PaidHR’s new cross-border payroll feature allows employees to receive salaries in 49 currencies

PaidHR (formerly Pade HCM), a Nigerian HR tech SaaS startup with over 100 African businesses on its platform, has launched a cross-border payroll feature allowing employees to receive their salaries in 49 currencies, including dollars and pounds. 

This move follows PaidHR’s recent introduction of a revised pricing structure that includes no upfront fees and the launching of PaidHiring, an applicant tracking system.

The new feature will be key for remote workers who receive salaries globally and a hedge against macroeconomic headwinds like currency devaluation. 

"This has been the roadmap for PaidHR since 2021,' said Seye Bandele, CEO of the HR startup during an exclusive interview with his executive team. "The product involves a marriage of HRTech and Fintech."

Receiving wages in other currencies could put the startup in competition with other cross-border and remittance startups like Canza Finance, Waza, and Cedar Money. However, Ore Badmus, the Product Marketing and Communications Lead at PaidHR, clarified that the startup was not shifting focus from HR tech to Fintech. 

"We are only adding some solutions our users have requested to our product," she said. 

Lekan Omotosho, Cofounder and CTO at PaidHR also highlighted that the startup doesn't have a license for holding deposits yet. This new capability gives users the flexibility of receiving their salary in naira and changing it to another currency or vice-versa. After converting the amount, the money can then be moved offshore, Bandele added. 

The startup will leverage partnerships with other fintechs to offer the cross-border feature. 

Some of these partnerships have been crucial for PaidHR, which also unveiled a proprietary wallet service — including options like bill payments and embedded finance products. 

"We are the Fintech for employees," Badmus said. "Our focus will be banking more with the employees without having to drop through different hoops using their money."

In 2023, the HR startup paid ₦11.473 billion in salaries. With only two months left in 2024, PaidHR has nearly doubled the number, doing ₦20 billion in salaries processed, Bandele said. Turning on the cross-border function could heighten the value of salaries processed in 2024 and push the startup closer to profitability.

"Most of our revenue was from subscriptions and it was mostly naira-based. Over the next 3-6 months, FX revenue transaction processing could rise to as much as 50% of earnings versus subscriptions helping us to achieve profitability," said Bandele, optimistic about the startup being profitable in the next nine months.

PaidHR serves a diverse client base of 200 organisations and 20,000 employees, with a strong presence in Nigeria and expanding operations in East Africa, and Canada.