Payment platform Payoneer bets on enabling payments in buyer’s local currency as cross-border trade expands
Gaurav Shisodia, Vice President & Country Manager for India at Payoneer, says improved payment infrastructure and access to collection in local currency are enabling several Indian SMBs to participate in global commerce and look beyond traditional markets such as US and UK.
For years, cross-border transactions were riddled with challenges for Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) looking to sell overseas. High costs, unpredictable settlement timelines, and opaque foreign exchange conversions meant that global trade was largely the domain of large exporters or companies operating at scale.
But this landscape has begun to shift, says Gaurav Shisodia, Vice President & Country Manager for India at , a global payment platform.
According to Shisodia, changes in payment infrastructure and access to local collection systems are enabling a broader range of Indian SMBs to participate in global commerce and look beyond traditional markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Shisodia joined Payoneer in 2016, after over two decades in banking, including stints at Citi and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, where he helped build consumer lending and credit card businesses in the UAE.
Founded in 2005, Payoneer helps businesses, freelancers, and individuals send, receive, and manage international payments easily. It streamlines international transactions, reducing the complexity and high fees often associated with traditional wire transfers.
Over the last 20 years, it has built a global financial stack that enables the world’s 80 million (and growing) underserved SMBs to transact, do business, and grow across borders with ease, reliability, and confidence.
New York-headquartered Payoneer entered the Indian market in 2016.
At Payoneer, Shisodia was part of the early team tasked with building the India business, before expanding responsibilities across South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. He has led Payoneer’s India operations for the past three years.
“When we started building the India business, the market was already showing signs of strong growth,” he says, adding, “But the payment infrastructure available to exporters—especially smaller ones—was still very limited.”
From SWIFT to collections in local currency
Historically, international payments for Indian exporters relied almost entirely on SWIFT transfers.
A SWIFT transfer is a standardised method for international money transfers, using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging network. Though functional, the system came with significant drawbacks.
“A single transaction could cost anywhere between $25 to $50 just to initiate,” says Shisodia. “For a $500-order, that doesn’t make economic sense.”
Beyond cost, uncertainty around settlement timelines and final amounts also posed challenges. SWIFT transactions often involve multiple intermediary banks, making it difficult for exporters to predict when the funds would arrive or how much would ultimately be credited.
“This made pricing difficult and cash flow management even harder,” he says. “As a result, smaller exporters often stayed out of cross-border trade altogether.”
Platforms such as Payoneer have introduced alternatives by allowing Indian SMBs to collect payments in buyers’ local currencies through multiple methods—bank transfers, cards, and digital wallets—while settling funds transparently into Indian bank accounts.
“For the buyer, it removes friction. They pay in a familiar currency and payment mode. For the seller, there’s clarity on FX rates, fees, and timelines.”
Payoneer’s platform is built to address common challenges around moving money across borders, such as fragmented banking relationships and operational complexity.
Rather than relying on multiple bank accounts and service providers, SMBs can use Payoneer’s platform to receive payments, pay suppliers and vendors, and manage day-to-day cross-border financial workflows in one place, Shisodia explains.
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By offering localised interfaces and routing transactions through its partner network, Payoneer aims to reduce delays, cost variability, and uncertainty that are often associated with traditional cross-border payment processes.
Payoneer is designed to make cross-border costs more transparent and predictable, and in many cases can reduce or avoid intermediary bank charges, ultimately helping SMBs plan better and protect margins.
“Payoneer offers a single platform that helps businesses manage cross-border payments, track cash flows, and better understand costs across currencies and jurisdictions,” he says.
Expanding beyond traditional corridors
Improved payment access has also widened the geographical network for Indian exporters. While the US and UK once dominated outbound trade flows, SMBs are increasingly exploring markets in Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
“Earlier, exporters only thought of the US and UK,” says Shisodia. “Now, with the ability to collect locally in markets like the UAE or Singapore, they’re actively testing new corridors.”
Trade disruptions and tariff changes in the US has also prompted many sellers to reassess their dependence on a single market.
“The strategy has moved from selling to the US to selling to the US-plus,” Shisodia remarks, referring to diversification into Europe and the Middle East. “The idea is to de-risk both geography and marketplace concentration.”
Payoneer supports cross-border commerce in over 190 countries and territories and routing via 100 banking and payment-service partners globally, helping businesses manage and move funds through a multi-currency financial stack.
It also has strong partnerships with collaborators and supports sellers looking to expand across platforms including ecommerce marketplaces and digital selling channels.
Collaborators include global marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, and eBay that enable cross-border selling; software and platform partners that plug into a company’s financial workflows; and banks, digital wallets, and payment service providers that form the backbone of international money movement.
Businesses can get paid across borders, hold and move money in multiple currencies, convert currency for payments, manage vendors, and handle accounts receivable and accounts payable, that too without needing a separate setup in every market, explains Shisodia.
Trust, transparency, and cash flow
Trust remains a central issue in cross-border commerce, particularly between buyers and sellers operating in different regulatory and financial environments.
“For buyers, being charged in an unfamiliar currency often leads to drop-offs,” says Shisodia. “For sellers, uncertainty around foreign exchange conversion and settlement dates affects pricing decisions.”
By providing virtual collection accounts and payment status on its platform, Payoneer aims to reduce these frictions.
Virtual collection accounts are local bank details (like account number) that a business can share with an overseas customer, so the customer can pay as if they’re making a local bank transfer, without the business needing to open a bank account in that country.
“When both sides know exactly what they’re paying and receiving, it improves confidence and, ultimately, conversion,” he says.
India as a global hub
Shisodia says Payoneer has seen strong growth across segments since entering the Indian market a decade ago.
“We’re seeing strong adoption among new-age exporters, particularly in ecommerce, SaaS, professional services, and creative industries. These businesses are increasingly optimised for recurring, multi-market revenue, and they often combine marketplaces, D2C channels, and subscription models, which is exactly where having a single, reliable financial stack to manage cross-border receivables and payables becomes critical,” he elaborates.
Looking ahead, Payoneer plans to deepen its investment in India, as it views the country not just as a market but also as a global capability centre.
The company is setting up a product and R&D hub in Gurugram, and a global operations centre in Bengaluru. It has also applied for a payment aggregator licence in India. As it expands its presence in the country, it looks to hire talent across engineering, product, and operations.
The R&D hub will focus on strengthening the technology that supports Payoneer’s workflows on a global scale. This includes reinforcing core platform systems to improve reliability and security, enhancing risk and compliance capabilities, and selectively applying AI to improve accuracy and performance.
The India hub will work on making it easier for customers to connect Payoneer with the platforms and software they already rely on to run their international operations.
“The goal is to build for the world from India,” says Shisodia. “Indian fintech and engineering talent is world-class, and the India team will serve customers globally—not just domestically.”