The Dots Blog

See how Aries Tickets swapped nightly manual payouts for an automated payout API, saving hours, adding payment methods, and delighting student sellers.

Confused which 1099 form to use for contractors? Here’s a quick guide on which form to use and discover how payouts API can help your business stay compliant.

How Clicki replaced hundreds of manual Venmos with Dots’ API to automate 2,000+ payouts each month, cut support tickets, and scale growth.

Delayed and unsafe contractor payouts? Learn how cross border payments work and how API payments can make the process fast and secure. Book a FREE demo today.

Slow, manual focus-group payments? See how CRWD AI uses Dots to automate participant payouts and scale research operations faster.

Dots replaces fragmented systems like Tipalti with one global platform for payouts and compliance across 190+ countries and 150+ currencies.

When working with contractors, is it better to pay in local currency or USD? Find out which option builds trust and retains global talent.

At LA Tech Week, Dots hosted “AI in the Creator Stack,” featuring Locker, Beacons AI, Merazine, Stan, Superfiliate, and Hook & Anchor Media, all cutting through hype to reveal where AI truly creates value in the creator economy.

What are cross border payments? Discover the most efficient and advanced way to pay overseas contractors and freelancers. Book a demo today.

Dots hosted a panel at SF Tech Week featuring CloudFactory, HumanSignal, Samaya AI, TriFetch, and Waldium, exploring how humans, context, and alignment will define the future of data labeling.

Outgrowing Stripe Connect? Dots unifies payouts, accounts payable, and compliance in 190+ countries, one infrastructure for all your global payments.

Are you paying too much on slow wire transfers? Learn the most compliant, cost-effective, and secure methods in paying international contractors.

Don't let fraud jeopardize your finances. Discover how a secure global payments API can protect your international payouts and speed up payment processing.

With help from Dots, discover how to accurately verify tax and bank information for contractors, preventing potential issues like fraud from occurring.

Is your gig marketplace struggling with payment delays and 1099 forms? Learn how Dots helped CookinGenie reduce manual time, automate tax filing, and more.

Are manual payouts and slow speeds impacting your growth? See why top teams switch to the Dots payouts platform to automate payments and simplify 1099s.

Navigating U.S. tax withholding for foreign contractors and non-residents? Learn key insights to ensure compliance and optimize financial processes here.

Learn about the crucial aspects of 1099 filing penalties to ensure compliance and avoid financial repercussions. Stay informed with our comprehensive guide.

Discover IRS Form W-9: Your essential guide to this tax document, when to use it, and how to fill it out accurately. Get started with Dots today!

Explore the role of Payouts APIs in ensuring transparent and dispute-free distribution of prize money in esports tournaments.

Explore how Payouts APIs revolutionize esports tournaments, ensuring seamless prize distribution, efficiency, and an enhanced gaming experience.

Are you a small business owner looking to streamline your operations? Automating your payouts is one way that you can boost efficiency. Learn more here.

Unlock seamless transactions by learning how to integrate Payouts APIs into your platform. A step-by-step guide for efficient financial operations.

Streaming services are exceedingly popular in the music industry. With Dots, learn how to calculate and distribute royalties to effectively pay your artist.

Dive into the future of financial transactions with insights on Payouts APIs. Learn how APIs revolutionize disbursements for seamless, efficient processes.

Learn key 2025 fraud trends in contractor payouts and how tools like Dots help protect your business from scams, theft, and platform manipulation.

Discover the advantages of integrating gig workers into your business model and how to leverage them effectively to grow your business.

Discover the top 3 marketplace fraud schemes harming buyers, sellers, & platforms. Learn how to prevent scams and protect your marketplace from fraud.

Discover how fraud enters your payout system from onboarding to execution and how Dots helps protect your business with built-in fraud prevention tools.

Need a guide to fast, secure global payouts? Use a payouts API for instant transfers, multi-currency support, and full compliance. Read on to know more.

How to simplify and scale global payouts? Use a unified payouts infrastructure API for multi-currency support, compliance, and automation. Talk to us today.

Stay one step ahead, discover the six most common types of payout fraud & learn how Dots’ secure payout platform can protect your business & users.

Behind the Scenes of a Fraud Attempt: How Fraud Attempts Work As technology advances and the world becomes more connected, fraud is an ever-growing concern. Fraudsters are not a new threat. However, these criminals are becoming more sophisticated, using stealthy tactics to defraud consumers and businesses. According to the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), a staggering 79 percent of companies were victims of payment fraud attacks and attempts in 2024. The Federal Trade Commission (

Learn about the intricacies of interchange fees in the payment card industry. Explore structure, rates, regulations, and more in this comprehensive guide.

Explore key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess and enhance the effectiveness of your Payouts API and learn how to optimize performance here.

With Dots, navigate compensating health practitioners to ensure smooth and fast payments in the telehealth industry, leading to happy physicians.

Explore key factors for choosing a Telehealth Payouts API to streamline and enhance payment processes for health care providers.

Ready to scale your affiliate marketing network? Learn why businesses are utilizing payouts API for automation, multi-currency payments, and high-security.

Skimming, phishing and triangulation are just a few ways fraudsters target people and businesses. With help from Dots learn how to mitigate fraud!

Creating a Successful Affiliate Program Affiliate marketing is a multibillion-dollar industry poised to experience substantial growth over the next decade. The concept is nothing new; the earliest iteration of affiliate marketing goes back to 1989. However, the rise of the World Wide Web made it a compelling marketing tactic as e-commerce started gaining traction. Today, it's a huge part of modern digital marketing efforts. The latest surveys show that over 80 percent of brands use affiliate pr

Digital Wallets: What Are They and Why You Should Offer Them Digital wallets first entered the financial scene in the late '90s, but it wasn't until smartphones became a ubiquitous part of everyday life that they truly took off. The latest estimates say that over half of all consumers in the United States will use a digital wallet in 2024. Meanwhile, projections show that global adoption will surpass 5.2 billion users by the end of 2026. It's not hard to see why digital wallets are so popular.

How do you stop fraudulent payouts and protect donor funds? Empower Project used Dots Control for payout fraud management and cut fraud by over 50%. Here’s how.

Navigate the art of compensating creative freelancers with our comprehensive guide. Ensure smooth and fair payments in the creative industry.

Discover the ins and outs of real-time payments and how they revolutionize financial transactions. Stay updated with the latest in instant payments.

The Ultimate Guide to Know Your Business (KYB) and How it Relates to Know Your Customer (KYC) We live in an increasingly globalized world where companies like yours can provide service, receive payments, send payouts, and more to consumers and corporate clients domestically and worldwide. While that's undoubtedly benefited businesses in countless ways, it's also created an ever-rising threat of fraud. One recent survey from the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) found that a staggeri

Discover the transformative impact of Payouts APIs on freelance creatives, streamlining payments and enhancing the overall work experience.

Need to simplify and scale payouts to support growth? Discover how integrating a payouts API can automate vendor, employee, and customer payments securely.

Elevate your vacation rental business! Explore the benefits of Payouts API - faster, secure transactions for property owners. Streamline success now!

What is the Advantage of Using a Payouts API vs Traditional Payment Methods? Businesses in every industry handle countless transactions every month. Regardless of your company's size, your accounts payable needs are likely substantial. Mass payouts can be a nightmare, whether you're sending payouts to local influencers, global freelancers, or thousands of marketplace sellers. It's one of those facets of business that many leaders believe is unavoidable, with few options for improvement. Tradit

Avoiding Payout Failures: A Comprehensive Guide to Optimizing Payouts If your business is responsible for sending payouts en masse, ensuring every payment goes smoothly is important. Whether you're sending funds to gig workers, marketplace sellers, or contractors in another country, reliable payment systems can help you avoid chaos while keeping recipients happy. No matter what type of business you run, efficient online payments keep things running smoothly. Using a payouts API is a game-chang

Learn best practices for ensuring compliance when paying global contractors, from tax laws to payment methods and record-keeping.

How do you attract top workers? Understand construction compensation, including hourly, project-based pay, and efficient global payouts keep you competitive.

Need cleaner accounting? Our latest changelog adds Quickbooks classes support and User IP tracking for better fraud protection. Read on to discover more.

What's new with the Dots Payouts API? The new changelog includes CSV idempotency keys to avoid double payouts, new app compliance features, and tax table fixes.

Navigating Gig Worker Classification: A Guide for Businesses An Overview Classifying gig workers accurately is essential for businesses. This guide provides insights into the factors influencing gig worker classification, the implications for both businesses and workers, and best practices for ensuring compliance. Check local, state, and federal laws for the most current information. What Factors Influence How Workers Are Classified? 1. Control and Independence One of the primary factors

How Payouts APIs are Changing the Class Action Landscape Class action lawsuits are notoriously challenging. Not only do they often take years to litigate, but they're also more complex due to the number of plaintiffs involved. Lead plaintiffs represent an entire group of affected individuals, called class members. Larger class action lawsuits can have millions of individuals who submit claims. So when it comes time to distribute settlements, administrators have a seemingly impossible task ahea

How can you simplify paying your crew? Learn how a payouts API handles construction industry compensation efficiently and securely. Read on to know more.

How to Integrate Payouts API with Mobile Apps Managing payouts for potentially thousands of mobile application users can be expensive and time-intensive. Improving operational workflows and establishing a more efficient way of sending mass payments is key to reducing costs and improving the bottom line. However, companies that operate marketplace sites, send funds to international gig workers, run affiliate programs, etc., must also provide a user-friendly gateway for payment recipients. Mobil

The Difference Between RTP and FedNow The rise of gig work and side hustles has paved the way to brand-new ways people can earn money, but it's also highlighted a glaring shortcoming in how people receive money: Lengthy payment processing times. As more and more people explore nontraditional ways to earn an income, the demand for instant payments continues to climb. Everyone, from independent contractors to marketplace sellers, wants ways to get paid on their time. Thankfully, the financial la

Groovetime uses the Dots API to push payments to creators who choreograph for dance challenge campaigns sponsored by record labels and artists.

Do you work with independent contractors? Navigate the IRS Common Law Employee Test, understand the key factors, and avoid misclassification penalties.

Are you working with freelancers and contract employees? Learn their differences and discover how you can pay them efficiently through global payouts.

How to Support Your Business Payouts API Supporting your business with a Payouts API can be a transformative step towards efficiency, scalability, and enhanced customer satisfaction. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the nuances of leveraging a Payouts API and how to select the right payouts API provider. Get Started with Dots Today A Brief Overview A Payouts API, in its essence, is a powerful tool that facilitates the seamless transfer of funds from one entity to another. Whethe

The Ultimate Guide to Merchant Accounts Navigating the complex world of financial transactions in the business landscape requires a fundamental understanding of merchant accounts. As a business owner, having a reliable and secure means to accept payments is paramount to success. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the intricacies of merchant accounts, from their definition and types to providers, functionality, benefits, associated fees, and tips for choosing the right provider for your

Are you paying too much on credit card fees? Reduce credit card processing costs and reallocate financial resources in growing your business. Here’s how.

How can you secure credit card processing? Our guide shares how you can leverage tokenization, implement PCI DSS compliance, and more. Read on to know more.

Tired of slow, manual accounting tasks? Learn how to automate your accounting process for enhanced efficiency, real-time reporting, and better data accuracy.

Is your business exposed to risks from manual payments? Find out why automated payouts are the best way to secure your finances and boost efficiency.

Is your team unhappy with traditional payouts? Learn how automated payouts boost employee retention through speed, flexibility, and financial wellness.

Credit Card Processing Rules and Regulations: What to Know Understanding credit card processing rules and regulations is crucial for businesses that handle payment transactions. Compliance with these standards not only ensures a secure and trustworthy payment environment for customers but also protects businesses from legal repercussions. In this blog post, we'll provide an overview of the key credit card processing rules and regulations, covering essential aspects such as PCI DSS, GDPR, AML, K

Form 1099-K: A Comprehensive Guide These days, people are finding unique ways to make money. Thanks to technology, opening up a business from home or making extra money as a side hustle is easier than ever. The gig economy is booming and shows no signs of slowing down. As a result, more people earn an income outside standard nine-to-five jobs. While that benefits individuals and small businesses, it can create confusion when tax season rolls around. If you're a small business owner or part of

Automation continues to change nearly every industry. As technology improves and organizations invest in digital transformation, businesses of all sizes are finding new ways to make standard operations more efficient than before. When most people think of automation, they picture high-tech machines simplifying industrial workflows. However, automation software can be a game-changer for many modern businesses both online and offline. The best example is a payments automation platform. Your compa

Navigating the complex world of financial transactions in the business landscape requires a fundamental understanding of merchant accounts. As a business owner, having a reliable and secure means to accept payments is paramount to success. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the intricacies of merchant accounts, from their definition and types to providers, functionality, benefits, associated fees, and tips for choosing the right provider for your business. Get Started with Dots Today

Businesses have a mountain of paperwork to file when preparing their taxes. While employee tax obligations are relatively straightforward, what if you work with freelancers and independent contractors? Self-employed individuals aren't full-time staff employees, so they're exempt from income tax withholding. Because you're not their official employer, you don't have to pay for Medicare and the Social Security Administration taxes. Contractors take care of that with self-employment taxes. But jus

Independent contractors have a lot to offer businesses, big and small. They can help companies meet long- and short-term goals while giving organizations a cost-effective solution for bringing in new talent. More and more businesses are turning to contractors to fulfill roles they may not need on a full-time employee basis. For example, contractors often work on specific projects or cover seasonal staffing issues. With independent contractors around the world offering their skills, it's also a

Modern banking is more efficient and versatile than ever before. These days, you have numerous options for sending and receiving money. With a payouts API like Dots, you're no longer limited to just one rail when you need to send payments to contractors, marketplace sellers, affiliates, etc. While traditional debit cards and mobile payment services are widely used, electronic money transfer protocols reign supreme. Businesses looking to pay contractors often choose to make ACH or RTP payments.

If you’re a business that employs freelancers and independent contractors, it’s essential to stay tax compliant. Improperly classifying employees or failing to file the correct tax documents can lead to hefty fines and penalties. To stay compliant, you need to understand your obligations as an employer and ensure you’re following the relevant state and federal laws for 1099 workers. In this blog post, we’ll provide you with a guide to staying tax compliant when paying your contractors. If you’r

If you’re an e-commerce business, it makes sense to make the checkout process as simple and seamless as possible for your customers. This means making the process intuitive, but it also means offering multiple payment gateways. Online businesses can benefit from multiple payment options in numerous ways. Whether you want to improve the customer experience or increase revenue, multiple payment options may be your solution. In this blog post, we’ll be taking a closer look at these benefits and tal

There are more digital payment methods available to consumers than ever. If you’re an online business owner, it benefits you to offer multiple payment methods to your customers. It gives them more flexibility and options with how they pay, creating less friction in the checkout process. Less friction means more conversions and more revenue and for you. While it can sometimes be complex to implement these payment methods into your current payment infrastructure, the positive impact is worth the e

Online fraud is a major challenge for e-commerce businesses. It can cost you money and put your customers’ sensitive data at risk. E-commerce businesses owners need to be proactive to prevent online frauds and take the necessary precautions to protect their customers. In this blog, we’ll be diving into the different types of online fraud and how you can reduce your risk. Read on to learn more or click below to schedule a demo with the Dots payment API. Book a Demo with Dots Common Tactics Sc

E-commerce business owners can increase sales and conversions with a streamlined and versatile payment process. If you’re looking to improve your payment processes for your business, this guide can help. In this ultimate guide to e-commerce payment processing, we’ll give you all the information you need to improve your payment infrastructure. We’ll be going over the different types of payment processing, security, international payments, the most popular payment processors and more. By the end o

Are you a business that needs to onboard 1099 contractors? This can be a tricky process, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In this blog, we’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to successfully onboard 1099 contractors as efficiently and effectively as possible. Onboarding requires proper compliance, understanding of 1099 contractors and more, but we’ll cover everything you need to know. Ready to learn more? Read on or schedule a demo with Dots to automate compliance and tax reporti

If you’ve transferred money internationally, you may have heard of IBANs. IBANs, or International Bank Account Numbers, are used worldwide for international and sometimes domestic transactions. But what exactly are these numbers and how do they work? In this post, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know about IBANs. Read on to learn more or schedule a demo with Dots to learn how you can improve your international payout process. Book a Demo with Dots A Quick Overview An IBAN (Intern

With Dots, processing payments is 2 to 3 times quicker than with Stripe. This task used to take half of a day when I was using Stripe, and now it normally takes about an hour each day. It’s a meaningful change for us to reclaim that bandwidth. Zach Schmid, Head of Operations, TeachMe.To TeachMe.To is a rapidly growing coaching marketplace that matches students with their perfect coach. TeachMe.To provides their instructors with a business-in-a-box solution, providing access to customer

The world has drastically shifted toward digital payments over the last decades. As the years have passed, digital payment technology has only become more flexible, secure, and cost-effective. This shift has made it much easier for businesses of all sizes to go global, accepting payments from all around the world and scaling like never before. Some of the benefits of digital global payments are immediately obvious – they allow companies to reach more customers. Some of the benefits are more sub

If you’re an e-commerce business owner, you need to know about Form 1099-MISC. More importantly, you also need to be aware of the differences between 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC. While you may have used 1099-MISC in the past for certain payouts, you’ll likely need to file 1099-NEC forms instead depending on your business. Taxes can be complicated and dealing with these forms is never an enjoyable process, but it’s important to understand how to file these properly. We’ve put together an ultimate gui

Organizing a video game tournament is already a time-consuming and resource-intensive task. There are anti-cheat measures to consider, roster management, and much more. But perhaps one of the most difficult factors to manage is distributing eSports prize payments. Handling entry fees and payouts for entrants is an essential part of the process, but it can become complex quickly. It’s a lot of responsibility for an organizer to handle these payouts and it can quickly become overwhelming.There ar

Thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to broaden your business horizons and operate on a more global scale. The days of being limited to independent contractors and freelancers in your area are over. Collaborators with the specific skills and unique perspectives you want are only a few clicks away. But one obstacle still prevents many companies from tapping into the international workforce: processing payments. Paying international contractors can get complicated faster than it takes for

Business owners need to pay freelancers and independent contractors differently than they pay their employees. Creating a separate process for paying non-employees can be a hassle, especially if you work with a lot of contractors. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Dots provides a hassle-free and frictionless way to pay out your independent contractors and freelancers, no matter where they are. Wondering what ways there are to pay these non-employees? You have several options, with

Confused about 1099 compliance? Get the full guide on properly classifying contractors, the 3 IRS criteria, and how to file W-9 and 1099-NEC forms.

Starting out, our biggest limitation was what we were previously using–Stripe Connect. We kept running into roadblock after roadblock. Initially, it was fine, as we were just using it for basic use cases, but once we needed more flexibility, that's when we were banging our heads against the wall. Since integrating with Dots, we've been able to increase our signup rates exponentially. More specifically, Dots integration has increased our creator signup conversion rate by 31% for a few reason

A new law is fighting online fraud. Is your marketplace ready for the INFORM Consumers Act? Read our guide and know how to stay compliant and avoid huge fines.

Every business can benefit from streamlining its payment infrastructure. However, restructuring your payment processes and workflows can be difficult and time-consuming. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the Dots API, you can make your payment processes more efficient and save time while also making sure your payout infrastructure is more secure and reliable. Not only can businesses reap huge rewards by streamlining financial transactions, but it can also greatly simplify your customer an

Struggling with traditional payouts? Learn how Dots modernized Forward Forestry’s payments with instant ACH payouts, seamless contractor onboarding, and more.

A Brief Overview Many employers have international workforces, allowing them to get skilled employees from around the globe. Not only does this open up the talent pool, but it can also help you enter new markets and grow your business. W-8BEN Forms are a critical part of hiring foreign employees and contractors. These forms are important to make sure their country of residence is certified and in line with tax regulations. It’s important for both employers and employees to have their taxes pro

An Overview Banking is much faster and more efficient in the modern era. Rather than dealing with cash transactions or transactions through checks and cards, you can now transfer money electronically through ACH, also known as the Automated Clearing House The ACH network has been in operation for decades now, and it’s easily one of the safest and most convenient methods of transferring money. The ACH network can also be used internationally, making it easy to transfer money worldwide, all with

An Overview Technology has made it much easier for individuals and businesses to exchange funds. Sending money online is more convenient and affordable than ever, with various methods to do so. Some of the most common methods are ACH payments and wire transfers. While the two methods seem similar, they do have multiple differences. Both methods allow you to send money directly from a bank account, but the method, cost, speed, and availability differ. In today’s guide, we’ll walk you through th

Implementing a Good Strategy Online marketplaces are a multibillion-dollar industry, with many businesses getting their piece of the pie. However, to get the biggest share possible you need to have the right monetization strategy in place. The question is, which monetization strategy should you use? The common strategies all have their pros and cons, and there is no “right” answer. The answer will depend on your user base, your industry and what the marketplace is used for. In this blog, we’ll

The biggest value for us has been organization and time. We've really been able to streamline the service and easily manage our high frequency of low volume transactions. We have a lot of coaches, who are our contractors and used Venmo to pay them out previously, which was free, but inconvenient to keep track of all their handles. And when some people didn't have Venmo, we needed to use CashApp, and when some people didn't have either, I needed to resort to something else. But Dots brought ev

An Overview Many businesses outsource tasks to freelancers and contractors. This can help organizations get more work done and save money for specialized tasks that don’t require full-time employees. However, just because they don’t work at your company doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be paid in a timely manner. Some organizations will try to pay contractors in a way that is beneficial for their cash flow and accounts payable, but this often hurts contractors. You have to consider the way contract