This story was delivered to BI Intelligence " Payments Briefing " subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here . Cross-border business-to-business (B2B) digital payments company Payoneer closed an $180 million Series E funding round, led by Technology Crossover Venture and including Susquehanna Growth Equity, one of the firm’s early investors. Payoneer plans to use the round to accelerate growth by expanding its workforce and growing its global presence. Strong investor interest points to the B2B payments ecosystem’s vulnerability to disruption. Payoneer helps streamline the time-consuming, paper-heavy cross-border B2B payments process. Cross-border payments are friction-filled for merchants. These transactions tend to be filled with heavy paper work, regulations, arbitrary processes. They can also be expensive with hidden costs and fees, 20% of small business remain unaware of how banks charge for these transfers, which could mean that they’re paying higher fees than necessary. Payoneer helps resolve that, sparking interest among major companies. On top of having over 3 million users, there are thousands of corporations including Amazon, Google, and Airbnb using Payoneer’s payout service. Consumers may be more open to using a service that is supported by these well known companies. Legacy firms are also eager to grab a piece of the fast-growing market, which will likely contribute to rapid change in cross-border B2B. For instance, in a move to expand its B2B capabilities, Western Union launched WU Edge, its cross-border digital business-to-business (B2B) payments platform, in April 2016. WU Edge supports fee-free, real-time transactions in 51 currencies and 13 markets, with the hopes of simplifying B2B cross-border payments. This move will help Western Union keep a large presence in an industry that saw $155 trillion in business-to-business payments moved across borders during 2014, according to Bloomberg . Other firms could launch or expand similar programs. Payoneer is […]
