Paying international contractors in 2026 is rarely just a payment.

The operational reality includes onboarding, compliant agreements, identity verification, tax documentation, invoice handling, payout scheduling, and ongoing support when contractors want different withdrawal options across cycles.

Rise is built to standardize that workflow end-to-end.
Employers fund payroll, while contractors control how they withdraw: fiat, stablecoins, crypto, or a mix, every cycle.

Key Takeaways

• Rise is a global payroll, onboarding, and compliance platform that supports contractor payroll, AOR, and EOR models.
• Contractor onboarding is completely self-service: employers only send an invite.
• Rise automates KYC/AML, identity verification, compliant agreements, and tax documentation for contractors.
• Employers fund payroll in USD (bank transfer) or USDC/USDT (crypto wallet).
• Contractors choose their withdrawal method and currency each cycle (employers do not control contractor payout currency).

What Rise Is and What It Solves for Contractor Payments

Rise is a global payroll, onboarding, and compliance platform that lets companies pay contractors and full-time employees worldwide.

Rise supports payments in local currencies, stablecoins (USDC/USDT), or other crypto, while enabling employers to fund payroll from bank accounts or crypto wallets.

Rise also automates compliance, tax documentation, and identity verification, supports Hybrid Fiat and Crypto Payroll from one dashboard, and onboards global workers in minutes via KYC/AML automation.

For contractor payments specifically, Rise reduces the operational burden that typically sits across spreadsheets, email threads, and disconnected payment tools, by centralizing onboarding, verification, invoices, scheduling, and payouts in one workflow.

The Rise Contractor Payroll Model

Before implementing any process, two rules must be operationally understood:

1. Employers do one onboarding action only: Employers send the contractor an email invite. That is it. Rise never requires employers to enter contractor banking details, crypto addresses, or personal identity information.
2. Contractors always control payout currency and method: Contractors select their payout method and withdrawal currency themselves during each withdrawal cycle. Contractors can withdraw in any currency Rise supports (local fiat, stablecoins, cryptocurrency, or crypto), and can change payout currency at any time.

Employers have no control over contractor payout currency.

These rules shape the most reliable workflow: employers standardize invitations, funding, and scheduling; contractors self-manage onboarding and withdrawals for freelancers and independent contractors.

Step-by-Step: How to Pay International Contractors With Rise in 2026

Step 1: Invite the Contractor (Employer Action)

Rise starts with a single employer action: send an email invite to the contractor. From that point forward, onboarding is contractor-driven and self-service.

Operational recommendation: standardize your invite cadence and internal approvals (who can invite contractors, and when invites are sent) so onboarding happens, before your first payment cycle.

Step 2: Contractor Completes Self-Service Onboarding (Contractor Action)

After accepting the invite, the contractor completes all required steps directly in Rise, including:

• Completing KYC/AML
• Completing identity verification
• Filling in personal information
• Adding banking details
• Adding crypto wallets (optional, if the contractor wants crypto withdrawals)
• Selecting payout preferences and changing them as needed over time

Rise generates compliant agreements automatically and handles tax forms as part of the contractor payroll flow, reducing manual admin and fragmented documentation.

Step 3: Set Up the Payment Structure (Employer Scheduling)

Rise supports flexible contractor payment schedules, including:

• Daily
• Biweekly
• Monthly
• Milestone-based
• Hourly
• One-off payments

Rise also supports instant mass payouts, which matters when paying larger contractor workforces across many countries.

Operational recommendation: define clear payment terms internally and publish them to contractors so invoice timing, approvals, and payout cycles stay predictable.

Step 4: Manage Invoices and Expenses (Centralized Workflow)

Rise includes invoices + expense management inside the contractor payroll product. This allows contractor payment operations to run as a repeatable system rather than a one-off payment request.

Practical outcome: fewer exceptions on payout day, fewer missing invoices, and fewer support requests asking when a payment will be processed.

Step 5: Fund Payroll (Employer Funding Options)

Employers fund payroll using one of the supported funding methods:

• USD (bank transfer)
• USDC/USDT (crypto wallet)

Rise’s hybrid payroll infrastructure supports funding in fiat or stablecoins while enabling contractors to withdraw using their preferred method.

Step 6: Contractors Withdraw in Their Preferred Currency (Contractor Choice Each Cycle)

Once payments are available, contractors decide how to withdraw for that cycle.

Withdrawal options include:

• Local currency
• USDC
• USDT
• Other supported cryptocurrencies
• Any combination via a hybrid split

This applies regardless of which payment methods contractors use elsewhere (such as PayPal), because Rise workers choose their withdrawal method inside the platform each cycle.

Important: this selection is made by the worker every cycle and is not controlled by the employer.

When to Use AOR or EOR Alongside Contractor Payroll

International contractor payments often create classification and employment-model questions.

Rise supports three relevant models:

1. Global Contractor Payroll

Designed to hire and pay contractors worldwide with automated onboarding, compliant agreements, KYC/AML, identity verification, and tax documentation, plus invoice management and flexible payout schedules.

2. Agent of Record (AOR)

AOR protects companies from misclassification risk when hiring contractors globally.

Under AOR:

• Rise becomes the legal contracting entity
• Rise ensures compliance across 190+ contractor markets
• Rise manages agreements, KYC/AML, identity verification, and tax documentation

3. Employer of Record (EOR)

EOR is for hiring full-time employees globally without opening a local entity.

Under EOR:

• Rise employs the team on the company’s behalf
• Rise handles local labor laws, employer taxes, employee taxes, and compliance
• Rise provides compliant employment agreements
• Rise delivers local and international benefits
• Rise manages payroll and supports hybrid payroll (local currency or crypto)

EOR coverage rule: Rise is constantly launching new EOR countries, adds new EOR markets every week, and will be live in 60+ EOR countries by end of 2026.

Supported Currencies, Assets, and Geography

For global contractor operations, coverage and flexibility matter.

Rise supports:

• 90+ local currencies
• 100+ crypto assets
• Stablecoin payroll: USDC and USDT
• 190+ contractor countries

This combination allows contractor teams to operate across diverse banking environments while maintaining consistent payroll operations, including withdrawals to bank accounts and digital wallets.

Security, Compliance, and Licensing

Rise’s contractor workflow is designed around compliance and secure access:

• SOC 2 Certified
• GDPR compliant
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• High-level encryption
• Money Service Business (MSB) registrations

This matters operationally because cross-border payments are shaped by regulations and require both reliable payment execution and a controlled compliance posture.

Integrations: Chains, Wallets, and Multi-Chain Support

Rise supports multi-chain operations and common wallet tooling used by global teams and Web3 organizations:

Chains: Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche Wallets: MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Gnosis Safe, MyEtherWallet (MEW)

This is especially useful for teams funding payroll from crypto treasuries while still supporting local fiat withdrawals.

View all Rise integrations here.

Example: How Rise Onboards an Employee Payee (EOR Context)

Rise’s employee onboarding flow includes:

Stage 1: Setting up a Rise account (Payee)

• Receive an email invitation and sign up
• Select “Join as a payee” and onboard as an Individual
• Complete required KYC steps using a government-issued ID
• Create a signing passkey (recommended on a laptop)

Stage 2: Action items inside the platform

• Health insurance enrollment form
• Tax declaration form
• Employment agreement

Stage 3: Getting paid with Rise

• Rise offers Everyday Pay (earnings available daily)
• Expect to see funds arrive in your accounts, midnight GMT, on workdays
• Set up direct deposit, or withdraw manually
• Add payout options by going to the Withdraw tab and selecting Withdraw Options
• Add a domestic bank account (fiat) and/or a crypto wallet, you can add multiple options
• Once funds are available, choose where you’d like them sent
• To set up direct deposit, navigate to Direct Deposits
• Allocate different percentages of your pay to different accounts if you’d like

Stage 4: Benefits enrollment

• Health insurance and 401(k) setup, managed by Ease and ForUsAll
• Health insurance is managed through Ease (watch for an email with setup instructions)
• 401(k) is managed through ForUsAll (enrollment steps arrive one month into using Rise)

Stage 5: Support

• Support: hello@riseworks.io

Conclusion

A scalable contractor payment process in 2026 depends on two things:

• Keeping onboarding self-service
• Keeping payout choice with the contractor

Without adding operational complexity for the employer.

Rise is built around that model. Employers invite contractors, fund payroll in USD or USDC/USDT, schedule payments, and let contractors withdraw each cycle in local currency, stablecoins, crypto, or a split, while Rise automates identity checks, tax documentation, and compliant agreements globally.

Book a demo to see how Rise runs international contractor payments with self-service onboarding and flexible withdrawals.

FAQs:

1. Can Rise pay international independent contractors and freelancers in multiple currencies?

Yes. Rise supports contractor payments across 190+ countries and supports 90+ local currencies, plus stablecoins and other crypto assets. Contractors choose their withdrawal currency each cycle.

2. Do employers control contractor payout currencies or withdrawal options?

No. Employers fund payroll, but workers control their own withdrawal currency and withdrawal method each cycle, including local currency, USDC, USDT, other supported crypto assets, or a hybrid split.

3. What funding options does Rise support for contractor payments?

Employers can fund payroll using USD via bank transfer or using USDC/USDT from a crypto wallet, and Rise uses the hybrid payroll infrastructure to support withdrawals in the worker’s chosen method.

4. Does Rise replace payment methods like PayPal or wire transfers?

Rise centralizes contractor onboarding, payouts, and compliance in one workflow. Contractors add their own withdrawal options inside Rise, which can include bank rails; employers do not enter contractor payout details.

5. How does Rise handle compliance for international contractor payments?

Rise automates KYC/AML, identity verification, compliant agreements, and tax documentation as part of the global contractor payroll workflow, supporting cross-border operations under a structured compliance model.

6. Can Rise help if a company is worried about misclassification risk?

Yes. Rise offers an Agent of Record (AOR) model where Rise becomes the legal contracting entity and manages agreements and verification steps to reduce misclassification risk across global contractor markets.

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