Great Card, Great Service

Card image courtesy of www.unionbankph.com

Great news to all Filipino entrepreneurs and professionals who are now venturing to market goods and services through the internet. You can now make purchases online and get paid online via PayPal using Union Bank's EON Cyber account. The enrollment process takes approximately 3 weeks to complete but if you already have all the required documentation, it's a smooth ride all way thanks to the great customer service of Union Bank.

If you don't have a Paypal account, you can enroll here. In any case, you can do that after you have your EON card issued and activated by Union Bank.

First stop, apply online for your EON card at the Union Bank of the Philippines home page. Upon submission, you will be told the exact date when you can expect to pick up the card at your preferred branch (about a week or 5 business days).

Be ready with 2 valid ID cards (I used my company ID and postal ID) to present to the bank, when picking up your card, and P350 to pay for Visa's annual fee . You will also be asked to sign a written application. There's no deposit requirement to open the account, but I suggest you make an initial deposit of at least P200 to cover for a PayPal card enrollment requirement later.

Wait for card activation before making any ATM transactions or enrolling the card in PayPal. This will take another 5-6 business days. In the meantime, you can do two things while waiting. If you haven't registered with Paypal yet, this waiting period is the best time for you to do so. You can also register your card for Union Bank's online banking facility at this time. Remember, there's a 48 hour waiting period or two business days for you to be able to login to your online EON account.

Once the card is active, you can now have your Paypal account verified (meaning a credit or debit card is enrolled in the account). Just follow the system prompts for verification by carefully entering your EON card number in the space provided for. Your card will be charged US$1.95, which Paypal will credit back to you once you make your first online purchase. If the card is accepted, Paypal will then inform you that it will take 4 business days for the charge to appear in your online card transaction history. You will also be informed that you must retrieve a 4-digit "expanded use" number from the transaction item in order to complete your account verification with Paypal.

In my case, the number didn't appear in my online transaction history and when I called Union Bank's customer service at (+632)84186 ext. 5, I was told by the courteous rep that it actually takes 5 business days for the "expanded use" number to appear in their records. Thankfully, I made the call on the 6th business day after I registered the card with Paypal. So, after the necessary authentication process, the rep was able to give me the number. A minute later, I was also able to complete the verification process with Paypal and I now have a brand new fully verified account - thanks to Union Bank's EON card.

Daunting? Not really. The process is simple and straightforward, and, as I mentioned earlier, smooth as silk because of the great service those guys at Union Bank provide. So, if you're itching to get those contracts from merchants and virtual employers abroad but couldn't seem to figure out how you'll get your money, EON Cyber account (and Paypal) is your ticket to ride.