Geegpay is the flagship product of Raenest, a fintech company building a borderless payment infrastructure for African talent and businesses. The flagship product automates the invoicing process used by freelancers to get paid for work done, while providing multi-currency accounts to support them.
As globalization and skilled workers increase in Africa, the traditional workplace is becoming borderless.
Businesses looking for talent are no longer limited to hiring within their geographic location, but can expand their search to the rest of the world. In doing so, it opens them up to a greater range of talent opportunities and relevant employment models, such as full-time, part-time and project-based hiring.
Similarly, Africans have acquired digital skills to work remotely for international companies. Let’s consider developers as part of the skilled workforce. A report by Google and Accenture states that professional developers have increased by 3.8% and now represent 0.4% of the continent’s non-agricultural workforce. Interestingly, at least one in three African developers work for companies based outside the continent.
How are they paid?
Previously, skilled Africans seeking remote work were excluded from the global economy. But as African-led cross-border payments startups continue to emerge, the challenges of high fees, long transaction turnaround times and poor customer service are being addressed. Yet getting paid isn’t the only challenge.
Registered businesses require invoices for proper accounting and compliance. Freelancers and remote African workers must use additional platforms to generate invoices for their payment. After receiving their payments in foreign currency, they must convert it to their local currency or spend it online. They are often associated with high costs, reducing the potential value of their pay.
“Geegpay by Raenest was created to simplify global payments and automate invoicing for freelancers, while minimizing translation fees and unfavorable exchange rates,” Victor Alade, co-founder and CEO of Raenest, Geegpay’s parent company, told Benjamindada .com. “Since our launch, we have remained committed to providing reliable payment solutions to African freelancers and remote workers.”
With Geegpay, freelancers can create and automate invoices, open foreign bank accounts in global currencies – USD, GBP and EUR, and instantly generate a USD virtual debit card and convert their foreign currency to local currency.
Geegpay has become a popular platform for freelancers on sites like Upwork and Fiverr, with Raenest processing tens of millions of dollars for freelancers and employees on those platforms within just eight months of launching.
Speaking about the use cases, co-founder and COO Richard Oyome says: “The majority of our 200,000 customers are full-time remote employees or freelancers who work for employers and clients in the US, UK and Europe. These are talented people on freelance marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, People per hour and many others. We have also seen many customers link their Geegpay USD bank account to platforms like Deel, Payoneer and Remote.com. This makes it easy for them to receive and convert to leading local exchange rates.”
Geegpay’s popularity is due to its simplicity, fast payment processing and low transaction fees. “Sometime last year, a client in the US was ready to cancel a project if I didn’t provide them with a US bank account to pay into. Geegpay helped with the virtual account and I was able to save the project.” Francescosaid Geegpay user.
Raenest’s services extend beyond freelancers as the company also offers foreign business bank accounts and cards to African startups. While Geegpay is focused on individuals, Raenest for Business is focused on businesses. These businesses can use the platform to pay their counterparties and suppliers in up to 30 countries in their preferred currency.
In October 2022, we featured Raenest as one of the Nigerian startups in the Techstars Toronto winter batch. They also closed a seed round with participation from Ventures Platform, Seedstars, TCVP, Voltron Capital, Ajim Capital, Africa collision fund, Adamantium Fund, Hoaq Club and other angel investors.
With its focus on addressing the unique challenges of working and operating in Africa, Raenest is poised to impact the business landscape in the region, offering solutions like Geegpay that streamline invoicing and payment processes while keeping costs low and improving cost efficiency as for freelancers and businesses.
This article was created in partnership with Raenest.