How Povio Uses Wise Business When Paying Contractors all Over the World - A Case Study

Povio provides software design and development for startups, businesses looking to scale, and established enterprises. Whether taking an idea from the drawing board to a sleek finished product or just rounding out your internal team with on-demand design, development, DevOps, quality assurance, or project management expertise, Povio’s experience and network of over 300 talented professionals can help.

Povio is based in Silicon Valley, but to find the very best fit for every customer’s needs, they work with contractors based around the world. That's where Wise Business comes in, when paying contractors globally using Wise, Povio cuts down on admin time and ensures that contractor payouts arrive quickly and conveniently, with low fees and in a wide range of currencies.

Moving over to Wise wasn’t an automatic decision — in fact, Povio uses Wise Business alongside another solution for more specific needs — but Wise is a preferred provider, as the CEO, Matevz Petek, explains:

“The contractors prefer using Wise because the transactions are faster with lower fees, and it works more seamlessly to provide a better experience.”

Contractors also noted that Wise payments were convenient as they can be deposited directly into a bank account, with no need to receive funds in a wallet first and then make a separate withdrawal, which can mean higher fees or a longer wait.

Wise Business offers Povio convenient, fast ways to make payments to contractors all over the world in a selection of currencies. Wise can add value to your payment operations as well. And if you send more than 100,000 GBP (or equivalent) monthly across different currencies, get in touch with the Wise Business sales team to discuss the best solutions for your needs.

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Povio's story - the start and the pivot

Today, Povio works with businesses, entrepreneurs, and even celebrities, to bring software design projects to fruition, including research, product design, and development. However, Povio wasn’t always planning on taking this route. In fact, Povio’s founding team had a powerful realization early on, causing them to pivot to their current business model.

Povio started out in 2014, and was accepted into the world renowned accelerator Y Combinator. At the time, Povio was working on a software idea that was similar to Snapchat. The experience of working with Y Combinator gave Povio founder Matevz Petek an important insight about startups and their need for trustworthy design and development services, the niche Povio now successfully operates in.

Today, Povio is proud to help create digital products that have a positive impact, with end-to-end solutions based on powerful UX foundations and clean, fast code, to deliver a great user experience every time. To do this, Povio works with the very best contractors around the world, with team members and contributors based remotely in many locations.

While most of Povio’s clients are US-based, many contractors from Povio’s network of talent are based in Europe and require international payments to foreign contractors. To ensure everyone is paid on time, conveniently, and with low fees in a range of currencies, Povio uses Wise Business.

The Wise Business account offers quick, convenient transfers that cut admin time and ensure contractors get paid on time. This in turn ensures contractors are engaged and fairly rewarded, allowing Povio to continue building its network of top talent, regardless of where they are based in the world.

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Povio's projects and contribution to the tech world

Povio’s trusted and reliable service means they’re a big hit with a range of customers, producing end-to-end products and enhancing existing client teams with on-demand specialist support. This has led to a broad range of exciting projects and opportunities, as Matevz explains:

“We now work with notable personalities, like Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams. We work with enterprises like Volkswagen but also startups, scale-ups, mature companies… whatever it may be. We support those companies with everything, from the initial idea to landing the project, or just plugging our team into their existing efforts to help them achieve their goals faster.”

Payout to contractors all over the world

Thanks to a powerful global network of talented contractors, Povio offers a very broad range of services for a variety of impactful customers. Their talent network allows Povio to expertly match the best resource for a specific project to precisely achieve the results the customer needs.

Having a global network allows Povio to find the very best talent, but it is not without its own challenges, in particular paying international contractors as efficiently as possible in a selection of currencies.

“This is one of our main things that we communicate to our contractors, that we want them to receive their payment on time, and we want to make sure that this is in a specific timely manner.” - Matevz Petek, Founder and CEO of Povio

By using Wise as a reliable partner for business transactions and payouts, Povio is able to improve engagement with contractors and strengthen their network of talent.

Not using Wise Business just yet? Check out these handy features you get:

• Hold 40+ currencies, send payments to 160+ countries, and get local bank details for 9 currencies
• Get business debit and expense cards for yourself and your team, for spending in 150 countries
• Exchange currencies with low, transparent fees and the mid-market exchange rate
• Make batch payments to 1,000 people at a time - ideal for employee payroll or when paying contractors
• Automate workflow with the Wise API
• Add and manage user permissions so everyone in your team has the tools they need to do their job

You can even earn a return on the money you hold in multiple currencies. With Wise Interest, you can get a 4.82% variable rate on your GBP balance held in your Wise Business multi-currency account.

Capital at risk. Current rates do not guarantee future growth.
Variable rate is based on 7 day performance as of 10 Aug 2023. This fund has returned an 0.93% annual average over the last 5 years, excluding Wise and fund manager fees. See full 5 year past performance of funds

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International payments with Wise Business

Wise Business is a safe provider and also comes with a powerful range of features, including batch payments and an API, that help Povio make international payments easily and avoid unnecessary manual work. In fact, Povio was one of the first companies to start using the Wise API, which is now a popular feature among Wise Business customers. Povio adjusted Wise’s API integration to completely suit their needs.

Wise batch payments are also very helpful when paying contractors all over the world. You can pay up to 1,000 people at a time, in 40+ currencies, by uploading just one spreadsheet.

Wise business transfers can be sent to 160+ countries, and you’ll also get local bank details for up to 9 currencies so you can receive payments conveniently on behalf of your business. Generate Wise account details for major currencies like GBP, USD, and EUR, receive payments to your account, and choose to hold or exchange the balance as needed. That means there’s no need to convert currencies unnecessarily if you’d rather store funds for future use or wait for a better exchange rate before switching.

Wise offers everything you need to grow your business and operate internationally — without the high fees, hefty administration, and headache of a local bank. Our fees are fair and transparent, and where currency conversion is needed, Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden costs included.

We understand that building a business may sometimes be difficult, especially when upgrading to a better service or introducing a new process. Our support team will be at your disposal to solve issues and introduce solutions that will help users, as Povio points out:

"I would like to add one thing here as well that I've always loved Wise, because it was very easy to communicate with, and I could see that Wise became a very large company. But the start-up mentality is still present, you're always up for the solutions, for the improvements, and that you wanna work with us to solve any issues and to introduce the solutions that can really help your users."

If you would need an extra hand with anything that is connected to software development or design, feel free to reach out to Povio. They are devoted to providing top-notch design and development services and, at the same time, making sure that every step of your software journey is filled with innovation, speed, and satisfaction.