Paying global contractors: one balance, many countries

The global contractor payroll problem

Paying contractors across borders has traditionally been a logistical nightmare. Each country means a different banking system, a different currency, a different set of fees, and a different compliance requirement. A company with contractors in 10 countries might maintain 10 different payment workflows, reconcile 10 different confirmation formats, and pay 10 different fee structures — all for the same fundamental task: sending money to someone who did work.

The result is that global hiring is slower, more expensive, and more error-prone than it should be. Contractors wait weeks for payments. Finance teams spend hours on reconciliation. And the cost of cross-border transfers eats into both sides' margins.

One balance, many rails

1TCH solves this by giving you a single USD, EUR, GBP, or MXN balance that can pay out through any supported rail, to any supported country, in the recipient's preferred format — fiat bank transfer or on-chain USDC.

• Wire — for large USD payments to US or international bank accounts.
• ACH — for low-cost USD payments to US-based contractors.
• SEPA — for euro payments to contractors in the EU/EEA.
• SPEI — for peso payments to contractors in Mexico.
• UK Faster Payments — for GBP payments to UK contractors.
• On-chain USDC — for contractors who prefer crypto, on Solana, Ethereum, Base, or Polygon.

How it works in practice

1. Hold one balance — fund your 1TCH account in USD, EUR, GBP, or MXN. The balance is held as USDB in regulated custody.
2. Add contractors as recipients — save each contractor's bank details or crypto wallet address. 1TCH stores them securely for reuse.
3. Pay through the right rail — when you send a payment, choose the rail that matches the contractor's country and preference. 1TCH handles the conversion and delivery.
4. Reconcile in one place — every payment, regardless of rail or currency, appears in a single transaction history with consistent status tracking.

Why on-chain USDC changes the game

For contractors in countries with weak banking infrastructure or restricted currency controls, receiving a bank transfer can take days and involve multiple intermediary banks, each taking a fee. On-chain USDC settles in seconds, costs fractions of a cent, and arrives directly in the contractor's wallet — no intermediary banks, no currency conversion, no waiting.

This is particularly impactful for contractors in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, where traditional cross-border payments are slow and expensive. With 1TCH, a contractor in Argentina can receive USDC on Solana in under 10 seconds, for a fraction of a cent in network fees.

Compliance without complexity

Every contractor payment through 1TCH is logged with a full audit trail — sender, recipient, amount, rail, timestamp, and 2FA verification. For companies that need to report contractor payments for tax purposes, the transaction history provides a complete, exportable record. And because 1TCH handles KYC on both sides, you're not building a compliance workflow from scratch.

The bottom line

Global contractor payroll doesn't have to be complex. With one balance and access to every major payment rail — fiat and crypto — you can pay anyone, anywhere, in their preferred format, from a single account. No more maintaining multiple banking relationships. No more reconciling across systems. Just pay.

Start paying your global team →