Within the past several years, independent contractors have been working in almost every country around the world. The reason for this is primarily the cost factor for today’s companies. It is simply not cost-effective to hire workers for a one-off job when it is easy to find qualified professionals online who are willing to take on the task.
Such is the case when an international company is branching out to Africa. While they would be hiring permanent staff once the facility is ready for operations, there is often much groundwork to be completed before staffing that location. If you are an international company using African contractors for the initial stages of getting an office set up, here are a few tips on easy ways to pay them from abroad.
Online Money Transfer Apps
The fastest way to pay an African contractor doing a one-off job for you would be using a safe and secure online money transfer app. You can use Ria Money Transfer to send money, for example, and it is immediately available to the receiver. They can then choose to deposit it directly into their bank or visit a store that will convert that transfer to cash. Everything can be handled in mere minutes which makes things easy for you and desirable for the contractor who has ready access to the funds you’ve transferred.
International Bank Transfers
These can be easy as well, but they’re usually not as fast as online money transfers. While both can be handled in the digital realm, there is often a bit of time in which some international banks hold international bank transfers until they are cleared. Even though there is a great deal of controversy over why this happens, banks still hold those funds, sometimes for up to 10 days before clearing them! Why this happens is anyone’s guess, but the consensus seems to be the difficulty in chargebacks if the money doesn’t clear.
Put a Cheque in the Post
This is not difficult to do but it is more time consuming than simply transferring funds online. Someone needs to write the check, get a current mailing address, put sufficient postage on the envelope and then send it off. That’s a lot of manpower that many companies prefer to avoid. Also, those contractors are often reluctant to wait days, if not a week or more, to receive their payment in the mail. Mail within one country can be slow enough.
However, when travelling across thousands of miles and being transferred from one mode of transport to another, it takes more time than it’s worth. Don’t forget that most banks will often hold checks up to ten business days before clearing them as well. When instant money transfers are available, this is the preferred route by companies and contractors alike. Why would anyone want to wait up to 20 business days altogether to receive payment when they can have it instantly the same day?
The Bottom Line
Whether you are the international company looking to pay your African one-off contractors or a contractor who just successfully completed the job you were contracted to do, it seems logical that the easiest mode of payment would be online transfers. That just make the most sense all the way around.
Author Bio:
Tricia Lee is a contributing writer at Sparkwebs, a Digital Marketing Agency. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel, dance, and read non-fiction.
