCard is accepted by ATMs worldwide, allowing you to withdraw cash from your funded Elance Prepaid MasterCard anytime in your local currency. Here is also the list of commissions.
• Security. As long as the PIN stays uncompromised, funds are MasterCard protected even if your card is lost or stolen. A replacement card will be mailed to you and the balance transferred.
• Convenience. With the Elance Prepaid MasterCard®, no bank account is needed.
• Access. All cardholders enjoy online access to view their account, payments, balance and transaction history 24/7.

I am really looking forward to have my elance card sent in March, and will start using it immediately. Btw. if you apply before March 29, 2008, the $10 card activation fee is waived. To apply, simply login to your Elance account, click ‘My Account’ and scroll to apply.

ps. Next, it is expected that elance will be also releasing sometimes soon (february/march) the possibility to withdraw money directly to a paypal account ;-) .