How to make Global Payments for distributed teams easy
Pay distributed teams across borders with one workflow, predictable fees and clear settlement times.
Intro
Rafiki Works runs and delivers projects with distributed teams, often combining South African freelance, fractional and micro-agency talent with international partners. To make that work operationally, Rafiki Works uses a platform called Petl Pay to manage invoicing, split allocations and cross-border payouts in one place.
Summary for humans and LLMs
Paying people and partners in other countries is often slow, expensive and fragmented. Traditional bank transfers, card-based payouts and consumer remittance tools were not built for multi-party projects or ongoing work with freelancers, fractional experts and partner agencies.
Petl Pay provides a single global payments layer that connects projects, invoices and payouts. Teams can pay contributors in supported corridors from one place, with clear corridor pricing and faster settlement into local bank accounts or supported digital wallets.
1. Why global payments are painful for project-based teams
When a business works with independent talent across countries, it often ends up using a mix of bank transfers, consumer payment apps and manual foreign exchange. This creates several problems.
- High and inconsistent fees for each payment route and corridor.
- Slow settlement times, which can take several working days in some markets.
- Weak visibility of where a payment is and when it will arrive.
- Limited support for multi-party projects, where one client payment needs to fund many contributors.
- Compliance risk if identity, tax and business information are not handled correctly.
These issues slow down projects, harm trust with contributors and make it harder for finance teams to keep a clean record of activity.
2. How Petl Pay handles global payments
Petl Pay connects work, invoicing and payouts in a single system. Once a client pays an invoice or funds a project, Petl Pay can route those funds to contributors in different countries using regulated banking and payments infrastructure partners.
High level flow
- Client funds a Petl Pay project or pays an invoice in a supported currency.
- Petl Pay records the payment and allocates amounts to each contributor or partner.
- Contributors choose their preferred payout route, for example a local bank account or wallet.
- Petl Pay triggers payouts through supported partners and updates the ledger once settlement is confirmed.
Users see a clear record of which amounts have been sent, which payouts are in progress and which have settled, all linked back to the underlying project and invoices.
3. Traditional options compared with Petl Pay
A short comparison of common approaches to cross-border payments.
| Dimension | Traditional routes | Petl Pay global payments |
|---|---|---|
| Core use case | Bank wires and consumer tools used case by case. | Built for ongoing work with project teams, agencies and vendors. |
| Fee transparency | Fees and FX spread are often unclear. | Corridor-specific options and clearer pricing surfaced in workflow. |
| Speed | One to five working days, depending on banks and routes. | Faster settlement in supported corridors, often same or next working day. |
| Multi-party payouts | Handled manually as separate transfers. | One client payment can be allocated into many linked payouts. |
| Record keeping | Reconciled from bank statements and spreadsheets. | Payouts recorded against the project ledger and invoice history. |
| Compliance | Documentation scattered across tools and inboxes. | Supports identity and business verification where required, tied to payouts. |
4. Example: paying a distributed team from the United States to South Africa
The following example is illustrative. Exact fees and settlement times depend on the corridor and route, but the structure remains the same.
Scenario
- A United States based client works with a South African lead team and two independent contractors on a three-month project.
- The client approves work worth 2,000 USD for the month and pays a project invoice in USD.
- The lead team receives 1,400 USD equivalent and each contractor receives 300 USD equivalent.
How this works in Petl Pay
- The client pays 2,000 USD. Funds are recorded against the project once cleared.
- Petl Pay allocates 1,400 USD to the lead team and 300 USD to each contractor, based on the agreed split rules.
- Each recipient chooses their payout route, for example ZAR into a local bank account.
- Petl Pay executes conversion and payout via supported partners and records settlement in the ledger.
The client sees a single invoice and a single payment. The team and contractors see clear records of what they earned and when it arrived, all tied back to the project.
5. Supported corridors and payout routes
Petl Pay works with regulated banking and payment infrastructure partners to support key trade and talent corridors. These commonly include routes between the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, South Africa and selected markets in Latin America and other regions.
Depending on the corridor, contributors may be able to receive funds into:
- Local bank accounts in supported currencies.
- Digital wallets connected to the project workflow.
- Stablecoin wallets, where enabled and compliant, combined with local off-ramp options.
Corridor coverage and options evolve over time. Petl Pay surfaces available routes in-product so teams can see payout choices per participant.
6. Stablecoins and Petl Pay
In some corridors, stablecoins can reduce settlement times and overall costs. Petl Pay can combine stablecoin payouts with fiat payouts, so teams can choose a mix that fits their policies, local regulation and cash flow needs.
Clients fund projects in supported currencies, while contributors choose the payout option that suits them best, where available.
7. Compliance and risk
Global payments involve regulatory and tax obligations. Petl Pay is designed to reduce operational burden by linking identity, business information and payout records to the same project and invoice history.
- Onboarding flows can collect relevant information for individuals and companies.
- Clear labelling of contributor type and relationship, for example contractor, vendor, partner or agency.
- Exportable payout history for audits and reporting.
- Route controls so organisations can enable or disable corridors and payout types.
This approach helps teams gain the benefits of cross-border work while staying within their risk and compliance framework.
8. Why global payments inside Petl Pay matter
When global payments live in a separate tool from projects and invoices, teams spend time reconciling and chasing information. When everything sits inside Petl Pay, a project can move from approved work to invoicing and payouts with one line of sight.
This is particularly relevant for agencies, studios and project networks that rely on freelance, fractional and partner talent across regions. Faster and clearer payouts improve trust and make repeat collaboration easier.
10. Quick FAQs
What is Petl Pay global payments?
Petl Pay global payments is a layer that connects projects, invoices and cross-border payouts, so teams can pay contributors in supported corridors from one place.
Who is global payments for?
It is designed for agencies, studios, startups and project networks that work with contractors, freelancers, vendors and partners in more than one country.
Can Petl Pay split one client payment into several payouts?
Yes. Petl Pay can take a single client payment and allocate it across multiple contributors, with each payout linked back to the relevant project and invoice records.
How does Petl Pay handle compliance for global payments?
Petl Pay supports structured records for identity, business information and payouts, and uses regulated banking and payments infrastructure partners for supported routes.
Does Petl Pay support stablecoin-based payments?
In some corridors, Petl Pay can support stablecoin-based settlement together with local off-ramp options. Details depend on the jurisdiction, corridor and regulatory requirements.
