Digital Wallets Are Reinventing Cross-Border Payroll and Compliance

Cross-border payments are the holy grail of global commerce and among its biggest pain points.

That cross-border pain, as well as those gains, can be multiplied even further when it comes to handling payroll.

“Managing employees, contractors and contingent workers all over the world is incredibly complicated,” Bryan Peña, head of workforce management with Papaya Global, told PYMNTS. “You have a patchwork quilt of 180 different laws, regulations, processes and cultural zeitgeists, and managing that payment in real time is incredibly challenging for most large enterprises.”

Technology plays a role in reshaping workforce payments. Traditional banking systems have struggled to support the dynamic needs of global payroll, but digital wallets and workforce management platforms are changing the game.

“Through a unified platform, we’re able to manage all of a company’s payment streams, regardless of what banks they use,” Peña said. “That is an innovative process in our industry. Historically, employer-of-record services and payments have been intertwined, but we’re breaking that up. We’re giving companies flexibility in how they engage workers and how they pay them.”

This approach is transformative because it allows enterprises to optimize payroll efficiency, minimize errors and provide better experiences for employees, he said.

A streamlined payroll process can reduce the risk of missed payments and administrative delays, both of which can negatively impact employee satisfaction and retention.

The Power of a Unified Workforce Wallet

Papaya Global’s workforce wallet solution aims to streamline payroll by enabling instantaneous cross-border payments, offering businesses flexibility in how they compensate employees and contractors.

“What makes the wallet unique is that it consolidates and addresses many concerns around payment processes and compliance,” Peña said. “It allows instantaneous payments across borders in real time and enables multiple companies to be flexible in how they choose to pay with different types of currency. That is a real innovation.”

Papaya’s partnership with J.P. Morgan enhances the security and global reach of this solution, providing enterprises with a more robust process for engaging in international transactions. By ensuring secure banking rails, companies can minimize risks associated with cross-border payments, such as fraud and regulatory pitfalls.

One of the most significant obstacles in global payroll is compliance, he said. Regulations vary between countries, making it difficult for organizations to ensure that their workforce payments meet local legal standards.

“Anytime you’re dealing with significant change from managing money, you’re going to begin with senior executives with much more strategic concerns,” Peña said. “At the same time, they are still addressing very human interests. People want to get paid. And unlike other categories of spend, there are very real consequences for improper payment.”

Read also: Papaya to Showcase Workforce Payments Platform in Super Bowl Commercial

Enhancing CFO Visibility and Business Strategy

From a financial leadership perspective, the ability to see and manage global payroll from a single dashboard is important, particularly for chief financial officers and finance teams that often struggle with fragmented payroll systems, which can vary by country and banking institution.

“We have a unified platform that is agnostic to banking relationships,” Peña said. “Through a single database, finance teams can oversee their entire global workforce and payment strategy in real time.”

This level of visibility empowers companies to optimize payroll efficiency, reduce costs and ensure timely payments. Additionally, a well-managed payroll system contributes to stronger employer branding and workforce retention.

“A bad payment experience is a bad sales experience,” Peña said. “People who have a poor experience with payroll are more likely to share that dissatisfaction, which can impact an organization’s reputation. Managing workforce payments efficiently isn’t just good risk management — it’s good business.”

The Future of Workforce Payments

Another transformative shift is the decoupling of payroll from employment classification. By allowing companies to engage contractors and employees differently while maintaining a seamless payment strategy, organizations can unlock new growth opportunities without the burden of opening legal entities in every market.

“Supplier management globally is incredibly complicated,” Peña said. “But if you can appropriately manage payment streams without the constraints of a local entity, you can service clients all over the world. This is going to democratize the global economy.”

As workforce payments continue to evolve, new trends are also emerging that could further reshape the global payroll landscape.

“The future is global,” Peña said. “Remote work has proven that organizations are no longer tethered by location when engaging independent workers. We are going to see an explosion in global workforce trends.”