We’re excited to announce that participants can now take studies in US Dollars (USD) as well as British Pounds (GBP).
You may have seen recently that we made some changes in the way cashouts are processed, including moving to using Hyperwallet to send payments to PayPal. Now that this has been rolled out to all participants, we’re ready for the next and final stage - supporting US dollar payments!
What do I need to do?
This article explains the changes that you’ll see across Prolific.
You may need to make some changes on your PayPal account to receive US Dollars if you do not already have this set up. This is explained in the ‘Do I need to configure my PayPal account to receive USD payments?’ FAQ item at the bottom of this article.
Other than this, you’ll just need to follow the new instructions in this article in order to cash out. You won’t need to do anything else!
We'd love to get feedback about your experiences cashing out using our new balance page. Please read on to find out what’s changing for you. You can submit feedback here.
What's changing?
- Take studies in GBP and USD: You can now take studies in both GBP and USD. The study currency is set by the researcher when they publish the study and cannot be changed. The minimum hourly payment rate will remain at £6.00/$8.00.
- See currency of study rewards: Studies will now show which currency a researcher is paying in, whether that’s USD or GBP. If a study isn’t paid for in US Dollars, it’ll continue to show up in British Pounds.
- Dedicated balance hub: You’ll now get a balance page with a full overview of your earnings, including two separate balances for USD and GBP. We also provide an estimated total balance across both currencies based on market exchange rates.
- See your estimated balance in the top navigation bar: You’ll be able to see your estimated balance from any page.
- Minimum £6/$6 cash out: You’ll need to reach £6 or $6 across both currencies to cash out. So, if your estimated total balance is over £6.00/$6.00 in the currency displayed, you’re good to go!
How do I cash out?
Step one - balance hub
You will see a new balance hub on your account. This can be accessed by clicking on your balance in the top navigation bar. The balance hub will show a breakdown of your approved balances in GBP and USD, as well as any earnings that are waiting for approval.
You will see two balances in your approved earnings; one per currency. You will also see an estimated total balance. Your estimated balance is the total of your GBP and USD balances.
If you have a US address, your estimated balance will be displayed in USD. For addresses in any other country, your estimated balance will be displayed in GBP. The balance hub display currency is set automatically and can’t be changed.
Your estimated total balance figure is based on market exchange rates. We display the estimated total balance to make it easier to keep an eye on your overall earnings. Your actual balances are displayed in the currency they were earned in. These are the amounts you cash out to PayPal. Any currency conversion will be managed in PayPal.
Step two - cashing out
To cash out, hit the cashout button. You will be asked to confirm your cashout. Once you select ‘confirm’, both balances will be cashed out at the same time.
Any currency conversation will be managed directly in PayPal. If you wish, you can set up your PayPal account to receive multiple currencies before cashing out (see the FAQ below).
Step three - cashout processing
You will see a notification that your cashout is processing, explaining that your balance will take a few moments to update while this happens. You can close this pop-up as we will let you know when your cashout has finished processing.
Once you see the ‘cashout successful’ notification, you’ll see that the funds have been deducted from your approved earning balances. At this point, we have sent your payment to PayPal. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours, but is usually much quicker.
How often can I cash out?
You can cash out once every 24 hours, resetting at midnight UTC. If you've recently added or changed your cashout email address, you can only cash out once every 72 hours for the first 4 cash outs.
Payments will be made to your account 'instantly'. Please note that they may take up to 24 hours to arrive, but are usually much faster!
FAQs
Why was my cash out unsuccessful?
You’ll see an alert if you try to cash out when your balance is under the £6/$6 minimum, or you try to cash out for a second time within the 24 or 72 hour period (see ‘how often can I cash out?’ above). If you see an error message and the above restrictions aren't applicable, please get in touch.
How do I know if I've reached the minimum cashout amount?
As you will now start earning across two currency balances, we no longer have a specific minimum cashout amount per currency. Instead, we look at the combined, estimated total across your two balances.
As long as this estimated total balance is £6/$6 or above you’ll be able to cash out, regardless of how much you have earned in each currency. For example, if you have $4 and £3.50, or you can cash out! You can also cash out if you have the minimum in only one currency, such as $6 and £0 or $0 and £6.
If you don’t have the minimum cash out amount of £6/$6 across both balances, you won’t be able to cash out as the cashout button will be greyed out.
Each cashout will process your approved balances across both currencies. For example, if you have $8 and £3 approved, these will both be sent across to PayPal when you cash out. You can still cash out even if you only have an approved balance in one currency, such as $8 and £0, or $0 and £8.
Do I need to configure my PayPal account to receive USD payments?
How you receive your payments into PayPal will depend on how your PayPal account is set up. Please make sure that your PayPal settings are set up to allow you to receive payments in the way you’d prefer before cashing out.
PayPal personal accounts
PayPal have guidance on how to set up your account to be able to receive multiple currencies in their Help Centre: How do I manage my currencies with PayPal?
If you’ve set up your PayPal account to receive both USD and GBP payments, each cashout from Prolific will go straight into the relevant currency wallet within your PayPal account.
If you have not set up your PayPal account to receive both USD and GBP payments, PayPal will ask you to accept the payment before it will appear in your PayPal account. You’ll need to follow the instructions in the email from PayPal to claim the cashout. At this stage, you can choose whether to accept the payment in the currency it was sent in or to convert the payment into the currency of your PayPal wallet.
For example, if your PayPal account is set up to receive GBP payments and we send you a cashout of £4 and $10, the £4 will go straight into your GBP PayPal wallet and you will receive an email from PayPal asking you to accept the $10 transfer.
If you do not accept the payment within 30 days, it will be returned to Prolific. We will add this back onto your Prolific account within a further 5 days.
PayPal premier or business accounts
PayPal have guidance on how to set up your account to be able to automatically receive multiple currencies in their Help Centre: What are Payment Receiving Preferences and how can I set them?
If you’ve set up your PayPal account to receive both USD and GBP payments, each cashout from Prolific will either go straight into the relevant currency wallet within your PayPal account or will be automatically converted to your chosen currency. This depends on how you’ve chosen to accept transactions in different currencies.
If you have not set up your PayPal account to receive both USD and GBP payments, PayPal will ask you how you wish to accept the payment. You’ll need to follow the instructions in the email from PayPal to claim the cashout.
What is Hyperwallet?
Hyperwallet, a PayPal service, is a payment processor. This means that when you cash out on Prolific, Hyperwallet will be the ones delivering your money straight into your PayPal account.
We utilize Hyperwallet payment services to deliver payments to you. Such payment services are subject to the Hyperwallet Terms of Service and the Hyperwallet Privacy Policy.
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