A global cross-border payments company held a business and entrepreneurship in Park Inn Hotel, Davao City on Saturday gathering over 100 freelancers, entrepreneurs and other professionals.
Payoneer, a New York-based online payment solution, intends to reach out to those who are interested to learn more about cross-border entrepreneurship and online connections that businesses can make with their customers all over the world.
Its goal is to encourage freelancers, entrepreneurs and small business owners to build a sustainable business without all the high costs that are often associated with taking a business global.
In a press conference, Payoneer, Philippines Country Manager Miguel Warren expressed his hopes to engage companies and business professionals in the IT-BPM field and work with the government groups to help further nurture the industry since Philippines comprises 20 percent of the global online workforce.
“We aim to empower freelancers and entrepreneurs by making it more convenient to send and receive payments from international clients,” he added.
Speaking during the forum were Mr. Outsource and Dreamwork Coworking Space CEO Regina Evangelista, Opposed Media Director Mitch Miller, freelancer Karla Singson, LinkVistaDigital Inc. CEO and President Patrick Panuncillon and Payoneer Philippines Country Manager Miguel Warren.
Meanwhile, Information and Communications Technology Council Davao President Atty. Samuel Matunog told reporters that the greatest “hurdles” in engaging micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to work in a digital setup is chaning their mindset towards the online community where cases of fraud and scam are prevalent.
“The challenge is chaning their mindset, to trust more in the electronic system,” he said.
“So we must ensure affordable services to promote inclusive growth by providing alternative payment gateway,” he added.
Payoneer provides payment solutions to leading brands such as Airbnb, Amazon, Google and Upwork as well as millions of small businesses around the world. With more than 3 million users nationwide, Payoneer engages to financial transactions to over 200 countries and regions, in over 150 currencies.
According to Warren, compared to other global online payment solutions, Payoneer offers lower cost of domestic charges as well as better foreign exchange.
Mr. Outsource and Dreamwork Coworking Space CEO Regina Evangelista added that freelancers can assure secure payments from their employers because what is good with Payoneer is that it sends payment through ATM and not through middlemen who, in some cases, are scammers.
Comparatively, Payoneer only takes 24 to 48 hours to process payments of the company unlike others which takes a minimum of three days.
The company established its office in Manila on November 2016 drawn by the country’s rapidly expanding base of online workers and entrepreneurs.
Founded in 2005 in New York, USA, Payoneer is now ranked in the top 100 of Inc. 5000’s Financial Services companies. It has more than 700 employees globally across 12 offices worldwide.
