Payoneer Business Model is based on charging its customers with fees whenever they make a transaction with Payoneer. That is how Payoneer make money primarily as a fintech company although there are other methods discussed later in this post.
What is Payoneer?
Payoneer is an online money transfer service that allows clients to send money in 150 different local currencies at reasonable rates. Payoneer exchange service is estimated to save its clients up to 70% compared to banks and other traditional exchange services.
Founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal, the company makes money by charging its customers a fee on every cross-currency money transfer. Other payoneer additional revenue streams include a business as well as a private account. Payoneer also offers a currency exchange API to local banks.
It has about 4 million users across the world. With its low-service fee it has saved customers close to 71% compared to traditional banks on money transfers.
Payoneer is one of the world’s highest valued FinTech companies. Payoneer has raised over $270 million as of December 2017. As of 2020, payoneer was valued over $3.3 billion after merging with FTAC Olympus.
How Payoneer Works
When sending money overseas, money exchange firms and banks charge different hidden fees. Charges for services rendered, unfavorable rates of exchange and additional fees on debit and credit card usage are some of the hidden fees.
These charges help banks and other exchange operators to build the money collection, stores and other physical aspects.
Payoneer is built to solve these exact issues by providing their clients with transparent and upfront charges.
Payoneer uses their own accounts to transfer money for a customer. For instance, when sending money from United states to New Zealand, the user will first deposit the money to Payoneer account. Payoneer will then transfer the money from their bank account in USA to their New Zealand bank account. The funds are then automatically credited to the recipient’s bank account in New Zealand.
In case that description on how Payoneer works is still confusing, have the experts from payoneer explain it for you:
Payoneer Business Model
Payoneer generates majority of its revenue through transaction-based charges. It charges a fee for every transaction, which is minimal but at the same time vital source of revenue for the company.
Payoneer offers bank accounts for consumers, accounts for business owners and debit card for its consumers which all supplement the revenue generated.
Also read // How does Skip The Dishes Make Money
How Payoneer Make Money
Although Payoneer started out as a simple service to send money internationally, it has incorporated much more. Apart from transferring money between accounts, consumers can also access APIs with other traditional banks Payoneer products.
Service Fees on Transaction
Payoneer main stream of income is the transaction fees it charges for every money transfer. The fees are mostly charged on the recipient end. Payoneer customers sending money to another payoneer user are not charged any fees on the transaction.
Payoneer has 150 currencies through which one can send money in more than 200 countries.
Payoneer For Business
Businesses can opt in to create a bank account with Payoneer. Besides, physical payments will be made with a MasterCard. An API which automates payment processes is also available as well as the ability to manage invoices and balances.
Payoneer API integration helps businesses to collect payments from customers around the world. Users of a certain business can also receive cross-border payments via local bank accounts. Each of this transaction has fee charges which help Payoneer make money.
Payoneer business account is free of charge. Businesses monetization is transaction based where they are charged a fee on every cross-currency transaction.
Small businesses can now purchase products globally and connect easily with mobile money wallets. This is a result of Payoneer partnership with Mastercard. Both payoneer and MasterCard share the commission fees.
Payoneer for Banks
Payoneer allows banks to integrate with its system through an API to provide customers with cheap money transfers and currency conversions.
Payoneer API is free to use. The cross-border transfer fee is similar to that of other income streams.
Through API integration, Payoneer doesn’t take part in the transaction but rather the partner does. Some of the companies that have integrated with Payoneer API include freelance companies such as Upwork, eCommerce sites such as Rakuten and Wish.
Read // How does Five Below Make Money
Payoneer Valuation, Funding and Revenue

According to Crunchbase, Payoneer has raised over $270 million in funding over 13 rounds. In its last funding round in between October 2016 and December 2017, payoneer raised over $180 million attracting around 7 investors.
Payoneer valuation is $3.3 billion as 2020 according to Bloomberg. Recent investors in the company include TCV, CBC Capital and W Capital Partner.
On late June 2021, payoneer went public, after closing a merger with FTAC Olympus, on Nasdaq stock exchange. The announcement of Payoneer going public had earlier been made on February 2021.
Read also // How does Dollar Tree make money
A brief History of Payoneer
With a $2 million funding Yuval Tal and together with other private investors founded Payoneer in 2005. Over the years the fintech company started getting more funding from different investors. It has raised over $270 million from investors.
On 15th March 2016, due to unsuitability of letters of credit for B2B transactions in the range of $500 and $1 million, payoneer decided to acquire Armor Payments (an internet escrow company). Another acquisition of Optile was announced on December 2019.
Since 2016, Payoneer has experienced major developments. Addition of automated tax form service, $180 funding from TCV, as well as an investment from CBC in 2017.
In 2019, Payoneer partnered with freelancing platforms to enable cross-border payments, enlarged its Capita Advance service for e-commerce merchants, FT partners were hired to facilitate its expansion.
Payoneer has since gone public on NASDAQ stock exchange after merging with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. With a valuation of around $3.3 billion after the merging, payoneer is one of the top fintech companies.
You may also like // How does Insight Timer Make Money