How to Pay an International Contractor Without Their Bank Details

A new contractor in India sent their first invoice, and you realize you don’t have their bank details. Maybe you have an account number from last year and aren’t sure it still works. The good news is that you don’t need to chase them down for all those details.

With Remitly Business’s Send by Link, you send your international contractor a secure link, then they add their own payout information. They don’t need to create their own Remitly account or download an app. Depending on the payout options in their country, they may not even need a bank account either.

You don’t need your contractor’s bank details to pay them

The typical way to pay someone abroad makes you the middleman. You ask for an account number and branch code, wait for a reply, then retype it all into a transfer form. Each handoff is a chance for something to slip:

Details sit in an email thread or chat that’s difficult to find.
The account number your contractor sent last year isn’t applicable now.
Your contractor gets paid to a mobile wallet, and your transfer form only asks for a bank account.

These slips can delay payments and cost you relationships with international freelancers and contractors that you want to maintain.

But you’re running a business. You shouldn’t have to ask about your contractor’s banking status, chase down their banking details, or store that information. What you need is a simple way to pay them.

Send by Link removes the middle step. You start the payment, and your contractor adds their current details. Because they enter those details directly, you can be sure that there’s less chance for a payment error to occur.

When Send by Link fits

Send by Link is built for situations where you have to pay a contractor abroad but don’t have their current payout details. You can use it when:

You’re paying an individual contractor for the first time.
The details you have are out of date.
You’d rather not store their personal banking details at all.

Please note, Send by Link only works for individual recipients, like contractors and freelancers. If you’re paying a company, like a larger vendor or supplier, use a standard Remitly Business payment instead. Select “New business” as the recipient and enter the business’s bank details yourself. If you need to pay several contractors at once, you can use Bulk Payments.

How to pay a contractor with Send by Link, step by step

Say you run a small marketing consultancy in the U.S. You’ve hired Ananya, a freelance UX designer in Pune, India. Her first invoice is 850 USD, and you know that she’d like to be paid in rupees, but you don’t have her bank details.

Create a new recipient. In your Remitly Business account, start the payment process by selecting “Send by link” when asked how you want to send money. Next, add Ananya as a new recipient – you’ll need only her name, email address, and phone number.
Review the cost. Before you confirm, you’ll see the fee, the exchange rate, and the amount Ananya will receive in rupees. The payment won’t go through and stays in your own bank account until she completes her details.
Share the link. Once you submit, you get a link to copy or share. Send it to Ananya however you normally reach her, whether it’s via email, text, or a chat app, with a short note that payment is on its way once she fills in her information.
Ananya clicks on the link and completes her payout information. She opens the link in her browser, confirms the one-time code, and sees your registered business name and the amount. Then, she picks an available delivery method, such as a deposit to her bank account, and adds her details. Delivery options vary depending upon the recipient’s location.
Track the payment. When Ananya is done, the payment is sent. You can follow it in your account’s transfer history. (If it takes longer than you expect, see why overseas business payments get delayed.)

For more on paying someone in India, including the tax forms to collect, see how to pay contractors and freelancers in India from the U.S. or business payments to India.

Is Send by Link safe?

Yes, Send by Link keeps your contractor’s payout details from being transferred via insecure methods like text or email. They go from your contractor to Remitly directly, and the data is protected by multiple levels of security to keep the information protected.¹

All your contractor needs to do is:

Confirm a one-time code
See which registered business before they add details
Enter their own details through the secure link, no account creation necessary

Your contractor’s sensitive information is transferred securely, and you get the following benefits:

You don’t have to collect, store, or forward their bank or wallet details.
The payment is created within your own Remitly Business account.

Tell your contractor the link is coming, and ask them to check with you before acting on any payment link they didn’t expect.

¹ We take your privacy seriously. Multiple levels of security are designed to keep your data protected.

What happens if the link isn’t used

Each link works once and stays open for two days after you create the payment. Otherwise the link expires and the payment is canceled.

After that, you need to start a new payment, then create and send a new link.

Your contractor can also decline the link, or you can cancel it before they’ve added their details.

Because the window is short, send the link when your contractor is expecting it and ready to act on it.

Other ways to pay someone without their bank details

Send by Link isn’t the only way to let a recipient enter their own details, but ultimately the delivery methods depend on your contractor’s location and the availability of delivery methods in that country.

Option	Who enters the payout details	Does the recipient need an account with the provider?	Can a business account send it?	Where the recipient can be paid
Remitly Business Send by Link	Your contractor, through a link you share	No	Yes, from a U.S. Remitly Business account	Bank deposit, mobile wallet, or cash pickup, depending on the country
Wise, send money with a link	The recipient, through a link	No	No, personal accounts only; up to 200 USD per link	A bank account
Payoneer, pay to a bank account	You, or the recipient if you invite them to add their own details	No, for payments to a bank account	Yes	A bank account
PayPal	You send to their email address or phone number	Yes, they need a PayPal account to accept the money	Yes	Their PayPal account
Bank transfer	You, using details the recipient sends you	No, but they need a bank account	Yes	A bank account

The information is based on competitor website(s) as of September 25, 2026 and is subject to change.

Trademarks, trade names and logos displayed are registered trademarks of their respective owners. No affiliation or endorsement of Remitly should be implied.

Bottom line

You don’t need a contractor’s bank details to pay them. Start the payment, share a link via Send by Link, let them add their own information, and choose how they’ll be paid. You hold less of your global team’s sensitive information.

Get started with Remitly Business

Common questions

Does my contractor need a Remitly account or a bank account?

No Remitly account, app download, or signup is required on their end. Whether they need a bank account depends on their country: where it’s offered, they can choose a mobile wallet or cash pickup instead of a bank deposit.

Can I use Send by Link to pay a business?

No. It’s for paying individuals, such as contractors and freelancers. To pay a vendor or supplier business, add them as a recipient and send a standard Remitly Business payment.

How is Remitly Business Send by Link different from Wise’s send-with-a-link feature?

Wise’s link is for personal accounts, so a Wise business account can’t use it to pay a contractor. It’s limited to 200 USD per link and pays to a bank account.Send by Link is a Remitly Business feature for U.S. businesses, standard Remitly sending limits apply.

The information is based on competitor website(s) as of September 25, 2026 and is subject to change.

Is Send by Link the same as a payment request link?

No. A freelancer creates a payment request link for a client to pay them through Remitly. With Send by Link, your business starts the payment and your contractor completes it.

Is there a limit on how much I can send with Send by Link?

Standard Remitly sending limits apply, and they depend on where you’re sending from, where the money is going, and how it’s delivered.

Can I use Send by Link in a bulk payment?

No. Bulk Payments require every recipient’s payout details to be in place before you submit, so you must enter each recipient’s payout destination when you create the bulk payment.

Send by Link is for the opposite case: when you don’t have those details, you can ask the contractor to enter their own.

Do I need tax forms for a contractor abroad?

Paying a contractor and collecting their tax documentation are separate jobs. For individual contractors who aren’t located in the U.S., U.S. businesses generally collect Form W-8BEN rather than a W-9. See IRS requirements for paying foreign contractors, and check with a tax professional.

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