How To Pay Affiliates en Masse: Scaling Your Affiliate Payments

As your affiliate network grows, manual payouts quickly become a burden that sucks your time and disperses your focus. The good news is that you don’t need to burn the midnight oil filling out spreadsheets and sending multiple payments one after another – instead, you can set up mass payments once with PayPal, Payoneer, or Stripo and reap the benefits down the road.

Mass payouts aren’t just about convenience. Problematic payments are the number one reason to lose your partners: 65% of affiliates will leave an affiliate network because of repeated payment issues; for 41% of affiliates, just one payment issue will be a deal breaker.

via GIPHY

It’s natural that most affiliates won’t endure lasting payment issues – but they won’t even have to if you use the right mass payment solution to issue payouts timely. Make no mistake, timely and fair payouts are the most sensitive question in any affiliate partnership, and having it done properly will put you ahead of a fair share of merchants.

10 Best Mass Payment Solutions for Affiliate Marketing

PayPal

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
422,776,453	5	210	0.24	48.68%	10%	0.42%	35.97%	1.71%	2.47%

PayPal needs no introduction, so I will save you time here. In the context of mass payments, PayPal is one of the most convenient solutions, allowing you to send up to 15,000 payments at once with the mass payment API or 10,000 payments at once with a single-click batch upload.

PayPal supports over 156 global markets and 23 currencies, and you don’t need too many details from your affiliate to complete the payment (only their email, phone numbers, PayPal ID, or Venmo handle).

To use PayPal mass payments,

1. Make sure you have a PayPal Business account linked to a bank
2. Request access to PayPal Payouts
3. Once the request is accepted, upload your CSV file to proceed with the payments

Limits-wise, you can send up to $60,000.00 to one PayPal or Venmo account or $20,000.00 for new accounts, with no cap on the total amount of the mass payout.

Mass Payment Fees	Native Currencies
2% per payment capped at $1 for U.S. domestic payments 2% per payment amount to each recipient, capped at specific location-dependent amounts $0.25 per U.S. transaction for payments made through PayPal API Recipients aren’t charged any fees.	USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, GPB, and MXN Other currencies can be converted into native currencies; conversion fees apply

PayPal mass payment guide

Payoneer

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
7,477,058	9	477	0.25	67.23%	20%	0.07%	3.92%	5.79%	2.76%

Payoneer is another digital payment giant that allows mass payouts to more than 190 countries in 70 currencies. Well-known affiliate marketing platforms like Awin make dozens of millions of dollars in cross-border payments using Payoneer.

Here’s how you can kick things off with Payoneer mass payouts:

1. Embed the Payoneer signup page into your website payments or send your payees a signup link so they can receive your payment
2. Upload your CSV file with payment details and click ‘pay.’ Payees can receive funds in their Payoneer account, bank account, or digital wallet in over 70 currencies.

Before blasting the mass payout, make sure you have enough funds to cover the total amount. Most transactions take seconds, although the official processing time extends to 3 days.

Use this interactive global map to check supported currencies for a selected country.

Stripe

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
70,860,084	4	193	0.55	46.97%	8%	0.05%	41.28%	1.39%	2.15%

Stripe is a financial infrastructure solution that enables mass transactions alongside subscription management and other financial-related activities. Less known than PayPal or Payoneer, this platform is a dedicated solution for mass payouts with global coverage and multiple currencies.

The mass payment tool is called Stripe Connect, offering automated, instant payout to a large number of recipients. Likewise, you can set up a customizable payout structure and use multiple currencies, including debit cards and bank transfers.

More information on Stripe Connect

Tipalti

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
1,340,720	4	174	0.52	53.93%	35%	0.20%	3.26%	5.22%	1.57%

Tipalti is a financial technology platform that provides mass payouts alongside its other payment, invoicing, and compliance automation solutions for businesses. You can send payments in 120 currencies to 196 countries using 50 payment methods, including wire transfers and debit cards.

Tipalti is one of the few solutions focused on affiliate marketing payouts within revenue share and cost-per-action (CPA) payment models. The solution integrates with performance marketing platforms, allowing you to automate payouts via their API while leveraging their proprietary analytics solutions.

Popular mass payment methods with Tipalti include global ACH, US ACH, PayPal, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, and paper checks.

More about mass payments with Tipalti

Wise

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
51,594,876	4	204	0.55	50.28%	45%	0.08%	0.69%	2.15%	1.03%

Wise is a well-known financial technology company that allows you to send mass payouts in one batch using one of their three batch templates. To unlock mass payments, you must create a Wise Business account.

For mass payments, Wise offers 3 batch templates, enabling up to 1,000 payments within one CSV or XLSX file. Also, you need to know the recipient’s bank account details or email address.

For autonomous batch payments, you can integrate their API with your CRM or lead management system.

Mass payments guide at WISE

Worldpay

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
7,534,603	3	245	0.3	30.60%	4%	0.41%	61.51%	2.10%	0.99%

Worldpay, a global payment processing company, doesn’t offer direct mass payout features like PayPal, Payoneer, or Stripo, but it still supports automated recurring payments that can be used to pay regular affiliate commissions.

Bulk payment instructions on Worldpay

Skrill

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
4,384,590	7	309	0.24	44.78%	23%	0.47%	29.85%	1.24%	0.58%

Skrill is a well-known payment platform that runs a bulk payment system for businesses, including API payments. Mass payouts can be done in 30 currencies to a maximum of 3,000 affiliates in a batch.

To send payments to multiple affiliates with Skrill, you should first enable Mass Payments in your account. Once enabled, you need to create your mass payment file and proceed with the payment. Alternatively, you can use the API to make unlimited payments in different currencies.

Skrill mass payments guide

Paxum

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
218,939	4	231	0.31	34.66%	30%	0.08%	34.71%	0.45%	0.01%

Paxum is a global provider of financial services that provides manual and scheduled mass payments, streamlining the entire process. Like many other platforms, it allows you to upload a CSV file with the details of your recipients and proceed from there.

Payees can receive funds in their Paxum digital wallet, bank accounts, debit cards, and cash payouts. Through REST API integration, you can automate mass payouts from your own CRM or lead management system.

Authorize.net

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
3,386,247	5	510	0.38	63.96%	6%	0.13%	25.71%	3.39%	0.70%

Authorize.net is a global payment provider that offers batch payments for sending multiple transactions simultaneously. Like most mass payout services, it enables recurrent payments for scheduled affiliate payouts.

For mass payments, create the Merchant account with Authorize and download a CSV or TXT file with the details of your recipients. After downloading your batch upload file from the website, you can customize it to your payment preferences.

Authorize.net mass payment guide

Venmo

Monthly Visits	Page Per Visit	Time On Site	Bounce Rate	Direct Traffic	Search Traffic	Paid Referral Traffic	Referral Traffic	Mail Traffic	Social Traffic
12,866,811	5	182	0.38	69.44%	25%	0.06%	2.71%	1.47%	1.46%

Owned by PayPal, Venmo is arguably the least convenient mass payout solution on our list, but it might be worth mentioning for its mobile focus. The inconvenience is that you must manually add every recipient to the payment list and the amount you want to pay.

Here’s how to make mass payments with Venmo:

Last but not least, you can also send mass payments via a direct bank transfer. Most banks offer bulk payment services, so you shouldn’t have problems accessing one via your online banking. Like always, you should upload your CSV file and authorize the payment.

What Are Mass Payments in Affiliate Marketing?

Mass payments are automatic simultaneous payments to multiple recipients enabled by mass payment platforms like PayPal, Stripo, Payoneer, and many more. Mass payment platforms allow merchants to conduct payments autonomously via API or their website interface.

Implementing mass payment helps automate the routine without manually verifying details like the payment size, payment deadline, or compliance. Besides, mass payout solutions help you issue partner payouts without mistakes.

Here are some more advantages of mass payments for an advertiser:

Recurring Payouts	After setting up the payment schedule once, recurring transactions are done automatically or upon the affiliate’s request within the payment agreement. At the same time, all invalid payment requests are automatically denied.
Saving Resources	Even though issuing mass payouts usually requires a transaction and sometimes also a batch-processing fee, it’s much cheaper than processing payments manually.
Payment Tracking	Mass payment software provides payment history and logs, making the review process easy and accessible. You can access every transaction from day one.

Surprisingly, you may not even need their personal information if the payment platform handles the payouts. On your side, you save time and money; on the affiliate’s side, they get their payments on time and in due amount.

Typical Affiliate Commission Rates & Payment Models

As an advertiser, you can choose any payment model you want or different payment models for different affiliate programs: pay-per-impression (PPI), pay-per-click (PPC), pay-per-lead (PPL), or pay-per-sale (PPS). The chosen payment model won’t affect your bulk payouts but will impact your business big time.

Here are the key differences between affiliate payment models:

Pay-Per-Impression (PPI)	PPI pays for 1,000 ad displays and is effective for brand awareness and visibility campaigns. Focusing on impressions allows you to reach a wider audience, but the quality and intent of this audience are out of your control.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)	PPC generates more high-intent clients than PPI – the person committing to a click is generally closer to a purchase – but you are still unsure whether the click transforms into a sale.
Pay-Per-Lead (PPL)	Paying for leads – potential clients’ contact info – puts you in charge of the process because you can contact the lead immediately or at the right time. But then again, only some of the leads you’ve bought will convert.
Pay-Per-Sale (PPS)	Paying a percentage of a sale or a flat fee per sale is the least risky strategy because you essentially share a part of the profits you’ve just made.

Commission-wise, the average affiliate commission rate is 5% to 30% depending on the affiliate program and the niche. For high-ticket affiliate niches like insurance or finance, commissions are usually bigger than for physical products.

Tiered Commission Structures to Win More Affiliates

The affiliate marketing market is quite saturated, from Amazon Affiliates to Commission Junction to ShareASale to smaller affiliate networks and programs, but there’s still a chance to stand out from the competition with these two special features:

➥ Tiered commissions: Introducing tiered affiliate commissions is one of the best ways to motivate affiliates to stay with you for a long time, even when new (and possibly better in at least some dimensions) programs pop on in the market.

Here’s an example of a simple tiered structure:

Tier	Sales per Month	Commission Rate
Bronze	0 to 10	15%
Silver	20 to 50	17%
Gold	50 or more	23%

➥ Affiliate tiers: Bigger affiliates might look for ways to maximize their revenue, so allowing them to profit from lower-level affiliates is a smart idea. This way, you can grow your affiliate program quickly, snowballing into hundreds of affiliates.

Last but not least, make sure your program is designed to handle a large number of affiliates. Mass payments are an important component, but not the only one. The other vital elements are automation, affiliate tracking, client distribution, and constant analytics—all enabled by up-to-date affiliate tracking and marketing automation software suites like Phonexa.

Take Full Control of Affiliate Payments with Books360

The bigger your affiliate network, the more important smooth accounting is. For serious advertisers, it’s almost impossible to keep track of all your payments manually – and you don’t have to. Phonexa’s automated accounting software Books360 will cover it all for you.

• Full control of your accounting, saving money and time
• Automating customer invoices and vendor payments
• Tracking cash flows and maintaining records from a single integrated dashboard

Books360 is a comprehensive accounting hub within Phonexa’s performance marketing ecosystem, processing all types of payments so you can focus on strategic business goals. All purchased or sold leads are counted and attributed to certain invoices sent to buyers and sellers.

 

Take a product tour to see how Books360 can streamline your affiliate payments.

Build Your Comprehensive Affiliate Marketing Software Suite with Phonexa

Phonexa is a comprehensive performance and affiliate marketing software suite – eight proprietary solutions under one roof – that covers your marketing campaigns from top to bottom. You can acquire high-intent leads from reliable affiliates at the lowest market price and know essential details on the leads you buy beforehand.

 

You get software to synergize your affiliate campaigns with social media, SEO, and your other endeavors, ensuring the proper omnichannel coverage for your brand. Data exchange between campaigns, real-time reporting, and strategic insights make you the king of the lead jungle, growing your conversion rates and helping you expand into new markets.

Here are the eight proprietary products you get at a single price starting at $100 per month (use this online calculator for an accurate estimate):

Get the eight-in-one suite now, or book a demo to consult with Phonexa professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is mass pay?

Mass pay is when a payer (in our case, an advertiser) sends affiliate payouts to multiple recipients (in our case, affiliates) in one batch. For large businesses mass payouts are quite ordinary, enabled by platforms like PayPal.

How do affiliates get paid?

Affiliates can receive payments in their bank accounts, digital wallets, prepaid cards, and even in cash, depending on the payment method and payment processor. The payments are issued weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly or are initiated by the affiliate.

For what do affiliates get paid?

Affiliates are paid for conversions: clicks, impressions, downloads, or sales.

What is the best payment gateway for an affiliate program?

The choice of the payment gateway for an affiliate program depends on your geographic reach, transaction fees, and whether a specific mass payment solution is convenient to use. Among the best affiliate payment gateways are PayPal, Payoneer, Stripe, Skrill, and more.