My online writing work is paid via Paypal and Western Union, and I don’t pay any remittance fee when I receive U.S. dollar payments. It’s the people I write for who pay the remittance fees, so well and good.
But when I checked further this morning, my payout was reduced by the dollar Philippine peso exchange rate used by Paypal and Western Union.
For instance, this morning, the dollar peso exchange rate by BDO was 1$ = 43.1 pesos, but Paypal sent my payout using the exchange rate 1$ = 42.2472 pesos.
With the money that I got, it was as if I paid Paypal 512 pesos via the lower exchange rate. So Paypal is not really free.
Perhaps, if there’s another able competitor to Paypal, then Paypal can lower its rates.
The same with Western Union. But what’s nicer with Western Union is that there are Western Union agents that use higher exchange rates, so look for these agents. I think PetNet is one, and the one in the lobby of Metropolis Alabang, but I’m not very sure. There could be Western Union agents offering higher exchange rates.
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