Payoneer’s Global Payment Service is one of the best options for freelancers, online retailers, and business people everywhere to make and receive payments securely, on time, and at a low cost. The Global Payment Service isn’t hard to use, but with a variety of transfer methods used globally, it is helpful to know what to use and when.
Global Payment Service doesn’t work like a bank. This is good for you as it means you don’t pay high fees or wait the long processing periods that a bank applies. But because of the setup of Global Payment Service, it can’t accept all wire transfers for all currency types the way a bank does. As the Global Payment Service is a virtual collection of account details and not an actual bank account, wire transfers cannot be accepted and will not reach the system, resulting in payment reversal delays.
A different type of transfer is used for each currency. These are the currencies and transfer types your client should specify when making a payment:
US dollar transfers are supported by an ACH transfer, which uses the Automated Clearing House network to move money electronically between one bank and another. The ACH network is one of the biggest payment clearing networks in the US.
Transfers in Euros are supported by SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). These are electronic transfers that function like a domestic transfer between 34 participating European countries.
Payments in British Pounds Sterling are supported by BACS or FPS transfers. The BACS payment scheme is a secure way to make electronic transfers between British banks, while the Faster Payment Service (FPS) enables almost instantaneous electronic transfers between UK accounts.
Japanese Yen payments are supported by Zengin, which is the electronic funds transfer and clearing network for Japanese banks.
Canadian dollar transfers are supported by EFT, the Electronic Funds Transfer service used by Canadian banks to clear electronic money transfers between banks and businesses.
Australian dollar payments are made through BECS – the Bulk Electronic Clearing System – which is the Australian system for regulating and processing direct electronic transfers between bank accounts.
Although Payoneer Global Payment Service payments are made electronically, they aren’t instant. When you make a payment, that payment has to be received by Payoneer, approved, processed, and cleared. For all currencies, it takes between 2-5 business days for your payment to go through.
If you’re sending a payment through Payoneer’s Global Payment Service, you’ll be charged a processing fee of 1% for each USD transfer. All other currencies are entirely free of fees.
In some cases, a payment is made using a wire transfer instead of the local scheme and is rejected, as Global Payment Service doesn’t support wire transfers. In this case, the payer – your client will see that the payment was made, and after the applicable processing time, the same amount will be reimbursed to their account by their bank. It is important to make sure that your client is aware that wire transfers will not be received by the Global Payments Service.
Sometimes, you might think that a payment has been “lost” in the system when it’s actually been delayed. There are various reasons why a payment could be delayed. Most often, the delay is because additional information is needed from the recipient.
Another common reason for payment delays is Bank Holidays. A Bank Holiday – similar to a public holiday in the US – is a day when banks and electronic money transfer networks are all closed. Bank Holiday dates vary between one country and the next, so it’s a good idea to check when there’s a bank holiday for the electronic transfer type that you’ll be using, so you can plan around them.
As a responsible online payments solution, there are some transactions that Payoneer won’t process. For example, any payments that are connected to illegal or fraudulent activities are prohibited. Payoneer won’t process payments by someone who lives, works, or conducts business in a country that’s restricted by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
You also are forbidden to use Payoneer for payments connected to online dating, pseudo-pharmaceuticals, pornography, fireworks, and other categories of transactions. See the full list of prohibited transactions in our Terms and Conditions.