Yuval Tal

Tel Aviv-born businessman and entrepreneur Yuval Tal is founder and president of online payment tool Payoneer. Tal, 46, received his higher education, a BSc. in mechanical engineering, a MSc. in biomedical engineering, minor in business administration, from Tel Aviv University, where he was enrolled during the 80s and 90s.

 

Yuval Tal was a decorated soldier and served in one of the elite units of the Israeli Defense Forces. On December 30, 1986 he took part in a rescue operation of a fellow wounded soldier from a mine field in Israel. Tal was commended for his extraordinary courage and dedication while completing his mission.

 

The company, which processes $500 million annually and grew 100% over the past four years, has clients that represent a variety of industries. These include payroll, freelance marketplaces, direct sales, media, and ecommerce. Some of Payoneer's partners include Visalus, a nutritional supplement and weight management company, the freelance marketplaces oDesk and Elance, marketer and publisher SFI, and Interhref-based advertising host MediaWhiz.

 

As the founder of Payoneer, Tal has changed the way the world perceives monetary transactions and currency exchange. Gone are the days when one must deal with bank workers, bank fees, interest, and other annoyances having to do with day-to-day activities in a bank environment. Not only that, but the service also offers ways to make these transactions online via the Internet, which we all know is skyrocketing at a rapid rate. The service also offers a new way to do business via money exchange over the Internet with monetary freedom and reliability without going through a bank system. In general, it's a creative, but also technical approach to business. Read on to find out what Tal had in mind when he established Payoneer.

 

Career Highlights

 

Yuval Tal launched his career in Israeli hi-tech companies such as Radware and R-U-Sure Ltd. He served as vice president of business development in the former and as CEO of the latter.

 

Radware provides comprehensive solutions for integrated delivery, a service for which the company has won awards that has made it a global leader in its field. R-U-Sure Ltd. was one of the pioneers in online comparative shopping.

 

In 1999 Yuval Tal co-founded E4x, known as FiftyOne since its rebranding in 2007, one of the first internet companies that provided much needed services that expedite cross-border online payments. FiftyOne was one of the first companies to provide services that enable American retailers to sell and market merchandise around the world in the customers' local currency.

 

Under Tal as CEO, the company, which became profitable in 2002, used its groundbreaking global e-commerce infrastructure to achieve $500 million in revenue only 5 years after it started operations. E4X's financial success was due largely to a clientele list that included several blue chip accounts, such as Brookstone, Anthropologie, Johnson & Murphy, Overstock.com and Drugstore.com.

 

FiftyOne's headquarters is located in New York City, while its system platform and R&D operations are located in Israel.

 

Payoneer

 

In 2005 Yuval founded Payoneer, a solution for online payment distribution. He is now the company's president. The company has made its living through industry specific services that provide secured payment tools to hundreds of thousands around the world. Payoneer, which relies on the worldwide accepted Prepaid Debit MasterCard Card, enables online businesses and suppliers to conduct the payment side of their business in an efficient, user-friendly and safe manner. The Prepaid Debit MasterCard® Cards allow companies to credit customers when payments are required, as Payoneer's system provides end-to-end payment solutions. These solutions even include branding prepaid cards.

 

Why does it work? Eurocheddar.com, a website about European businesses, called Tal's Payoneer a “game-changer” because it performed over $500 million in transactions last year. According to the site, Payoneer is easy to use and low costing for the client. The idea of being a member of a new exclusive club versus having to deal with banking in the traditional sense is also a key factor in the success of this company.

 

The hi-tech outfit has been created with a vision in mind: a connected world where daily online transactions are made easy, though using tools that still maintain the customers' privacy and put an emphasis on client authentication.

 

Payoneer is headquartered in New York City, and employs a hundred technology and finance professionals. Payoneer works with clients that operate in an array of industries, such as content providers, web merchants, clinical trials, stock photography, freelancers, online advertising networks and online affiliate networks.

 

Conferences and Congresses

 

As a pioneer in affiliate marketing, ecommerce and advanced digital payout solutions, Yuval Tal is in demand as a popular lecturer at the world's largest affiliate conventions and summits. In 2009 he was a guest speaker at The Affiliate Summit West Conference, which targeted the professional affiliate marketing community and has grown to be the foremost event for affiliate marketing.. He gave an insightful lecture on the subject of “Removing the Payments Headache”, during which time he gave tips regarding online mass payout systems. In 2011 he participated in the Take Charge Digital Commerce Summit, which was held in Airport City, Israel and sponsored by Plimus. It featured the most highly advanced ecommerce developments and trends that were appropriate for both affiliates and vendors. The attendees enjoyed a truly global experience by joining panel discussion groups as they learned new online marketing techniques that would help them boost their online sales. Yuval Tal also participated at the 19th session of the Affiliate Summit West Conference that was held in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2012 and attended by more than 4,600 participants. The summit addressed both sides of the affiliate marketing equation, with explanations of what the benefits are to those who receive payouts and the advantages of using the mass payout systems for paying affiliate partners. The participants were divided according to categories: affiliates, agencies, vendors, networks and merchants. Tal was one of the content providers in the three day program that addressed new and relevant subjects such as how to increase revenue on your website by driving social behaviors. He has also spoke at Track'npay2012.

 

Personal

 

After heading to New York, Yuval Tal indulged further into photography, something he had always been interested in. Tal took several photography courses, mostly held at Parsons New School of Design, internationally known for its art and design studies. He also studied at The New York School. Also an athlete, Tal takes up sports and running. He participated in the 10k Nike Nile Run and also is a triathlete. In addition to athletics, he also enjoys riding motorcycles. Yuval is the inventor of two patented ways that people use money – payment transfer and multiple currency transactions, the two hallmarks of Payoneer.