FINANCIAL SERVICES company Payoneer, Inc. is hoping to attract more clients in the Philippines, amid its bullish outlook on the growth of online outsourcing in the country.
“We want to grow our user base,” Payoneer Regional Head for Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan Miguel Warren said in a media roundtable on Thursday.
The company offers a cross-border payments platform to its clients. Globally, Payoneer has four million international users in over 200 countries, with clients ranging from young entrepreneurs to corporations like Airbnb and Amazon.
In the Philippines, Mr. Warren said that they have almost 200,000 clients, with freelancers as its core market.
Mr. Warren said that they want to “start talking to other businesses,” including business process outsourcing firms, e-commerce sellers, and online small and medium enterprises.
Payoneer said it experienced a 359% growth in monthly payment volume from January last year, when the company opened its Philippines office, to August this year. It also saw 327% increase in billing service year-to-date payment volume during the same period.
Mr. Warren said the company is targeting small businesses run by freelancers, particularly in the provinces.
“We see them becoming entrepreneurs in their own right,” he said.
Mr. Warren cited a survey they conducted which indicates that Filipino freelancers are generally more satisfied with their level of income (averaging from $9 to $17 per hour, and buoyed by the fact that 75% of those surveyed work from home) gives Payoneer a “very encouraging sign” for its growth.
He also said that they look to expand their client base not only in the Philippines but the rest of the region as well: “We look to be increasing our head count in the Philippines and in other countries in 2018.” — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
