For offshore workers, getting paid can be a real pain in the ass. The problem is that third-party payment services, not to mention outsourcing websites, take a very significant cut from wages earned. Then there’s the transaction fees charged by banks, and on top of that, offshore workers often get poor exchange rates when their bank converts wages into the local currency.

Until now, freelancers have had little alternative but to put up with this, and write off the costs of their money being transferred as a business expense. But a fresh startup is aiming to change all that.

Bitwage is trying to address these problems with its new international Bitcoin-based payroll product that aims to get people paid, even if they’re unbanked.

“The core of our products is basically trying to figure out how to bring modern financial tools around the world. We see bitcoin as a way to facilitate that,” Jonathan Chester, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Bitwage, said.

Bitwage has an existing Bitcoin payroll banking system in the U.S., and has now extended its services to the Philippines via its integration with Coins.ph, a company driving the adoption of Bitcoin in the Philippines. Bitwage acts as a middleman for people to get paid faster and easier even if they don’t have a bank account. With the integration of Coins.ph, employers can send Bitcoins to their employees in the Philippines and the employee can choose how the funds will be received.

Those using Coins.ph can have their funds pre-loaded onto a cash card, transfered directly to their bank accounts, or receive funds via door-to-door cash delivery. They can also choose to keep the money as Bitcoin and save it in their digital wallets.

Aside from saving freelancers some money, a second problem Bitwage addresses is the speed of their financial transactions. Whereas payment processors like PayPal can take from five to eight business days to transfer funds, Bitwage does it more or less instantly.

The Philippines has proven to be one of the most popular countries for foreign companies looking to outsource work to employees with a high standard of English proficiency, and now those employees could finally be rewarded with minimal fees and faster access to their hard-earned wages.

Image credit: Bitwage.co