Page 42 - Pay Magazine s2014

companies & people
Women Driving Payments Change
keren levy
Chief Operating Officer, Payoneer
Keren Levy is passionate about her life and her work. A self-proclaimed “city
person,” she was born and raised in Tel Aviv, which boasts great beaches, art galleries (her parents owned one) and flea markets (where she likes to shop). It also ranks No. 5 among the best startup ecosystems in the world behind Silicon Valley, New York City, Los Angeles and Boston. The rankings from consulting firm Compass are based on the infrastructure of talent, knowledge, entrepreneurs, venture capital and companies in
a startup community.
In this rich environment, Levy
has thrived, launching her career
at a payments startup that special- ized in one-time-use, e-commerce cards. She later worked at a large financial institution but longed to return to startup culture, which “is in her nature.” She joined Payoneer in 2009 and now serves as chief operating officer for the New York City-headquartered payments services company, which has grown
payment providers. “The culture
we were able to build and retain
at Payoneer allows our most talented people to be comfortable being who they are, while being connected to something bigger than themselves,” Levy says. “Much of our business focuses on en- abling and protecting customers— global payments, fraud protection, risk management, AML and regu- latory compliance, support—which is complicated and requires so much interdependency,” she says. “It’s a team sport.”
Empowering Payments
Payoneer is a global payments solutions provider, and Levy is particularly motivated by empow- erming small business owners and freelancers to accept and make cross-border payments, which provides opportunities for interna- tional growth that weren’t previ- ously possible. The company also offers cross-border mass payouts via prepaid cards, global bank transfers, global and local e-wal- lets, and local currency paper
Best Advice
“You have to give your employees the opportunity to influence the business and room to grow by empowering them to innovate, make decisions and make mistakes.
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from 30 people to more than 550 in six offices worldwide since its 2005 launch.
With a team of 10 direct reports, leading a team of 400 employees, Levy oversees day-to-day opera- tions, including product delivery, customer onboarding, risk man- agement, customer support, payment operations, and managing relationships with banks and
checks—that enable businesses to pay suppliers, partners, affiliates and freelancers in more than 200 countries. “For some of these businesses and professionals, that means being able to make a living in their home countries for the first time,” Levy says.
“Nothing compares to working with a team of motivated, smart people, who care about each other and our
That’s in the DNA of Payoneer. Our people are happy to come to work because it’s a supportive place where they can actually make a difference.”
customers,” Levy explains. “I hope I inspire them,” she says of those who voted for her as a woman driving change in payments,
“but I certainly get back more than I give.”