Etsy Payments with Payoneer - How to Unlink and Re-register?

[KAMDesignHaus]

I’m currently experiencing an issue with Etsy Payments through Payoneer and wanted to see if anyone else has faced a similar situation. I’ve already contacted Etsy Support and am waiting for a response, but in the meantime, I wanted to ask for advice here.

Here’s what happened:

1. When Etsy Payments became available in my country, I signed up for Payoneer directly through the Etsy pop-up window (not via Payoneer’s website).
2. During registration, the "Contact Name" field was required, so I entered my English name (Eunice) instead of my legal Korean name (let’s call it "My Legal Korean Name" for privacy reasons).
3. After submitting the required documents such as a copy of my passport, my Payoneer account was successfully created, and I thought everything was set up correctly.
4. An hour later, my Etsy shop was automatically switched to Vacation Mode with a notification asking me to verify my identity.
5. When I clicked on the verification button, the Legal Name field was pre-filled as Eunice—but my government-issued ID, of course, has my legal Korean name, which does not match the pre-filled name.
6. Because of this mismatch, I did not submit my ID, as it seemed likely to be rejected.

What I Tried So Far:

• I contacted Payoneer Support, but I was only receiving automated responses telling me to change my name in Profile Settings or submit documents through Verification Center—neither of which are available on my Payoneer account (likely because I signed up via Etsy).
• I even called Payoneer’s customer service and sent them my ID documents, but they kept directing me to the Verification Center, which does not exist on my account.
• Meanwhile, my Etsy shop remains in Vacation Mode, and I am unable to receive new orders.

My Main Question:

Since there seems to be no way to change my name in Payoneer, I am wondering if it is possible to unlink Payoneer from Etsy Payments, revert back to the default PayPal-only setting, and then register again from the beginning with the correct legal name.

Has anyone successfully unlinked Payoneer from Etsy Payments and re-registered? If so, how was the process? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[BagmakerSupply]

@KAMDesignHaus: "Has anyone successfully unlinked Payoneer from Etsy Payments and re-registered?" Based on the many many posts in this forum about situations similar to yours, the answer is no. It seems that whatever Payoneer account is attached to an Etsy account is it. Again going on what has been said in other posts, you need to have Payoneer change any data that does not match what you submitted to Etsy.

[KAMDesignHaus]

Thank you for your response!

I’ll wait to hear back from Etsy, but I still don’t quite understand why unlinking and re-registering isn’t an option. Etsy Payments was supposed to be optional, not mandatory, and I would have thought it would be possible to reset and start over.

I made a mistake when signing up, but instead of being able to fix it, I keep receiving emails asking me to submit documents over and over again. When I try to reply, I find that I can’t, and I’m just directed to upload them through Payoneer. But there’s no option to upload anything, so I’m stuck in an endless loop. It’s incredibly frustrating.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@KAMDesignHaus 

the "why" is

Payoneer does the vetting, and a person can only have 1 payoneer account,

once linked to etsy, that's it.

As there is only 1 owner of an etsy account, and etsy does not allow transfers of accounts, you can only change the name on etsy, with legal CHANGE documentation from your government, such as marriage certificate.

Payoneer has to fix it for you, as it is they, who do the vetting. Etsy won't/can't

[KAMDesignHaus]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

Thank you. I really appreciate the insight.

If re-registering isn’t an option, then it seems like reverting to the PayPal-only mode—which was originally the payment method for non-alphabet-based countries like South Korea, Japan, and Egypt—would be a more reasonable solution in this case.

Even if re-registering is restricted, unlinking the Payoneer account should still be possible. Technically, unlinking should be a simple process, and I wonder if this is something Etsy could handle on their end.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

As you can only have 1 payoneer account, and that payoneer account has been verified  then etsy will 100% not unlink it,

It would open floodgates for people to sell their shops to someone else, or link to a different persons payoneer account

Etsy help pages say you have to have etsy payments linked to a payoneer account for South Korea, "paypal only" is no longer available for South Korea

There is no way back to paypal only.

......

[KAMDesignHaus]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

Thanks for your input! I understand that PayPal-only is no longer an option for new sellers, but I’m curious—where exactly does Etsy state that unlinking a Payoneer account is 100% impossible? If there’s an official policy or support article on this, I’d love to see it for clarity. I just want to make sure I fully understand the options available.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy says you can link a payoneer account.

You can only have one payoneer account, so if you did unlink it, your shop wouldn't work.
linking the original payoneer account back, would give you the same problems.

If etsy listed everything you can't do, the handbook would stretch from the earth to the moon and back.

For verification, they tell you what you can do.

.....

for any shop, ever, once you start the move to etsy payments, you can't go back

.......

Etsy handbook says for South Korea, you have to move to etsy payments, and they are putting shops on vacation until they do.

There is no way back

.........

You have a bigger problem than just the payoneer account

You set up the legal name of the owner of the account on etsy, that does not match your official ID 

and etsy doesn't allow you to cnange the name in the legal section, unless you provide official evidence of you name change from your government

unlinking, and relinking your payoneer account, will make no difference to this anyway

[KAMDesignHaus]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

I see what you're saying, but I’d like to clarify something about my case.

When I first started selling on Etsy in 2019, I signed up with my correct legal name. In the shop settings, there’s also a ‘Contact Name’ field, where many sellers use their first name, a nickname, or even their shop name. I’ve been using 'Eunice' in that field for years without any issue.

The problem started when I signed up for Payoneer to enable Etsy Payments. Since Payoneer asked for a ‘Contact Name,’ I entered my English name without thinking much of it. But later, I realized that this caused my Etsy legal and tax information to be completely replaced with my Payoneer account details.

So this isn’t a case of me setting up the wrong legal name on Etsy from the start. Rather, it’s an issue that arose after the Payoneer connection. That’s why I’ve been trying to get Payoneer to correct it.

As for PayPal, I did find the policy stating that once Etsy Payments is enabled, switching back to standalone PayPal isn’t an option. So I understand that part now. My main concern is still resolving the name issue caused by the Payoneer connection.

Anyway, I appreciate your input. Thanks.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@KAMDesignHaus 

The way it works....

Payoneer is the one doing the vetting for legal reasons

The name you gave payoneer, is the name they check and verify

payoneer sets the payoneer account up, sends the verification back to etsy, with the name you gave them

and all your ID has to match, what payoneer verified,

Payoneer won't change the name they have, without legal documents of a name change 

[GlassyFields]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

What you've outlined makes sense.

That makes me wonder if it would be possible to get legal documentation showing both the established alias and legal name and requesting a change of the account to the legal name. Not exactly a name change, as in marriage, divorce, etc. but something that verifies that both names belong to the same person and the are requesting the legal over the alias for the Payoneer account. Couldn't hurt to ask Payoneer if they would accept that type of documentation for purposes of name change.

[GlassyFields · Accepted solution]

I feel for you.

Having worked in many Asian countries, I'm well aware that people often use an alias name in addition to their legal name. 

Seems like there would be a way to correct a name as long as it was from a well-established alias name to the legal name.

And given what you're sharing, it seems like when signing up, there would be clear instructions that the name used must be a legal name that matches legal ids.

I wish you the best of luck in getting your name corrected and your Etsy store restored.

[KAMDesignHaus]

Thank you for your kind words and understanding. In Korea, many people use an English name because Korean names can be difficult for non-Koreans to pronounce. It’s common in international work or study settings to be asked for an easier name, so using an English nickname becomes second nature—especially when communicating with customers.

I never expected it to cause an issue like this, so this has been a learning experience for me. I really appreciate your support and encouragement!

[GlassyFields]

@KAMDesignHaus 

I did a lot of work in India, Singapore and Malaysia. The 'alias name' was super common.

Once I tried to be more 'local' and asked a co-worker 'what is your real name?' They graciously told me, and I regretted asking.

But the custom was so prevalent that it seems like there would be a way to relate the legal and alias names in global systems.

[KAMDesignHaus]

It’s really interesting to hear about your experiences working in Asia! I truly appreciate your perspective and your understanding of this situation.

For those who haven't encountered this firsthand, it might be difficult to grasp why someone wouldn't use their legal name from the start. But your insight shows a deep understanding, and that means a lot to me.

Thank you again for your support—it has been a tough process, and your words have been truly comforting. Wishing you all the best!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

The issue is for fraud, and money laundering, there is a lot of verification and vetting required

so it has to be a legal name, with legal docs

not sure how payoneer verified the non-legal name, it should have failed their vetting

it didn't fail etsy's

[KAMDesignHaus]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

I actually explained this in my original post under "What I Tried So Far," but just to clarify—when I first signed up for Payoneer, I had already submitted all the required legal documents, including my passport.

The issue wasn’t about lacking documentation—it was that Payoneer kept redirecting me to a verification center that didn’t exist in my Payoneer account, and their automated emails made it difficult to resolve the issue. After multiple attempts and direct communication with their support team, they finally verified my ID and updated my name to match my legal documents.

Once Payoneer updated my name, Etsy automatically reflected the change in my legal shop information. After confirming that my name had been corrected, I then uploaded my passport to Etsy’s Legal Document Upload page, and my shop was finally restored.

So everything is back to normal now. I appreciate your input and discussion on this topic!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Once Payoneer updated my name, 

That is the way to do it, via payoneer

[Quick2Print]

I have a question: My Etsy shop is individual, and I have submitted a tax ID on Etsy. My Payoneer account is also individual. Do I need to convert my Payoneer account from individual to business in order to verify my Etsy payment method?" (My shop on vacation mode after enrolling in etsy payment method )

[CraftyCornishMaids]

no

[KAMDesignHaus]

@Quick2Print 
I'm not entirely sure about the individual vs. business Payoneer account requirement, but if your shop is in vacation mode after enrolling in Etsy Payments, I would suggest checking the message Etsy provided when the mode was activated.

If there's a verification request, there may be a specific section asking you to upload your legal documents. You might want to look for any highlighted requirements or instructions from Etsy and see if they mention what needs to be submitted. Hope this helps!

[Quick2Print]

I got the massage contact to the payoneer to try enroll again, I contacted to payoneer, they said we have verified already and you are successfully linked with etsy then i contact to the etsy again now etsy customer support not responding  

[Quick2Print]

25 days have passed, and I have not found a solution, I even don't know what caused the issue.

[Quick2Print]

Etsy says, payoneer will unlink and relink your payment method to solve the issue,
and this same thing says payoneer about Etsy that etsy have to unlink and then relink your payoneer to etsy they can't unlink 

I am stuck in loop and don't know what to do to solve this issue 

[KAMDesignHaus]

@Quick2Print 

That sounds incredibly frustrating—I’m sorry you’re stuck in this loop. If Payoneer has successfully verified your account and confirmed that you’re linked with Etsy, it does sound like the issue might be on Etsy’s end.  I’d recommend continuing to follow up with Etsy Support and emphasizing that Payoneer has already completed the verification process.

Also, instead of replying under this thread, you might want to create a new post about your specific situation. That way, more sellers (and possibly Etsy support) will see it, and you might get more helpful responses.

I hope you’re able to get this resolved soon!