How Virtual Coworker saves around USD $60,000+ a year on global payments

Virtual Coworker built its business to operate across borders from the start. The company serves clients in Australia and the United States while teams work remotely from the Philippines. Paying people on time remained a core responsibility, not a background task.

As the company grew, and as payment volumes increased, workflows became more complex. Virtual Coworker needed a better way to manage global payments at scale. The company turned to Wise Business to support high-volume, cross-border payouts. Read on to find out how.

Virtual Coworker: Building a business across borders

Industry: Remote staffing and virtual assistant services
Team size: 500+
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, USA
Global team: Philippines, Australia, United States

Virtual Coworker operates in the remote staffing industry, helping businesses build dedicated offshore teams. Most clients are based in Australia and the United States and rely on full-time or part-time professionals in the Philippines to support daily operations across different streams such as customer service, marketing, and technology.

The company grew out of its founder’s own experience running an online business. Before starting Virtual Coworker, Braden Yuill operated an Australian hotel booking website, where limited resources made execution critical. That experience revealed an opportunity to make this offshore staffing model accessible to small and mid-sized businesses, not only large enterprises.

Virtual Coworker built its operating model around this idea. The company maintains local sales teams in Australia and the United States, while core operations run from the Philippines.

Virtual Coworker now has over 500+ contractors who are skilled assistants that work in the client’s time zone, including overnight shifts for US-based roles when required. Their team in the Philippines offer professional services ranging from virtual assistants, support specialists, web developers, and more.

As the business began exploring further expansion into Colombia and South Africa, cross-border payments remained central to how Virtual Coworker scaled.

But the operational challenge wasn’t just “sending money internationally". It was doing it hundreds of times, consistently, with minimal errors, and without losing hours each month to manual processes.

The operational complexity of managing cross border payments

Scaling their offshore teams turned bulk payroll into a significant operational bottleneck. The finance team was losing hours every month to the manual complexity of paying hundreds of staff across different borders.

Before finding a setup that worked, Virtual Coworker tested several ways to manage international transfers. They began where many businesses do: with traditional and alternative payment services. Each promised improvement, but introduced new challenges.

1. Services that required manual effort

One early solution required installing desktop software rather than using a modern, web-based platform. As payment volumes increased, the process became harder to manage and less flexible. Multiple same-day payments had to be manually formatted and uploaded while still carrying the risk of oversight.

“It was clunky to use and legacy systems were just not cutting it,” says founder Braden Yuill.

2. Errors that created real operational pressure

In remote staffing, payroll is part of the service itself. Errors create friction not only for the business, but for every contractor expecting to be paid on time. At one point, payment issues moved beyond minor delays.

“They paid the wrong people and paid some people double. It was a really stressful month or two to sort out,” Braden recalls.

3. Fees that didn’t scale with volume

A later platform improved accessibility by moving payments online. But transfers still had to be uploaded one by one, and per-transaction fees applied regardless of payment size. As payment cycles grew larger and more frequent, those costs and manual steps added up, and the need for a more scalable solution became harder to ignore.

"In some cases, a USD 10 payment still incurred a USD 20 transaction fee,"" Braden explains.

4. Payments that depended on bank timing

If funds weren’t already available in the right currency, payouts had to wait. Transfers between accounts could take up to three days to clear before payments could begin. Payment timing depended on banks, not on when the team was ready to pay.

Finding Wise Business, and fixing how money moved

Braden first came across Wise through public coverage at the time and began using it personally. As the business scaled, Virtual Coworker moved its company operations to Wise Business to manage international transfers more reliably.

At the time, the immediate challenge was simple but significant: sending money accurately, at scale.

1. International payments across multiple currencies

Virtual Coworker needed a reliable way to send money internationally as part of everyday operations. Payments moved regularly between AUD, USD, SGD, and PHP, often in high volume. Small delays or pricing inconsistencies quickly became larger operational issues.

Wise Business gave the team a single platform to send international payments across these currencies with transparent pricing and prompt payment settlements. Instead of relying on multiple providers or manual workarounds, payments could be initiated in one place, with visibility into costs and delivery timelines.

2. Batch payments: an early turning point

When Virtual Coworker joined Wise, batch payments were still in their early stages. Manually entering hundreds of payouts was slow and increased the risk of mistakes. Wise invited Virtual Coworker to become an early user of batch payments.

Instead of entering payment details one by one, the team could upload a single file, review it, and send payouts in one step.

Using Wise Business, Virtual Coworker reduced administrative work by around 10 hours a month and also runs regular batch payouts across hundreds of contractors per cycle. The predictable payment process cut down errors and helped maintain trust with those who depend on timely pay.

	“We were spending hours uploading manual payments. With batch payments, it changed everything. Manually, it was close to half a day. With Wise Business, it came down to minutes, and now seconds.” - Braden Yuill, Founder, Virtual Coworker

Virtual Coworker now processes around 500 payments per payout cycle using batch payments, without manual re-entry or added complexity.

3. Paying in seconds, not days

To avoid bank delays, Virtual Coworker keeps funds available in Wise balances so payouts can go out immediately.

“In the US, payments can take up to three days. We like having balances so when we send, people get paid in seconds.” Braden says.

Wise Business also reduced costs. By avoiding wire fees and per-transaction charges, Virtual Coworker saved close to USD 60,000 a year on global payments.

4. Where Wise and Xero came together

Virtual Coworker uses Wise Business integrated with Xero across its Australia, US, and Singapore entities.

This allows the team to track payments, recipients, and timing in one place, without switching between systems.

“Because we do hundreds and hundreds of payments, we want all transactions reconciled correctly. With Xero integration, everything is there.”

5. When support made the difference

Reliability also extends to support. When Virtual Coworker set up its Singapore operation, an intercompany transfer was rejected due to how funds were routed. Wise support identified the issue quickly and followed up to confirm it was resolved.

For a business handling high volume payouts, operational visibility isn't just a feature, it becomes a requirement for maintaining trust and reliability.

When Virtual Coworker found its fit

Today, Virtual Coworker operates at a very different level. This is what their global payment operations look like now, with Wise Business.

10+	500	USD 60,000 / year
hrs / month saved with batch payments	payments / cycle	Savings in cross-border transactions

Before reaching this level of efficiency, Virtual Coworker went through its share of setbacks. The team had trusted services that struggled to keep up with scale. Payments were harder to track, errors took time to fix, and confidence in the process began to erode. Reliability mattered, and not every provider delivered it.

For Virtual Coworker, trust is not something the company talks about. It is something the business earns through consistent execution. Paying people accurately and on time is central to the service they provide, not a background process.

Wise Business became part of how Virtual Coworker runs day to day. It supports a high-volume, cross-border model where payments need to work the same way every cycle, across teams, currencies, and entities.

“I can’t imagine doing business without Wise. It’s easy to use, people get paid on time, and it works.”

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Reduced administrative work by moving from manual payouts to batch payments
• Processed around 500 payments per cycle with fewer errors
• Saved an estimated USD 60,000 a year by moving away from high per-transaction fees
• Kept payments and accounting aligned through Wise and Xero integration
• Resolved issues faster with clear follow-up from support

With Wise Business, Virtual Coworker made payments predictable, scalable, and easier to manage as the company grew.

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Wise Business: A simpler way to manage global payments

Wise Business is built for teams managing payments across borders at scale. It helps businesses send, receive, and manage money across currencies with lesser layers, fees, and delays. By simplifying high-volume payment workflows and keeping costs transparent, Wise Business supports global operations that need consistency, speed, and control.

Wise Business helps streamline overseas business payments without foreign transaction fees, saving up to 3x compared to other providers.

• Free to register — Send money to 140+ currencies with no hidden exchange rate markups
• Make up to 1,000 transfers at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Fast, low-cost payouts to customers, freelancers, employees, investors, and suppliers globally
• Automate invoice payments, recurring transfers, and international payroll
• Fast and fully secure payments through Wise, even for large amounts

Tired of hidden fees and complex processes when making overseas payments?

Start sending with a Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.