Latest news with #Payoneer
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
X's ‘Creator Revenue Sharing Program' gets ‘totally pwned' by Vietnamese click farm, lawsuit reveals
A Vietnamese click farm is accused of duping Elon Musk's X out of a small fortune by exploiting apparently lax controls surrounding its 'Creator Revenue Sharing Program' – an initiative touted by the world's richest person as a purported way for premium users to 'earn a living' through their activity on the site. The eight-man crew operated out of a dingy office space in downtown Hanoi, where they 'programmatically post[ed] computer-generated content' to a network of 'inauthentic' X profiles set up using stolen identities 'to engage in coordinated platform manipulation,' according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained by The Independent. It says these automated profiles would subsequently ''like,' 'repost,' and otherwise artificially engage with each other's content, all for the purpose of deceiving X into paying out funds' based on what the company – which just last year enthusiastically touted a new 'improved authentic engagements algorithm' – now claims were bogus clicks. The 'fraudulent scheme,' X's complaint contends, extracted payouts from the Creator Revenue Sharing Program 'by manufacturing the appearance of content engagement where none really exists.' X is now seeking 'disgorgement' of the group's haul, suing them and 25 as-yet unidentified 'John Does' for what its complaint calls 'a pattern of racketeering activity, including… thousands of predicate racketeering acts of wire fraud since at least 2023.' Although the company's complaint does not specify the exact amount of the outfit's total take, it says the payments were funneled into at least 125 U.S. bank accounts, set up using stolen identities, and transferred to accounts in their real names at nine banks in Vietnam, across more than 1,700 individual transactions. The complaint was filed in Texas, where X is headquartered. According to the complaint, private investigators working for X eventually learned the names and addresses of the eight named defendants after external payment processing sites PingPong and Payoneer, where Stripe, X's payment processor, sent the Hanoi team's 'ill-gotten gains,' turned over the identity documents used to set up their accounts. The five attorneys representing X in the case did not respond on Friday to requests for comment. Defendants Do Minh Thang, Phan Ngoc Tuan, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, Le Dinh Chung, Nguyen Nhu Duc, Nguyen Viet Kieu, Do Viet Khanh, and Do Xuan Long were unable to be reached. X's revenue sharing program was launched in 2022, shortly after Musk bought the platform for $44 billion. In the beginning, premium users, who pay $8 a month for a blue 'verified' checkmark next to their names and preferred algorithm placement, received a portion of the revenue generated by ads served to other premium users in their replies. But when hate speech on X proliferated under Musk's stewardship, and major advertisers began to flee the site, the company rejiggered the program to instead reward accounts for how many interactions they generated with other premium users. Payouts vary based on a variety of factors, but one estimate pegs it at around $8 for every 1 million impressions. 'The more engagement an account generates, the more the account holder is financially rewarded,' X's complaint states. However, according to the complaint, the alleged fraudsters in Hanoi 'deceive[d] X into concluding that the accounts they control are the accounts of legitimate content creators deserving of payment.' 'Just as a broker in the financial industry may 'churn' profits by engaging in excessive and unnecessary trades in a client's investment account to generate artificially high commissions or fees, Defendants have employed software to create extensive, artificial engagement within a network of commonly-owned and controlled accounts,' the complaint continues. The group also sold their automation tools and techniques, generating a separate stream of income by teaching others how to help themselves to a slice of X's money, the complaint contends. One script, called the 'XGPT Tool,' was advertised to tens of thousands of users on YouTube, TikTok, Telegram, Discord, Facebook, Instagram and X itself, the complaint goes on. On top of the fraud allegations central to X's complaint, the filing also accuses the Hanoi hackers of trademark infringement, asserting they specifically 'misuse[d] and misappropriate[d] the Twitter and X Trademarks' in thumbnails for instructional videos posted to YouTube. Broadly speaking, X's complaint claims the alleged scam 'has harmed [its] reputation and customer relationships by introducing low-quality content to the platform.' 'Anytime there's a monetary value added to clicks, there's going to be people going to the dark side,' an Illinois social media marketing CEO told the Associated Press in 2014. X is seeking 'injunctive relief to disrupt the [Hanoi crew's] ongoing criminal scheme,' and is asking for compensatory, treble, and punitive damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
Business Recorder
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Payoneer posts solid Q1 results
KARACHI: Payoneer, a global fintech leader empowering small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to expand globally, has delivered strong growth and profitability in the first quarter of 2025. According to financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, Payoneer's revenue excluding interest income grew 16 percent year-over-year to $188.6 million, driven by B2B customers and the Card product. Total revenue for the quarter was $246.6 million, an 8 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $65.4 million, maintaining a 27% margin, reflecting the company's continued focus on disciplined execution and profitability. Operationally, Payoneer saw a 7 percent year-over-year increase in volume to $19.7 billion and a 5 percent growth in active Ideal Customer Profiles to 556,000. The revenue as a percentage of volume ('Take Rate') was 125 basis points, with the SMB customer take rate reaching 119 basis points, up 11 basis points year-over-year. The company's business highlights for the quarter included 18% year-over-year growth in SMB customer revenue to $170 million. This was driven by 8% growth in marketplace SMB revenue, 37% growth in B2B SMB revenue, and a 96% increase in Merchant Services (Checkout) revenue. Payoneer card spend reached $1.4 billion, up 29% year-over-year, with increased usage across all regions. Customer funds held by Payoneer totalled $6.6 billion as of March 31, 2025, an 11% increase year-over-year. During the quarter, Payoneer completed the acquisition of Easylink Payment Co., Ltd., a licensed China-based payment service provider, further strengthening its global regulatory infrastructure and positioning the company to better serve customers in China as they export globally. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Bea Ordonez Of Payoneer: Smart. Strategic. Unstoppable.
Bea Ordonez is the CFO of Payoneer, the financial technology company empowering the world's small and medium-sized businesses to transact, do business, and grow globally. Payoneer was founded in 2005 with the belief that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. It is their mission to enable any entrepreneur and business to participate and succeed in an increasingly digital global economy. Since its founding, they have built a global financial stack that removes barriers and simplifies cross-border commerce. They make it easy for millions of SMBs and entrepreneurs, particularly in emerging markets, to connect to the global economy and grow their businesses. Bea and I recently had an engaging conversation about her wide range of career experience and how it has impacted her career, being a critical voice in diversity initiatives, driving growth in today's global economy, and more. — Ba Ordonez is someone who has been shaped by various international influences. She grew up in Tottenham, a neighborhood in London, England. Born to Spanish immigrants, she attended public schools in London and at 18 headed to university. She graduated from the University of Nottingham with a Bachelor of Law, and from there, has held roles in London, Bermuda, Florida and New York City. Her love of the law helped her understand her natural gift as a problem-solver. She always had an interest in finance, something that has served her well in her chosen field in terms of the real intersection between financial services, regulated financial services, and technology. At Payoneer, CFO Bea Ordonez is reimagining what leadership looks like—where purpose, performance, ... More and inclusion converge to drive global impact. Case in point: After working as a tax consultant and in the reinsurance industry, she earned her first CFO role in 1999 at G-Trade, a startup broker-dealer. Since then, she has held roles as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, and Chief Financial Officer for various public and private companies in the financial services and fintech space. She currently serves as CFO of Payoneer, a mission-driven financial platform that serves more than 2 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and entrepreneurs, especially in emerging markets. The company covers a very diverse and broad geographical footprint and connects SMBs across the world to a rising and increasingly global and digital economy. 'When I talk about a mission, it's based on our view that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not,' she said. 'One of the ways in which opportunity is not equally distributed is in access to the financial system. We read about it here in the U.S., with unbanked consumers and so on, but on a global scale, access to the financial system is also not equally distributed. For small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs globally, the ability to do straightforward things is critical to their business. To pay, get paid, and to manage their global operations—is both critical and complex. At Payoneer, we look to solve the complexity with a purpose-built financial stack designed to meet the needs of SMBs and entrepreneurs, and to make it easier for them to operate on a global scale.' As CFO, Ordonez believes it is the wide range of experience she gained before coming on board that has prepared her for her current role. 'That broad experience has positioned me to love what I do and to excel at what I do,' she said. 'The role of the CFO has certainly evolved. It has become a much broader strategic role, requiring a real in-depth understanding of what makes the business work operationally.' Ordonez has had a less conventional path to CFO–namely, that she first stepped into the role at 26 at G-Trade. She then transitioned to a broader operational role as Chief Operating Officer, where she learned how to interface with technology teams to drive outcomes that were going to ignite growth, unlock leverage in the company, open up new markets, and potentially launch new business lines and products. It is not lost on her that many people helped her to get to where she is. In fact, having such diverse work experience aligns with her approach to reach out to diverse colleagues wherever she's worked. 'I have always tried to cast a pretty wide net in any organization I have worked in,' she explained. 'I try to find the hidden gems in the organization. Maybe they think a little bit differently, have a perspective that is differentiating in some way. Intellectual curiosity is super important.' One aspect of her own curiosity is where the industry is headed in the coming years. As someone who has worked at the intersection of traditional regulated financial services and technology companies for years, she believes it is a trend that people will see more as consumers. Ordonez says we will continue to see that increasingly different parts of the value chain are enabled by different entities in the broader financial landscape – with tech companies, fintech companies and more traditional financial players collaborating to deliver an integrated and frictionless customer experience across a range of financial products and experiences. Payoneer has seen accelerating digital adoption by consumers, especially in emerging markets, while the pace of digitization of payments accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as commerce became more digital and as marketplaces continued to evolve and innovate. Payoneer sits in the center of that ecosystem, looking to unlock the value for its customers. Central to making that ecosystem thrive are the people with whom Ordonez surrounds herself. At Payoneer, her work depends on relationships that cross the globe and span multiple time zones–the company has boots on the ground in more than 30 countries. In a single day, she might speak with colleagues in China, India, London, and New York. The work rapport she has with her colleagues, team members, and fellow leaders is critical and was one of the primary reasons why she took the job. 'Ultimately, for me, as it is for most people, as we get to this point in our careers, it's about the people that you work with and the mission,' she said. 'The vision of the management team and the leadership resonated with me.' Similarly, Ordonez has a clear vision for how she builds her team. She emphasizes the importance of not only measuring but also aligning with the team about what should be measured. That not only helps to create cohesion among the team but also drives the vision and strategic focus across the organization. It can be challenging for a big global company with numerous locations. To mitigate that challenge, Ordonez encourages celebrating success, acknowledging mistakes, and experimentation to get to the best outcome. 'In a big global company with disparate folks sitting in many global locations, measuring progress is as critical as celebrating success,' she explained. 'Equally, and almost as important, is acknowledging mistakes and failures. Not in a finger-pointing, blame-allotting way, but in a 'we took a data-driven approach to this particular challenge,' or 'we took this approach to solving this problem, expecting outcome A, and we got outcome B, let's think about what series of decisions got us there.' Something that we have worked on developing is a culture of experimentation. It's been incredibly impactful to understand how the thing that you do impacts the customer experience, the customer's behavior, and the value that you are unlocking for them. If you measure that, take data from that, and drive it back into the process, you find that a data-driven approach to decision-making is so critical.' As a leader, one value she prioritizes above most others is empathy. She says that building high-performing teams is possible only by being authentic and embracing not only who she is, but also who others are. It creates trust and collaboration. Ordonez's belief in empathy and authenticity translates into a drive to empower others as a result of what she experienced early on in her career. Often the only woman in the room when she worked in the capital markets space or at trading companies, she now recognizes that women have made important strides in the finance world, but also that there is a long way to go. 'The pandemic lowered labor participation rates for women meaningfully,' she said. 'We still have a long way to go from an income parity perspective. It's still important for us to be thinking along those lines. A few things we should all think about in supporting women and others in the workplace: providing visible role models for them. It's something that I would have loved to have had as I came up in my career, someone who looked a bit or sounded a bit like me in the C-suite as a role model.' To Ordonez, a strong team also ensures that people will be resilient in hard times. The fintech space is characterized by its volatility due to macro uncertainty, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and many other factors. That's where diversity of opinion can help. 'In many ways, diversity is a natural resilience driver within our business more broadly, but you have to build resilience within your teams,' she emphasized. 'You have to acknowledge that you can't see around corners and work with the best data you have at your disposal. It's the data that can help you make the best possible decision-making, understanding that you don't know what's around those corners.' Speaking of what might be in store for the future, Ordonez does have words of wisdom for the next generation of CFOs. 'Intellectual curiosity is key,' she said. 'Keep learning and cast a wide net. You can learn a lot from people who are buried in all sorts of strange parts of your organization and understand an area that you didn't understand before. Take the time to understand elements of the business that can seem mundane and routine, but are the machinery that drives the car. Finally, take on more. I never said no to anything along the way in terms of new responsibilities or new things to do. I always took on more if there was an opportunity, even if there wasn't a clear path to what it would mean for me. You'll benefit from that diversity of opportunity.'
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Does freelancing for US clients pay more than Indian jobs? Redditor sparks debate as netizens deliver a reality check
The Allure of Dollar-Paid Flexibility Reality Hits Back: 'It's Not That Simple' You Might Also Like: Employee sticks to 9-to-5, quits the hustle after being denied promotion; gets a surprise raise instead iStock For those juggling full-time work and freelance gigs, 15–18 hour days aren't uncommon, leading to health and sleep issues. The Devil in the Details A Hybrid Approach? Is working with US clients the golden ticket Indian developers have been waiting for? That's what one Redditor seemed to suggest in a post that quickly sparked debate among tech professionals across r/developersIndia. Titled 'Freelancing for US clients is easier and pays more than jobs,' the post laid out a seemingly straightforward roadmap to earning in dollars and ditching the traditional Indian job grind. But as with most things that sound too good to be true, fellow Redditors were quick to inject some hard-earned realism into the original post painted an enticing picture: skip the maze of entrance tests and interview rounds required for local jobs that pay between ₹25,000 to ₹60,000 a month. Instead, build a portfolio, hop onto platforms like Upwork or Contra, and tap into US-based gigs that offer anywhere between $25 to $50 an hour—translating to ₹1.5–3 lakh monthly, even with part-time to the Redditor, the process isn't rocket science. From bug-fixing tasks to designing landing pages, the post claimed that Indian developers were skilled enough to take on these roles—it's just that many weren't aware freelancing was a legitimate, and potentially lucrative, career the comments section had a very different tone. One user called it 'a post borne out of wishful thinking,' highlighting how incredibly difficult it is for beginners to get noticed amid intense competition from independent agencies and experienced user, who had dabbled in freelancing before starting a full-time role post-masters, shared that gaining traction required more than just a resume. Submitting a working prototype with each proposal was what eventually landed them clients—underscoring that creating trust with potential employers is a challenge, especially when competing against profiles stacked with five-star ratings.A more detailed breakdown came from a user who pointed out that the high pay typically applies only to certain niches—primarily full-stack web development. Fields like QA, testing, product management, and data analytics rarely offer the same kind of freelancing there are costs beyond effort. For those juggling full-time work and freelance gigs, 15–18 hour days aren't uncommon, leading to health, sleep, and hygiene issues. Others flagged logistical and financial concerns, from dealing with tax implications and dual employment verification to navigating platforms like Wise or Payoneer without raising red flags in one's Form user even advised setting up an entirely separate bank account—and warned against trusting relatives or friends with freelance income details, citing an increasingly toxic and opportunistic environment around users advocated a balanced route—starting with a stable full-time job while building a freelance portfolio on the side. Once the freelance income matched or exceeded their regular salary, they suggested only then considering the switch to full-time clear from the responses that while freelancing with international clients can be lucrative, it's no shortcut. It demands persistence, a well-curated portfolio, networking savvy, and most importantly, realistic while the dream of dollar-denominated income remains alive, the Reddit thread served as a timely reminder that behind every 'easy money' claim lies a much more complex, and often taxing, reality. Would you take the leap or stick to the stable route?
Express Tribune
10-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Tech experts seek alternative payment channels
Pakistan, by contrast, has opted out of the ITA, one of the world's most successful digital trade agreements, whose membership has grown to 86 countries accounting for over 97% of global digital trade.: photo: file Listen to article Tech experts and stakeholders have urged the government to continue its facilitation for digital entrepreneurs and freelancers and provide them facilities for funding transactions in terms of international payment gateway or alternative payment channels. The government has been asked for establishing a facility for freelancers to receive international payments. Pakistani IT entrepreneurs, e-commerce traders and freelancers receive payments from various sources, including Payoneer – a global payment integrator platform that also provides services in Pakistan. However, it recently revised its charges upwards adding to miseries for online workers. Under the new pricing structure, it slapped charges on free services including the transfer and inflow of funds to non-local currency bank accounts such as the US dollar, euro or British pound and revised up charges on the withdrawal of funds by 50%. After capturing the freelancing community and becoming the only payment option integrated with four major financial institutions, Payoneer's sudden 50% fee hike seems unfair as freelancers are already facing challenges to make hard-earned money, while trying to evolve from a freelancer to an entrepreneur, said Pakistan Freelancers Association (Pafla) Chairman Ibrahim Amin. The government must invite alternative platforms to create healthy competition and safeguard the community from such sudden one-sided moves, he said. The banking regulator should also work to establish a payment gateway for cross-border fund transfer to facilitate freelancers and digital workers. In Pakistan, a freelancer pays a fixed share to the freelancing platforms. He or she pays a fee to payment service providers and a tax to the government to get final payment in his/her pocket, he remarked. "A significant majority of freelancers are self-trained and committed who are not making money for their families and reducing poverty, but serving our country by bringing in precious foreign exchange," the Pafla chief said. Payoneer has been providing services to Pakistani freelancers and businesses with payments for over 10 years. Over the period, it has widened its customer base with a gradual addition of service partners, including JazzCash, Faysal Bank, Meezan Bank and Habib Bank. Its customers can invoice clients and customers abroad and receive money in their local bank account. Payoneer is one of the payment methods on freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr having connectivity with more than 150 countries for money transactions. IT exporter Dr Noman Ahmad Said said the freelancing and remote work culture is evolving across the globe and Pakistan too, hence, the government should take it very seriously to facilitate this community to attract foreign exchange reserves. He said the payment system is a major challenge for Pakistani freelancers and IT entrepreneurs, hence, the government should explore multiple options through collaborations with various service providers and commercial banks, including introducing services like Paypal. The government must design an out-of-the-box policy for facilitating the freelancing community by subsidising service fee for fund transfer as similar to the allocation of funds for aiding overseas Pakistanis, added Noman Said, who once led one of the top-performing freelancer companies on a global platform. He mentioned that the number of freelancers in Pakistan is increasing with many private and public sector institutions and non-government organisations (NGOs) are providing free training and courses to learners of different ages and genders in different cities of the country. On top of that, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working on setting up a cross-border payment facility through RAAST and Buna Payment System of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) for the facilitation of overseas Pakistanis to transfer remittances easily and affordably from Gulf countries.
