Payoneer, a global cross-border B2B digital payments provider, will soon start offering its ‘working capital’ products for Indian sellers, said its Chief Operating Officer (COO) Keren Levy.
Investment in India
Describing India as “definitely a strategic market” for Payoneer, Levy said the New York-headquartered fintech was “already investing a lot” in India, and was “willing to invest more” in the coming days. Payoneer, which entered India in August 2016, is now focussed on enabling more Indian sellers to become international sellers by moving from domestic to international markets through online marketplaces.
“There isn’t a business out there that doesn’t need more capital to grow. We are looking into bringing our working capital products here and allowing small businesses to receive this service from us as well,” Levy told
Bringing ‘working capital’ product is part of Payoneer’s efforts to cultivate the ecosystem in India and help the sellers in this market grow, she said.
“We sit very close to customers in markets that are strategic to us like India and help fulfil their needs. One of the big obstacles for sellers from India is availability of capital,” said Levy.
She said that Payoneer has already launched ‘working capital’ products in China, and is looking to expand to other markets, including the United States. “We have lot of history on the sellers. We have right technology tools (machine learning, artificial intelligence) to build their profile and advance capital for them,” said Levy.
Rohit Kulkarni, who heads operations in India for Payoneer, said that access to capital from organised institutions is very poor for Indian sellers.
“They (most Indian sellers) still depend on friends, families and private lenders where the IRRs are very steep. Our objective is not only to give a level-playing field for Indian sellers, but also because we understand their patterns, we are best suited to know their business cycles and make that advance when compared to lenders who with their due diligence sometimes irritate them with processes,” said Kulkarni.
Payoneer Forum
Levy was in the Capital for the second edition of Payoneer Forum.
Payoneer Forum, a flagship event organised in 60-70 cities worldwide, has now been rolled out in major Indian cities such as Bengaluru and Delhi.
Payoneer Forum’s first-ever event in Mumbai is slated for August 9, said Kulkarni.
This forum brings together entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium businesses for a day of learning – discovering new opportunities, marketplaces and new ways to grow business and attain new skills.
Growth
Levy said that Payoneer has, in the last two years, recorded rapid growth in India – three-digit growth in the number of sellers and four-digit growth in the volumes processed.
“We expect more growth. We expect more marketplaces to open their gates to Indian exporters. We offer not only products that help sellers, but we also make it easier for them in terms of intelligence. We have products that allow sellers to better understand themselves in marketplaces,” she said