Payoneer: The Billion Dollar Startup You Need to Know

It seems like there’s a new fintech startup appearing every day, each of them trying to grab at least a little part of the rapidly-growing international money transfers market. However, some of the startups in this field shine so bright that those newcomers hardly have a chance, and Payoneer is definitely one of them.  This company is an inspiration for every entrepreneur because it does not only show what you can achieve by being innovative. Payoneer literally makes the world a better place, which is only proven by its high position on the Disruptor 50 list, which honors the companies making a global change.

Why Is Payoneer So Special?

Payoneer launched in 2005 and it started growing right away, receiving $4 million in additional funding in 2007. The company has positioned itself not as a merchant but as a facilitator for international money transfers and won the admiration of freelancers worldwide by providing them with an opportunity to receive payments with ease.

People using Payoneer receive their payments through its Global Payment Service and can either transfer the money to their local bank account or to withdraw it via ATM using Payoneer’s card. Making payments is just as easy, which is the reason why Payoneer is so popular with eCommerce businesses that leading platforms, including Amazon, use it as a default payment method. So do top freelancing platforms, like Freelancer and Upwork, as well as Airbnb, Google, Walmart, Fiverr, and 200+ other renowned businesses.

One of the greatest advantages of Payoneer, and the main reasons why it managed to climb so high in this super-competitive market is that businesses of any size can benefit from it the same way that individuals do. According to the Payoneer review by MoneyTransferComparison, this solution is very simple offering near instant transfers by enabling you to use a foreign country bank account. This adds to the security as well as helps reduce the costs.

Unfortunately, Payoneer today isn’t best-suited for high-volume transactions. That’s why it’s most popular among SMEs, freelancers, and eCommerce businesses. However, the company is growing and evolving, and most importantly, it continues being innovative.

Today Payoneer is valued at $1 billion and Bloomberg reports that’ it’s actively working on ways to expand further. As the company continues using its unique approach to money transfer service, there’s little doubt that it will achieve this goal rather fast.

You see, the special thing about Payoneer is the fact that it’s not your regular money transfer company. No doubt those businesses are invaluable now and they make a huge impact on the global finance industry as a whole. However, there are dozens of these startups and the majority of them are nowhere near a billion in value.

It might seem surprising to some that Payoneer is because by not being a merchant this company is unable to provide the best money transfer rates. As the current trend in the industry is to offer the cheapest possible transfers, the success of Payoneer in spite of its rates is something that every entrepreneur should wonder about.

So, if this company doesn’t attract customers by offering the cheapest deals on the market, how does it manage to succeed?

The answer is, by offering innovative solutions and services, which provide numerous opportunities to freelancers and small business owners all over the world.

Payoneer’s Services and Impact on the World

To get some idea of what kind of company Payoneer is, you should take a look at the company’s timeline, where it lists the most notable achievements. The latest ones for today are:

• Launching Capital Advance for eCommerce sellers
• Launching new service for SMBs
• Opening the first Latin American office
• Launching automated VAT and tax payments

As you can see, developing solutions that can help small businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide is the focus of this company. And this is what sets it apart from the competitors. While the majority of money transfer companies offer only that, Payoneer offers a variety of solutions and programs that help small businesses enter global markets. And with its easy payment service, Payoneer makes sure that these people have an opportunity to develop their businesses effectively.

The impact of these services changes the lives of not only individuals but nations. For example, in the Philippines, Payoneer provided access to meaningful employment to thousands of people. The residents of rural areas who have little access to financial services, now can work as freelancers or make more money by establishing and expanding their small businesses. And it’s all because they have an easy way to make and receive international payments.

And this situation repeats in many developing countries, where people either don’t have access to banks and other financial service providers or where those can’t be trusted. Payoneer is a solution aimed towards these people as it allows one to get paid even without a bank account.

This ability to identify a problem and develop not only a solution but a range of solutions that help solve it on various levels, is what entrepreneurs should learn from this extraordinary startup. Payoneer doesn’t attract customers by offering the cheapest rates, instead it focuses on delivering the highest value and making a recognizable contribution to the local economies.

To achieve this, the company prioritizes reaching out to places where these services are in an extremely high demand. And yes, it’s true that the service here isn’t the cheapest, but its availability makes up for this and more. What’s even more important is that Payoneer doesn’t focus on big cities, as the majority of fintech startups do. It brings easy and affordable money transfer services to rural communities, thus enabling people who have had very few opportunities to reach out to the global market.

Today Payoneer has over 1,200 employees and offices in more than 10 countries, including the Philippines, the USA, Canada, Israel, Argentina, and Japan. It brings its services where it’s most needed, thus creating opportunities for those who need them most. A startup that wants to succeed today should draw inspiration from this. And remember that nowadays a business must put the people first. Make it your business helping people, combine it with your entrepreneurial spirit, add a dash of innovation, and success won’t be far behind.