NEW YORK—September 12, 2017— – Payoneer, an innovative cross-border payments company transforming the way businesses pay and get paid globally, announced today that it has partnered and integrated with eZ Cash, Sri Lanka’s leading mobile money network and a brand of the Dialog Axiata group, which commands 50% of the country’s mobile market. Through the integration, Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, merchants and freelancers are able to withdraw cross-border payments they receive using Payoneer straight to their eZ Cash mobile accounts, where they can make a host of local payments with greater ease. The partnership marks another step in Payoneer’s roadmap to make payments for SMBs more seamless, flexible and localized than ever before. eZ Cash will market Payoneer to its small business customers as a value-added service.
The integration enables eZ Cash’s 14 million subscribers to leverage Payoneer’s cross-border capabilities to connect with marketplaces and clients worldwide. eZ Cash customers can send and receive funds across the network’s user base; receive inward remittances from abroad; make online purchases; and settle utility bills, directly from their mobile phone.
“Sri Lanka is witnessing a steady rise in the number of entrepreneurs and freelancers who are serving the increasingly digitized, global market. This has opened additional streams of revenue for them. However, they face several challenges in receiving payments from abroad including high transaction costs, delayed processing and lengthy hold times,” said Fariq Cader, Vice President, Digital Services, Dialog Axiata PLC. “We are delighted to partner with Payoneer to offer our talented freelancers and entrepreneurs a better way to accept payments from their clients abroad with greater ease. We look forward to seeing them avail the convenience and security afforded by our platforms and grow their businesses globally,” he added.
This partnership is the latest addition to Payoneer’s growing suite of business services, aimed to meet the needs of the today’s digital businesses. In the past year, Payoneer has announced its Integrated Payments API, which allows for the integration of the payment service with SaaS providers; an Early Payments service to provide working capital for SMEs; and new features to further automate and streamline Payoneer’s Billing Service, which simplifies the process of getting paid by clients worldwide.
Eyal Moldovan, GM of Payoneer’s direct business said, ” We are delighted to partner with eZ Cash to further localize our cross border payment solutions for the Sri Lankan market and are committed to partnering with additional mobile payment networks and eWallets throughout the world. Alliances such as this further cement our position as the go-to-solution for freelancers and small businesses, empowering professionals and business owners worldwide to get paid globally as easily as they do locally.”
About Payoneer
Payoneer empowers global commerce by connecting businesses, professionals, countries and currencies with its innovative cross-border payments platform. In today’s borderless digital world, Payoneer enables millions of businesses and professionals from more than 200 countries to reach new audiences by facilitating seamless, cross-border payments. Additionally, thousands of leading corporations including Airbnb, Amazon, Getty Images, Google and UpWork rely on Payoneer’s mass payout services. B2B marketplaces are also using Payoneer to power secure escrow transactions between their buyers and sellers around the world.
With Payoneer’s fast, flexible, secure and low-cost solutions, businesses and professionals in both developed and emerging markets can now pay and get paid globally as easily as they do locally. Founded in 2005 and based in New York, Payoneer is venture-backed, profitable, ranked in the top 100 of Inc. 5000’s Financial Services companies, and was awarded a spot on the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 list.
About eZ Cash
eZ Cash was launched in June 2012 under the aegis of the Payments and Settlements Act No 28 of 2005, becoming Sri Lanka’s first mobile money service that permitted sending and receiving money. It has the distinction of being the world’s first inter-operable mobile money service for which it was honored with the Global Award for Best Mobile Money Service at the Mobile World Congress in 2015. Operating under a license from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the revolutionary mobile money network accounts for over 14 million subscribers across Dialog, Etisalat, and Hutch and over 20,000 merchant partners around the island.
Consumers can use eZ Cash to send and receive money locally across the network’s user base; receive inward remittances from abroad; make online purchases and transactions on over 180 websites; and make a host of payments including water, electricity and mobile bills, mobile reloads, and insurance premiums. eZ Cash accounts can be topped up at eZ Cash merchant outlets island wide and through online banking portals of several leading banks while withdrawals can be performed at eZ Cash merchant outlets and select ATMs.
