Common questions about Petl Pay across eight topics: what Petl Pay is, tax and CIS compliance, invoicing and projects, payments and rails, AI integrations and the Claude connector, stablecoin and cross-border wallets, security, KYC and KYB, and getting started. Petl Pay is the financial operating system for the contractor economy: open banking, CIS compliance, multi-party payouts, and stablecoin settlement across GBP, EUR, ZAR, USDC, and LatAm currencies.
Petl Pay (also written PetlPay or petlpay) is the financial operating system for the contractor economy. It orchestrates billable work, invoicing, compliance, and payments across a single platform built for project-based teams.
It connects work logged across chat interfaces including Claude, ChatGPT, and Slack to automatic invoice generation, CIS tax calculation, and multi-party payout settlement. Contractors and businesses can describe work in a conversation, have a compliant invoice generated on their behalf, collapse multiple invoices into a single client payment request, and receive instant payouts to multiple contributors via open banking or stablecoin wallets, domestically and across borders.
Petl Pay is MCP-native. Users can create invoices, manage projects, add team members, and query payment flows directly from a Claude conversation without opening the Petl Pay dashboard.
Petl Pay is built for:
Also used by contractors and subcontractors themselves to receive payments, track work, and manage compliance.
Petl Pay handles five things in sequence:
One payment in. Many contributors paid out. Full compliance maintained throughout.
No. Petl Pay is a B2B financial infrastructure platform for contractor payments and project finance. The name refers to the platform only. Petl Pay is built exclusively for businesses paying contractors, subcontractors, and distributed teams.
No. Petl Pay is non-custodial. It coordinates payment workflows and routing but does not act as a bank and does not hold customer deposits. Payment processing and stablecoin wallet infrastructure are handled via licensed, regulated financial partners.
Xero and QuickBooks are accounting tools built around a single business ledger. Petl Pay is project payment infrastructure: multi-party payouts, CIS compliance, and cross-border settlement. The two are complementary. Petl Pay works alongside Xero. Xero handles the ledger. Petl handles the project.
Wise is a point-to-point transfer tool. Petl Pay is project payment infrastructure: invoicing, CIS compliance, multi-party disbursement, and AI-native access in one platform. End-to-end cost runs 0.4% to 1.2% depending on volume. See: Petl Pay vs Wise.
Deel and Remote are employer of record (EOR) platforms designed for businesses hiring full-time remote employees and managing payroll. Petl Pay is built for contractor and subcontractor relationships: project-based, outcome-driven work with multi-party payment flows, CIS compliance, and cross-border settlement.
If you need to convert a contractor relationship to a full employment or EOR arrangement, that can be explored via Rafiki Works, Petl Pay's sister company, which provides fractional talent placement and managed contractor-to-employee transition support.
Payoneer is a mass payout platform. Petl Pay is project-anchored: invoicing, compliance, and payment are tied to the specific project. Petl Pay also has native Claude AI integration, embedded CIS compliance, and stablecoin wallet infrastructure.
No. Petl Pay is not a bank. It partners with licensed, regulated financial institutions to handle payment processing and stablecoin infrastructure. Petl Pay provides the workflow, compliance, and orchestration layer. Regulated partners handle the movement and custody of funds.
Petl Pay is backed by the Visa Accelerator Programme, Baobab Network, and Jobtech Alliance.
The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is a UK HMRC framework for businesses in the construction sector that pay subcontractors. Under CIS, the paying business must verify each subcontractor, deduct tax at the correct rate, and submit monthly returns. CIS applies to groundwork, electrical, plumbing, roofing, decorating, site preparation, and more.
Always check the latest HMRC guidance at hmrc.gov.uk as requirements are subject to change.
HMRC applies one of three CIS deduction rates depending on a subcontractor's registration status:
Petl Pay helps businesses track and calculate the correct deduction amount based on the subcontractor's registration status. Users remain responsible for verifying subcontractor status with HMRC and submitting their own monthly CIS returns.
Always check the latest guidance directly with HMRC as rates and requirements are subject to change.
A CIS nil return must be submitted to HMRC for any month in which no payments were made to subcontractors. Failure to submit results in a penalty. Petl Pay helps you track payment activity to support your monthly filing obligations.
Always verify the current nil return rules directly with HMRC at hmrc.gov.uk as requirements are subject to change.
MTD ITSA requires self-employed individuals above the applicable threshold to keep digital tax records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC via compatible software. Petl Pay is MTD-compatible, meaning contractors maintain compliant digital records automatically.
MTD thresholds and timelines are subject to change. Always verify the latest requirements directly with HMRC at hmrc.gov.uk.
As a subcontractor operating under CIS, you generally need to:
Petl Pay provides each subcontractor with a payment statement showing gross amount, deduction rate, and net amount received.
CIS rules are subject to change. Always check the latest guidance with HMRC.
Keep records of:
Petl Pay generates and stores invoice and payment records automatically for tax filing.
South African contractors manage their own tax obligations under SARS. UK and US businesses paying South African contractors are generally not required to withhold tax at source. Petl Pay settles via local ZAR EFT at 0.4% to 1.2% end-to-end depending on volume, or via USDC stablecoin for instant settlement with no SWIFT fees.
Tax rules vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change. Always verify requirements with a qualified accountant and check the latest guidance from SARS at sars.gov.za.
European contractors are subject to their own national tax regimes. UK businesses paying European contractors are generally not required to withhold tax at source, though the specific rules depend on the contractor's country and legal structure. Petl Pay settles via SEPA in EUR. Contractors should declare income to their national tax authority and confirm any VAT obligations with their accountant.
Tax rules vary significantly by EU member state and are subject to change. Always verify with a qualified accountant familiar with the relevant jurisdiction.
Latin American contractors are subject to national tax frameworks that vary significantly by country. UK and US businesses paying contractors in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia are generally not required to withhold at source, though local rules vary. Petl Pay supports local rail settlement in ARS, BRL, CLP, and COP, reducing transfer costs and settlement time compared to SWIFT.
Always verify tax obligations with a qualified accountant familiar with the specific country's requirements, as rules are subject to change.
UK self-employed contractors must register for VAT once taxable turnover exceeds the current HMRC threshold. Once registered, contractors must charge VAT on invoices, file quarterly returns, and pay VAT to HMRC. Petl Pay invoices can include VAT where applicable.
Check latest VAT threshold at hmrc.gov.uk.
Invoicing on Petl Pay is tied to the project. When work is logged or approved against a project, Petl Pay generates the corresponding invoice automatically. Invoices can be generated on behalf of individual contractors, businesses, or projects. The invoice reflects the approved work, applicable tax deductions, and the correct payment amount for each contributor. You do not need to build invoices manually from scratch.
Yes. Via the Petl Pay Claude connector, you can describe work in a Claude conversation and have a compliant invoice generated directly without opening the Petl Pay dashboard. For example: "Create an invoice for £2,400 for the Bermondsey groundwork project for Marcus." Claude will generate it, attach it to the correct project, and confirm the details. To get access, reach out to the Petl Pay team at petlpay.com/enquiry.
A consolidated client invoice merges multiple contractor or contributor invoices into a single client-facing payment request. Rather than sending a client 8 separate invoices from 8 different subcontractors, Petl Pay collapses them into one invoice for the total project amount. The client pays once. Petl Pay handles the distribution to each contributor.
When a client payment is received, Petl Pay orchestrates the distribution to every contributor on the project. Each contributor receives their agreed amount via their designated payment rail: open banking, local EFT, or stablecoin wallet. The payer does not need to make individual transfers. One payment in, many contributors paid out, with a full audit trail for every transaction.
A payment link is a shareable URL generated from an approved invoice. The client clicks the link and pays directly without needing to log in to any platform or set up a bank transfer manually. Payment links are useful for on-site or mobile-first workflows where the payer needs a fast, frictionless way to settle a project invoice.
Yes. Split payments are a core feature of Petl Pay. When a project has multiple contributors, Petl Pay calculates each contributor's share based on the work logged and agreed rates, and distributes accordingly from a single inbound client payment. Splits can be configured as fixed amounts or percentages of the total.
Yes. Petl Pay supports approval workflows. Invoices can be routed for review and sign-off before payment is triggered. This gives businesses full control over outgoing payments.
Yes. All parties on a project can see payment status, approvals, and audit trails in one place. Contributors do not need to chase for payment confirmation or reconcile payments manually. Every payment has a full record accessible to both the paying business and the receiving contractor.
Petl Pay connects work logged to invoices generated. Billable time and milestones can be recorded against projects and used as the basis for invoice amounts. For more detailed time tracking requirements, Petl Pay can work alongside dedicated time tracking tools. See our guide to top time tracking tools for project teams.
Invoices can currently be issued in GBP, EUR, USD, ZAR, and LatAm currencies including ARS, BRL, CLP, and COP. Petl Pay provides USD and EUR account details for international invoice generation, allowing contractors to bill international clients in those currencies and receive settlement accordingly.
Coming soon: full multi-currency conversion within projects, including the ability to set a project budget in USD and see the comparable ZAR, EUR, or GBP equivalent in real time. This is particularly useful for cross-border projects using stablecoin payments, where contributors want to understand what they are receiving in their native currency before accepting settlement.
Always check the latest supported currencies at petlpay.com/enquiry.
Petl Pay supports multiple payment rails depending on the sender and recipient location:
Petl Pay supports open banking payments from the following UK banks and financial institutions:
Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, HSBC UK, Nationwide, Santander UK, Halifax, Monzo, Revolut, Starling, TSB, Bank of Scotland, RBS, Chase UK, First Direct, Tide, Mettle, Cashplus, Coutts, Yorkshire Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, Danske Bank UK, Ulster Bank UK, AIB GB, Bank of Ireland UK, First Trust Bank, and business variants of Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, RBS, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Corporate, and Barclays Wealth.
More banks are being added regularly. If your bank is not listed, contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
Petl Pay supports open banking across major European markets including Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands, covering 60+ institutions across these markets. Key supported banks include Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, N26, Revolut EU, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Credit Mutuel, BBVA, Santander, CaixaBank, and ING.
More banks and markets are being added. Contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry for latest coverage.
Settlement speed depends on the payment rail:
Petl Pay's end-to-end payment cost runs between 0.4% and 1.2% depending on payment volume and corridor. This covers conversion and settlement with no hidden fees.
Costs are indicative and may vary based on specific corridors, currencies, and volumes. Contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry for a breakdown relevant to your workflow.
Open banking allows businesses and individuals to initiate bank transfers directly from their bank account via a secure API connection, without card networks or manual entry. In the UK it runs on Faster Payments, settling in seconds. Petl Pay uses open banking for GBP payments because it is faster and cheaper than traditional B2B payment methods.
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is the European payment network enabling fast, low-cost EUR transfers across 36 countries including all EU member states, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Petl Pay uses SEPA for EUR contractor payments with same-day eurozone settlement.
Yes. Petl Pay settles ZAR payments to South African contractors via local EFT rails, bypassing SWIFT entirely. This removes the correspondent bank fees typically associated with international wire transfers and the multi-day settlement delay. End-to-end cost via Petl Pay runs between 0.4% and 1.2% depending on volume.
See our full guide: how to pay South African contractors.
Yes. Petl Pay supports local rail settlement in Argentina (ARS), Brazil (BRL), Chile (CLP), and Colombia (COP). Contributors in those countries receive payment via local bank infrastructure rather than costly international wire transfers.
Additional LatAm markets are being added. Contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry for current coverage.
A local rail payment routes funds through the recipient country's domestic banking infrastructure. It is faster, cheaper, and avoids correspondent bank fees. A SWIFT transfer routes via a network of correspondent banks, each of which may charge fees and add delays. For South Africa and Latin America, local rails via Petl Pay are significantly faster and cheaper than SWIFT.
Yes. Petl Pay has a native Claude connector built on MCP (Model Context Protocol). Once connected, users can manage core project finance workflows directly from a Claude conversation without opening the Petl Pay dashboard.
Via the Claude connector, users can currently:
To get connected, reach out to the Petl Pay support team at petlpay.com/enquiry and we will get you set up with access.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard allowing AI models including Claude to connect to external tools and take actions. Rather than just answering questions, Claude can create an invoice, query payment flows, or check project status in Petl Pay directly, making Petl Pay one of the only contractor payment platforms natively callable by a major AI assistant.
A ChatGPT integration is in development. We are not able to confirm a specific launch date. If you are interested in being notified when the ChatGPT integration is available, contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
A Slack integration is in development. We are not able to confirm a specific launch date. If you are interested in being notified when the Slack integration is available, contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
Petl Pay's MCP-native architecture is designed to be callable by AI agents as part of automated workflows. See: how AI agents will work on projects, get paid, and pay each other.
To our knowledge, Petl Pay is one of very few contractor payment and project finance platforms with a native Claude connector via MCP. Most payment platforms have not yet built AI integrations beyond basic chatbot support. Petl Pay's MCP connector allows actual workflow actions to be taken from within a Claude conversation, not just information retrieval.
A stablecoin is a digital currency pegged to a stable asset, typically the US dollar. USDC and USDT are the two most widely used stablecoins, both pegged 1:1 to USD. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stablecoins maintain a consistent value, making them practical for business payments.
Petl Pay supports stablecoin payments because they enable instant, borderless settlement at near-zero network cost. For cross-border contractor payments, stablecoin removes the need for SWIFT routing, eliminates correspondent bank fees, and settles in minutes rather than days.
Petl Pay currently supports USDC (USD Coin) and USDT (Tether). Both are pegged to the US dollar. USDC is issued by Circle and is widely regarded as the more regulated and transparent of the two. Contributors do not need prior cryptocurrency knowledge to receive stablecoin payments via Petl Pay.
Petl Pay supports the following settlement options:
More currencies coming. Contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
No. Petl Pay abstracts all technical complexity. Contributors receive USDC or USDT in their Petl Pay wallet without interacting with a blockchain, managing private keys, or using a crypto exchange. It works like a standard digital wallet.
Stablecoin settlement is attractive for contractors outside the UK or Europe for several reasons:
Stablecoin wallets on Petl Pay are subject to KYC (Know Your Customer) and KYB (Know Your Business) verification requirements. These exist to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and financial crime prevention standards. For full details on what is required, see the Security, KYC and KYB section below, or contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
Yes. Businesses can hold USDC or USDT in a Petl Pay stablecoin wallet and use those funds to pay contributors. This is useful for businesses that receive payments from international clients in USD and want to avoid converting to GBP before paying out to contributors. Funds held in stablecoin wallets are managed via regulated financial partners. Petl Pay does not custody funds directly.
Yes. Paying contractors in stablecoin is legal in the UK. HMRC treats stablecoin payments as taxable income for the recipient, denominated in the GBP equivalent value at the time of receipt. Contractors receiving USDC or USDT should record the GBP equivalent value at the time of payment for their tax records.
Always check the latest HMRC guidance on cryptoasset taxation at hmrc.gov.uk as rules are subject to change.
KYC (Know Your Customer) and KYB (Know Your Business) verification is required by law under anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Financial institutions and payment platforms that handle money movement are legally obligated to verify the identity of individuals and businesses using their services. This is to prevent financial crime, money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. Petl Pay's stablecoin wallet infrastructure is provided via regulated financial partners who conduct these checks on our behalf in line with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
To complete individual KYC verification, the following is typically required:
Requirements set by our regulated partners, subject to change. Confirm at petlpay.com/enquiry.
To complete business KYB verification for a stablecoin wallet, the following is typically required:
Requirements set by our regulated partners, subject to change. Confirm at petlpay.com/enquiry.
A UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) is any individual who owns or controls more than 20% of a business. Regulators require UBOs to be identified and verified as part of KYB checks to prevent businesses from being used as shells to obscure the true ownership of funds. Every UBO must provide government-issued photo identification and confirm their ownership percentage.
Petl Pay's infrastructure via its regulated financial partners uses enterprise-grade encryption standards. Data at rest is encrypted via AES-256. Data in transit is encrypted via TLS 1.2 or higher. Sensitive financial information is additionally encrypted at the client side, adding a further layer of protection beyond server-side encryption.
Identity verification checks conducted via Petl Pay's regulated financial partners include government identification verification, business registration verification, sanctions screening, adverse media checks, watchlist screening, and politically exposed persons (PEP) reporting. These checks are part of the standard KYC and KYB process.
No. Petl Pay does not have access to user funds and cannot move funds on a user's behalf without authorisation. All payment actions require explicit user approval. Funds held in stablecoin wallets are managed via regulated financial partners operating under their own licensing and custody obligations.
Petl Pay's infrastructure uses VPCs to segregate internal network resources, with access restricted to pre-approved IP addresses. Cloudflare provides defence against network-based threats.
Petl Pay partners with licensed, regulated financial institutions to handle payment processing and stablecoin wallet infrastructure. These partners operate under financial services regulation in their respective jurisdictions. Petl Pay itself provides the workflow, compliance, and orchestration layer.
For specific regulatory questions, contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry.
Getting started begins with an enquiry at petlpay.com/enquiry. Tell us about your business, the type of contractors or subcontractors you pay, the countries involved, and your approximate payment volumes. The Petl Pay team will follow up to understand your workflow and walk you through the onboarding process.
After submitting an enquiry, the Petl Pay team will be in touch to discuss your specific use case, answer any questions, and confirm which features and payment rails are relevant for your workflow. Onboarding is guided and supported.
Onboarding time varies depending on the complexity of your setup and whether stablecoin wallet activation is required. For businesses using open banking rails only, onboarding is typically straightforward. For businesses requiring stablecoin wallets, KYC and KYB verification adds time depending on how quickly documentation is submitted and processed. The Petl Pay team will give you a clear timeline once your requirements are confirmed.
Petl Pay is open to exploring custom integrations depending on your workflow and technical requirements. If you have a specific integration need, submit an enquiry at petlpay.com/enquiry and the team will assess what is possible.
There is no published minimum. Petl Pay is currently onboarding businesses via enquiry. Contact us at petlpay.com/enquiry to discuss your specific situation and we will confirm whether Petl Pay is a fit.
The Petl Pay team provides ongoing support for onboarded businesses. For any questions after onboarding, contact us directly via petlpay.com/enquiry or through the contact details provided during your onboarding session.
Yes. Petl Pay is used by individual contractors and subcontractors as well as businesses. Contractors use Petl Pay to receive payments, track work against projects, and maintain compliant invoice and payment records. If you are a contractor looking to get paid via Petl Pay, your paying business will typically set you up as a contributor on their account. Reach out at petlpay.com/enquiry if you have questions about getting started as an individual.
One payment. Many payouts. Orchestrate multi-party payments instantly. Purpose built for project-based teams.
