Payoneer Pays $61 Million for HR/Payroll Platform Skuad

Small-business-focused FinTech Payoneer has acquired Singapore-based payroll/HR platform Skuad for $61 million.

The deal is designed to bolster Payoneer’s efforts to serve as a “business-grade financial stack” for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that operate on an international scale, per the company’s Wednesday (Aug. 7) announcement.

“Twenty-five percent of Payoneer’s B2B customers are asking for enhanced workforce management capabilities, including payroll, employer of record and contractor management capabilities — so there is significant cross-sell potential with this acquisition,” the company said in a news release.

Payoneer CEO John Caplan announced the deal during the company’s earnings call Wednesday, stressing its importance in bolstering the company’s accounts payable (AP) offerings, while also expanding its footprint in Singapore.

“Within AP, nothing is more important than workforce and payroll management,” Caplan said. “The process of paying people must be timely, accurate and comply with local regulation.”

The acquisition comes as SMBs are dealing with “a perfect storm of financial difficulties,” as PYMNTS put it in a report last month, including outdated payment systems, ongoing inflation and delayed payments.

“These issues disrupt cash flow and hinder growth, exacerbated by inefficient manual accounting practices and reliance on paper payments,” PYMNTS wrote. “As inflation pressures margins and payment delays become more frequent, SMBs are under intense pressure to modernize their financial operations.”

To contend with these issues, the report added, SMBs are seeking banking partners that offer digital solutions to meet their evolving needs.

Fed up with traditional banks and credit unions that don’t deliver sophisticated digital tools, many business owners are ready to switch to institutions that offer better financial management solutions, giving community banks and credit unions a prime opportunity.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence finds that 76% of SMBs with under $10 million in revenue are facing inflationary pressures and 71% are experiencing cash shortfalls. That’s left many of these businesses turning to personal savings or loans to survive.

“Outdated manual processes, including paper payments, further complicate financial management and hinder efficiency, underscoring the need for digital solutions,” PYMNTS wrote.

More recently, PYMNTS explored the way inefficiencies in payments were disrupting the landscape of B2B transactions.

“As of 2023, a troubling 42% of businesses reported an average days sales outstanding (DSO) exceeding 60 days, nearly doubling the previous year’s figures,” that report said.