MethodData

When Wise stopped being wise

Before Plane, MethodData used Wise to pay its global contractor base — a process that quickly became unpredictable and stressful.

“We’re a very people-focused company,” Amy-Louise explains. “Most of our contractors are South African, and they rely on being paid before the end of the month. With Wise, we kept having unexpected delays. Payments would get stuck. Debit orders would bounce. People weren’t getting their money when they needed it.”

The volatility wasn’t just about timing. It was financial. “The fees fluctuated constantly. We never knew how much payroll was actually going to cost us,” says Amy-Louise.

Wise also resulted in contractors receiving less money than they earned. Many banks treated transfers as international wires, deducting additional fees on arrival. For MethodData’s CEO, this was an unacceptable experience.

“He’s very people-oriented,” Amy-Louise says. “If we agree on an amount, that’s what the contractor should get — no surprises, no deductions. Wise couldn’t guarantee that.”

Why they chose Plane

When the team started looking for alternatives, Plane stood out immediately. Another competitor was in the running, but two factors tipped the decision:

1. Transparent, predictable costs

With Plane, the amount on the payroll screen is the amount MethodData pays. No inflated foreign exchange markups. No unexpected bank fees. No deductions on the contractor’s side.

2. A product that simply works

Plane eliminated the chaos overnight. No more delays. No more manual corrections. No more bouncing payments.

Amy-Louise says, “Contractors receive exactly what we send them. Not a dollar less. That was non-negotiable for us.”

Saving literally days of work

The shift in operational efficiency has been dramatic.

Before Plane, MethodData faced:

• 2–3 days of manual payroll every month

• Copying data into multiple systems

• Reconciling fees and exchange differences

• Responding to endless “Did my payment arrive?” messages

• Managing confidential banking details via email

With Plane, MethodData enjoys a streamlined process:

• Total time: under 30 minutes

• Contractors handle their own profiles and banking info

• All payment history is self-serve

• No more banking errors or delays

Amy-Louise states, “When I say Plane saves me days, I mean literally days. Every month. It’s night-and-day better.”

Plane also eliminated a constant stream of small but time-draining admin tasks: “Before, contractors would ask, ‘I can’t remember what I got paid in July — can you check?’ Now I just say: ‘Log into Plane.’ They have everything right there.”

Scaling from 10 to 50 contractors without stress

MethodData started using Plane when they had around ten contractors. Today they’re at nearly fifty, and Plane has scaled seamlessly with them.

One reason? Plane charges per active contractor, not per seat.

“That was huge for us. Competitors wanted us to lock into a fixed number of seats. We were scaling fast but unpredictably. We couldn’t afford to pay for seats we weren’t using.”

As the company grew, Plane grew with them. No new workflow. No new systems or complications.

A better experience for the team

Beyond payroll, MethodData now uses Plane to manage company-wide leave tracking. Contractors request time off in Plane, managers approve it, and the operations team can instantly pull reports on leave balances.

“Everything is just more professional,” says Amy-Louise. “Plane gives our team clarity, transparency, and trust.”

Support has also been exceptional: “We’ve barely needed support, because the product works. But on the rare occasion we reached out, Plane handled it immediately. They’re responsive, helpful, and easy to reach.”

The bottom line

Plane has transformed MethodData’s international contractor payroll from a stressful, multi-day sprint into a predictable, efficient, and reliable process.

“I’m the one who uses Plane every day,” Amy-Louise says. “It impacts me the most. And honestly, I’m definitely pro-Plane. I don’t want to go back to the way things were before. Plane saves me days.”