As a small business owner, you need to be able to accept payments from a variety of sources, ideally without hassle and without incurring high fees. You also need a reliable payment processor that offers quick and flexible financial services and all the most recent up-to-date tools, all in one place. In this post, we compare Payoneer and wamo, two popular financial service providers that aim to ease business operations for businesses of all sizes, worldwide. Both offer versatile business accounts that enable things like international transfers, currency conversions, multiple payment options and competitive exchange rates.
Established 15 years ago, Payoneer has become well known for providing financial services to businesses of all sizes and has served millions of customers across the world. The company is a MasterCard Service Provider that enables international businesses to access working capital through online money transfers and digital payments.
On the other hand, wamo is a relatively new and rapidly growing payments provider and financial services provider that is uniquely offering the both of both worlds: payments platforms and neobanks. At its core wamo strives to take the hassle out of opening and maintaining a business account specifically for micro and small businesses and for those business owners and entrepreneurs who have for one reason or another become disenchanted with or failed to open an account before with traditional methods.
Both these providers have pioneered in enabling businesses to send and receive international transactions easily and at low cost. But the question comes down to which service is better for your business requirements in particular. We’ve drawn a comparison between the two to help you decide which one is best for you!
A full view of Payoneer’s more complex fee structures can be found here.
Subscription Plan
Both platforms offer a business account and ease of payments for domestic and international business. While Payoneer’s popular plan has no monthly fee, account inactivity will cost you $29.95 per year. On the other hand, wamo’s most popular ‘Grow’ Plan’ is €49.99/month. So, going purely by the subscription plan, Payoneer is ahead as it's free - you only pay for an inactive account. However, note that additional fees can then add up fast - replacement and shipping on one card alone would cover one month’s subscription with wamo where additional features are mostly free (e.g. free cards and worldwide shipping).
Transaction Fees
Whenever you make and receive money in your business bank account, you usually pay a fee for moving that money. It’s a similar situation with platforms like wamo and Payoneer. Both of these platforms charge transaction fees for receiving and sending international payments. The good thing about a wamo business account is that you don’t have to pay any additional fee for making local transfers with them. But, there are certain charges involved for SEPA transfers with Payoneer’s account. Therefore, if your business involves a high volume of local transfers, wamo will save you significant pennies.
Worth noting that both platforms have fee-free internal transfers. That means if both you and your recipient have a wamo / Payoneer account, you don't have to pay transaction fees when transferring money between accounts.
Currencies
This is a major aspect of choosing an international business account. Although you can open a multi-currency account with both platforms, there’s a big difference in the number of currencies they offer. While Payoneer offers 150+ currencies to move your money, wamo focuses more on major currencies. If your business is working on a large scale and will need to receive and send payments in multiple currencies every single day, Payoneer is a better choice - nothing else considered. But if you are a business owner with a small team, wamo covers the major currencies with many more coming soon.
Sinan Elver
Debit Cards and Replacements
When you run a business with an international business account, it's likely that you'll want the options of debit or credit cards for you and possibly also for your team. Unlike corporate credit cards, business accounts can also offer virtual debit cards that work exactly like a regular card, but can be used only for online purchases. With virtual cards, you can set transaction limits, track all your spending and use them anywhere in the world. Both Payoneer and wamo offer virtual debit cards. When it comes to physical cards - with wamo’s plan, you have access to up to 50 cards and free card replacements with no monthly fee except withdrawal fees. On the other hand, you pay $29.95 with Payoneer’s first card and if your card is lost or stolen, you can request a replacement card at $12.95 plus shipping.
Sinan Elver
In all, business account you choose must depend on the size and requirements of your business. For opening a business account with either of the platforms, you will just need a few personal and business documents that can get you started right away. In some cases, you might also have to go through additional checks, but in general, both of these platforms are more flexible, faster and more international-business friendly than any traditional banks.
If you are ready to run an international business, wamo enables you to open a business account in just 10 minutes. You can get started here.
