Should I use Payoneer?
Pros:
Cons:
Is Payoneer Safe to Use?
Official Website:
Services Offered by Payoneer
36101
6741Not Top 10 Ranked
Where is Payoneer Available?
Payoneer Review: Executive Summary
Best Payoneer Account Alternatives
While Payoneer was a completely unique solution in the market for many years, others have started following its footsteps. Companies that focused on international payments for businesses and private clients have realised that they can set up virtual multi-currency accounts for their customers, and some of them offer significantly better exchange rates and service than Payoneer. View our favourite Payoneer alternatives and competitors below.
Multi-Currency Bank accounts available in UK, EU, Poland, Australia, NZ and and USA + Debit Card 💳. Best App 📱.
- Bank accounts available in UK, EU, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and USA but you can hold money in 50+ currencies
- Most recognisable name in money transfers and multi-currency account, serving millions of customers and traded on the London Stock Exchange
- Very transparent about its fees which are generally among the cheapest for both private clients
Best for eCommerce Sellers 🛒: Potentially the Best Rates
- Bank accounts available in UK, France, Germany, USA and Canada, as well as Singapore, China and Japan (recent additions)
- FX Margins are anywhere up to 0.75%, depending on the amount sent, potentially cheaper than competitors like TransferWise (Wise). Payment fees range from £1.50 - £15, depending on the payment type
- Industry Leader in the eCommerce Space, owned by Ant Financial (AliPay). Easy integration with any eCommerce platform, and an Amazon recommended solution for currency exchange
Best for Corporate Foreign Exchange Payments, Hedging, Advanced Functions
- Operating since 1979 - the first commercial foreign exchange space. Specialising in businesses - both large corporations and small businesses. Each business customer with volume of £5,000 is assigned with a dedicated currency dealer, demonstrating a very high level of professionalism and excellent availability
- Virtual IBAN bank accounts available in GBP, EUR and USD - but you can use Moneycorp to hold balances in over 120 currencies
- 98% satisfaction based on online customer review -many customer and business awards
Are you eligible to use Payoneer?
MoneyTransferComparison’s Payoneer Review – Rating Updates
- Updated July 22, 2021: Payoneer’s level of satisfaction has been downgraded from High to Medium based on continued complaints on this Payoneer review with no responses from the Payoneer staff.
- Updated Oct 17, 2018: Payoneer’s score has been bumped to 85.5% based on consistently good feedback that has been received by clients as well as testing that proves the company’s speed has vastly improved.
- Updated June 25, 2018: Payoneer’s score has been restored to 81.5%, based on the participation of the company’s representatives addressing comments and concerns, and improved sign-up speed.
- Update January 25, 2018: Due to negative user comments not being addressed by Payoneer’s staff, we have dropped Payoneer’s rating to 61.8%.
- Update Nov 2016: Payoneer review score was downgraded from 89.8% to 82.8% due to multiple reporting of a slow service.
Is Payoneer Safe?
Company size:
Payoneer was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal, who was the CEO at the time as well as the lead investor. Mr. Tal is a prominent Fintech entrepreneur, and prior to Payoneer, he founded E4X, one of the first startups in the online payments domain, which was later re-branded as BorderFree, and was acquired for a staggering sum of USD 380m by Pitney Bowes Inc in 2015.
Since its inception, Payoneer has been receiving serious attention from leading investment firms across the globe, and raised more than USD 245m* up to date, from companies like Ping An – a leading Chinese insurer which employees 200,000 people across the globe and generates more than $60bn in revenue each year.
Using these investments, the company has grown to become a leader in cross-border payments, boasting more than 10 global offices and employing 1,100 people (many of which deal with the complex compliance / legal aspect of the business). It is moving abroad billions of dollars each year, and serving more than 5m registered clients.
*Raised $245 Million – CBC, TCV, Greylock, Carmel, Susquehanna Growth Equity, Ping An, NYCA & Wellington Management
2021 update – Payoneer is going on the stock market (NASDAQ) with a valuation of more than $3bn establishing itself as a payments leader.
Regulation:
MSB/MTLs US+Canada, E-Money Europe, MSO Hong Kong, FTSP Japan, OPGSP India, as well as Liaison offices in China and Philippines
The Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard card is issued by Choice Bank Limited, which is supervised by the main bank of Belize. It is handled by Payoneer’s partner Wire Card Solutions which is authorised by the Financial Conduction Authority (UK) as an e-money transmitter.
Awards and Media Recognition:
Target Audience
| Audience | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Freelancers | Receive payments from employers abroad |
| Online merchants | Receive payments from marketplaces like Amazon |
| Small businesses | Pay freelancers abroad, make B2B transfers |
Notable Partners and Clients:
| Partner | Description |
|---|---|
| One of the big four tech companies worldwide. | |
| Airbnb | 3,100 employees, more than 2.5bn in revenues each year. |
| Amazon | The world’s largest eCommerce marketplace. |
| Getty Images | One of the top visual media companies globally. |
| Upwork (previously odesk.com) | The best well known platform to recruit freelancers. |
Fee Structure (Private Clients):
| Fee Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Loading fees | Normally 1% but waived if you sign up through MoneyTransferComparison |
| Receiving foreign payment | Up to 2% of the sum transferred (less than 1% for VIP clients) |
| MasterCard annual fees | $29.95/year or equivalent in domestic currency |
| Other mastercard fees | Withdraw, balance, purchases – normal fees by MasterCard apply |
Company size:
| Employees | 1,100 |
| Locations worldwide | 16 |
| Registered users | 50,000,000 |
| Business Clients | Tens of thousands |
| Annual trading | 5,000,000,000+ |
| Languages supported | More than 70 |
Awards:
- EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016 – For Scott Galit (CEO)
- B2B Innovation Award 2016 – PYMNTS Innovation Project
- Deloitte’s Fast 500 (Fastest Growing Companies) – 2015
- CNBC 2018 Disruptor 50 List – #13
Conclusion:
Considering the information provided in this section, its stringent regulation, as well as the fact that Payoneer’s board include some of the heaviest hitters in the business, like SWIFT’s former CEO, it is safe to assume that Payoneer is not only safe, sound, and secure but is in fact one of the largest payment providers in the world.
How Does Payoneer Work?
How Does Payoneer Work?
The fundamentals:
Payoneer provides innovative solutions for both private and corporate clients who need to receive payments from abroad. The way they operate is via the creation of collection accounts abroad for each client. Any payment deposited into an offshore account is translated into the local currency as defined by the Payoneer client, and then can be wired to his bank account or alternatively, be withdrawn through any ATM with the Payoneer MasterCard.
Online sellers can receive their funds directly in a bank account set for them abroad. Payoneer’s Global PS currencies to receive local bank transfers: Canadian PS, Australian PS, USD, EURO, GBP, JPYEN, and CNH.
Here are the biggest advantages of using the Payoneer system:
- Easy to sign up. Completely online on-boarding process.
- A very simple solution that doesn’t require a lot of overhead attention. Once a client has been approved, he will automatically receive access to all available currencies, and be able to use any available bank account abroad.
- It simplifies the payment process also for the payer. In fact, there are more than 200 prominent freelancer and ecommerce marketplaces (like Amazon, Google, Freelancer and Upwork) which already have Payoneer as one of the default payment solutions.
- Payment processing is almost instant.
- Invoices are automatically generated through the Payoneer system.
- Clients are able to wire the money they have received on their Payoneer account back to their local bank account, or withdraw it in cash through the Payoneer MasterCard. In fact, this is a huge advantage for developing countries where banking systems are corrupt – you don’t even need a bank account in order to use Payoneer.
- The Payoneer MasterCard can be used from almost any location around the world.
Here are the cons of the Payoneer system:
- You can’t send payments through the Payoneer system (with the exception of businesses who can move funds to other business-owned Payoneer accounts).
- The Payoneer MasterCard requires an annual fee (more on that – on our fees and exchange rate section).
- The Payoneer MasterCard is a limited debit card which can’t be used for certain activities like gambling.
- Payoneer clients are limited to a subset of locations around the world where they can open a bank account.
- You are heavily reliant on the promptness of payments, which isn’t always up to par with the clients expectations, as reflected on our comment section below.
Conclusion:
Payoneer provides solutions which are simply unattainable by any other means. Online sellers who receive large payments from abroad have several similar alternatives, but when it comes to private clients (freelancers) none of the foreign exchange companies we have reviewed on this website offers these sort of solutions. Although this is starting to change with the Transferwise’s borderless account.
In our opinion, Payoneer provides a PERFECT solution for people who receive their salary from abroad, as well as for businesses who get paid by overseas clients.
Payoneer Exchange Rates & Fees
1) Loading Fee – 1% of the money loaded into the card. This fee is waived for our readers who used our referral link.
2) Card Fees – Annual fee: $29.95, Card Replacement (if lost): $12.95, Withdraw funds: $3.15 per withdrawal + normal ATM subcharges, Balance Inquiry: $1, Decline Transaction: $1
3)Bank wire fees: None, besides recipient bank fees which are outside of Payoneer’s control.
4) Currency exchange charges: 2% above mid-market rate, lower rates for VIP clients. This fee is applicable for both card withdrawals and wire transfers.
Limits: There are no limits to receiving money with Payoneer. There are limitations for intra-platform payments which are available for VIP clients (more on that below).
Conclusion:
Payoneer’s banking fees are not the lowest we have encountered in this industry, but it’s hard to compare them with other companies reviewed on our website because the nature of their service is so unique. VIP clients, though, can get great rates if their volumes justify it.
Since the service is mostly geared to freelancers in developing countries, we can compare them neck to neck with Paypal, which is probably the most popular payment method in this sector:
Payoneer VS Paypal – Fees & Exchange Rates
| Company | Personal Transfer Fees (Paypal) / Loading Fees (Payoneer) | Currency Exchange Fees | Withdrawal | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal | 1% | 3.5% | Free to $5 | 4.5% and up to $5 |
| Payoneer | 2% | Free | 2% | |
| Payoneer VIP | Free | 2% or lower | Free | 2% or lower |
As you can see from the comparison above, Payoneer is a much cheaper solution than Paypal for freelancers. It is also a cheaper solution than other ewallets.
For businesses/eSellers, Payoneer can be a great solution if you are eligible for the VIP program (annual trading volume of 100,000). You can view more online seller banking solutions here.
Global Reach & Service
Research:- Support availability: Telephone, Chat, and support tickets – available Mon-Fri in standard working hours. Priority VIP support for VIP clients.
- Offices: USA San Francisco, North Carolina, Israel – Tel Aviv, UK – London, Spain – Barcelona, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, China-Beijing, India, Philippines, Japan, and more.
- Translations: Available in several languages – Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Russian.
- Accepts clients: Client acceptance is truly global. In fact, unlike other companies reviewed on this website which will not accept clients from regions like Russia, Bangladesh, India or China – they would happily accept them.
- Currencies Handled: 150.
- Time it takes to receive a reply: More than 5 days. We have read several reviews online and sent our mystery shopper through and it is verified that dealing with Payoneer is a long and possibly excruciating process.
Conclusion:
Payoneer has one of the most complete global payment solutions we’ve seen up to date. A very strong compliance and risk departments allow them to accept clients on a truly global basis, and even provide solutions to the “unbanked” (adults who do not possess a bank account or, alas, reside in countries where the banking system is unreliable).
Nothing can be simpler than accepting payments directly into a Payoneer account and using a dedicated debit card to withdraw it through the ATM, especially for people who reside in countries like Russia, the Ukraine, India, or any other developing/high-risk countries.
In addition to the fact they accept clients on a global scale and offer them superb solutions, they have local bank accounts in many countries. Thus, the recipient of funds through a wire transfer can enjoy a domestic transfer of funds in local currency when he withdraws funds from the account, and skip the exorbitant fees applied by banks on receiving international wire transfers.
The only real vice is the slowness of service. It takes 5 days to get a response from support after signing up and it can take a whole month or more to receive your Mastercard debit card.
International call line does not work and it seems they are not planning to do anything about it. people complain and they either don’t respond, or respond and tell them to wait. It’s not clear how to withdraw funds from your payoneer account. you need to wait months (sometimes 8 months) to receive payoneer card. There are a lot of issues with bank transfers. Tania, A Client Who Left Her Comment Below
Additional Functions
– Mass payout: Businesses can pay multiple recipients instantaneously, while private clients can request to be paid by Payoneer automatically in many of the world’s most popular platforms (like Freelancer.com, upwork.com, clickbank, Amazon, Google, Getty Images, Lazda, Linion, etc).
– Billing Service: Request payment from a company by sending them a bill generated via the Payoneer system. Receive payments via credit card, eCheck or direct wire transfer.
– Tax form automation: The system auto-generates W-8 forms for all payments generated through it.
– Pay other suppliers on Payoneer: Businesses with VIP status can pay their suppliers directly through the Payoneer system with no extra charges. For them, Payoneer becomes a multi-currency virtual eWallet and can conduct business without ever involving their bank beside withdrawing the funds at the end of the month.
– Pay VAT automatically to European authorities via Payoneer – Payoneer customers can pay their VAT obligations to the European authorities directly from their account page, with no transfer fees!
App:
Payoneer has a fully functional mobile application for Android and iOS which is one of the most popular money transfer apps in the world. There are 100,000,000 downloads on Android’s Google Play alone.
The international money transfer app allows Payoneer clients to check their balance at any time and perform necessary actions (like requesting a withdrawal) and is ranked 4.1 / 5 by more than 11,000 users, attesting for its usefulness.
Conclusion:
Payoneer has a high variation of solutions embedded into its platform. Businesses can pay thousands of recipients in one click in more than 150 currencies, and automatically get the necessary invoicing and tax forms which is a huge advantage.
Clients can get automatically paid into their Payoneer account with ease in almost every ecommerce or freelancer market in the world, and withdraw the funds in cash using their Payoneer Mastercard.
The only real disadvantage Payoneer has is outbound payments which are limited to VIP business clients, and these payments can only be made to other Payoneer customers.
Payoneer Review
- Credibility - 90%90%
- Functionality - 95%95%
- Fees - 75%75%
- Response Time - 62%62%
Bottom Line
Payoneer offers a unique one of a kind solution for small businesses and freelancers who require an easy, low-fee, method of being paid from abroad. You can get paid through their system to your virtual bank account (also known as a multi-currency account), or even withdraw it in cash through Payoneer’s issued MasterCard. The system is smooth and easy to understand and you do not need to be a banking expert to receive the funds and withdraw them with average fees of 1% in exchange rate fees for VIP customers. You can sign up with Payoneer from anywhere in the world as the company is regulated in many different regions, and hence Payoneer boasts an impressive customer base of 5,000,000 users, more than any competitor.
On the flip side, there are hundreds of customer complaints in our comment section and other Payoneer review pages across the web detailing a very slow verification process that very often results in Payoneer withholding payments for months before clients are able to withdraw them, and also that Payoneer’s customer service is non-existent being extremely slow and unhelpful.