I already noticed this last week but didn’t post about it because I thought it was an old feature that I only recently noticed. Paypal sent in a press release today confirming that transactions can now be made in Philippine Peso.
“PayPal’s goal is to provide our members with a secure, fast and convenient way to pay and get paid online,†said Mario Shiliashki, General Manager of PayPal Southeast Asia and India. “The introduction of the Philippine Peso will make domestic ecommerce easier and more convenient for buyers and sellers in the Philippines and is well timed for the holiday season!â€
Good news to a lot of merchants that make local transactions in peso. This skips the usual issue with US dollar exchange rates when sending or receiving payments.
Paypal still uses its own foreign exchange rate schedule which is a little lower than the going rate (my last check, it was around 2% difference). In a way, that standardizes the forex rates for Paypal transactions that the buyer and merchant can stick with.
We tried receiving in Peso but it entailed some charges on our part. I think there is a fee you to be able to receive in Peso. I think paying in dollars is not really a problem for our customers. For now, we will just accept payments in US dollars.