The 7 Most Acceptable Ways to Compensate Your Freelancer and The One That Guarantees Payment Protection, I’ll leave till last.

Last updated: September 28, 2022 by Visibly One

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There is a growing war for talent in today’s gig economy. And deciding to hire freelancers is to witness the battle unfold. McKinsey Global Management Consulting estimates by 2030 that there will be around 500 million freelancers working through different platforms, which definitely makes freelancers the fastest-growing part of the employment economy. With 40% of freelancers reporting that they are now charging more for their services than they did at the start of the pandemic, and demand continuing to rise, the opportunity for freelancers to succeed has never been greater.

Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005014/en/Payoneer-Study-Finds-Freelance-Workers-Benefited-from-Surge-in-Demand-and-Increased-Pay-Amidst-Ongoing-Pandemic

Working at your own pace, time, and terms – that’s the beauty of freelancing. And taking advantage of the consistent growing demand, freelancers all over the world work with just one goal in mind – ‘to get paid’.

We’ll show you 7 ways to compensate your freelancer through different payment methods. There’s no single best way to pay freelancers – the right choice for you will depend on factors like location and need for payment protection. That’s why you may want to stick around for the last one – you’ll definitely need it – so you can decide which one could be right up your alley. And of course, for your convenience, we put together a table for the transaction costs per payment method for easier comparison at the end of this article.

1. PayPal

Everybody has heard of PayPal. Fast, easy, good ol’ PayPal. With more than two decades in the eCommerce industry and availability in 200 countries and 26 currencies, PayPal rules in the art of sending and receiving money online. It specializes in electronic money transfers and many organizations, freelancers, and websites use it as a primary means of taking payments. Freelancers can also upgrade their personal PayPal accounts into a business one.

To sign up for a PayPal account, you can click here: https://www.paypal.com/ph/home

2. Skrill

Skrill used to be known as Moneybookers. It’s a great alternative for PayPal, costing less but still being an easy and secure option for freelancers who work with international clients regularly. It also has over 80 direct bank connections and 20 local payment methods, where email transactions are also possible. The payment process has two parts: 1) The Skrill review team has to approve the transfer, which can take up to three days; and 2) You have to wait up to 24 hours before the payment is transferred to your account.

To sign up for Skrill, you can either download the app or create an account here: https://account.skrill.com/wallet/account/sign-up?locale=en

3. Google Pay

In 2018, Android Pay and Google Wallet unified to become Google Pay. It is one of the simplest ways for freelancers to receive and send money online, and it is also available on smartwatches that support Google Pay for the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The best part? There are no transfer fees.

When you send your freelancers money, you only need to use a phone number or email address. The processing time for Google Pay payments can be as long as 10 days, but you pay no fees for debit card payments and bank transfers.

Google Play is available for download for both Android and IOS.

4. Wise

Before it was Wise, it was Transferwise. This London-based method allows you to pay your freelancers directly in their local currency, which becomes an ideal choice for freelancers who often request large payments and work with overseas clients – they get to calculate exactly how much they’ll receive. The service claims to be 19 times cheaper than PayPal and allows freelancers to receive money from anywhere like a local. It transfers money at real exchange rates with no bank fee involved and even offers online multilingual support!

Here’s the link to sign up for Wise: https://wise.com/register/#/email

5. Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is the avant garde of payment methods. And ever since Bitcoin came along, you don’t even have to open a bank account to start working – all you need is an internet connection and a Bitcoin wallet which anyone can create in a minute. Have those two, and you are ready to get your wage from all corners of the world. Cryptocurrencies are globally and instantly accessible, too. And as CNBC reports, traditional payments and overseas remittance fees can be as high as 25 percent but these fees can be as low as 0.25 percent in the case of crypto payments. Finally, smart contracts automate payments and ensure that employers do not have to chase work and freelancers do not have to chase payments. Win-win, right?

Cointastical compiled an impressive list of freelancing platforms that pay in Bitcoin. You can check them out here: https://cointastical.medium.com/freelancing-platforms-which-pay-in-bitcoin-e38be56166df

6. Catch

The new kid in the block is here. Introducing Catch, the first and only portable benefits platform. Together with the world’s work marketplace, Upwork, these two companies will provide access to healthcare benefits and personal payroll to independent professionals operating on the Upwork platform. Recent Upwork research shows that 36 percent of the entire U.S. workforce freelanced in 2021. Catch offers freelancers, contractors, and other independent professionals a convenient, easy-to-use platform for their personal payroll, which includes health insurance solutions, automatic tax withholding and payments from various income streams, savings accounts, and retirement investing services.

Introducing your freelancer to Catch is the next best thing you could do after availing their services. With Catch, when income is deposited into your freelancer’s bank account, they will be asked if they would like to set aside some of that income for benefits. Catch then must withdraw from their account to cover their benefits. You can read more about this awesome addition to the evolving world of work here: https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/30/catch-takes-hold-of-12m-to-provide-benefits-that-arent-tied-to-employers/

To sign up for Catch, you can access this link https://app.catch.co/auth/sign-up or download the app on the App Store or Google Play Store.

7. Escrow

Of course, we saved the best for last – and with good reason. Meet Escrow, aka the safest way for you to get the job done to your complete satisfaction. When it comes to security of online payments, creating an Escrow account is perhaps the best option when working with freelancers (with anyone, really!). For the safety of both the client and the freelancer, this method first requires the client to deposit the payment before the freelancer begins working on a project. The freelancer gets confirmation and is assured of secured funding. Once the client is satisfied with the work done, the freelancer can then collect the payment.

Ultimately, Escrow is a means of shielding your transaction and ensuring that fraud isn’t allowed to happen. It’s safe, secure, and trusted by hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs – including the American multinational investment bank J.P. Morgan! You can check out the Escrow Services they’re offering right here: https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/treasury-payments/escrow-services

Freelancers love their freedom. They also love getting paid too. As options for freelance work continue to expand, employers looking to attract the best freelancers should consider how best to cater to those workers’ financial preferences. And at the end of the day, we all want someone we can trust to get the job done. Together with the right payment method, companies not only get quality work, but freelancers also get quality compensation. Win-win, right?

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The 7 Most Acceptable Ways to Compensate Your Freelancer and The One That Guarantees Payment Protection, I’ll leave till last.

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