Digital payments company Payoneer is partnering with Mastercard to offer a digital debit card to small businesses.
Payoneer’s Digital Purchasing Mastercard allows the company’s customers to make global purchases, connect to mobile wallets and digitally access a number of cards that help streamline business costs, such as advertising services from Google, Facebook and Amazon.
“Small businesses will be able to choose how they pay and how they are paid and have immediate access to earned money, which is vital as the demand for digital payments accelerates, “Sherri Haymond, Mastercard ‘s executive vice president of digital partnerships, told CNBC.
The agreement between Payoneer and Mastercard comes amid an unprecedented increase in demand for wireless and digital payment solutions during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has benefited tech giants like Apple as well as companies fintech includes Square and PayPal.
The Payoneer platform has more than 5 million users, and the company works with more than 150 different currencies, specializing in cross-border payments. Airbnb, Amazon, Google and Upwork’s offline jobs platform are among the corporate customers, as well as millions of independent contractors and small businesses.
Payoneer, which was both on the 2017 and 2018 CNBC Disruptor 50 lists, was started in 2005 by Yuval Tal, an Israeli entrepreneur who helped start other tech and e-commerce payment companies. Scott Galit joined as CEO in 2010 after more than two years at Mastercard.
Last July, JPMorgan Chase struck a partnership with start-up Marqeta Bay Area to launch digital-only credit cards. Marqeta, which was ranked number 33 on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list last year, will pass on the technology to companies such as DoorDash and Instacart, whose gig-economy employees use these “virtual” cards in the delivery process. . Square uses Marqeta for a virtual and physical debit card launched through Square Cash.
Payoneer’s new digital debit card is currently being rolled out only for use in U.S. dollar transactions and on a limited basis, with plans for wider rollout in the second half of 2021.
Last month, New York City-based Payoneer announced its plans to go public with the merger of BancAC founder Betsy Cohen, founder of Bancorp, FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp., a trade expected to close in the first half of 2021 and valued Payoneer at $ 3.3 billion.
SoFi, another fintech company that was ranked number 8 on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list last year, recently announced a deal to go public through a backward merger with SPAC Chamath Palihapitiya, Social Capital Hedosophia Corp V.