As we all know, in Nigeria, things aren’t always straightforward. But luckily for us, as of 2025, Nigerian banks resumed allowing Naira cards for USD payments — something they previously stopped for years! That means, there are MANY easy ways to buy Upwork Connects in 2026.
From Upwork Income
If you have any balance on Upwork, you can use it to buy Connects; simply go to the “Buy Connects” page and it will be a seamless task. However, this is only for those who have made some money from Upwork. If you are a beginner and you haven’t got any balance on Upwork, this option isn’t for you.
From Payment Cards
When you go to the billings and payments section of your Account settings page, you will see where you can add a billing method. This is where you can add your debit cards.
Since Upwork only allows card payment method, you have to use your Mastercard or visa cards from three sources (Naira accounts, domiciliary accounts, and USD virtual cards from fintech platforms)
Naira Account
If you use banks that support using Naira cards for dollar payments, use your Mastercard or Visa card details — ensure your personal details are correct and properly aligned with your Upwork settings.
But there are issues here! These could include:
- Your bank might require you to come for some set up in the bank before you can do such transactions! So, even if your payment is rejected, you might be able to resolve it if you enter your bank to make complaints! But ensure you confirm that your bank allows such transactions in the first place!
- Exchange rate might be huge depending on your bank’s rate! If your bank’s USD selling rate is too big, you might want to try out other cheaper alternatives! However, confirm this before you decide as your bank might have a really good exchange rate.
- Limitations! As of Feb 2026, many banks have a quarterly limit of 6,000 USD transactions! So, if you have spent up to that in any given quarter, your transaction will be declined!
- Inconclusive reasons! Sometimes, your transaction will be declined, and you won’t be able to pinpoint a reason! That’s why it’s good to have multiple alternatives.
USD Domiciliary Account
Well, if you want the luxury of owning a USD domiciliary, the best advice I can give you is to open a dollar domiciliary account with a trustworthy bank. At least, I know that Access, GTB, Zenith, etc., are from the banks that have strong dollar account functions.
Before you open any account with a bank, confirm that you will be able to get the dollar card quickly; this is because some banks may not have it readily available.
You see, opening a dollar account isn’t very complex; however, you will most likely be asked for 2 references (likely current account holders) to sign reference forms. Another issue is that some banks charge expensive fees for the dollar cards — so it’s not a good option if you are broke. Do your comprehensive research before opening an account with any bank to avoid stories that touch the heart.
Once you have opened the account, you need to buy dollars from vendors.
There are many ways that people buy dollars, but I would recommend going to the Hausas/Fulani doing BDC work. Wherever you are, you should find out where the bureau-de-change (BDC) operators are gathered in your location. To find them, simply Google “BDC operators in xx” and you will get your answers.
You will likely need to have around 50k Naira to buy a little enough dollar that will be enough to buy some amounts of Upwork Connects.
Once you have deposited some dollars into your domiciliary account, request your dollar cards.
Third-Party Virtual Card Solutions
This is faster and easier than getting a USD domiciliary account. There are several platforms where you can access virtual dollar cards and use them for international transactions. These include Chipper Cash, Cleva, Geegpay (Now Raenest), Eversend, ALAT by Wema, Grey, and several others.
Before choosing a platform, do your due diligence and do enough research about it before you use it. Once you have chosen one or more platforms to use, you will have access to their USD virtual cards.
Unfortunately, the rate of converting naira to dollar on these platforms is normally really high. Also, note that your discretion is highly advised when loading money onto these platforms.
To buy USD on these platforms, the steps you will take often look like this:
- You should automatically be allocated a Naira account upon registering on their platform.
- You need to request a dollar account and a virtual card (if it is not automatic).
- Navigate the platform to confirm their rate of conversion from naira to dollar.
- Once you have gotten the account and virtual card, load naira onto to the naira account from your traditional banks.
- Convert the naira in your naira account to dollars.
- Load the dollar in your USD account onto your USD virtual card (if it is not automatic)
Note: When using these virtual cards to buy Upwork Connects, ensure that the billing details of the card correspond to the billing details you will fill out on Upwork when adding the card to your payment options.
My Recommendation For Freelancers Aspiring Big!
Ensure you get your domiciliary account for future USD transactions and the ability to receive USD into your traditional Nigerian banks. Some of these third-party platforms also offer the chance to receive USD into your dollar account from Upwork or Payoneer; however, I believe that if you have become a big freelancer and you start earning large on Upwork, getting your money into domiciliary accounts is likely better, safer, and more reliable for long-term reasons.
Having your money in your domiciliary account also gives you more flexibility over how you want to receive or spend your money. However, for smaller freelancers who won’t be able to afford the fees of Payonner and the frankly ridiculous wire transfer fee (50 USD), just stick to other options and avoid using domiciliary accounts.
Buying Upwork Connects
So, now that you have set up your billing method, it is time to buy Upwork Connects.
Use your PC for this. Go to your account settings page via the highlighted area in the image above.
On the settings page, you should click on the membership and connects section.
You can also buy connects by clicking on the Connects section on the Upwork homepage.
If you click on Buy Connects, you will be redirected to the page where you will choose the number of Connects to buy.
The lowest is $1.5 for 10 Connects (+tax) and the highest is 9999 Connects for $1,499.85 (+tax). Also, note that you will pay tax on any amount of Connects you purchase.
Conclusion
Without Connects, you most likely won’t succeed on Upwork; hence, it is important to ensure you always have enough Connects to keep applying for jobs.