Q1: As Payoneer celebrates 20 years globally, how has the company’s journey shaped its role in enabling businesses in India?
India’s services sector continues to be a powerhouse, contributing approximately 55% of the country’s GDP in FY24. What’s driving this momentum is the exponential growth in digitally delivered services, especially in areas like IT, SaaS, digital marketing, and consulting. According to Payoneer’s 2024 SMB Ambitions Barometer, Indian service-export SMBs have seen revenue and volume growth rates of 88% and 85%, respectively, since 2016, fueled by digital transformation, global marketplace access, and strong government support. This has firmly positioned India as a key player in the global delivery of digital services.
What sets Payoneer apart in India is our ability to combine global reach and product capability, with strong on-ground presence. With dedicated teams that understand Indian businesses and their challenges and with localized support, we help Indian businesses confidently navigate cross-border payments across 190 countries and territories. Our mission is rooted in expanding access because while talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.
Take iTechnolabs, a Mohali-based tech firm serving clients across the US, UK, and Australia. With Payoneer’s support to expand their cross-border business, they’ve scaled to $3 million in revenue and are now expanding into Brazil and South Africa. Their story reflects how India’s next-gen service exporters are growing globally even beyond the big metros.
Q2: What are the key complexities that Indian SMBs face in navigating cross-border commerce, and how is Payoneer addressing them?
Indian SMBs face multiple hurdles in cross-border commerce, from opaque FX rates, delayed payments, and high transaction fees to the inability to set up local bank accounts. Traditional banking systems make it difficult to receive international payments, especially in regions where establishing a local presence is not feasible. Payoneer addresses these pain points through a business-grade platform that offers virtual receiving accounts in 9 major currencies, competitive FX rates, and auto withdrawal of Payoneer funds to an Indian bank account, simplifying cross-border operations.
With regulatory approvals across APAC and other key global markets, including the US, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and Singapore, and access to 190+ countries and territories, Payoneer enables Indian SMBs to operate with confidence, access customers and suppliers worldwide, and grow without borders.
Q3: Have you seen any particular challenges around tariff or non-tariff barriers that Indian service exporters need to be aware of today?
While direct tariffs typically don’t apply to service exports, recent shifts in global trade policy have had ripple effects across adjacent sectors. This has led to increased caution among the U.S.-based clients in industries like retail, logistics, and manufacturing, which are significant consumers of Indian IT and consulting services. Despite these challenges, India’s service economy remains robust. Exporters offering high-value services from software and cloud infrastructure to generative AI continue to see strong global demand, particularly from mature markets such as the United States and Europe. According to the Reserve Bank of India, India’s software services exports rose to USD 205.2 billion in FY24, up from USD 180.9 billion in FY23 with the United States remaining the largest destination. Growth was driven by rising demand in cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI-enabled automation, and digital transformation services, which have become strategic priorities for businesses across North America and Western Europe.
At Payoneer, we help SMBs stay agile amid such shifts. Our platform supports fast and reliable payments in USD, GBP, Euro, and multiple other currencies, which eliminates the need for complex offshore setups. Businesses benefit from multi-currency receiving accounts that streamline global collections, and they can automate fund withdrawals directly to their Indian bank accounts. These capabilities simplify cash flow, helping cross-border businesses focus on delivery, growth, and client relationships.
Q4: What core capabilities does Payoneer provide to support Indian SMBs’ international growth?
Payoneer’s core strength lies in being a one-stop, business-grade financial platform purpose-built for the needs of global SMBs. The traditional banking system has made it prohibitively complicated for SMBs to navigate changing regulatory frameworks, local and global banking infrastructure, currency conversion costs, fraud risks, and cross-border supply-chain payments. Each of these is both time and resource-intensive. If you aren’t a large global enterprise, you don’t stand a chance of making it to the starting gate, much less competing. Payoneer addresses these pain points by offering a multi-currency financial stack that is accessible, reliable, and efficient, simplifying cross-border transactions and empowering businesses to operate globally with greater ease.
By using Payoneer, customers can receive payments in multiple currencies directly into Payoneer’s virtual accounts, making it easy to receive funds from marketplaces worldwide and enabling SMBs to be “local” to their customers regardless of where they are. Additionally, Payoneer supports auto withdrawal of funds to a local bank account at competitive fees, providing customers with the flexibility to access funds conveniently.
We support transactions in nine leading global currencies and enable businesses to track and monitor their international payments seamlessly through our user-intuitive dashboard. Our regulatory footprint spans global financial hubs, including the US, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and Singapore, ensuring robust compliance and security. With local staff in 35 countries and support in over 20 languages, we combine global reach with deep local expertise, helping SMBs navigate the complexities of international commerce.
As of March 31, 2025, Payoneer’s ~2 million active users trust us with $6.6 billion in customer funds. In 2024, we processed approximately $80.1 billion of total volume into the Payoneer network.
(Note - Data from Payoneer Q1 2025 Earnings Report)
Q5: How have recent product innovations helped Indian businesses operate more efficiently?
Our Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) processes are managed through a proprietary infrastructure and are supported by dedicated teams, combining automated tools and operational processes with regular audits and reviews to test and monitor for compliance. We have also built a sophisticated risk management infrastructure, leveraging machine learning-based fraud typologies, to address the risks of digital commerce and a global risk management platform to manage the risks of supporting tens of billions of dollars of volume in over 7,000 trade corridors globally for millions of platform participants.
Q6: Service exports are booming from India. How does Payoneer enable businesses in sectors like IT, healthcare, and KPO to scale globally?
India's booming service exports reached $383.5 billion in FY 2024–25, marking a robust 12.45% growth over the previous fiscal year.This surge reflects a broader realignment, with the Asia-Pacific (APAC) emerging as a pivotal driver of global commerce rather than just a support hub. Leading this transformation are high-value sectors such as Information Technology (IT), healthcare, and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) are at the forefront, increasingly delivering services across borders. Notably, the United States remains a significant destination, with Indian service exports to the U.S. growing by 11.59% in FY 2024–25. Other key markets exhibiting positive growth include the United Kingdom, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and France
In 2024, Payoneer delivered approximately $978 million in revenue, representing 18% revenue growth year-over-year.
Asia-Pacific revenue was approximately $187 million, an increase of 31% year-over-year
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Asia-Pacific revenue was approximately $53 million, an increase of 31% year-over-year
(Note - Data from Payoneer Q4 2024 and full year Earnings Report)
Q8: Outside India’s major metros, where do you see new momentum coming from?
Cities with strong potential are fast becoming the new engines of India’s digital export growth. Tier 2 hubs like Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, and Chandigarh are seeing a surge in service export activity, particularly in sectors such as engineering R&D, cloud infrastructure, and generative AI. This signals a shift in how and where India is integrating into global value chains. What’s encouraging is that entrepreneurs in these regions are not only digitally fluent but also globally ambitious, and platforms like Payoneer are helping them access new markets, streamline payments, and operate globally with confidence.
Q9: How is Payoneer evolving its services for the next generation of Indian businesses?
Payoneer is committed to being a connector in the global economy. With a customer-first mindset, we continue to expand our unified financial stack, helping SMBs seamlessly operate, transact globally, and grow across borders. Beyond technology, we are strengthening our role as a growth enabler through community-building and knowledge partnerships. Through our global flagship events, Payoneer Forum and Payoneer VIP Connects, and our social impact partnership with Aspire For Her on the SheExports mentorship program, Payoneer is creating platforms for entrepreneurs, women founders, and emerging leaders to access insights, mentorship, and global opportunities.
As we deepen our value proposition, we’re also sharpening our focus on customer acquisition and retention through tailored strategies across verticals and geographies. These efforts are central to our broader mission of empowering the world’s 80 million underserved SMBs, unlocking opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs to scale globally with confidence, compliance, and clarity.