How to pay international affiliates: PayPal vs Wise

To pay international affiliates, most SaaS brands use either PayPal Payouts or Wise batch payments, and the difference is mostly currency conversion. As of PayPal's US fee page updated October 1, 2026, an international Payout costs the sender 2% of the amount, capped at $20, plus a 4.00% conversion spread when the recipient receives a different currency [1]. Wise converts at the mid-market rate and charges an upfront fee per transfer; quotes we checked in October 2026 for $125 sent from a USD balance were $0.89 to euros and $1.48 to Brazilian reals [3]. On a $500 payout split across four countries, that works out to about $30 through PayPal with conversion and about $4.46 through Wise. PayPal wins when partners want money in a PayPal balance in dollars; Wise wins when they want local currency in a bank account. This post shows the arithmetic, the batch CSV workflow for each, and the tax forms you should collect first.

What it costs to pay international affiliates

Three costs make up an international payout. The transfer fee is what the provider charges to send. The conversion cost is the gap between the rate you get and the mid-market rate, either as a stated fee or as a spread built into the rate. And the receiving cost is whatever the partner's bank or wallet charges to accept or withdraw. Providers publish the first two; the third depends on the partner and is outside your control, so this post leaves it out of the arithmetic and says so in each table.

The conversion cost usually dominates. A 2% transfer fee on $125 is $2.50, while a 4% spread on the same amount is $5.00. That is why the useful question is not "which provider is cheaper" but "in which currency does the partner want to be paid, and where".

PayPal Payouts fees and how they work

PayPal Payouts sends money to many recipients at once from a business account. PayPal's developer documentation says recipients can be paid using only an email address, phone number or PayPal ID, that payouts reach 96 countries and 24 currencies, and that recipients without an account get a notification inviting them to open one to claim the money. Payments can be sent by web file upload, SFTP batch transfer or the Payouts API. Venmo is also an option, but only in the US and in US dollars [2].

The sender pays the fee. On the US fee page updated October 1, 2026, a US Payout costs 2% of the amount with a $1.00 maximum, or a flat $0.25 when sent through the Payouts API, and an international Payout costs 2% with a $20.00 maximum. If you send in a way that means your recipients receive a different currency, PayPal applies a 4.00% currency conversion spread, "or such other amount as may be disclosed" at the time [1].

Wise batch payments and how they work

Wise Business sends money to bank accounts in the recipient's currency, converting at the mid-market rate with a small upfront fee shown before you pay [3][4]. Sending the same currency to another Wise Business account is free [3]. For partner payouts the useful feature is batch payments: Wise's help center says you can create up to 1,000 payments with a single CSV or XLSX file, pay for the whole batch with one pay-in, and choose among three templates, including one where you only need the recipient's email address and Wise asks them for their bank details [5].

Wise fees vary by route and amount and are shown before you confirm. We checked the price calculator for $125 sent from a USD balance to a bank account in each of four currencies, from a business profile, in October 2026. The quotes split into a flat part and a percentage part.

Worked example: a $500 payout to four countries

Take one month's payout batch: four partners, each owed $125, in Germany, the UK, India and Brazil. Each wants to end up with local currency. Here is the same batch through both providers, using only the published or quoted fees above.

Through PayPal Payouts: each $125 international Payout costs 2% × $125 = $2.50, well under the $20 cap. If the recipients receive local currency, the 4.00% spread costs 4% × $125 = $5.00 each. Per partner that is $2.50 + $5.00 = $7.50; for four partners, 4 × $7.50 = $30.00, or 6.0% of $500. If the partners instead keep US dollars in their PayPal balance, your cost is only the transfer fee, 4 × $2.50 = $10.00, or 2.0%, and any later conversion happens on the partner's side under PayPal's terms for their country.

Through Wise: the four quotes add to $0.89 + $1.00 + $1.09 + $1.48 = $4.46, or 0.89% of $500, with conversion at the mid-market rate. You fund the batch once from your USD balance.

The difference, $30.00 against $4.46, is about $25.54 a month on a $500 batch, and it scales with volume. On $5,000 a month in the same mix it would be roughly ten times that. That is not an argument to force everyone onto Wise. Some partners live in PayPal, some do not have a bank account that can receive a foreign transfer easily, and some prefer to hold dollars. It is an argument to ask each partner which method and currency they want, and to show them the difference.

Which should you use: PayPal or Wise?

• Use PayPal Payouts when the partner already uses PayPal, wants a balance in US dollars, or only gave you an email address and does not want to share bank details.
• Use Wise when the partner wants local currency in a bank account, especially for amounts where a 4% spread is meaningful.
• Offer both, and let the partner choose in their payout settings. The method is the partner's decision; the fee table is information you can show them.
• Keep the method per partner, not per batch. A single month can export one PayPal file and one Wise file.
• Watch the caps. PayPal's international fee is capped at $20 per payment [1], so for a $2,000 payment the transfer fee is $20, not $40; the conversion spread has no such cap.

The batch CSV workflow, step by step

Both providers accept a file of payments, which is the safest way for a small team to pay partners: one file, reviewed once, paid once. A workable monthly procedure looks like this.

1. Close the month. Only commissions that have passed the hold period and belong to partners above the minimum payout go into the batch.
2. Review fraud flags and refunds before export. A refund that arrives after a commission becomes payable should already be a negative row that reduces the balance.
3. Export two files: one for partners paid by PayPal, one for partners paid by Wise.
4. Upload the PayPal file through the Payouts web upload, or send it through the API [2]. Upload the Wise file to batch payments, check the quotes, and fund it with one pay-in [5].
5. Record each payment's reference against the partner balance so the next month starts from zero.
6. Send partners a short statement: amount, method, date, and the commissions it covers.

RelayWonder follows this pattern. Payouts run as monthly batches: commissions become payable after a 30-day hold, partners below the $50 minimum roll over to the next month, and the batch is exported as a PayPal or Wise CSV that the brand pays from its own account. RelayWonder never holds partner money, so the fees are the brand's own provider fees, with no extra layer in between.

Tax forms: W-9 and W-8BEN basics

Before paying a partner, collect the right IRS form once. This is general information, not tax advice, and you should confirm your obligations with an accountant. A US person gives you Form W-9, which supplies their correct taxpayer identification number to a payer who must file an information return; the current revision is dated March 2024 [6]. A foreign individual gives you Form W-8BEN, which certifies that they are a foreign person and the beneficial owner of the income; the current revision is dated October 2021, and entities use Form W-8BEN-E instead [7].

Two details save trouble. First, a W-8BEN is given to the payer, not sent to the IRS, and it generally stays in effect from the date it is signed until the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, so a form signed in October 2026 is generally valid through December 31, 2029, unless the partner's circumstances change [8]. Second, for US partners, the IRS raised the general Form 1099-NEC reporting threshold from $600 to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025, and its instructions say payments made by payment card or through third party network transactions are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity, not on 1099-NEC [9]. Whether a given payout method falls under that rule is a question for your accountant.

In RelayWonder, partners upload a W-9 or W-8BEN once and the operations team reviews it before the partner's first payout. That keeps the form collection in the same place as the balance it applies to.

What to tell partners on your program page

Partners abroad compare programs on how they get paid as much as on the rate. Put the payout facts in one short block.

• Payout schedule: monthly, after a 30-day hold.
• Minimum payout: $50; smaller balances roll over.
• Methods: PayPal or Wise; you choose in your settings.
• Currency: PayPal pays in USD to your PayPal balance; Wise pays local currency to your bank at the mid-market rate.
• Tax form: W-9 for US partners, W-8BEN for others, uploaded once before the first payout.