FastSpring and HyperWallet

Discussions
#1

Anyone using FastSpring here as a micro-ISV ?
Lately FastSpring has announced a forced migration of payouts to paypal-owned HyperWallet. Problem is, it was supposed to be a no brainer, but in fact turns out to be administrative hell on the HyperWallet part, whenever your business isn’t in the USA.
Most notably, the requirement to fill IRS forms (W8BEN, etc.), the consequence of doing so with as much as a 30% cut on the actual payouts.
And with that both FastSpring and HyperWallet keeping mum about it.

Anyone has been through this yet ?

#2

Yeah, we use FastSpring with Saber Feedback. So far, the migration to HyperWallet has failed to complete for us. Sigh.

You mention a 30% cut on actual payouts. Who does that go to? If we encounter that, we’d leave FastSpring like lightning.

#3

No problems for us. We’re using Fastspring classic. Yesterday the second payout was issued (bank transfer), I suppose we’ll get it by Monday. So far, the only downside is that payouts arrive 2 days later than before.

#4

uh, we haven’t started the migration yet (there’s no option for us to do this yet). wasn’t too thrilled when I got their email announcing that and looked into alternatives. not thrilled to hear that it’s not going well for others.

the 30% stef is referring to might be withholding tax in the us when you don’t have IRS paperwork. IIRC back in the day (2009 or so) apple app store required those forms too and I had to call some IRS guy to get this thing filled.

we might be switching to paddle if there’s issues with hyperwallet.

#5

Hello Steve,
Depending on your status, resulting from the forms HyperWallet asks you to fill when you are a non US business, HyperWallet will deduct a cut from the payouts depending on the type of goods that you sell. Goods include digital downloads as well. Which is my business is.
I am not entirely sure yet what would be the cut, perhaps 0% because I have yet to enter the verification cycle given the questions raised that none of the two parties are answering so far.
I am interested in knowing about those who have managed to get verified, especially having a business abroad.

#6

Hello,
Are you a US business ? I guess the verification cycle is more straightforward in that case. If not, did you have to fill IRS forms ?

#7

Thanks for letting me know. What’s strange is that FastSpring never required to do this IRS form thing ?
I don’t know if that comes from the fact that HyperWallet core business is to act as a pay middle man between an employer and employees.
FastSpring isn’t our employer however. The funds they keep for the current month are already ours.

#8

oh, I mixed that up. I had to call the IRS to get a Tax ID. the w8ben form is just for the payment processor. so you fill it out and hand it over to hyperwallet (or apple, as they still required those).

once you hand over the w8ben and you country of origin is in a tax treaty with the US you will get the withhold taxes paid out.

I can only guess that hyperwallet being part of paypal is a horrible bureaucracy and they fuck that up. because with apple it all “just works” (at least tax wise)

#9

I guess hypwerwallet is just oversensitive. FastSpring never required any real paperwork from me (joined back in 2008 or so).

My guess is that the hyperwallet verification will be quiet some work for me (I’m from Germany). If they’re like all the other anglo businesses then they won’t accept my national ID as a proof of residency even though we have our address here on the id card. So I will have to go to my bank or the town hall and get an extra proof of residency. It’s always so tiresome to deal with those private bureaucracies.

What worries me most is the possible disruption in cash flow. FastSpring has been pretty punctual with payouts over the last decade. It’s a shame they had to move to hyperwallet. But I guess their service will get worse anyway as they got bought out recently.

#10

No, we’re from Spain. I didn’t have to fill in any form. I just activated the account and setup a transfer method in Hyperwallet. It was quite smooth really. I setup a daily auto transfer and when Hyperwallet recevies the payout from Fastspring they immediately send it to us. We receive it two days later because that’s what it takes for a bank transfer.

#11

did you get an email with an activation link? because I looked and there’s no way to start the activation process for us (both in classic and that new buggy fast spring dashboard)

#12

Yes, we got an activation email with the activation link. Maybe you’ll receive it later. I think I read somewhere that they’re doing it from July to December.

#13

It depends on the type of digital downloads. Royalty-based downloads like arts, designs, and music have always been subject to a tax cut in the US but only when sold to an individual or a company based in the US.

If your country has a tax treaty with the US, the cut may vary from 0% to 15% (usually, 10%). But if it does not have a treaty, then it’s 30%. Either way, if it is not a zero, then you should ask your local tax service to deduct the taxes already paid abroad.

W-8BEN is a rather simple document to declare your residency to the IRS, most online marketplaces and freelancing platforms require it for all non-US residents, so FastSpring ignoring it until now was a weird exception.

#14

Just moved to HyperWallet aka FastSpring Payouts. Their registration email got into spam and they do not support passwords longer than 15 symbols – bad start.

Payoneer disappeared as a payout method and their virtual US bank account gets declined by HyperWallet’s form. I used it because it had the lowest fees (≈2% including the exchange rate spread).

Payouts to PayPal cost 2% (but $20 max). But then withdrawing money from PayPal to a bank in Chile will cost me 2.5-2.8% more.

Then there’s Moneygram that looks decent ($1 fee, 1.5% exchange rate difference) but for some reason HyperWallet only supports cash payouts despite Moneygram’s site saying they can send money to my local bank account. Selling software online and then picking cash at the post office – uh, no, thanks.

The HyperWallet’s support also told me there’s a $5 monthly fee if you keep money on the account for more than 90 days.

Well, I will have to check Paddle after all.

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#15

Paddle didn’t work out for me. We were talking with them via email and they disappeared, didn’t know why. Decided to go with PayProGlobal instead. FastSpring is becoming worse and worse, main issue is lots of declined payments from legitimate customers. This Payouts thing is OK once it’s configured annoying part is that you need to spend time to simply restore the order of things.

1 Like
#16

Actually I have been trying to start selling with PayProGlobal ten days ago. They responded until the account got created, but still can’t add product to the store, support does not answer emails. Etc.
It seems Covid isn’t helping those guys. It’s becoming a ruin.

As for FastSpring and HyperWallet I went ahead and activated as a business, not as an individual. This went smoothly since I did not have to provide legal documents or justify something. I guess it went smoothly also because my country of business registration is a European one. Others elsewhere might find the experience less compelling.
So far no IRS form to fill and that’s all I ask. I went ahead and did my first transfer. Good thing I could do a Euro SEPA wire apparently which incurs no cost on both ends.

#17

I was able to complete my first payout via FastSpring and HyperWallet. I didn’t have to supply any US-centric documentation (my company is in Spain).

It was an unnecessary hassle though, just to keep getting my monthly payouts.

#18

My HyperWallet setup also went smoothly, with no additional tax forms to complete. I’m in New Zealand.

I think that selecting whether you’re an individual or business might play a role. I am a company, and no hassles…yet :wink:

#19

It is sad to watch FastSpring disintegrating.
Managed to receive FastSpring->HyperWallet transfer OK.
The next task HyperWallet->my bank account.

Just received a phone call from my banker telling me that they received funds from some unknown sender and they can’t forward it to my account because the sender indicated neither his/her name, nor the company name. Unknown origin. So my bank thinks it’s some kind of money laundering schema. Awesome design! Talking back to HyperWallet resulted in nothing but a hundreds of follow-up robotic responses which still keep coming every 10 minutes sharp. No meaningful response from FastSpring after many hours.

Don’t know what to make of that. Either it’s a rough transition and a one time event which I hope it is very much. Or a munted shitshow in its early stages.

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#20

@Dmitry
What is your experience with PayProGlobal?
Can’t figure out what is their pricing…