One of my hidden secrets is that I’ve worked with a technical virtual assistant based in Ukraine for close to 10 years. He’s helped me on both personal and business projects ranging from coding to workflow automations.
Payment to Ukraine has always been an issue. I used to send payments via PayPal, but PayPal no longer works in Ukraine. Two years ago we moved to Western Union. I’m pretty sure Western Union is about the worst service out there; I have never not had an issue with them. However, sending the last payment was the final straw: five calls and 25 days before being told my payment was canceled, no reason cited.
I’d had enough. The developer (also completely frustrated) suggested I send him an Amazon gift card. It had never occurred to me that even in Ukraine Amazon is ubiquitous.
The transfer went through in about 30 seconds.
Since then I have used this Amazon hack a few times. It’s not fungible like cash, but it’s pretty good. I think we’re likely to see a convergence with more tech companies offering financial services and products. The bank of Amazon or Starbucks may not be far off.