Payoneer vs WorldFirst

Payoneer and WorldFirst are global money transfer and digital payments platforms that are easy to use, provide high security and have excellent customer service. The choice you make between the two companies will depend on the type of transfer, payments or bank transfer services you need.

What is Payoneer?

Payoneer is based in New York and it allows you to send and receive payments to and from marketplaces and businesses globally. Payoneer serves professionals, product/service marketplaces, business owners, online merchants, and freelancers. It provides currency conversion, direct payment solutions, and means for businesses to pay their employees and contractors. Payoneer is supported in marketplaces such as Amazon, Upwork, Fiverr, Airbnb, etc.

What is WorldFirst?

WorldFirst is an international payments business that offers services such as currency conversion, paying, receiving, holding, and spending funds. WorldFirst serves ecommerce merchants, and provides business tools to business clients.

WorldFirst stopped offering private client services on 23 April, 2021 to focus on business services.

Payoneer vs. WorldFirst: How Do They Work?

You will need to sign up for a WorldFirst or Payoneer account to access services. However, it is also possible to make a payment request to a Payoneer user if you yourself are not a user.

How Payoneer Works

Signing up for a Payoneer account is simple. You will only need to provide personal details. Your Payoneer MasterCard will arrive after 2-3 weeks which you will use to activate your account. You can use Payoneer to receive and make payments.

Making Payments

You can use Payoneer to pay both Payoneer users and those who do not use Payoneer. Paying another Payoneer user is free of charge. When paying non-Payoneer users, you will need to add their bank account details and make the payment from your Payoneer account directly to their bank account.

Receiving Payments

You can use Payoneer to get paid by clients by sending them a payment request. Payoneer will send the client an email with details of the payment including the options to pay you. You will then receive the funds in your Payoneer account.

You can also get paid by marketplaces such as Amazon and other companies via bank transfers. Payoneer provides receiving accounts through which your payments will come. These receiving accounts work like local bank accounts. Payments coming to your receiving account are transferred directly to your Payoneer account.

Payoneer accounts can generally only be used to receive payments from businesses. This means that your payer must pay you from a business account and not from a personal account. Make sure that anyone who wants to pay you via Payoneer has a verified Payoneer business account. If your payer wants to send money from a local bank account to your Payoneer account, then they must use a business bank account.

How WorldFirst Works

You can sign up for a WorldFirst account online or through the WorldFirst app. For money transfers, you will need to provide details of the transaction including the amount to be transferred, the destination of the transfer and bank account details of the recipient. You will then get an exchange rate quote which you can use to send the money right away or lock in the rate for a later transfer. Funds in your WorldFirst account will be converted into the required currency and then WorldFirst will send the funds to the recipient bank account.

WorldFirst vs Payoneer: Fees

Both WorldFirst and Payoneer offer low fees and favorable exchange rates for their services. However, WorldFirst offers more free or lower-rate money transfers at favorable exchange rates.

WorldFirst Fees

WorldFirst does not charge any fees for personal transfers but charges for business transactions. Business clients will pay $10 for transfers of $10, 000 or less and no fee for transfers above that. Its foreign exchange rates is usually in the 0.5% to 1% range.

Payoneer Fees

Payoneer has different fees depending on the type of transaction, payment method and whether both the sender and receiver have a Payoneer account. Payoneer fee categories are Get Paid (pay-in), Withdraw Money to a local bank account, and Pay Suppliers and Contractors (payout). When you get paid by another Payoneer customer, the transaction between accounts is free. For payments sent to recipients through Payoneer’s Global Payment Service, Payoneer charges a transfer fee of 1% per ACH bank debit in the US or a 3% transfer fee for payments made using a credit card. Marketplaces and networks set their own fees and these will vary. For Payoneer exchange rate, when you exchange from one currency to another, you pay 0.5% above the mid-market rate. For withdrawals, you will pay 2% above the interbank rate when withdrawing funds from a Payoneer account to a bank account in a different currency and a $1.50 fee in the same currency.

Payoneer vs WorldFirst: Payment Methods

When choosing between Payoneer and WorldFirst, you will need to know whether these companies accept your preferred payment methods. WorldFirst supports bank transfers only but you can use a debit card to make payments if you have a business account. On the other hand, Payoneer supports debit cards, credit cards, bank account transfers, and Payoneer balances.

Payoneer vs WorldFirst: Limits

Both Payoneer and WorldFirst have limits on certain transactions. Payoneer is ideal for smaller business transactions while WorldFirst is designed for larger transactions.

Payoneer Limits

There is a limit of 15,000 EUR/USD/GBP for credit card payments and 15,000 USD for eCheck payments for payment requests or payments initiated by Payoneer customers. There is a monthly limit of 100,000 USD for payments from other Payoneer customers.

WorldFirst Limits

WorldFirst is ideal for transferring larger amounts and there is no maximum amount you can transfer. There is no minimum amount for business clients.

Payoneer Supported Countries vs. WorldFirst Supported Countries

Payoneer and WorldFirst have gained a significant number of customers since they were founded. Payoneer is available in 200 countries including the US, the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, the UK, Mexico, etc.

WorldFirst has customers in 4 continents. It serves clients in Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, the UK, in the EU, etc.

Payoneer Supported Currencies vs. WorldFirst Supported Currencies

It is best to confirm the currencies supported by these companies before making a choice. Payoneer supports over 150 currencies including USD, MXN, GBP, EUR, CNY, AUD, CAD, JPY, etc. On the other hand, WorldFirst supports over 130 currencies including GBP, USD, DKK, CAD, JPY, ZAR, EUR, PLN, NZD, SEK, MXN, SAR, RON, TRY, HKD, QAR, ILS, etc.

WorldFirst Security vs. Payoneer Security

One of the crucial things customers check when choosing a money transfer service is its security. You need to be sure that your funds will always be safe.

WorldFirst Security

WorldFirst is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and client accounts are held separate from the company’s business accounts. This means that customer funds will always be safe even if WorldFirst goes bankrupt.

Payoneer Security

Payoneer is safe to use since it is fully regulated in different countries. In the US, Payoneer is registered as a US Money Service Business (MSB). Payoneer’s two-factor authentication adds another layer of security to your Payoneer account. Additionally, Payoneer updates its protocols to prevent data loss via theft, fire or accidents.

WorldFirst Customer Support and Customer Reviews vs. Payoneer Customer Support and Customer Reviews

A good money transfer service provider offers reliable services to its customers. This is true for both WorldFirst and Payoneer.

WorldFirst is rated excellent on Trustpilot with a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars. It offers customer support through their FAQs section, online live chat, phone support, and email support. The WorldFirst support team is available Monday through Friday during business hours.

Payoneer offers an excellent customer support in over 35 languages. You can access customer support through phone, message, online live chat (available in Russian, Spanish, or English), an online knowledge base, a FAQs section, and through the Payoneer Community. It has a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot.

Payoneer vs. WorldFirst: Which is Better?

Although both companies offer easy to use platforms and excellent customer service, WorldFirst takes the overall lead because of lower fees and ability to transfer larger amounts of money. However, for individual accounts, Payoneer is your best choice since WorldFirst is only focused on business accounts.

More Information

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