Being transparent about whether a client's billing method has been verified yet is one of the steps that we take to protect freelancers on Upwork. When you open a job posting to review the details or submit a proposal, you will see whether we have verified the client’s payment method in the first line of the About the client section. In Project Catalog, you can see this on the client’s order in the first line of the Company Information section.
You don’t have to avoid these clients, but you should know that we cannot process payments to you until the client successfully completes billing method verification. It is up to you to decide if beginning work before we finish that process is worth the risk. Please note that even if you have an hourly contract, we do not provide Upwork Hourly Protection when the client doesn’t have a verified payment method.
You may sometimes see a client with an unverified billing method and active contracts or a project purchase. This can happen when the client hires during the verification process or there’s an issue with their existing billing method, such as it has expired.
To check the verification status of your current client's billing method:
- Select the My Jobs tab
- Choose the contract from the list
- Select the Details tab
- You can see whether the client is verified in the Company Information section of the Details page
If we pause the contract:
- Stop working (or if it’s a new contract don’t start working) and do not submit your work product until we resume your contract.
- Contact your client to find out when they will verify their billing method.
Fast, easy, and streamlined hiring makes it easy to start working right away. If you'd like more information, check out Upwork Academy for interactive resources about how to find work here.
