accelerated market expansion reported: CEO John Caplan discusses FY 2024 financial outcomes
In a recent interview, John Caplan, CEO of Payoneer, revealed the company's ambitious plans for 2025, aimed at bolstering its presence in the multi-trillion dollar Small and Medium Business (SMB) payments market. The strategy, designed to capture a larger share of this vast market, is centred around geographic expansion, product diversification, and targeting high-value SMB customers globally.
A key part of this strategy is the strategic acquisition and regulatory positioning. In April 2025, Payoneer announced it had received regulatory approval to acquire Easylink Payment Co., Ltd., a licensed China-based payments service provider. This acquisition secures a rare payment service provider license in China, enabling Payoneer to serve Chinese SMB exporters, a segment expected to grow significantly as cross-border e-commerce transactions approach $5.4 trillion by 2026. This move strengthens Payoneer's regulatory footing and opens access to the world's second-largest economy, broadening its global footprint.
Payoneer is also aggressively expanding in regions less affected by US-China trade tensions, such as Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America. In Q1 2025, APAC revenues surged 23% year-over-year to $51.26 million, while Latin America revenues grew 21% to $278.73 million. This broad geographic spread helps insulate Payoneer from localized trade disruptions and tariff-induced revenue headwinds estimated at $50 million while capturing growth from emerging SMB markets.
The company is also moving upmarket by targeting larger SMBs with more transaction volume. For example, B2B SMB revenue rose 37% year-over-year to $52 million in Q1 2025, and checkout service revenues jumped 96% to $7 million. The company’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), excluding interest income, has grown 22% for seven consecutive quarters, reflecting successful client retention and expansion among active "Ideal Customer Profiles" (ICPs), which increased 5% to over 556,000.
Payoneer's multi-currency accounts and payment solutions enable SMBs to receive, hold, and pay funds globally in local currencies, helping them overcome key challenges in international trade and payment processing. These services enhance SMBs’ ability to expand globally, a growing market opportunity as global e-commerce and digital SMB trade escalate.
Though trade tensions and tariffs create short-term headwinds, Payoneer views these as "extraordinary long-term tailwinds" because they drive SMBs to seek flexible payment infrastructure providers like itself, especially in fragmented global markets where localized payment solutions are critical.
In 2024, Payoneer continued to outpace the B2B payments market, with B2B volumes increasing by 42% year-over-year. The company's annual revenues reached $977.7 million, a 18% increase from the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA for the year reached $271 million, driving a 28% margin. However, specifics on Payoneer's revenue growth strategy for 2025 were not provided in the interview.
Payoneer is projecting revenues to be between $1.04bn and $1.05bn for the next year, with an expected 15% growth in core revenue excluding interest income. However, no new information was provided about the company's projected revenues for the next year or its expected growth in core revenue excluding interest income.
In summary, Payoneer’s plan for 2025 involves leveraging regulatory approvals and acquisitions to enter new markets like China, rapidly expanding in high-growth regions, enhancing its product suite for SMBs, and focusing on high-value clients to capture a larger share of the global SMB payments market valued in the multi-trillions. This diversified, cross-border approach aims to turn current trade disruptions into sustained growth opportunities.
Payoneer's strategy for 2025 includes financial maneuvers such as acquisitions and regulatory positioning, with the aim of entering new markets like China and expanding in high-growth regions. This diversified approach, which also includes enhancing its product suite for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and focusing on high-value clients, is designed to capture a larger share of the global SMB payments market, valued in the multi-trillions.
Payoneer's aggressive expansion includes investing in regions less affected by US-China trade tensions, such as Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America. By doing so, the company aims to insulate itself from localized trade disruptions and capture growth from emerging SMB markets.
