Payoneer vs PayPal: Best Platform Comparison for Smooth Transactions

Whatever you do, from freelancing to running a business with global clients, one of the keys to success is choosing the right payment platform. Key aspects that matter when you choose the right service are transaction fees, currency conversion rates, and how easy it is to send and receive payments.

With these in mind, I'm here to give you an unbiased, in-depth comparison of Payoneer and PayPal, two of the leading online payment platforms. I have used both platforms extensively and conducted extensive research. So, I will analyze their features, fees, and services to help you determine which platform best suits your business needs.

To make our analysis even better, I consulted two experts: Daniel Ray, the founder of PinnacleQuote, an expert consulting company, and John Wilson, Owner & CEO of Wilson Plumbing and Heating, a plumbing company. Their input will give us more perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of these platforms. So, read on!

Overview of Payoneer and PayPal

Payoneer

Payoneer is a financial services platform you can use to transfer money online and make digital payments. It was founded in 2005 to give business owners and professionals a platform to send and receive payments from anywhere in the world. When paid, you can access funds by transferring to local banks, using prepaid Mastercards, or using the Payoneer e-wallet.

Payoneer supports transactions in over 70 currencies and operates in more than 190 countries. Top guns like Airbnb, Amazon, and Upwork make payments through Payoneer. So, it is a popular choice for freelancers, e-commerce sellers, and businesses with international clients. 

PayPal

PayPal, on the other hand, is a digital payment platform that helps facilitate online money transfers. It is an electronic alternative to checks and money orders. PayPal was established in 1998, but it has grown and is now one of the most used payment platforms worldwide. You can use it to send and receive payments, make purchases online, and transfer funds to bank accounts.

The platform supports 25 currencies and operates in over 200 countries. Its services will mostly suit individual consumers, freelancers, and businesses of all sizes since it offers merchant accounts, invoicing, and a business debit Mastercard. PayPal has recently expanded its partnerships with the likes of Verifone and JPMorgan Chase to help enhance merchant services.

Comparison of primary features

Let's start by comparing their primary features, such as payment methods and mass payment ability, and see which stands out.

1. Payment methods

Both PayPal and Payoneer have lots of ways to make payments.

For PayPal, you can make payments through credit and debit cards, bank transfers, PayPal balances, and digital wallets like Venmo.

For Payoneer, you can pay through credit and debit cards, local and international bank transfers, Amazon, and Upwork, which is very useful for freelancers and people selling online.

There is no stand-out winner here, as the two platforms support the same payment methods.

2. Mass payments

The mass payment feature is mostly for businesses that make multiple payments at once. 

Payoneer has the "Batch Payment" feature you can use to make bulk payments to vendors, contractors, and affiliates. You just have to upload a CSV file with up to 1,000 details and initiate a transfer.

PayPal also has a batch payments feature called "PayPal Payouts". You can use it to make up to 10,000 payments in one batch by uploading a CSV or TXT file with the recipients' emails, mobile numbers, and PayPal IDs.

The two platforms have features for mass payments. However, PayPal stands out since it has the capacity to pay up to 10,000 people at once, compared to Payoneer, which is just 1,000 people a batch.

3. Receiving funds

Payoneer provides a prepaid Mastercard you can use to withdraw from ATMs worldwide. You can also make direct bank transfers to your local bank accounts by adding the bank details that bear your exact name. You will typically receive the money in 1 to 3 business days, and you can transfer between $0.5 and $10,000 or equivalent in other currencies.

PayPal employs the same methods. You can use the PayPal Debit Card to access funds at any ATM worldwide, and you can also transfer to a linked bank account. It will take 1 to 3 business days for the fund to reflect in your bank account, and you can send between $1 and $25,000 or equivalent.

The two platforms use the same withdrawal methods, but PayPal has a slight edge since you can send up to $25k at once, compared to Payoneer's $10k.

Fees and rates

Let’s check out transaction fees, conversion rates, and other charges.

1. Transaction fees

Payoneer and PayPal charge differently when it comes to fees, whether you are sending or receiving payments.

Payoneer will charge 3.99% of the amount and an additional fixed fee of $0.49 when making credit or debit card payments. They charge 1% of the amount when you make a local bank transfer and 3% for an international bank transfer. They also charge between 2% of the amount for withdrawal and up to a flat rate of $1.5 or equivalent in other currencies.

Most personal transactions (sending money to friends and family members) done with PayPal are free. There are no charges or fees at all. But there is a 2.99% fee for business transactions (paying for goods and services). Additionally, PayPal charges an extra 1.5% fee for international transactions.

There is no strong winner here, but PayPal edges a bit since they charge 2.99% of the amount for credit/debit card payments compared to Payoneer's 3.99%.

2. Currency conversion rates

The amount you pay to convert currencies will have a big impact on your money when you are performing international transactions.

In terms of international transactions, Payoneer has given me better currency conversion rates and lower fees compared to PayPal. In fact, I noticed a significant difference when receiving payments in euros and converting them to USD. PayPal’s fees often ate into my profits, especially with larger amounts. Payoneer, on the other hand, allowed for more competitive exchange rates and a clearer fee structure.

{{Daniel Ray}}

Payoneer uses real-time exchange rates and then charges a 0.5% fee for the amount you want to transfer. That is, if you are sending $5,000 from the US to the UK, for instance, they will first of all charge the 0.5% fee, which will be $25. You will now be left with $4,975, which is the amount they will convert. If you convert this amount using the USD/GBP exchange rate of around 0.772947, your recipient will receive approximately GBP 3,845. This also applies when you are receiving a payment.

In contrast, PayPal adds a 4% markup to any exchange rate, which they call the transaction rate. That means the transaction exchange rate is 96% (or 0.96) of the base rate. For instance, if you are sending money from the US to the UK, the base USD/GBP exchange rate is around 0.772947. To get PayPal's exchange rate, you have to multiply 0.772947 by 0.96, and that will give you 0.741869. So, if you are sending $5,000, your recipient will receive approximately GBP 3,709. It also applies while receiving payment.

In my company, I work with international clients. I use online payment platforms, including PayPal and Payoneer. So, most times, when I am sending money, I prefer Payoneer because of their “0.5% fee” option. I make lots of transactions, but I save more with Payoneer because of that “fee” option. One day, I purposely did a transaction with a client in France and divided it into two parts using PayPal and Payoneer for each of them, just to see which one would be more cost-effective. It was a $5,500 transaction, and I divided it into $2,750 for each. With Payoneer, they first charged $13.75, which is the 0.5% currency conversion fee. That means I was left with $2,736.25. The USD/EUR exchange rate was 0.92 by then, and the total amount received by the client was EUR 2,517.35. For PayPal, the client received EUR 2,428.8. Payoneer gave me more value for my money, and since then, I have preferred it.

{{John Wilson}}

From the instances I have shown, you can see that you will save more on currency conversion when you use Payoneer, meaning it stands out in this aspect.

3. Additional charges

There are other charges apart from transaction and conversion fees.

If you stay for 12 months without using your Payoneer account, you will pay an annual account fee of $29.95. Other charges include:

• $29.95 when you order a card for the time.
• $3.15 for ATM withdrawals.
• $1.00 for balance inquiries.
• $1 when you cancel transactions.
• 3% of the amount for credit card top-ups.

PayPal does not have many extra charges. For example, they do not have annual fees or inactivity charges. However, they charge 2.29% of the amount for their QR code transactions. 

PayPal clearly stands out in this aspect since they do not have as many additional charges as Payoneer.

User experience

Now, let's explore the ease of use and customer support of both platforms to see which one stands out.

1. Ease of use

I personally agree with these ratings. PayPal has an intuitive user interface, and I see why users rate it at 9.0 out of 10. Navigation is very straightforward, and you can access any feature immediately. PayPal is also rated 4.0/5 on Google Playstore and 4.8/5 on the Apple App Store.

However, to be very honest, I am a bit surprised as to why Payoneer is rated 7.6. I would personally give it 8.0/10. Payoneer's interface is very user-friendly and fast, but then some users feel that certain functionalities require them to learn about it first - as per some reviews in G2. It has a 4.2-star rating on Google Playstore and a 4.5-star rating on the Apple App Store.

Well, PayPal slightly stands out here since it has the better ratings in most app rating platforms.

2. Customer support

Every user wants effective customer support if they have payment-related challenges. 

PayPal doesn't have the best customer support. Users have reported how difficult it is to reach their support representatives since they always take a lot of time to respond. I believe this is a key factor in PayPal's low Trustpilot rating of 1 star. However, PayPal has a 3.9/5 customer service rating in Delhi, according to JustDial, a leading Indian local search engine and business directory platform. Many customers there have made positive comments about how good the customer service is.

Conversely, Payoneer has multilingual customer support that is available 24/7 through phone, chat, or email. Since you can access them through any of these means, they will help resolve issues promptly. The app has a 4.5-star rating on Trustpilot, and many customers have expressed how satisfied they are with the support services. 

Some months ago, I was paid for some services I rendered, and the payment was delayed on PayPal. I asked the client to use Payoneer, and the same thing happened. First of all, I reached out to Payoneer's customer support through live chat, and they assisted me immediately. The issue was resolved within hours.

I then contacted PayPal's support through email, and they sent me an immediate automated response. It took several days to get a follow-up from a representative, and the whole drama prolonged for about 2 weeks before my issue was resolved. I do not want to make excuses for them, but it could be maybe since they have more users than Payoneer. At the end of the day, we users don't consider all those excuses, we just want our issues resolved as soon as possible.

Many users, myself included, have run into PayPal’s account limitations. For example, my account was once frozen due to a routine large payment, and it took days of back-and-forth just to resolve it. That caused delays in paying vendors and hurt my workflow. Payoneer charges account maintenance fees if you're inactive, but as long as you're consistently using the platform, you can avoid them. Overall, I found Payoneer’s policies to be more predictable. (Daniel Ray)
One frustrating moment with PayPal was when they placed a 21-day hold on a payment without a clear reason. This pushed me to explore Payoneer, and I haven’t looked back. That experience taught me the importance of choosing a platform that values your time and trust. While both have their place, I prefer Payoneer for its consistency and lower costs in global transactions.

 {{Daniel Ray}}

Payoneer generally stands out in this aspect.

Security measures

You need to have peace of mind when dealing with any financial platform, and for this to happen, the platform needs to employ solid security measures.

1. Fraud protection

According to Payoneer, they employ advanced machine learning algorithms to help detect and prevent fraudulent activities. This technology analyzes data connections and traces paths between accounts to identify suspicious behavior and ensure future safety. They also utilize two-step verification to help add an extra layer of security to account-related activities. Personally, I haven’t had any issues with security since I started using the platform, and I'll give them a 10 in this aspect.

PayPal also confirms that they use machine learning to combat fraud. When using, you can customize fraud filters based on your risk tolerance. They also offer end-to-end encryption and send real-time alerts in case of an unusual activity in your account. I've also not had any security issues since using PayPal. They have a top-notch fraud protection policy; I'll give it a 10.

Both platforms are on par when it comes to fraud protection. They take this very seriously, and that has helped them maintain very secure platforms for users.

I could say that both platforms are on par when it comes to fraud protection. However, I think it would be harsh on Payoneer. I love the two-step verification because it gives me peace, knowing that my business funds are almost 100% secured. Please do not get me wrong; I still feel confident with PayPal, but then Payoneer makes me feel more comfortable.  (John Wilson)

2. Dispute resolution

If you have any dispute, Payoneer will immediately process it through email notifications and a chargeback. They display the payment ID, reason, timeframe, and necessary rebuttal documents. You have to respond as quickly as possible with supporting documents or accept the chargeback claim. They also recommend you communicate directly with the buyer to reach a mutual solution.

If a PayPal buyer initiates a dispute, the first thing the platform does is to hold on to the funds involved in the transaction. If both parties cannot reach an agreement, the dispute will escalate to a claim, and from there, PayPal will have to intervene by investigating and making a ruling.

Both platforms take the best possible actions to resolve disputes, and this works for the users. I believe they're on par when it comes to this.

Below is a table that shows a breakdown of the comparison between PayPal and Payoneer:

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So, out of the ten features we compared, PayPal stood out in five, Payoneer stood out in two, and both were on par in three.

Pros and cons

To end the comparison, let's see the pros and cons of both platforms. These are from my personal experiences, and I've also checked lots of online resources like G2 and Trust Pilot to come to these conclusions.

Payoneer's pros

• It operates in more than 200 countries and territories, which makes it suitable for freelancers and businesses involving international clients.
• Many users, including myself, are satisfied with their fees and rates.
• Users can receive payments in more than 70 currencies.
• They have top-notch customer service who will, most of the time, take the time to attend to your requests and follow up until they are resolved.

Payoneer's cons

• I don't like the account maintenance and inactivity fees. Some users have also complained about their accounts being locked with lots of funds inside — because of inactivity.
• Well, I know I already stated that the customer service has been great, which, personally, it has been. However, there have been lots of complaints lately about poor customer service.

PayPal's pros

• PayPal has a very user-friendly interface. It is fast and secure, and I love the color combinations and how easy it is to access the features.
• Many online merchants and service providers accept PayPal, as it is available in more than 200 countries.
• The platform is also very secure and easy to use.

PayPal's cons

• There have been lots of complaints lately about users' accounts being limited and poor customer service.
• Users are also complaining about the fees and charges, which can be up to 4% of the amount they're transacting.

Looking ahead, I see Payoneer better adapting to digital businesses. They’re focused on expanding features for freelancers, like virtual bank accounts in multiple currencies. Furthermore, their customer support has been more responsive and solution-focused in my experience. (Daniel Ray)

Which platform is best for your business?

Both platforms are perfect for different reasons, and they're up there with the best financial services. However, as a freelancer, I would personally prefer Payoneer since it offers lower fees and more currencies.

PayPal, on the other hand, is perfect for e-commerce merchants. It is easier to set up and integrate, has widespread acceptance, and has a user-friendly interface. 

From my analysis, I hope you will find it easy to choose the platform that truly favors what you intend to use it for. 

FAQs

1. Can I use Payoneer and PayPal at the same time for my business?

Yes, you can use them for different purposes. PayPal is very good if you want to make quick online transactions while Payoneer is ideal if you're receiving payments from overseas with lower fees.

2. Do any of the platforms have better tools for tax reporting?

PayPal provides tax documents like the 1099-K for U.S. users for example, while Payoneer has tax assistant tools for freelancers and businesses worldwide. You have to make your choice based on your tax requirements.

Which, between Payoneer and PayPal, is advisable for subscription-based businesses?

PayPal is better for subscription businesses since it has options for in-built recurring payments. Payoneer, on the other hand, is better for one-time international transactions.

4. Can I withdraw funds from PayPal to Payoneer or Payoneer to PayPal?

No, you can't withdraw directly from PayPal to Payoneer. You have to first of all transfer funds from PayPal to a linked bank account and then move the funds to Payoneer.

5. Which of the two apps integrates best with e-commerce platforms?

PayPal integrates best with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. People mostly use Payoneer for global marketplace payouts like Amazon and Upwork.

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