Introduction
Payoneer is a USA-based financial services company that allows users to transfer money online and other digital payment services. Founded in 2005 by founder Yuval Tal, Payoneer is one of the largest online payment services companies.
As of 2019, the company’s market value is at over $1 billion. The company headquarters is in New York City.
Payoneer allows its users to send and receive funds directly into their bank accounts, Payoneer e-wallet, or a prepaid MasterCard debit card, which Payoneer also provides.
The main focus of the platform is to facilitate cross-border B2B payments. The company’s services are available in over 200 countries and territories. The platform also supports transactions in over 150 local currencies.
Payoneer is well-known among freelancers. It is because some giant freelancing companies such as Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, etc. use Payoneer to send their payments to their users.
Some other companies, such as Amazon, Google, Rakuten, Walmart, and Wish.com, also provide transactions through Payoneer, giving the company more credibility among its users.
The company employs over 1,000 employees worldwide as a part of its worldwide reach. As of 2019, the official employees’ count at Payoneer is 1,395 employees.
Its customer care team deals with 4 million customers worldwide. Similarly, it has a customer care team that can assist its users in over 70 different languages. Furthermore, the platform has 14 offices around the world.
In an interview, the company COO, Keren Levy, mentioned that the platform generated $300 million in revenues in 2019. That suggests the company generates a decent amount of income. However, its main competitor, PayPal, makes significantly more.
In the interview, Levy also mentioned that the company is considering its options regarding going public. However, as of now, going public isn’t a part of the company’s goal. As of 2020, the company is still private.
Payoneer’s company profile is as below.
Company’s Profile
| Name | Payoneer |
| Website | payoneer.com |
| Founder | Yuval Tal |
| CEO | Scott Galit |
| COO | Keren Levy |
| President | Yuval Tal |
| Investors | Vintage Investment Partners, Susquehanna Growth Equity, Wellington Management, Nyca Partners, Ping An, CBC Capital, 83North, Crossbar Capital, TCV, Viola Ventures, Loeb.nyc |
| Location | New York, US. Palo Alto, US. North Sydney, AU. Gibraltar, GI. Petah Tikva, IL. London, GB. Etc. |
| Headquarters | New York, NY, USA |
| Year founded | 2005 |
| Revenues (2019) | $300 million |
| Key products/ services | Online payments, international money transfer, Mastercard debit card and Payoneer e-wallet. |
| Key competitors | Paypal, Square, Google Pay, Tipalti, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Skrill, Remitly. |
| Subsidiaries | Armor Payments, optile. |
Payoneer’s SWOT Analysis
For an even better analysis of Payoneer, it is crucial to perform its SWOT Analysis. SWOT Analysis is a technique that identifies a company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Strengths and Weaknesses are internal to a company, while Opportunities and Threats relate to external factors. Given below is The SWOT analysis of Payoneer.
1) Strengths
The first strength of Payoneer is its global presence. The platform operates in over 200 countries and territories, including all big countries. It puts Payoneer among some of the top names in the same market.
Payoneer has also established its platform in almost all developing economies, which gives it an advantage as online businesses thrive in these countries.
Payoneer’s main competitor, PayPal, operates in some of regions. However, in some countries where PayPal isn’t available, Payoneer is the top option for users.
The platform also gets a significant user base from these countries, with over 4 million users worldwide. The platform has accumulated its users through the great services it provides them.
The company has reputable customer support, with over 300 employees working in the customer services department to serve these customers better.
Its customer service department can handle queries in over 70 different languages. The platform’s customer care department is one of the best out there, which is also one of its strengths.
Another strength of the platform is that it offers multiple services. The platform allows users to send and receive money worldwide. Similarly, it helps users withdraw funds from their Payoneer account directly into their bank accounts.
The platform also offers an e-wallet system that allows users to keep their money in their accounts. Furthermore, Payoneer, in cooperation with Mastercard, helps users get a customized Payoneer debit card to use in transactions worldwide. All these features provide the platform with a significant boost when it comes to attracting users.
The platform is also easy to use and focuses on user-friendliness. The signup process is straightforward. While users have to provide proof of identity and address, these are standard requirements that users must meet on all platforms.
Similarly, its user control panel is easy to understand and use. The user panel is divided into different sections to allow users to navigate the website without any problems.
Another strength of the platform is its strong affiliations worldwide. Different online digital marketplaces, such as Airbnb, Amazon, Rakuten, and Wish.com, support Payoneer transactions.
Similarly, freelancing platforms such as Freelancer, Upwork, Fiverr, etc. also pay their users through Payoneer. It means users of these platforms will also use Payoneer due to their integration. These networks, therefore, help bring new users to Payoneer.
Weaknesses
There are some weaknesses that the platform has. First of all, the platform has a strict policy when it comes to approving users. While it is a part of the platform’s security procedures, some users may consider it excessive and harsh.
Under these procedures, Payoneer may freeze user accounts, stop payments or receipts, and require excessive user information. All these procedures impact the reputation and brand image of the company inversely.
The next weakness of the platform is that it requires users to have connectivity to the internet. While internet connectivity isn’t an issue in most places in the world, some areas still do not have basic connectivity. It can be a problem for the platform, especially considering it wants to expand into developing countries.
Despite its integrations with other platforms and marketplaces, Payoneer is still far behind its main competitor, PayPal, regarding acceptability. It is mainly because payments through the platform are limited to other Payoneer users or bank accounts.
Users cannot use the platform to make payments online in the way PayPal allows its users to. Almost all online services accept PayPal as a form of payment. The same is not the case for Payoneer.
Opportunities
There are a few opportunities that Payoneer has that the company can use to its advantage. First of all, the company has the resources and the performance to use as a base to go public.
Going public can bring in additional funds into the company, which it can use to expand its operations and introduce new features for its users. Investors are also more likely to invest in the company, given its reputation worldwide.
Many developed countries are pushing toward a cashless economy and focusing on online payments. It presents Payoneer with a great opportunity to expand its platform in these markets and grab a market share at the earliest possible. Since the platform already meets those needs, it shouldn’t have a problem entering those markets.
Globalization and an increase in the use of the internet around the world also provide a great opportunity. Due to the focus on online markets and platforms, the need for platforms that facilitate online payments is increasing day by day.
As an established platform, Payoneer has the advantage of being one of the users’ first choices. Many new online businesses are looking for such platforms to facilitate their transactions. Payoneer can become a platform that meets all their needs.
Threats
Some threats Payoneer also faces can negatively affect it in the future. First of all, due to the platform being online, entry barriers to the market are low.
Any new startup can enter the market and challenge the existing platforms. Although there are some barriers, they are not high enough to stop this competition.
Payoneer also faces a threat from local competitors. The platform’s markets also have some local options that users may prefer. There are many reasons why users prefer to use local alternatives as compared to an international platform like Payoneer.
These local platforms can pose a threat to the popularity and customer base of Payoneer. While users may still use Payoneer for international payments, local competitors are taking over the market for local transactions.
Payoneer also faces the threat of hacking and fraud. Due to the size of the platform, it is a target for all hacker groups. A hacking or fraud problem can tarnish the popularity of the platform worldwide.
Especially considering that there is users’ money involved, such a controversy can make the company unpopular. It is a threat that all companies that work in the digital space face. While the company may have precautions in place, there is still a threat it has to face.
Conclusion
Payoneer is one of the world’s biggest online financial services companies and facilitates online financial transactions. Payoneer is one of the main competitors of PayPal in the online payments market.
Above are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the platform that can help users gain a better insight into it.