Web designer wins laptop through using Smart Money service

Monday, May 9, 2011

HIS parents couldn’t afford to send him to college, but that didn’t discourage Darwin Alvarado from striving to attain a better life. Once a housekeeper in Pampanga, this 22-year-old Leyteño learned to create websites, and now has a growing clientele abroad.

He receives payment from his clients abroad through international remittance, which he receives through his Smart Money account. That led to his winning a brand new Acer Aspire laptop in a recent raffle promo.

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“I opened a Smart Money account because it’s the only secure payment facility and the transaction cost is so much lower than other similar services,” he says. With his new laptop, he can now work even when he’s away from home.

Darwin has been designing websites for four years now, a skill he learned from a friend based in Australia.

“My friend taught me the technical basics of setting up a website, mostly through chat and webcasts. It was tedious at first, but I was determined, and soon, I got the hang of it,” he says.

With the basic technical know-how, his friend decided he was ready to accept clients.

When job orders started pouring in, Darwin needed to open a secure international payment platform where his clients could send their payments.

Through diligence and creativity, he is able to provide for the family’s needs and still save for his future.

“Being short on educational attainment has not been a hindrance. I always look for ways to earn extra money so I can help my family,” says Darwin. His Smart Money account also enables him to load his cell phones and those of the members of his family.

More than 8.5 million Filipinos use Smart Money and enjoy these benefits: airtime reloading, bills payment, ATM withdrawals here and abroad, peer-to-peer mobile money transfers to over 45 million Smart subscribers, cash remittances from any of 95,000 international partner transfer locations, and purchases from MasterCard establishments all over the world and on the worldwide web. (PR)