Payoneer's Nagesh Devata: «Massive Opportunity in APAC»

Nagesh Devata, Regional VP, Payoneer

APAC has been a key contributor to the firm's overall growth, but Payoneer's regional vice president said there's still «massive opportunity,» given the explosive rise in digital commerce and freelancing in markets like India and the Philippines. 

«We're seeing more players come into the space, and online marketplaces for products and services are now more open to expanding beyond their home market to look at Southeast Asia and APAC as a whole for growth,» Payoneer's Nagesh Devata told finews.asia in a conversation on the future of payments and the opportunities the company sees in Southeast Asia.

The online payments firm's Singapore-based regional VP has had a front-row seat to the sector's evolution since he began his career at Mastercard in 1997. Two decades later Devata joined PayPal, where he held several senior roles at its Singapore office, and in 2020 joined Payoneer, where he looks after its enterprise business for the APAC region. 

Explosive Growth 

Payoneer helps buyers, sellers, freelancers and gig workers connect with marketplaces around the world, allowing for seamless payments based on localized capabilities and multiple currencies. The fintech said it processed more than $44 billion in 2020 – more than double the volume in 2018. It also said it is profitable and expects to collect $432 million in revenue in 2021.

In February, Payoneer announced plans to go public via a $3.3 billion merger with a blank-cheque firm led by Betsy Cohen, and in March expanded its strategic partnership with Mastercard to better cater to the B2B market.

Demand for Services

«The problems surrounding cross-border payments have been around for a long time, and they are more pronounced for SMEs, which have lack of access to financial services,» Devata said. While effective cross-border payments have long been available to larger corporations, SMEs and freelancers lack the same access to instant payments, working capital, sophisticated merchant services and more.

The proliferation of online marketplaces and their ability to connect and service vendors and customers worldwide, along with growth in sectors such as online gaming, e-learning and livestreaming amid the pandemic, is creating a demand for such services.

«People are increasingly using these platforms to monetize whatever they are doing, and this is something that we have seen a significant level of growth and value in terms of how they use Payoneer,» Devata said.

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Payoneer 的 Nagesh Devata：“亞太地區的巨大機遇”

亞太地區一直是該公司整體增長的關鍵貢獻者，但 Payoneer 的區域副總裁表示，鑑於印度和菲律賓等市場的數字商務和自由職業者的爆炸性增長，仍然存在“巨大的機會”。

Payoneer 的 Nagesh Devata 表示：“我們看到越來越多的參與者進入這個領域，產品和服務的在線市場現在更加開放，可以向本土市場以外的地區擴張，將東南亞和亞太地區視為一個整體的增長點。”在關於支付的未來和公司在東南亞看到的機會的對話中。

自 1997 年在萬事達卡開始職業生涯以來，這家在線支付公司的新加坡區域副總裁一直處於該行業發展的前列。 20 年後，Devata 加入 PayPal，在其新加坡辦事處擔任多個高級職位，並在2020 年加入 Payoneer，負責亞太地區的企業業務。

爆發式增長

Payoneer 幫助買家、賣家、自由職業者和零工與世界各地的市場建立聯繫，允許基於本地化能力和多種貨幣的無縫支付。這家金融科技公司表示，它在 2020 年的處理量超過了 440 億美元，是 2018 年的兩倍多。它還表示它是盈利的，預計 2021 年的收入將達到 4.32 億美元。

2 月，Payoneer 宣布計劃通過與 Betsy Cohen 領導的空白支票公司 33 億美元的合併上市，並於 3 月擴大與萬事達卡的戰略合作夥伴關係，以更好地迎合 B2B 市場。

服務需求

“圍繞跨境支付的問題由來已久，對於無法獲得金融服務的中小企業而言，這些問題更為突出，”德瓦塔說。雖然大型公司長期以來都可以使用有效的跨境支付，但中小企業和自由職業者缺乏同樣的途徑獲得即時支付、營運資金、複雜的商戶服務等。

在線市場的激增及其連接和服務全球供應商和客戶的能力，以及大流行期間在線遊戲、電子學習和直播等行業的增長，正在創造對此類服務的需求。

“人們越來越多地使用這些平台來通過他們所做的任何事情獲利，我們已經看到他們使用 Payoneer 的方式有了顯著的增長和價值，”Devata 說。