Money Transfers, Banks, And Security Tutorial

Ok so with all this talk about banks, slow money transfers, and all the questions I get and see on all these forums I decided to sit down and just explain what I feel is the best way to handle your money for Second Life.

Please remember before you flame me for anything this is just the way I do it. It may not be right for everyone else. After many leasoned learned in Second Life I have found this to be the safest, fastest, and most secure way of taking care of my money when dealing with Second Life.

DISCLAIMER: To any in world banks this is going to piss off, I am not pointing the finger at any special bank in SL. And until a SL bank can show me a REAL insurance guarantee from FDIC (http://www.fdic.gov/) don't give me this crap of how you’re a bank.

Now that we have that out of the way lets take this step by step.

First let’s cover the best way to move your hard earned Lindens into real world money.

Step 1
The best way I have found to do this is to first open an account on SLExchange. (www.slexchange.com)


Since I started my business and doing tons of research when I came to SL I have found SLX to be the most trusted and proven method of using your Lindens outside of Second Life itself.

Signup for SLExchange is easy and only takes a few minutes.
You will need to find an in world SLX Terminal to complete your registration which is also easy to find as they are posted all over in world including at VooDoo DESIGNS (Shameless plug there!).



Step 2
Go to your local bank an open an account just for Second Life.
This is a separate account from any other account you might have.

Do not have it connected to any of your other real work accounts. Keep them separated for security purposes.

This account should be used strictly for Second Life only.
Most banks have free checking these days so it should not cost you a dime.



Step 3
Next, you want to open an account with PayPal. (www.paypal.com)
Again, PayPal is another very trusted 3rd party financial tool on the internet which I use on a daily basis and have for years now.
Signup is very easy and only takes a few minutes.

The trick to PayPal is to make sure you verify yourself by completing all steps.

Bank info, credit card, and more. The more you verify with them the better off you will be as far as using their services and they are very secure.

The most important item is to verify a bank account.
This would be the account that you just opened at the bank.
PayPal will do two very small deposits into this account to verify that its working. You will then be required to check your bank account and type the deposit numbers into PayPal which will then complete the verification process for your bank account connecting to your PayPal account.

This process can take up to 48 hours depending on your bank and how they work.



Step 4
Now login in world and find your favorite SLX terminal and pay the machine whatever amount of Lindens you would like to turn into cash.

This process only takes a few seconds and the deposit is done.



Step 5
Now log into the SLExchange web site, you will notice in the top left screen that it will show your SLL Balance.
You should see the Lindens that you just deposited in there.
Now click on 'Account'.
Then select 'My Currency Exchange Orders'.
Then select 'Sell SLL'.

You will notice a few options such as 'the best price I can get immediately'
I always keep this as my default and you might want to do the same.

The system will then ask you how much you would like to sell.
Put in the total amount of Lindens from your balance in SLX that you would like to sell. This will complete your sell order.

Step 6
Now look at the top left part of the SLX screen once again and you will notice a 'withdraw' button.
Click this and it will now allow you to make your withdraw your cold cash from SLX to your PayPal account.
SLX is the fastest system out today for transferring money from Second Life to real money.
This process may take up to 48 hours to complete however once you’re in good standing with SLX, the process can take place within only a few seconds! Yep seconds!



Step 7
Now once the money reaches your PayPal account, you may then transfer the money from your PayPal account to your bank account.
This again can take up to 48 hours depending on PayPal and on your bank you use.

Now your most likely asking yourself.. "This seems to take just as long?"
Right now, yes it most likely does however after 60 days of doing the above stuff...... Keep reading!



********60 days after you complete the above information*********

Now once you have been using this system above for 60 days or more this is when things really speed up!

If you remain in good standing with SLX, PayPal and of course Second Life you can now do a few things to make it so that you can turn your Lindens into cash anytime within a few seconds.



Step 1
Go back to PayPal and now apply for their debit card.
There is no service fees or anything else for this card.
It’s exactly like a bank debit card. This will take about 3 to 4 weeks to get in the mail.



Step 2
Once you get your card and activate it, now you no longer need to transfer money to the bank account you opened however leave it open.
I will get to that point in just a few minutes.

Now when you do your money withdraw from SLX and it goes to PayPal which by this time most likely only takes a second or two considering you have stayed in good standing with everything, the money should be in your PayPal account and now you can take your new PayPal Debit card and run to the store or even the local ATM and use your money.

That’s it! You have done it! You are now able to turn Lindens into cold cash within seconds!

Now you’re asking yourself... "Why did he tell me to keep the bank account open?"

Answer:
If you’re making Lindens the next logical step most people take is to find a good place to either store their money or invest.

Allot of people start to wonder about Second Life in world banks.
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS.

I am not saying they are all a scam but how do you really know?
And do you really want to take that chance? I think not.
No bank in Second Life... Let me repeat that to make sure it sinks in..

NO BANK IN SECOND LIFE is FDIC.

Which in a nut shell means they can run with your money any damn time they feel like it. Truth hurts but it’s true. Alot of in world Banks make very good sounding promises however I will take security anyday over a 50/50 chance that my money might be gone the next day.

If you really want to invest or save your money now is the time to use that nice separate bank account you opened for Second Life.

You no longer need to use this account for transfers as you now have the PayPal debit card however you can use this account to collect interest and for safe keeping of your cold cash that you know is not going to run off like a crack head in the night!

And you do not even need to goto the bank as you are setup for transfers now anyway.

I do not really right tutorials or anything so I am sure this is far from perfect however it should give you a good running start on how to get your Lindens moving fast and in a very safe way!

Enjoy!
~ VooDoo Bamboo
VooDoo DESIGNS

One thing you didn't mention:

If you're taking out any large amount of money you have to declare it for tax

Very nice. I hope a lot take that to heart.

One thing I will mention is that instead of using PayPal, you can simply have a bank issued CC or Debit Card with your bank account (SL specific).

This is how I went with my money. I have a Debit Card through a secured account. The bank knows that only Linden Lab is allowed to be paid through this card and notifies me of any other attempts (I was contacted when LL moved thier banking, and was very pleased at the service of my bank for this. A single bit of paperwork, my signature, and the new routing was approved.)

As for the taxes..... Well, duh! I think Death will be easier to beat than the Tax Man ROFLMAO.

~Jessy

One of the nice things about having this seperated from your "main" bank and PayPal accounts is that it becomes a bit easier to determine how much you should pay in taxes, etc, and can provide a bit better bookkeeping for some of us "lazy" people (like me).

.

yes that plan for well for me and I agree its the best thing to do.

Personaly, I prefer to stick to the Lindex, I just dont want the exposure of using ANY third party site.

I'm not such a big fan of regulation as VooDoo is. What's so great about the FDIC? The best that can be said for it is that they'll pay back some or all of your deposits if your participating institution fails.

The FDIC does not ensure that your financial institution is not a scam. I've had friends that lost their retirement savings (except for the portion covered by the FDIC) when Lincoln Savings went under (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis). And even the portion covered by the FDIC was not paid for years. It is interesting to me that representatives of the government that is supposed to protect us from fraud were involved in trying to protect the defrauders from prosecution. (And by the way, where did the FDIC get the money to pay back those who entrusted their retirement funds with Lincoln Savings? The rest of us.)

On the other hand, my own retirement accounts are held by a broker who is not covered by the FDIC, and I also have some dealings with Lloyd's of London, not covered by the FDIC. I also did some investing in the WSE, and while I ultimately decided to pull my money out of SL, I pulled it out at a profit.

It seems to me that the same hack that happened to the WSE could happen to the SLX that VooDoo recommends; that is, the person who codes their ATM machines could write code that lets them withdraw from the money in the SLX system.

All of our financial transactions online are risky, whether buying a cabbage patch doll on eBay, going Premium in SL, buying a shape and skin and clothing and house and furniture in SL, investing on the WSE or Avix or Int'l Stock Exchange in SL, depositing in Ginko or some other SL bank, etc. Each person should understand the risks involved and be free to decide for themselves whether and how much to risk.

Uuuummmm all I was talking about was to make it easy to get your money out of SL. Not sure where that whole rant came from. You don't own a SL bank by any chance do you? J/K!!! lol

*hands cHex a valium and quotes a specific part of the OP*



FDIC does insure a lot and does provide protection. Complete protection? No. If you have that, that means you have your money in your matress, heh.

However, FDIC does provide a level of measure in that not just anyone can get it. L of L is completely different as they reside on a private reputation built over decades. They built up slow and steady and I feel they would protect their name above all else. Meaning they will follow every bit of legality as does the FDIC. BOTH have a reputation and neither would wish to see it tarnished.

SL inworld "banks" on the other hand, have no reputation other than what they earn here. They are created without buisness lisence and without any call for insurance (while L of L may not be part of the FDIC, I would bet they do have one heck of an insurance setup).

While a SL "bank" may very well be very legal and run by Residents that are legit and meaning to run a fair buisness practice, they are just starting out. Some have done research into the field and know what they are doing. Others are fly-by-night and can crumble at any point.

I do believe the instability of the SL "banks" was what the OP was pointing to.

The LindeX is actually the only form I will use to purchse/transfer L$. Why? Because I have electronic reciepts from LL documented with my bank. No Resident run buisness in SL could prove to me that they are trustworthy above that. Not SLX, not even a certain land baron even though she has LL's stamp of approval.

Why?

LL can ban any account. Once that account is banned, it cannot transfer funds within the SL environment. While those of good standing will obviously try to protect that good standing, things happen.

LL, on the other hand, can not ban themselves. And, while the L$ may not have any "value", LL is still responsible as a RL buisness to provide goods and services for payment rendered. If I pay them, they MUST provide me with their product, and prove they have within a court of law.

They may ban an account, but they can not do so and simply take their RL money.

Granted a court case may not be worth it if only talking a few hundred L$ (or a few USD), however, some accounts run into much higher amounts, and some may file court cases on principle alone. Like L of L and FDIC, LL does not want to destroy their reputation over something stupid.

Untracable accounts don't care. And yes, I realise LL ~can~ trace those accounts, but if you GIVE them your L$ and they run off, they have done nothing illegal. Only immoral.

Trust in SL "banks" if you wish. I'll be a bit more cautious with my earnings.

~Jessy