Payoneer vs Transferwise: Which Payment Transfer Organization Suits Best for Your Business? Independent Review!

Transferring funds across borders are never easy as you need to deal with different currencies, exchange rates, fees, etc. And if you are considering using your local banks, then you need to be prepared to wait for weeks as the number of paper works and regulations involved. 

The best option to transfer money across borders is using an online money transfer solution like PayPal, Western Union, Transferwise, Payoneer. 

For this article, we’ll compare the two leading platforms – Payoneer vs Trasnferwise. 

We’ll be looking at how both these money transfer platforms work, check their transfer limits, transfer fees, transfer duration, and a lot more.

What is Transferwise?

Started in 2011, TransferWise is a peer-to-peer currency transfer service. During that time, it was considered an exciting startup. 

The major goal of Transferwise is to enable individuals to cut down on the huge commission rates offered on conversion while sending money across borders. 

It was when the Estonian founders that they were shelling out huge sums of money in the names of the commission that they started taking the matter into their own hands and started Transferwise. 

Since their launch, the concept down on cutting down on the bank commission allowed them to move over £3bn. And their business model came in from some huge appreciation from individuals and businesses across the world.  

Features of Transferwise

• Peer-to-Peer Money Transfer Service
• A nominal fee charged for money transfers
• Money transfers are completed within 1-4 days
• Provides support for 4 currencies including USD, EUR, GBP and AUD
• Single or Repetitive payment options
• The online calculator allows users to calculate the total amount including fees
• Supports payments through debit cards, bank transfers, SWIFT payment and Apple Pay etc.
• Over 40000 reviews in Trustpilot
• 5-star rating on Trustpilot
• Exchange rates are fetched from Reuters mid-market rates

What We Like About Transferwise

• On the spot transfers made easy using their bot available through Facebook Messenger

• Provides option to carry bulk payments for up to a maximum of 1000 recipients at a time. 
• Multilingual website provided in various languages including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish

What We Don’t Like About Transferwise

What is Payoneer?

Launched in 2005 way before Transferwise, Payoneer was a popular money transfer service based in New York. The mission of the company is to make global money transfers simple for individuals and businesses while offering trusted support for people around the globe. 

Most of the blue-chip companies and huge corporates still use Payoneer as one of their payment options, including Amazon and Airbnb.

Features of Payoneer

• Allows transfer only to other Payoneer accounts
• Can be used as a bank account
• Transfers allowed only for private accounts
• Provides cards like debit/credit cards to purchase things online
• No fee charged for making payments
• Supports 150 currencies
• Only spot transfers supported

What We Like about Payoneer

• Business clients provided with Mastercard
• Ideal payment solution for freelancing website that makes payments globally for freelancers
• Debit cards payments possible
• Bank accounts provided

What We Don’t Like about Payoneer

• Not ideal for enterprises and large corporates
• Account opening takes a long time
• Only private accounts can send money, personal accounts are not allowed to transfer money, but only receive payments

Exchange Rates: Payoneer vs. Transferwise

Both Payoneer and TransferWise provides customers with bank-beating rates. Hence, one could not conclude about who provides the best exchange rates. The rates are also decided based on the fluctuations in the market deals, and hence it is tough to predict. If you are sending money across borders, better check the exchange rates on both before making a payment.

Payoneer Exchange Rates

• Exchange rates are determined based on the mid-market rates
• In some countries, Payoneer charges around 2-2.75% as currency conversion charges
• Get to know the exact exchange rates before making the transfer
• Using Payoneer Mastercard at non-listed companies may attract exchange rates

Transferwise Exchange Rates

• Get to know the current exchange rates from the currency calculator on the official TransferWise website
• The rates are always close to the mid-market rates
• Get exchange alerts for free
• Users also stand to view the fluctuations in the exchange rates and decide accordingly

Payoneer and Transferwise Fees

There’s not any front runner in this section as both businesses use different fee calculations.

Payoneer

• You can make payments for free with Payoneer
• But withdrawing funds from a Payoneer account or transfer to another local bank account can attract charges based on the currency involved
• Up to 2.5% of currency conversion charges applied when Payoneer Mastercard for a non-listed currency
• Funds received from other Payoneer accounts don’t attract any charges
• A 1% fee is charged for receiving payments through Global Payments Service.
• A 1% fee is charged is applied on receiving USD e-checks. 
• A detailed fee structure can be seen on the official Payoneer website

TransferWise

• A percentage of the amount transferred is charged as fees
• The percentage of fees is determined based on the currency involved and the destination country
• A borderless account doesn’t charge its customers, making deposits, receiving money, checking balance.
• But withdrawing funds will attract fees as well as conversion from one currency to another
• Like Payoneer, Transferwise also provides complete details about the fee structure on its website

Security: Payoneer vs. Transferwise

In terms of security, both these online money transfer systems employ high encryption levels along with advanced protection systems. Hence, customers don’t need to worry about the safety of their funds while using these companies.

Is Payoneer Secure?

• Payoneer is approved by Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC)
• It is also regulated by a member of FDIC, Initial Covenant Bank
• The Payoneer Master Card (Prepaid) is offered by Choice Bank Limited and Wirecard Card Solutions 

Is Transferwise Secure?

• UK-based TransferWise is approved and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
• From the U.S., the TransferWise application is governed by Town Federal Savings Bank. In some nations, the business functions as a licensed money transmitter.

Payoneer and Transferwise Multi-currency Bank Account Differences and Benefits

Both Transferwise and Payoneer allow multi-currency bank accounts.

Payoneer

• Provides support for receiving accounts in various currencies including SD, CAD, GBP, EUR, MXN, AUD, JPY, and CNY with the helps of its Global Payment Service
• Allows users to receive funds from various partners including Amazon, Airbnb, Fiverr, Upwork etc.
• Customers can use the service to pay others
• A 1% fee is charged for every payment received in USD
• No fees charged for receiving payments in EUR, GBY and JPY
• Monthly maintenance fee required to keep account active

TransferWise

• Customers are allowed with free receiving accounts in various currencies including USD, GBR, AUD, NZD and EUR.
• While making wire or SWIFT transfers to USD bank accounts, Transfer FBO’s need to be included
• Doesn’t support borderless accounts for the residents of two US States, Hawaii and Nevada
• The borderless account is not supported for residents for various accounts. You can check all countries supported on the official website of Transferwise here.
• You can use it like a bank account to hold funds and to transact with as many as 40 currencies worldwide
• No charges levied on payments from Amazon and Stripe
• No charges levied for opening new Transferwise accounts, receiving international payments and for account maintenance.

Payoneer and Transferwise Debit Card

Both Payoneer and TransferWise lets you access money using a prepaid card.

Payoneer Debit Card Features

• Payoneer offer its customers with a prepaid Master card.
• The card comes with several restrictions on withdrawals and spending limit
• An Annual card maintenance fee is charged
• ATM charges and currency conversion charges apply

TransferWise Debit Card Features

• Transferwise offers a prepaid Mastercard to residents of UK and also for residents of other countries who hold a Transferwise Borderless account
• Free ATM withdrawal allowed up to £200 every month
• Charges levied during currency conversions

Referral/Affiliate Program: Payoneer vs. Transferwise

Both Payoneer and Transferwise provides promotional offers for customers signing up for new accounts. You can check the current promotions and offers in place in their official websites.

Price Comparison

Payoneer promises low fees with no hidden costs and they are true to their word. There are no fees at all for receiving from other Payoneer customers and just a 2% charge when receiving money into a bank account in a different currency. There is a set charge if the currencies are the same.

Pioneer charges low fees and there are no hidden costs involved. Receiving payments from other clients is totally free and 2% fee charged when receiving payments in an alternative currency. 

With Transferwise, the charges are made on a case-by-case basis and customers can use the online calculator to know the exact charges before making the transfer. With Transferwise, people sending money across borders can avoid the hefty charges involved levied if they use the local banks for transfer.

Global Presence

The fact that Payoneer can count Google, Upwork, Airbnb, Amazon and Getty Images as either partners or clients shows the kind of global reach – and trust – that they wield. With 14 offices across the world, including in China, the US, Spain and Hong Kong, they are able to handle 150 currencies in over 200 countries. Their global reach has expanded in the last few years with offices opening in the Philippines and Japan.

Looking at the clientele of Payoneer itself shows its credibility and international reach. When you have clients like Amazon, Airbnb, Upwork and Google, you don’t need to advertise your reputation. Payoneer has around 14 offices across the globe including US, UK, Spain, Israel, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Japan etc. Payoneer supports more than 150 currencies.

Transferwise has offices in the US, UK, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Hungary etc. It supports more than 40 different currencies.

Payoneer and Transferwise Usability

When it comes to using their online services to transfer money, both Payoneer and TransferWise allows customers to register new accounts and transfer money easily without any hassles.

Payoneer also allows people to make money transfers on the go as they have dedicated apps available for both iOS and Android. Payoneer is popular among freelance developers in India, Philippines, Pakistan etc. Even though their global reach can play a major advantage, the main hassle that makes people think twice is the hefty annual fee charged to maintain their accounts. 

It will perhaps be expected out of a tech startup, nevertheless the fully automatic process in TransferWise is really a special attraction for a lot of customers. The lower prices are still an evident and nevertheless the friendliness the customer care team has shown and helped them become one among those market leaders to get the money transfers — that is notable given the foundation of some of these well-established competitions.

Transfer Speed: Payoneer vs. Transferwise

While the cost involved is a major factor, the speed with which the money transfer takes place is also a vital factor. The speed of the transfer is determined based on the currency you choose to transfer.

With Transferwise, most of the money transfers will be done within a maximum of 1-2 working days.

In Payoneer, the transfer takes place within 1-3 days.

Conclusion

Whether you choose either Payoneer or Transferwise, it will considerably save you a lot of time to send money across borders. When compared with sending money through your local banks, the conversion rates are also very less as well 24×7 customer support available.

Sending money with both these money transfer systems is extremely simple, as all you need to do is specify the recipient details, the amount of money to be transferred and your money will be paid within a couple of days.