Payoneer Adds UK License to Its Global Regulatory Approvals

Payoneer has received another license as it aims to extend its services around the world.

The FinTech company said in a Friday (Feb. 17) press release that its subsidiary, Payoneer Payment Services UK, has received an electronic money license from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The license, which enables digital financial institutions to operate in the U.K., will allow Payoneer to keep providing its services to businesses based in the country and demonstrates the firm’s commitment to provide regulated financial services, according to the press release.

“The FCA traditionally sets the tone of financial regulation globally and therefore we are extremely proud to be receiving our e-money license in the U.K.,” James Allum, CEO of Payoneer Payment Services UK and senior vice president Europe of Payoneer, said in the release.

The firm’s new U.K. license joins the licenses or approvals that Payoneer already holds in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and India, according to the press release.

With these licenses and approvals, Payoneer aims to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) around the world conduct digital commerce and transact globally via its payments platform that is compliant, secure, audited and supervised by financial regulators, the release said.

Joint research from PYMNTS and Payoneer has found that even while SMBs represent 50% of employment worldwide and have an interest in expanding, 27% of SMBs see the complexity of cross-border payments as a hindrance to their ability to grow.

Just 23% of SMBs found their current cross-border payment solutions to be very or extremely satisfactory, according to “International B2B Payments: A Guide for Entrepreneurs and Digital Businesses,” a PYMNTS and Payoneer collaboration.

The relative absence of truly global players in the financial ecosystem has created “significant space” for FinTechs to help underserved SMBs gain access to working capital and cross-border payments functionality and grow their businesses internationally, Payoneer Vice President of Global Banking Anand Bindumadhavan told PYMNTS in an interview posted in January.

“You need to be able to comprehend what the regulations are and to implement procedures to adhere to the regulations,” Bindumadhavan said at the time. “Building this financial highway is important for us to be able to enable customers to receive and send money across the globe.”