46 articles
You earned $3,000 from your US client last month. You withdrew through your usual platform, and PHP 157,000 arrived in your BDO account. The mid-market rate was 56 PHP/USD, which means you should have received PHP 168,000. Where did PHP 11,000 go? Welcome to hidden FX fees – the silent tax on Filipino freelancer income […]
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Whether you are a virtual assistant working for an Australian agency, a developer billing clients in Europe, or a designer with US-based retainers, receiving international payments in the Philippines involves navigating a maze of fees, conversion rates, and delays. The best approach depends on where your money is coming from, how much you receive, and […]
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Upwork is one of the primary income sources for Filipino freelancers. The Philippines consistently ranks in the top three countries on the platform by number of active freelancers. But there is a quiet leak in most Filipino Upwork earners’ income: the withdrawal step. Upwork itself takes a 10% service fee (dropping to 5% after $10K […]
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PayPal has been the default international payment tool for Filipino freelancers since the early 2010s. It is familiar, it is accepted everywhere, and most US clients already have accounts. But familiarity comes at a cost – literally. Between conversion fees, withdrawal charges, and the ever-present risk of account limitations, PayPal takes a significant cut of […]
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Filipino freelancers have been asking the same question for years: how do you get a US dollar account without incorporating in the States, without an SSN, and without jumping through weeks of paperwork? The answer used to be “you can’t” – at least not a real account with routing numbers that US clients can pay […]
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The Philippines has one of the largest freelance workforces in the world. Over 1.5 million Filipinos earn income from international clients, with the vast majority of that revenue denominated in US dollars. The problem is straightforward: most US clients pay via ACH or domestic wire, and Filipino freelancers have historically lacked a clean way to […]
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Stablecoins have become a practical tool for cross-border payments in Latin America. For Chilean workers earning internationally, USDC (a dollar-pegged stablecoin) offers a way to hold USD value without a traditional US bank account and convert to CLP when needed. But turning USDC into pesos that land in your CuentaRUT or cuenta corriente requires understanding […]
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Few things are more stressful than watching a payment arrive and then being unable to access it. For Chilean freelancers receiving USD from international clients, account freezes and payment holds are not rare events – they are a known risk that affects thousands of people each year. Understanding why freezes happen and how to structure […]
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Chile has one of Latin America’s strongest tech talent pools. Thousands of developers, designers, marketers, and product managers contract for US startups and corporations. But when payday comes, the banking infrastructure has not kept up. Local apps like MACH and Tenpo handle CLP well but cannot receive international payments. Traditional banks can receive wires but […]
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Every international wire transfer to a Chilean bank account passes through a chain of intermediaries, each taking a cut. By the time your client’s payment reaches your CuentaRUT or cuenta corriente, the fees and exchange rate markups can eat 3-6% of the total. On a $10,000 payment, that is $300-$600 gone before you touch it. […]
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