8.4
Overall
About Paypal and Payoneer
Payoneer was first founded in 2005 and is a New York-based company providing money transfer services and cross-border B2B payment services. Now, Payoneer serves over 4 million customers worldwide, supporting transfers to over 200 countries.
Payoneer is perhaps slightly different from many other online transfer services in that it largely targets businesses, online retailers, and freelancers.
Quick summary: Payoneer can't be beaten if you are a freelancer or sending money for business
Overall, it's difficult to make a direct call between the two companies because of how specialist Payoneer's services are. Payoneer is excellent for businesses, online merchants, and freelancers, but PayPal may be the better choice for sending money to friends and family. Read below to see how we compared Paypal vs Payoneer.
Which brand has lower fees?
PayPal refers to its fees as a "cross-border personal transaction fee”, and these will change depending on where you are transferring to and the amount you are sending. For the US, Canada, and Europe, PayPal will charge £0.99 for transactions under £49.99, £1.99 for transactions between £50 or over. For the rest of the world, the fees are £0.99 for anything £49.99 and under, £1.99 for transactions between £50 - £99.99, and £3.99 for transactions £100 or more.
✅ Verdict: There are too many variables to make a judgement call
Both providers have too many variables attached to their fees to draw a direct comparison of Paypal vs Payoneer, as the amount you are charged can change depending on how much you are sending, the transaction type, and the currency you are converting to. However, if you are after the cheapest option, there are many more cheap ways to send money abroad than PayPal or Payoneer.
Which brand offers better exchange rates?
PayPal charges an exchange rate margin between 3.5 - 4% on most currency conversions, although the exact percentage added is not clearly shown when you are initiating a transfer. As an example, sending from GDP to AUD would give you a markup of 4% on the mid-market rate.
✅ Verdict: Payoneer’s exchange rates are better
Typically, you will find that Payoneer’s exchange rate is better than what is offered by PayPal. However, Payoneer does have it’s own restrictions in terms of its target audience, so this is something worth bearing in mind when comparing Payoneer vs Paypal.
Which brand covers more locations?
PayPal is available in more than 200 countries, but they only support transfers between 25 currencies at the moment.
✅ Verdict: PayPal supports more currencies
While both operators support a wide range of countries, if we compare Paypal vs Payoneer, PayPal supports more currencies to transfer between.
Which is faster?
PayPal’s transfer time can take anywhere from minutes to up to 5 working days. If your recipient already has a PayPal account and you already have the funds in your own PayPal account, your transfer will be processed much quicker. On the other hand, withdrawing from your bank account before converting into another currency will take closer to 3 - 5 working days.
✅ Verdict: It's a tie
Depending on the circ*mstances of your transfer, both companies are capable of either sending your transfer in minutes, or processing your transfer within several working days.
Which brand offers more transfer & payment options?
PayPal’s payment options include paying by bank transfer, credit card, debit card, or transferring via your PayPal account. You can select for your recipient to receive the funds either by bank transfer or by PayPal account transfer - transferring to and from PayPal accounts will be much faster.
✅ Verdict: It depends on why you are transferring money
If you are sending money internationally to a freelancer or as a business, Payoneer may provide more transfer and payment options suitable to you. However, if you are sending money purely to friends and family, PayPal may suit you better.
What do users have to say about each brand?
PayPal has over 13,000 reviews on Trustpilot with an overall ‘Bad’ rating of 1.3 out of 5. It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that these reviews are not just aimed towards PayPal’s services as an international transfer provider, but directed towards PayPal’s service as a whole.
Amongst the negative reviews, users frequently refer to unfair charges, funds being paused or lost, and poor customer service.
✅ Verdict: Payoneer has better reviews
Payoneer stands out as a trusted, reputable transfer provider when we compare Payoneer vs Paypal user reviews, with overall excellent reviews from repeat customers. However, it’s necessary to keep in mind that PayPal offers a number of services beyond purely international money transfers, and the reviews don’t accurately reflect public opinion on these services only.
What brand offers better ease of use, accessibility & security?
PayPal is accessible to a wide range of countries, supporting 17 different languages. The app is available on both iOS and Android, allowing you to view your balance, add and withdraw money, and send money. The app receives good reviews for its convenience and ease of use.
To keep accounts secure, PayPal uses advanced encryption technology in order to protect every transaction it processes. It also has security questions in place that you can use if you forget or lose your password, although you can also contact customer service to regain access to your account.
✅ Verdict: It’s a tie
While Payoneer supports more languages for customer support, both companies ensure a high level of security when processing your transactions.
Additional features
In addition to payments for friends and family, PayPal’s main territory is in e-commerce. It is most widely used as a method to pay merchants for goods online - to do this, you can authorize a seller to use your PayPal account, or designate a monthly payment for a subscription service.
Case study: Sending a variety of amounts
In this case study, we'll take a look at the exchange rate margins, fees, and transfer times of each provider when sending various amounts.
Sending $200
To send $200 USD to SGD with PayPal, you would incur a fixed fee of $0.50, a cross-border fee of 2% of the amount you are sending, plus a 4% markup on the base exchange rate. Your recipient would typically expect to see this amount within 1 - 3 working days in their account.
Sending $1,000
Sending this amount with PayPal would have the same fee structure as listed above - because you are sending a larger amount, you would therefore be charged a higher cross-border fee and a 4% markup on the mid-market rate.
Sending $5,000
This transfer with PayPal would take between 1 - 5 working days and would have the same fee structure listed above. Of course, a 2% cross-border fee adds up to much more expensive fees with a sum this large.
To avoid the excessive costs charged by PayPal you can go for PayPal alternatives.
✅ Verdict: Payoneer has better rates, but isn't ideal for sending on a casual basis
From this case study, we can see that Payoneer's exchange rates and fees are more favourable than PayPal's. However, it's important to keep in mind that Payoneer is not your typical money transfer company. Payoneer is best suited for businesses and freelancers, rather than for transfers meant for friends and family.
Final verdict - who is better?
Overall, when comparing Paypal vs Payoneer, these two companies are best suited to different kinds of transfers. PayPal may be more suitable than Payoneer for simple transfers to friends and family, while Payoneer provides an excellent service for business transactions.
If you're not looking for a transfer provider for sending money commercially, however, you will probably find more favourable rates with a different online money transfer provider than PayPal. You can use our comparison tool at the top of the page to find the best providers for your transfer.
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