Sure. There’s Paypal. And TransferWise. There’s Android Pay and Apple Pay, too. All of them help to make and receive mobile payments across the world. Why pay in cash, when you can use your smartphone, right? You could either shake your phone, scan it or just use your fingerprint to make a payment.
FinTech industry is hot and booming with startups focussing on different aspects of a transaction. Here, we list out 5 platforms that are making big waves within the Finance industry and empowering businesses across the globe to pay with a smartphone in a more timely, transparent and hassle-free manner.
Azimo
Voted as one of the top-10 money saving apps by The Guardian, Azimo is an online remittance service.
Launched in 2012, with headquarters in London and offices in Krakow, Azimo is on a mission to make an international money transfer cheaper, faster, simpler and easier to understand.
With the Azimo website or mobile payment app (available both for Android & Google) you can send money to more than 190 countries in over 80 currencies. They have a same-day delivery option, have a low flat fee starting from £1.
The interface is easy-to-use and convenient and you can start sending money within minutes of signing up.
As of early 2016, Azimo has raised $31 million in Series A and B funding.
Stripe
Probably Paypal’s biggest competitor, Stripe has been drumming a lot of support from people who’ve been thoroughly disappointed with Paypal.
It features a simple interface, full mobile payment integration with most third party services and over 300 other apps along with fast transfers to your bank account.
Stripe’s mantra is that payments are a problem rooted in code, not finance. Hence, they obsessively seek out elegant abstractions that enable quicker integrations and helps you set up and running in no time.
Over 100,000 businesses use Stripe to receive and make payments across every industry. Headquartered in San Francisco, 9 global offices and over 100 people who are constantly working to power up businesses whilst eliminating boundaries.
Skrill
Another one on the list that is focussed on making mobile payments in a secure, fast environment while keeping the fees low is Skrill.
Launched in 2001 as Moneybrookers, Skrill is one of the world leaders when it comes to developing global mobile payment solutions for e-commerce. It’s beginning to feature in a number of websites including Skype, eBay, and online betting sites (outside the US).
Whether you want to move money between consumer to business, business to consumer, business to business, or simply between friends and family, Skrill helps you facilitate all the payments.
The fee for sending money internationally with Skrill is just 1.9% and is capped at €20. It also has exclusive promotional offers for all its users and an attractive affiliate program.
The HQ is in London, but offices have expanded to cover Europe and the US, and now Skrill employs over 500 staff worldwide.
Venmo
If you thought that mobile payment services are boring and complicated, think again. Venmo is a social payment service.
It’s a cross between digital wallet and a social media feed. Venmo takes online payments and makes it a welcoming system to suit you and your friends. You can also add comments and notes that other users within the system can browse like a social media wall.
Venmo allows you to pay friends and family using the money you have in your Venmo wallet or by linking your debit card or bank account. You can either split bills, send a gift or just do a good deed. Venmo takes about a day to move money from the wallet to your bank account.
Payoneer
Payoneer is a platform with a strong focus on international payments. It’s a complete, integrated, full featured mobile payment platform that enables getting paid by clients and business all over the world super easy.
Payoneer has a number of attractive features. You can start receiving payments within minutes of getting paid. It also has multiple options for billing, invoicing and payments. There’s an option to make bulk payments too.
Payoneer allows you to set up a virtual bank account wherein you can receive money from multiple currencies and withdraw in your local currency. A Payoneer-to-Payoneer transaction is always free, but if you’re receiving payments via a debit or a credit card, it attracts a 3% fee.
Interested in mobile payments? Check the infographic showing everything you need to know about them.
