Paypal opens up to RP users, but local bloggers not happy

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net PAYPAL is finally opening up to users based in the Philippines. Paypal is an online service that allows payments and money transfers through th e Internet. Emerging as an alternative means to checks and money order, it is c urrently used to process payments for online vendors and auction sites like eBa y. This e-commerce service in turn charges a fee. Paypal's worldwide services indicate that Philippine residents can now use the service to "send and receive money worldwide," the service's website said. "With over 100 million accounts worldwide and growing, we help you securely, ea sily and quickly pay and get paid locally and across borders," it added. Filipino professional bloggers welcomed this development, but expressed dissati sfaction with what it really offers. "So what does this mean? Well, like many other countries listed as having Paypa l support, it's not really what others would call "Full Paypal Support," Abe Ol andres wrote in Pinoy Tech Blog . He argued that while Filipinos can now receive payments via Paypal, they can on ly use the money to buy services or goods online. "This makes the recent limited support practically useless to 99.9% of Filipino Paypal users in the country. In that end, one would still have to use other 3r d party services like Xoom to actually send funds and deposit them to local ban ks. That makes it more expensive actually since money will have to go thru 2 ch annels now instead of one," Olandres lamented. Reacting to Olandres' posting, Arnold Gamboa said in a comment that local bank Unionbank's EON debit card could be used to receive funds using Paypal. "In that case, there can really be a 'full cycle' of transactions, including th e delivery of funds -- only, it's really much cheaper if it is deposited direct ly to a bank, which isn't available yet," Gamboa added. More than a year ago, professional blogger J. Angelo Racoma launched a campaign to bring PayPal into the Ph ilippines. The campaign hoped to reward Filipino knowledge workers earning a decent income from doing outsourced jobs. In a telephone interview, Racoma said this development is good for now since th e service is slowly opening up to users in the country. "But the service does not allow us to withdraw from Philippine banks. We can on ly use US bank or local debit cards to receive funds with charges. But it can n ow be used to pay for services online," he said. Racoma has said Paypal can help local talent earn from outsourced work by provi ding easier and more efficient payment gateway. He has acknowledged that an "underground economy" that involves Filipino knowle dge workers doing contract work for foreign firms now exists in the Philippines . They are not working for any business process outsourcing firm based in the c ountry. "If only we had PayPal in the Philippines, then I think we would be able to ope n to the world better means to access to our pool of talent. In the course of m y freelance work as a writer/blogger I've had clients who paid via money transf er and it took days, and it was expensive. Xoom? It's a good mid-way solution, but still not as convenient as having the real deal (PayPal). After all, they s till get a cut, and the paying party still has to register for an account, wher e his PayPal details would then be keyed in," he said in his blog. Paypal allowed Filipinos based in the Philippines to use a limited service more than a year ago.