Freelancing is fast becoming an attractive employment option, especially among highly-skilled millennials. Who wouldn’t want to work on projects that you choose yourself, without the pressures of working in an office environment with a boss looking over your shoulder? If you are lucky to work from home, you also save on travel and office wear, not to mention more than enough time to spend with your family.
However, freelancers have the additional worry of getting paid and getting paid on time. Most of the payments coming from overseas clients usually go through online payment facilities. And up until a few years ago, freelancers in the Philippines and elsewhere were limited to a few choices.
Payoneer In The Philippines
In 2009, Payoneer started providing service to Filipinos and in 2016, the company established an office in the country. The company’s head of Asia-Pacific, Patrick de Courcy said it himself as reported by The Philippine Star: “In the Philippines, we see a huge potential in the freelance, business processing outsourcing (BPO), and small businesses to become global businesses, and we help them to get paid on a cost efficient, easy, simple manner.”
According to Payoneer’s Philippine office, they now serve over 4 million users worldwide and in the Philippines, they are “growing at triple digits year on year.” This confirms how fast online outsourcing is growing in the country. Here are 3 reasons why more freelancers are choosing Payoneer.
1. It offers lower fees and better foreign exchange rates than its competitors. According to some users who switched from PayPal for example, the exchange rates are very low compared to prevailing rates, and the service fees are higher as well. With Payoneer, more of their hard-earned money goes to them and not to service fees.
2. In Payoneer, the customer is king. Marketing Manager Jenell San Antonio says, “In Payoneer, we also believe that customer service is a big factor on customer satisfaction. As we see the growth of freelancers in the Philippines, a local office is put up to create and build relationships with the customers. This is to understand better and adapt to the needs of the market.” Not only that, the company even put up a Facebook group which serves as a community for Payoneer users and those who are interested in using Payoneer.
3. Payoneer is not just about growing their business, but also helping freelancers, small businesses and start-ups expand globally. Through their regular Payoneer forums, the most recent one was held in Baguio City, long time Payoneer users like Nina Mendoza are able to share their stories of success. Nina told her experience and how she started out as a freelancer until she became an owner of her own freelance agency.
Through the company’s website and their YouTube channel, similar stories like that of Nina are featured to provide inspiration to those who are just starting out.