One of the key things that all online sellers need to do from day one is to set up a swift and user-friendly method of accepting payments; whether you’re selling physical products, are a freelancer or you run a busy B2B concern, this needs to be top of your list.
For online sellers, the payment process needs to be quick and user friendly as lags and crashes when the user is trying to confirm their order just increase cart abandonments.
For B2B businesses, providing a service that is great to use but doesn’t take up more time in admin than needed means that clients tend to be happier and stick around for longer.
Similarly, if businesses have to spend too much time administering payments from their customers and clients, it reduces their capacity to do paid-for work, which after all is what it is all about.
All of this is important, but for businesses in Asia who sell to overseas clients, there’s no point in having a great payment system that ends up costing a fortune in currency conversion fees.
This means that a business that wants to improve sales but also the bottom line needs to find a modern and responsive payment processor.
What is Payoneer?
Payoneer is one of the largest payment processors around, and while you may not have heard of them, there’s a very good reason for that.
Unlike other companies like PayPal, Payoneer concentrates on the needs of online sellers and B2B businesses. Payoneer isn’t a retail service, meaning that it is perhaps less known, but more suitable for professional users.
In fact, Payoneer is one of the world’s oldest online payment processing services, having been born in 2005.
Although set up as a payment processor in the early days, the service has developed over time and now boasts a range of features including FX, invoicing and bill payments that make it ideally suited to the fast-moving world of online sales and B2B transactions.
It’s like a local bank account
Companies based in Asia generally have a global client base, meaning that they may need to accept payments in a wide variety of currencies, including euro, US dollar, GBP or AUD (and many more).
While this is all possible with a standard bank account, it can cost a lot of money in terms of processing fees and currency conversions.
If you decide to only take payments in USD, for example, this can cause extra work for the client in getting the currency converted and then making the payment, and extra admin means more time.
Payoneer scores highly in that the receiving accounts it provides look like a local bank account to the client.
This means that for all intents and purposes. they simply make a standard payment in the same way as paying their local suppliers. It’s simple and quick and certainly avoids those little annoyances that could cause your clients to look elsewhere.
Avoid currency conversion fees
One of the areas where the major banks have let customers down is in currency conversion.
Often you find that there is a large fee if you want to make or receive payments in another currency and the conversion rate isn’t always the most competitive.
This means that the big banks make a lot of money off of companies that perhaps can’t always afford it.
Imagine a company that sells its services in USD and then buys services in the same currency.
You can see that with a traditional payment processor there would be two sets of fees and currency conversions.
That’s where Payoneer is completely different.
In our example, the company would collect payments in the local currency and then hold them in their Payoneer account until they need them.
If they have USD in their account and need to pay a supplier in USD then they simply pay them from their dollar balance. No conversion fees.
It’s quick, simple and cost-effective, and best of all it means you have complete control.
A super-efficient bank account
It’s all very well building up cash balances but if you can’t use them, what’s the point?
In many ways, Payoneer works like a super-efficient bank account.
Companies can use their balances to pay suppliers and freelancers (or even their taxes) but at the same time, they have the flexibility to transfer cash to their regular bank account, use a handy debit card or even withdraw cash at a local ATM.
This is where Payoneer scores highly over simple money transfer services like Wise, as it is designed to work the way that businesses need.
One of the great things about the Payoneer interface is that it shows at a glance all the balances in different currencies and provides instant access to transaction records, meaning that reporting is ultra-quick and ultra-simple.
It’s perhaps the usability of Payoneer that makes it a true business account and where the app scores very highly against more consumer-oriented vehicles like PayPal.
As businesses grow it is important to make sure that the solution you have adopted will grow with you and Payoneer does well on this front too.
While the solution is great for freelancers and microbusinesses, the connectivity and open API mean that large companies can develop the connection as a holistic part of their tech stack and the solution supports the batch payment of 200 recipients at a time.
Payoneer – a modern solution for connected businesses
For the modern online trader, it is important that apps work with the company and not against it.
Payoneer is an excellent all-in-one solution that provides payment collection, currency conversion, supplier payments and even debit card services in one handy package.
The fee structure is excellent, with no charges for transfers between Payoneer accounts, a simple $1.50 withdrawal fee and very clear and transparent pricing.
Payoneer certainly hits the spot as a solution for online sellers or freelancers of any size, so why not check it out and see how it can help your business grow?