Fintech start-up Payoneer partners with Mastercard ahead of $3 billion public offering

Digital payments company Payoneer is partnering with Mastercard to offer small businesses a digital payments card.

The Payoneer Digital Purchasing Mastercard will allow the company’s customers to make global purchases, connect to mobile wallets and digitally access multiple cards that help streamline business expenses, such as advertising services from Google, Facebook and Amazon.

“Small businesses will be empowered to choose how they pay and get paid and have immediate access to funds earned, which is critical as the demand for digital payments continues to accelerate,” Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s executive vice president of digital partnerships, told CNBC.

The deal between Payoneer and Mastercard comes amid an unprecedented surge in the demand for contactless and digital payment solutions during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has benefited technology giants like Apple as well as fintech companies including square and PayPal.

There are more than 5 million users on Payoneer’s platform, and the company works with more than 150 different currencies, specializing in cross-border payments. Airbnb, Amazon, Google and freelance jobs platform Upwork are among its corporate customers, as well as millions of independent contractors and small businesses.

Payoneer, which ranked to both 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.

In July, 2021, JPMorgan Chase struck a partnership with Bay Area start-up Marqeta to launch digital-only credit cards. Marqeta, which ranked No. 33 on last year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list, provides the technology to companies like DoorDash and Instacart, whose gig-economy workers use these “virtual” cards in the delivery process. Square uses Marqeta for a virtual and physical debit card launched through Square Cash.

The new Payoneer digital purchase card is currently being issued only for use in U.S. dollar transactions and on a limited basis, with plans for a broader rollout during the second half of 2021.

In March, New York City-based Payoneer announced its plans to go public by merging with Bancorp founder Betsy Cohen’s SPAC, FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp., a transaction that’s expected to close in the first half of 2021 and values Payoneer at $3.3 billion.

SoFi, another fintech company that ranked No. 8 on last year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list, also recently announced a deal to go public through a reverse merger with Chamath Palihapitiya’s SPAC, Social Capital Hedosophia Corp V.