Philippine BPO and IT companies collecting dollars from foreign clients

Manila, Cebu and Clark host thousands of contact centres, back offices and software firms serving the US, Australia and Europe. Clients pay in dollars. Payroll goes out in pesos twice a month. The route from one to the other is where companies lose time and margin.

Rashidatou K.Payments editor

Published: 16 October 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

A Cebu contact centre with 900 agents serves three US clients and one in Sydney. It invoices in dollars and Australian dollars and pays agents on the 15th and 30th in pesos. The US payments arrive by international wire, three to five days after release. Twice last year a delayed payment landed after payroll, and the company drew on a credit line.

A dollar-earning sector

The IT-BPM sector is one of the Philippines' main sources of foreign currency, alongside remittances. Its clients are mostly American, followed by Australian and European firms. Revenue is in their currencies; costs are mostly local.

Foreign currency is allowed

The BSP's foreign exchange rules are liberal for companies. BPO firms commonly hold dollar accounts at Philippine banks and convert to pesos as needed.

Incentives

Many BPO and IT companies are registered business enterprises in ecozones or IT parks under PEZA or other investment promotion agencies. The CREATE law and its 2024 amendment, CREATE MORE, set out incentives such as income tax holidays followed by enhanced deductions or a special corporate income tax rate, subject to conditions including export orientation. Keep records that support export revenue.

Payment timing

Payroll dates are fixed. Client wires are not. US account details in the company's own name let US clients pay by ACH, so payments arrive in one to two business days and are not held up in correspondent chains.

Converting to pesos

Hold dollars as they arrive. Convert a planned amount a few days before each payroll. The peso moves against the dollar, and planning makes the rate a decision.

Paying into the Philippines: the local rail

What	Detail
Local rail	InstaPay for instant transfers; PESONet for batch payments
Run by	Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, operated through BancNet and the PCHC
Settlement	InstaPay in seconds, 24/7, up to ₱50,000 per transfer; PESONet the same business day

Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: InstaPay and PESONet. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

A Rivet business account accepts registered companies after verification, including Philippine companies. Approved companies get US account details in their own name on every plan, euro and sterling details from the Growth plan, and payouts in 120+ countries, including to Philippine bank accounts and e-wallets where available. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.

Questions people ask

Can Philippine companies hold dollars?

Yes. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas allows companies to hold foreign currency deposit accounts, and most BPO firms do.

What incentives do BPO companies get?

Registered business enterprises can receive incentives such as an income tax holiday followed by enhanced deductions or a special corporate income tax, under CREATE and CREATE MORE, if they meet the conditions.

Why do US client payments take days?

International wires to Philippine banks pass through correspondent banks and are often batched by US accounts payable teams.

How should payroll conversions be timed?

Convert a planned amount a few days before each payroll date, rather than converting each client payment on arrival.

Sources

Written by

Rashidatou K.

Payments editor

Rashidatou writes Rivet's guides to how money moves between countries: the payment rails, what each one costs, and the account details a company needs to get paid in another currency. Every figure in Rashidatou's articles is traced to the scheme rulebook, the regulator or the provider's published price list, and those sources are listed at the end.