PayPal Alternatives for Payroll and Global Employee Payments

PayPal works well for many everyday transactions, but it was primarily built for commerce rather than international payroll. For teams paying international employees or contractors regularly, the limitations around currency conversion markups, account holds, and batch payment infrastructure may make it a less practical long-term solution.

This guide walks through five alternatives to paypal for businesses that are built for global payroll, covering fees, features, and where each one fits. If reducing FX costs on global payroll is on your list, Wise Business is a good place to start.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Wise Business for Payroll and Global Employee Payments

For payroll teams managing cross-border payments, Wise Business is built around the specific problems that make international payroll painful: unpredictable FX costs, slow transfers, and the admin of paying people in multiple currencies at once.

Key features for payroll teams

Here's what Wise Business offers payroll teams out of the box:

• Batch payments: Send up to 1,000 transfers in one go using a single spreadsheet upload and one pay-in to cover the batch.
• Multi-currency account: Hold and send in 40+ currencies without converting everything back to GBP first.
• Direct deposits: Pay recipients straight into their nominated accounts,
• Wise API: Automate recurring payroll runs and connect to Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, and Sage.
• Team permissions: Control who can initiate, approve, or view payments across your account.

Fees and FX considerations

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate with no markup, and shows transfer fees upfront before you confirm the payment. What you see is what you pay, so there are no surprises when the payroll run goes out.

The batch payments tool is free to use. You pay the standard Wise transfer fee per payment, which varies by currency corridor. Opening a Wise Business account requires a one-time £50 (Advanced plan) or for free (Essential plan) for the Advanced plan, which unlocks the full suite of business features.

Payroll suitability and limitations

Wise works well for the payment layer of global payroll: sending net salaries, paying international contractors, and handling recurring cross-border transfers. It does not calculate tax, or handle employment compliance in local jurisdictions.

Wise works alongside a dedicated payroll provider rather than replacing one, which suits businesses that already have payroll compliance handled.

Airwallex for Global Payroll Payments

Airwallex is a global financial platform regulated by the FCA in the UK, built for businesses managing payments across multiple countries and currencies. For payroll teams, the main draw is its infrastructure for sending money at scale without routing everything through SWIFT.

Key features for payroll teams

Here's what Airwallex offers payroll teams:¹

• Multi-currency wallets: Hold and manage funds in 20+ currencies from one dashboard, reducing unnecessary conversions before pay runs
• Batch payments: Send up to 1,000 payments simultaneously from a single upload to recipients in 200+ countries²
• Local payment rails: Route transfers through domestic clearing systems in 120+ countries, cutting out correspondent bank fees
• Expense and spend management: Issue corporate cards to employees and set role-based permissions across your finance team
• Accounting integrations: Sync transactions automatically with Xero, QuickBooks, and NetSuite

Fees and FX considerations

Airwallex charges an FX markup of 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies including GBP, USD, EUR, AUD, and JPY, and 1% for all other currencies.¹ It routes local transfers to 120+ countries free of charge where local payment rails exist. SWIFT transfers attract additional fees on top.

The Explore plan is free if you deposit or hold at least £10,000 per month. Fall below that, and Airwallex charges a monthly fee of £19. The Grow plan at £35/month unlocks advanced spend management tools and all pricing excludes VAT.¹

Payroll suitability and limitations

Airwallex suits payroll teams at growing businesses that need to manage multi-currency payments at volume, particularly where local payment rails reduce transfer times and cost.

It handles the payment layer well, but does not calculate tax, manage local employment compliance, or process payroll calculations. It covers the payment layer only, so it works best with a payroll provider for compliance and calculations.

Payoneer for Paying International Contractors and Teams

Payoneer built its reputation on one specific use case: getting money to contractors and freelancers in markets where traditional bank transfers are slow, expensive, or unreliable. As alternatives to paypal for businesses go, it’s a good option for managing high volumes of international contractor payments.

Key features for payroll teams

Here's what Payoneer offers payroll teams:³

• Batch payments: Send up to 1,000 payments at once to recipients in 190+ countries across 70+ currencies.
• Multi-currency balances: Hold funds in different currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, and CNH and pay out directly without unnecessary conversions.
• Direct bank deposits: Send payments straight to contractors' local bank accounts, no Payoneer account required on their end.
• Mastercard business card: Spend directly from your Payoneer balance in GBP, USD, EUR, and CAD with no conversion fee when paying in the same currency.
• Marketplace integrations: Connect with 2,000+ platforms including Upwork, Fiverr, and Amazon for consolidated payout management.

Fees and FX considerations

Payoneer charges 0.5% above the real-time exchange rate for currency conversion within the account.⁴ For same-currency withdrawals to a local bank account, Payoneer applies a 1% charge or a flat fee that varies per transaction.

When you withdraw to a bank account in a different currency, the fee goes up to 2%. For payments to recipients' bank accounts below £50,000 per month, Payoneer charges a fixed fee per transaction. Above that threshold, the fee drops to 0.5% of the amount.⁴

Payoneer also charges a 29.95 USD annual inactivity fee if the account receives less than 6,000 USD equivalent in any 12-month period.⁴

Payroll suitability and limitations

Payoneer suits businesses paying large volumes of international contractors and freelancers, particularly those already working with major marketplaces. For structured employee payroll, it has clear gaps: it does not handle tax calculations, local employment compliance, or payslip generation.

Fees can stack up when payments involve multiple currency conversions, so check the cost per currency pair before committing. If you want to pay international employees’ wages without marketplace complexity, Wise Business keeps fees transparent and requires no minimum volume.

Revolut Business for Global Payroll Payments

Revolut Business is a UK-based financial platform that combines multi-currency accounts, international payments, and a built-in payroll tool in one place. If you're currently using PayPal alongside separate payroll software, Revolut handles both from a single account.

Key features for payroll teams

Here's what Revolut Business offers payroll teams:

• Bulk payments: Send up to 1,000 salary payments at once by uploading a CSV file, with API Payouts available for larger teams.⁵
• Multi-currency accounts: Hold and exchange up to 36 currencies at the interbank rate, within your monthly plan allowance.⁶
• UK payroll processing: Calculate gross and net pay, tax contributions, pension payments, and National Insurance, with automatic HMRC syncing for tax code updates.⁷
• Team spending controls: Issue physical and virtual cards, set custom spending limits, and manage approval flows before money leaves the account.
• Accounting integrations: Connect to Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent for automated reconciliation.

Fees and FX considerations

Revolut Business runs four plans:⁸

• Basic at £10/month
• Grow at £35/month
• Scale at £125/month
• Enterprise plan with custom pricing

Each plan gives you a monthly allowance for fee-free local and international transfers and currency exchange at the interbank rate.

Once you exceed your plan allowance, international transfers cost £5 each and currency exchange attracts a 0.6% fee during market hours, rising to 1% outside market hours.⁸ The bulk payments feature applies to the Grow plan and above.

Payroll suitability and limitations

Revolut Business suits UK-based teams that want domestic payroll and international payments in a single account. The built-in UK payroll tool covers the basics well for smaller teams, though it carries a per-employee monthly fee on top of the plan cost.

For businesses paying employees across multiple countries, costs can climb quickly once transfer volumes push past each plan's monthly allowance. Revolut's payroll feature covers UK businesses only and does not extend to multi-country payroll or employment compliance in other jurisdictions.

OFX Business for International Payments and Payroll

OFX Business is an international payments platform, authorised by the FCA as an Electronic Money Institution. It covers the payment layer without compliance, tax, or HR infrastructure, which makes it a practical alternative to paypal for businesses that need to move money across borders reliably.

Key features for payroll teams

Here's what OFX Business offers:⁹

• Global Business Account: Hold, receive, and send in 30+ currencies with local account details in GBP, EUR, USD, and CAD.
• Batch payments: consolidate payments to employees or contractors into a single batch and approve them all in one click.
• FX solutions: Manage currency risk with spot transfers, forward contracts, and limit orders to lock in rates ahead of recurring pay runs.
• Corporate cards: Issue cards to team members and spend directly from your currency balances with no foreign transaction fees.
• Accounting integrations: Sync with Xero and QuickBooks Online, with bank feeds on the Standard plan and two-way sync on Full Suite.

Fees and FX considerations

OFX applies an FX margin on currency conversions rather than a fixed transfer fee. SWIFT transfers attract a £5 fee per transaction, with no transfer fee on local payments within your plan allowance.¹⁰

• Standard: Free and includes the Global Business Account, payments, corporate cards, and Xero and QuickBooks bank feeds.
• Full Suite: £125 per month for up to 5 users, adds two-way accounting sync, spend management, and multi-layer approval workflows.
• Custom: Tailored pricing for high payment volumes or multi-entity businesses.

The Full Suite plan comes with a 60-day free trial.

Payroll suitability and limitations

OFX works well for businesses sending international payments to employees or contractors across multiple currencies. The forward contracts and limit orders are particularly useful for locking in exchange rates before a pay run goes out, reducing exposure to rate movements between approval and payment.

It doesn't calculate payroll, manage tax compliance, or generate payslips. For teams that want a similar payment layer with no monthly fee, Wise Business charges per transfer with no subscription cost.

Why Payroll Teams Choose Wise Business for International Payments

Calculating and managing payroll is not the hard part. Moving money across borders once you know what everyone is owed is where the delays, and the unexpected costs tend to show up. Wise Business is built specifically for that part.

Common payroll challenges with PayPal

PayPal business account was built for commerce, and that shows in its fees for cross-border payments. These challenges come up consistently for payroll teams:

• Currency conversion applies a markup above the base exchange rate, with no clear disclosure of what that markup costs per pay run¹¹
• No native batch payment infrastructure, meaning no way to upload a spreadsheet and pay 50 people in a single run
• Account holds can delay funds reaching employees at exactly the wrong moment
• No dedicated payroll reporting or audit trail for finance teams

For teams that need predictability, transparency, and scale, PayPal may not be the right fit for paying a global workforce.

How Wise Business solves cross-border payroll issues

Wise Business sends international payroll at the mid-market exchange rate with no markup. Each fee appears before you confirm the payment, so you know the cost of each pay run in advance.

Here is what that looks like in practice for payroll teams:

• Batch payments: Upload one spreadsheet, make one pay-in, and Wise routes each payment to the right local bank account in the right currency.
• Multi-currency account: Hold 40+ currencies and pay out from the relevant balance without converting everything back to GBP first.
• Direct bank deposits: Funds go straight to recipients' local bank accounts. No Wise account is needed on their end.
• No monthly fee: You only pay per transfer, so the cost scales with your actual payroll volume.

When to choose Wise over other alternatives

Wise Business works best as the payment layer for teams that already have a payroll system doing the calculations. If your HR platform tells you what everyone is owed, Wise handles getting it there quickly and at a fair rate.

It’s a strong fit if you are:

• A UK business paying contractors across multiple countries each month
• A finance team dealing with unpredictable FX costs on recurring payroll runs
• An operations lead who needs batch payment infrastructure without enterprise-level pricing

Speed disclaimer: Transaction speed depends on fund availability, approval by Wise's proprietary verification system, and systems availability of partner banking systems. It may not be the same for all transactions.

Manage Your Global Payroll Payments with Wise Business

Wise Business is built for paying international teams quickly, at the mid-market rate, with low transparent fees.

With Wise Business, you can:

• 🌍 Send money to 140+ countries at the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees or sneaky exchange rate markups (product availability varies by region; please check the Wise website for local availability)

• 📥 Receive payments in 24 currencies and counting

• 💵 Get local account details for 8+ currencies, including USD and EUR, to let your customers pay in a currency they know and trust - convenience for them and peace of mind for you.

• 💰 Hold money in 40+ currencies

• ⚡ Use the batch payments tool to create and send up to 1,000 payments in a single transfer

• 👥 Run payroll and make international payments for up to 1,000 employees all over the world

• 💳 Get business debit cards with 0.5% cashback for you and your team to keep track of team expenses and spend all over the world

• 🏢 Manage cash in 55+ currencies across international offices from a single business account and move money between business accounts in seconds (exact speeds can vary depending on individual circumstances and may not be the same for all transactions)

• 🔄 Connect and sync every business transaction to your favourite accounting software, including Xero, Quickbooks, and more

• 🔐 Create your own payment approvals process to manage your team better with customised access for different team members

• 📑 Create custom professional invoices and schedule invoice payments for future dates

• 📈 Earn returns on GBP, USD and EUR with Wise Interest (Capital at risk, growth not guaranteed. Your money is at risk if governments default or interest rates go negative. Visit https://payout-surge.live/gb/interest/%3C/a%3E to find out more)

• 🔗 Create payment links and QR codes to get paid easily

• ⚙️ Automate payouts with the Wise API (comes with 24/7 customer support, a sandbox account to test integrations, API tokens, and clear documents on how to implement and make the most of our API)

Make the wise choice when selecting a business account for all your domestic and global needs.

Be Smart, Get Wise.

Register for Wise Business ✍️

*Disclaimer: The UK Wise Business pricing structure is changing with effect from 26/11/2025 date. Receiving money, direct debits and getting paid features are not available with the Essential Plan which you can open for free. Pay a one-time set up fee of £50 to unlock Advanced features including account details to receive payments in 22+ currencies or 8+ currencies for non-swift payments. You’ll also get access to our invoice generating tool, payment links, QuickPay QR codes and the ability to set up direct debits all within one account. Please check our website for the latest pricing information.

FAQs

Can PayPal be used for paying employees?

You can, but the PayPal business account was not built for it. PayPal has no native batch payroll infrastructure, applies FX markups with limited transparency, and account holds can delay payments. For regular employee payroll, purpose-built tools handle it more reliably.

Why do businesses move away from PayPal payroll payments?

PayPal payroll payments work in a pinch for one or two recipients, but once you're paying a distributed team across multiple currencies every month, the limitations stack up fast. These are the most common reasons:

• Unpredictable FX costs eat into payroll budgets when exchange rate markups apply on every pay run.
• No batch payment tool means paying each employee individually, which does not scale.
• Account holds can freeze funds at the worst possible time, delaying salary payments.

What should payroll teams look for in a payment provider?

Consider the following when choosing a payment provider for payroll:

• Transparent FX rates with no hidden markups
• Batch payment capability for paying multiple employees at once
• Direct bank deposits so recipients do not need an account with the provider
• Multi-currency support to hold and pay in local currencies
• Accounting integrations to reduce manual reconciliation

How can businesses reduce costs and delays in payroll payments?

The two biggest levers are the exchange rate and the payment infrastructure. Using a provider that applies the mid-market rate with no markup, like Wise Business, cuts FX costs on every pay run. Batch payment tools let you process an entire payroll from a single file upload, and connecting your payment platform to your accounting software cuts reconciliation time significantly.

Sources Used

1. Plans & pricing – Airwallex
2. What are batch payments? – Airwallex
3. How does a Payoneer account work? – Payoneer
4. Payoneer fees – Payoneer
5. International transfer – Revolut
6. Multicurrency account in the UK – Revolut
7. Revolut payroll terms – Revolut
8. Business fees – Revolut
9. 10 reasons to switch to OFX Global business account – OFX Business
10. OFX pricing – OFX Business

Sources last checked: 15/04/2026