Local cryptocurrency exchange company Moneybees is pioneering the establishment of over-the-counter (OTC) services in shopping malls as a way to make digital financial transactions more accessible and trustworthy to the public.
The OTC services assist Filipino users with digital transactions, such as converting digital currency to actual physical cash. The seven outlets offer face-to-face concierge-like services where trained staff answer customers’ questions, show them how to transact online and offline, and even convert their digital currency into actual physical cash (and vice-versa).
The branches are found in major malls like Trinoma, Glorietta, and Market Market, as well as luxury hotels such as City of Dreams, Resorts World, and Venice Grand Canal Mall.
Moneybees has partnered with established moneychangers, remittance agents, and pawnshops that have been doing business in the industry for decades. These partners are duly licensed and supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), ensuring their compliance with government regulations and the security and safety of their customers’ transactions.
Moneybees CEO Paulo Roberto del Puerto describes the advantages that this unique strategy provides to both neophyte and experienced crypto-adopters.
“Moneybees makes exchanging Philippines Peso to crypto and vice-versa easier for Filipinos by making the steps more familiar.
We’ve partnered with establishments that most Filipinos are familiar and find comfortable to transact with. Imagine buying and selling crypto just like you are exchanging a foreign currency like USD to Philippine Peso in a physical moneychanger. Aside from the assurance of having a real person to transact with, you have the peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong with the transaction, you can always go back to the establishment,” del Puerto said.
Moneybees supports most cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges such as Binance, Ronin, Bitmex, Paxful, and Trust among others. This means that regardless of the wallet or exchange the crypto user is using, Moneybees can directly exchange their digital currency into Philippine Peso or vice versa. This cuts the crypto user’s usual need to transfer their crypto from their foreign wallets to a local crypto wallet just to exchange it to Peso.
Del Puerto also offers another way by which crypto users can transact through Moneybees: “Through our own Online Trading Desk, people can buy and sell crypto with us through Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, or any preferred chat application. In this method, customers are also talking to real people, and we assign a whole team to help each customer with their transaction. This team is available to them whenever they want to transact, from Monday to Sunday, 7am-12am.”
Crypto use is becoming prevalent among younger users, particularly gamers, but without Moneybees, trading gaming currencies can be cumbersome. For example, an Axie Infinity game player has to first convert the in-game currency (known as SLP in Axie), to a non-gaming crypto currency such as USDT, on a foreign Crypto exchange desk, only then can they convert this to pesos and send it to their local banks or e-wallets.
In contrast, the two Moneybees options are faster and more convenient. That same game player can visit a Moneybees outlet and sell the SLP crypto currency stored in their Ronin wallet for pesos directly. They then receive their pesos in cash, or through their bank account or ewallet. Another way is to simply click on the Moneybees website and sell their SLP through the Trading Desk using their preferred chat application.
Del Puerto cites other advantages that Moneybees gives users over other platforms: “Moneybees accommodates large transaction volumes, from P1,000 up to P5 million without making the user pay any transaction fees. In contrast, other local online cryptocurrency exchanges have strict and lower daily transaction limits; then they charge the user several fees for trading, transaction, and withdrawal, which can end up costing the crypto users up to 5% of their total fees.”
Because of the increasing demand for their services, Moneybees said it plans to open 100 more outlets in major regions like Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Iloilo, Naga, and Bicol.
Del Puerto reiterates that Moneybees’ dual strategy makes crypto-trading accessible, faster, and safer: “Buying and selling with Moneybees is a much simpler process. If you are buying and selling BTC, ETH, AXS, SLP, or other crypto coins, you can simply send your pesos to Moneybees and then receive your cryptocurrency directly into your preferred crypto wallet, and vice-versa.”
He concludes: “If you want answers to your questions while you go on this journey, our outlets and our competent, friendly staff are more than willing to help.”
