How to Pay Russian Contractors after Russia was Disconnected from SWIFT
With the start of the crisis, many Russian freelancers lost the opportunity to take offers from foreign customers: e-wallets stopped processing Russian payments and the banks were disconnected from SWIFT.
Thus, foreign companies found paying to Russian contractors difficult: some of the freelancers do not have transactional accounts with foreign banks and the system that used to support international contractor payments stopped their operations under the sanctions. Below we will share how you can pay a contractor in Russia after the disconnection from SWIFT.
Thus, foreign companies found paying to Russian contractors difficult: some of the freelancers do not have transactional accounts with foreign banks and the system that used to support international contractor payments stopped their operations under the sanctions. Below we will share how you can pay a contractor in Russia after the disconnection from SWIFT.
Why Disconnection from SWIFT Hinders Payments
SWIFT serves as the main messaging network between banks worldwide. Despite the disconnection, financial transactions are still supported within Russia due to the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), which serves as a substitute for SWIFT.
However, the problem is that this Russian substitute does not yet process cross-border payments. Therefore, the situation is rather awkward: if a freelancer you are working with has no transactional account with a non-Russian bank, you will not be able to send your payment to your contractor. Your bank will reject the payment as it will be unable to send relevant contractor payment instructions. Now, if a freelancer has an account opened with a non-Russian bank, you can transfer the funds there so that they can be paid as a contractor. However, the freelancer will not receive the funds due to the reason above.
Until now, e-wallets and other instruments served as an alternative to bank transfers. Unfortunately, most of them no longer serve Russian citizens.
However, the problem is that this Russian substitute does not yet process cross-border payments. Therefore, the situation is rather awkward: if a freelancer you are working with has no transactional account with a non-Russian bank, you will not be able to send your payment to your contractor. Your bank will reject the payment as it will be unable to send relevant contractor payment instructions. Now, if a freelancer has an account opened with a non-Russian bank, you can transfer the funds there so that they can be paid as a contractor. However, the freelancer will not receive the funds due to the reason above.
Until now, e-wallets and other instruments served as an alternative to bank transfers. Unfortunately, most of them no longer serve Russian citizens.
Still, there’s no need to drop your relationships with Russian freelancers and seek local vendors. How do you pay a contractor? The EasyStaff services will ensure getting legitimate payments and closing documents for your tax authorities.
EasyStart and EasyStaff are here to help you ensure payment to contractors worldwide without SWIFT
We have built a global digital financial infrastructure that deals with the relevant systems in Europe, the USA, and Great Britain. Our company is registered in Lithuania. Therefore, the enterprise is not a resident of the Russian Federation and thus is not under sanctions. This means that our company can accept your payments in USD and Euro, then transfer the funds to personal accounts of your freelancers at an applicable exchange rate.
We support the following two valuable services that ensure financial transactions between freelancers and their customers.
We support the following two valuable services that ensure financial transactions between freelancers and their customers.
- EasyStart. This service comes in handy if you need freelancers for one-time jobs. In this case you send your freelancer our service URL and wait until they issue an invoice to you for an amount due.
- EasyStaff. This service is fit to transfer regular payments to a stable international team. Register with this service, add your organization details, send our invitation for your freelancers to join the service, offer them regular jobs, and make your payments through your EasyStaff personal account.
Advantages of EasyStart and EasyStaff for Customers
- You no longer have to sign dozens of Freelancer Agreements. We will do that for you, while you will have only one Agreement with our company.
- You will receive relevant closing documents promptly without having to send reminders to every freelancer or anticipating troubles with your tax authorities.
- You will no longer have to consider the tax status of your freelancer. When working with freelancers, big enterprises are usually limited to agreements with individual entrepreneurs and cannot enter into agreements with individuals. If your freelancer is self-employed, your relationship can be considered as an employment relationship, e.g., if they work for you only.
- You get an easy way to build a team of freelancers under optimal conditions: you are no longer limited by your region—you go global.
How to Register with our Services
Invite your Russia-based freelancer to join the EasyStart service to pay them for a one-off order or test assignment. Kindly refer to our guide to help you with the task. In short, a freelancer has to register and confirm their identity. After that, the registered freelancer can generate invoices for your jobs and withdraw funds to their bank cards with a Russian bank.
Please refer to our guide for the information on how to use EasyStaff to build a qualified international team. The explanations are supported by screenshots for your convenience. Register to try out our service—it won’t take long!
Further, you can just offer this freelancer your jobs, accept or reject their deliverables, and transfer your payments. We will take care of getting freelancers paid to their bank cards and your closing documents prepared in compliance with the international standards, and consequently, your tax authorities.
Please refer to our guide for the information on how to use EasyStaff to build a qualified international team. The explanations are supported by screenshots for your convenience. Register to try out our service—it won’t take long!
- Create a customer profile and add your company there.
- Top up your balance linked to the profile to be able to pay your freelancers.
- Invite a freelancer to join your team. You should know their last name, first name, and email to do that.
Further, you can just offer this freelancer your jobs, accept or reject their deliverables, and transfer your payments. We will take care of getting freelancers paid to their bank cards and your closing documents prepared in compliance with the international standards, and consequently, your tax authorities.