Payoneer Bridges the Gap Between Filipino SMEs and the Global Market
More SMEs are choosing Payoneer as their trusted partner.
According to the World Bank’s Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) 2025 Report, the average cost of sending money overseas climbed to 6.49% in the first quarter of 2025, up from 6.26% in the previous quarter. This rate is more than double the UN Sustainable Development Goal target, resulting in significant losses for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in global trade.
This challenge is especially critical in the Philippines, where SMEs employ 63% of the workforce. Unattended, the rising cost of such transactions could hamper the growth of SMEs in the Philippines, curbing their ability to fuel economic dynamism and resilience. This highlights the need for faster, more transparent, and cost-efficient solutions—a gap that Payoneer bridges.
“More and more SMEs are choosing Payoneer as their trusted partner,” said Nagesh Devata, Payoneer Senior Vice President for APAC. “We delivered 16% year-on-year revenue growth in Q2 2025, with SMEs driving much of this momentum, ultimately reinforcing our role as the partner for cross-border growth.”
Breaking Down Barriers to Global Trade
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has identified key challenges in cross-border payments such as high transaction fees, limited transparency, and slow processing times. For SMEs, these issues can erode profit margins, disrupt cash flow, and damage credibility—making it harder to compete in the global marketplace.
Payoneer helps bridge this gap by offering a financial stack that is tailor-made to help SMEs manage their financial operations and ultimately simplify international transactions. Its multi-currency receiving accounts enable Filipino entrepreneurs to collect payments worldwide as if they were a local entity in that country, bypassing costly wire transfers. This feature accelerates payment processing and levels the playing field for SMEs eyeing growth globally.
Expanding Market Reach, Enhancing Operational Efficiency
“Companies built for global work from the start are positioned to stay ahead,” said Devata. “They’re more aware of how expanding beyond their borders can benefit them, creating avenues to access new markets and customers, acquire skills and technologies, hire and retain talent, and achieve greater economies of scale,” he added.
Payoneer recognizes that global expansion introduces new layers of complexity, from hiring across borders to navigating compliance and tax requirements. To address these, the company acquired Skuad in 2024, equipping SMEs with Employer of Record (EOR) capabilities in more than 160 countries. This has helped streamline compliance, payroll, and HR management for SMEs.
Through these enterprise-grade tools and a secure financial infrastructure, Payoneer empowers SMEs to expand into new markets, optimize operations, and manage global growth with greater efficiency and reliability.
Driving Broader Economic Growth in the Philippines
By providing faster, more affordable, and transparent cross-border payment solutions, Payoneer contributes to strengthening the Philippine SME sector, helping local businesses move beyond traditional banking barriers and access global opportunities.
“At some point, SMEs would face the challenge of scaling into new markets,” said Monique Avila, Payoneer’s Head of Customer Success for APAC. “Entrepreneurs like Sherwin Alegre of Microsource Inc. once struggled to scale globally without the right infrastructure for international transactions. By partnering with Payoneer, he gained the tools to boost efficiency, focus on innovation, and expand across Southeast Asia.”
By equipping Filipino SMEs with the tools to transact and thrive internationally, Payoneer fosters a more competitive and resilient business ecosystem: one that positions the Philippines to fully participate in the digital economy and unlock the next wave of economic growth.
For more information, visit www.payoneer.com.
