docs: add payroll use case page, refocus global-payouts

src/pages/learn/use-cases/global-payouts.mdx

@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 ---
-description: Deliver instant, low-cost payouts to employees and contractors worldwide with stablecoins, bypassing slow banking rails.
+description: Deliver instant, low-cost payouts to contractors, merchants, and partners worldwide with stablecoins, bypassing slow banking rails.
 ---
 
 import { Cards, Card } from 'vocs'
 
-# Pay your global workforce instantly [Deliver faster, cheaper, and more predictable cross-border payouts to employees and contractors around the world with stablecoins.]
+# Send global payouts instantly [Deliver faster, cheaper, and more predictable cross-border payouts to contractors, merchants, and partners around the world with stablecoins.]
 
-## The challenge with global payroll
+## The challenge with global payouts
 
-Managing global payroll is both complex and expensive. Businesses must either rely on slow, expensive, unpredictable cross-border transfers to pay employees directly, or first move liquidity to local subsidiaries to access domestic payment rails. Each domestic rail, in turn, comes with its own rules, banking holidays, cutoff times, formats, and fees.
+Managing global payouts is both complex and expensive. Businesses must either rely on slow, expensive, unpredictable cross-border transfers to pay recipients directly, or first move liquidity to local subsidiaries to access domestic payment rails. Each domestic rail, in turn, comes with its own rules, banking holidays, cutoff times, formats, and fees.
 
-This complexity results in a patchwork of manual workflows that is burdensome for finance teams and often frustrating for employees waiting on delayed transfers. Stablecoins offer a way to simplify this process by reducing cost, improving predictability, and removing much of the operational overhead associated with traditional cross-border payments.
+This complexity results in a patchwork of manual workflows that is burdensome for finance teams and often frustrating for recipients waiting on delayed transfers. Stablecoins offer a way to simplify this process by reducing cost, improving predictability, and removing much of the operational overhead associated with traditional cross-border payments.
 
 
 ## The real cost of traditional payouts
@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@ Traditional cross-border payouts fail in predictable ways:
 
 ## How stablecoins solve this
 
-Blockchains are global by design, allowing companies to send stablecoin payouts directly to employees' wallets anywhere in the world without relying on local banks or intermediaries. These transfers typically cost less than a cent and arrive within seconds, offering far more consistency than traditional international payment rails.
+Blockchains are global by design, allowing companies to send stablecoin payouts directly to recipients' wallets anywhere in the world without relying on local banks or intermediaries. These transfers typically cost less than a cent and arrive within seconds, offering far more consistency than traditional international payment rails.
 
 When you send $1,000 to a contractor in Brazil using stablecoin rails, the process is far more straightforward: your stablecoin partner may charge a flat fee of 0.1–0.4% for the onramp and transfer, delivering a **60–80% cost reduction** compared to traditional rails. Recipients receive dollar-denominated stablecoins and can convert to local currency when and how they choose, typically paying a transparent offramp fee in the 0.1–2.0% range.
 
 Cost reduction note: Traditional wire fees on a $1,000 payout typically range $10-$40 (1-4%) excluding FX spreads. Stablecoin onramp fees range from 0.1-0.4%. Comparing 0.4% vs 1.0% yields approximately 60% reduction; higher savings occur vs higher wire fees and FX spreads.
 
-Companies can also choose to distribute funds through their subsidiaries. In this model, a business can convert funds into stablecoins at the headquarters level, such as in the United States, and distribute those funds to subsidiary wallets around the world. Liquidity moves to subsidiaries in seconds rather than days, removing the need to pre-fund subsidiary accounts in advance. Subsidiaries can then handle payouts to local employees.
+Companies can also choose to distribute funds through their subsidiaries. In this model, a business can convert funds into stablecoins at the headquarters level, such as in the United States, and distribute those funds to subsidiary wallets around the world. Liquidity moves to subsidiaries in seconds rather than days, removing the need to pre-fund subsidiary accounts in advance. Subsidiaries can then handle payouts to local recipients.
 
 ## Key benefits
 
@@ -73,13 +73,13 @@ For structured payment references (invoice IDs, customer IDs), see [TIP-20 Token
 
 ## Benefits beyond speed and cost
 
-Employees receiving stablecoins can choose how they want to use their earnings. They can hold stablecoins and spend them directly through stablecoin-linked payment cards, or convert them into fiat and withdraw the funds to a local bank account whenever they choose. This gives workers flexibility and control over how they manage their income.
+Recipients receiving stablecoins can choose how they want to use their funds. They can hold stablecoins and spend them directly through stablecoin-linked payment cards, or convert them into fiat and withdraw the funds to a local bank account whenever they choose. This gives recipients flexibility and control over how they manage their income.
 
-Stablecoins also reduce the foreign exchange complexity that comes with global payroll. Instead of converting funds into multiple local currencies and dealing with unpredictable spreads and fees, companies can make payouts in a single currency, such as USD stablecoins. Employees can then convert stablecoins to their desired currency when it's most convenient for them. This simplifies treasury operations and provides more options for workers.
+Stablecoins also reduce foreign exchange complexity. Instead of converting funds into multiple local currencies and dealing with unpredictable spreads and fees, companies can make payouts in a single currency, such as USD stablecoins. Recipients can then convert to their desired currency when it's most convenient for them. This simplifies treasury operations and provides more options for recipients.
 
 Finally, reconciliation becomes significantly simpler. Because stablecoin payouts settle onchain, every transaction has a clear record. Companies no longer need to track separate reporting formats from multiple domestic banks or reconcile transactions that settle at different speeds. Instead, they rely on a single, unified ledger that provides immediate visibility into outgoing payments, balances, and settlement status.
 
-Global payouts with stablecoins already deliver meaningful benefits for both employers and employees. As familiarity grows and merchant acceptance expands, stablecoins are likely to become a preferred payment method not only for international payouts, but for domestic payroll as well. With lower costs, real-time settlement, and programmability, stablecoins bring payroll systems closer to the always-on, digital nature of today's workforce.
+Global payouts with stablecoins already deliver meaningful benefits for both senders and recipients. As familiarity grows and merchant acceptance expands, stablecoins are likely to become a preferred payment method for international disbursements of all kinds. With lower costs, real-time settlement, and programmability, stablecoins bring payout systems closer to the always-on, digital nature of today's global economy.
 
 For native batching and scheduled payout execution, see [Tempo Transactions](/learn/tempo/modern-transactions).
 
@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ Define SLAs, exception handling, reconciliation processes, and support playbooks
 
 ## Building with Tempo
 
-Designed for high-volume, global disbursement, Tempo allows organizations to bypass the fragmentation of local banking rails and reach employees and contractors directly. We work closely with payroll providers and platforms to design stablecoin payout flows that are compliant, efficient, and user-friendly.
+Designed for high-volume, global disbursement, Tempo allows organizations to bypass the fragmentation of local banking rails and reach recipients directly. We work closely with platforms, marketplaces, and payout operators to design stablecoin payout flows that are compliant, efficient, and user-friendly.
 
-If you are interested in seeing how a unified onchain ledger can simplify your global payroll operations and remove FX friction, let's discuss the integration requirements and coverage capabilities.
+If you are interested in seeing how a unified onchain ledger can simplify your global payout operations and remove FX friction, let's discuss the integration requirements and coverage capabilities.
 
 <Cards>
   <Card
@@ -161,6 +161,12 @@ Yes, increasingly so. Since the passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States,
 ## Related reading
 
 <Cards>
+  <Card
+    title="Stablecoins for Payroll"
+    description="Payroll-specific use cases: account funding, embedded wallets, and revenue model opportunities."
+    to="/learn/use-cases/payroll"
+    icon="lucide:briefcase"
+  />
   <Card
     title="Deep dive: Stablecoins for Global Payouts"
     description="Full guide with examples, rollout steps, and FAQs."

src/pages/learn/use-cases/payroll.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+---
+title: Stablecoins for Payroll
+description: Faster payroll funding, cheaper cross-border payouts, and new revenue streams for payroll providers using stablecoins.
+---
+
+import { Cards, Card } from 'vocs'
+
+# Turn payroll into a platform with stablecoins [Faster funding, cheaper cross-border payouts, and new revenue streams for payroll providers.]
+
+## The challenge with traditional payroll infrastructure
+
+Payroll providers are starting to take stablecoins seriously. The reasons are familiar to anyone running global payroll: ACH funding takes 2-3 days and carries return risk, cross-border settlement routes through multiple intermediaries that each extract fees, and employees in emerging markets lose money to forced currency conversion.
+
+## How stablecoins solve this
+
+Stablecoins fix all of that, but the opportunity goes well beyond faster and cheaper payments. There are three distinct use cases, and they build on each other: faster payroll account funding, cheaper cross-border payouts to employee wallets, and embedded wallets that turn payroll into a financial services platform. Each stands on its own, and each increases in ambition and payoff.
+
+### 1. Faster payroll account funding
+
+Funding payroll accounts with stablecoins is the lowest-lift opportunity and the one most providers overlook.
+
+Today, employers fund payroll accounts via ACH, which takes 2-3 days to settle and can be returned after employees have already been paid. The provider carries that exposure. Stablecoin funding settles in seconds. Same-day payroll cycles become possible without the provider absorbing settlement risk.
+
+Nothing changes for employees here. They still receive payroll the same way. The improvement is entirely on the funding side: faster cycles, no float risk, simpler cash management. Banking platforms like Ramp, Brex, and Meow are already adding stablecoin support, which makes it increasingly easy for employers to fund payroll accounts in stablecoins.
+
+For providers processing significant volume, eliminating 2-3 days of settlement risk and the operational overhead of managing ACH returns is meaningful on its own.
+
+### 2. Cheaper cross-border payouts
+
+Cross-border payroll routes through payment processors, correspondent banking networks, and local receiving banks. Each intermediary takes a cut and employees absorb FX spreads of 1-4% when their payment is converted to local currency — a cost they can't negotiate and often can't see.
+
+Stablecoins cut through the intermediary chain. Payouts settle in seconds to wallets employees already have, regardless of time zone or bank holiday. Transaction costs drop to cents. The total [cost reduction for cross-border payouts runs 60-80%](/learn/use-cases/global-payouts). Providers don't need to build wallet infrastructure either; employees can bring their own.
+
+For employees, the experience also changes for the better. They receive dollar-denominated stablecoins and choose when (or whether) to convert to local currency. In markets with currency volatility — like Argentina, Nigeria, or Turkey — the ability to hold dollars and convert on their own terms preserves purchasing power. Workers stop losing money to exchange rates set by banks they didn't choose.
+
+This is where payroll providers start to differentiate. If your competitors are still routing through correspondent banking and your clients' contractors are getting paid in seconds at a fraction of the cost, that's a tangible advantage in competitive deals.
+
+For a deeper look at cross-border payout mechanics, cost comparisons, and implementation steps, see [Global Payouts](/learn/use-cases/global-payouts).
+
+### 3. Embedded wallets and financial services
+
+The first two use cases make payroll faster and cheaper. The third one changes the business model.
+
+Today, payroll providers handle the payout. Banks capture everything that happens after: employee deposits get monetized through cards, savings accounts, loans, and investment products. The payroll provider did the work of acquiring and paying the employee, but the bank captures the ongoing financial relationship.
+
+Embedded wallets flip this. When a payroll provider issues a wallet to each employee, the provider controls the user interface and maintains the relationship after funds land. That opens three revenue streams that don't exist in traditional payroll:
+
+- **Branded stablecoins and reserve yield.** Instead of paying employees in USDC, a provider can issue its own stablecoin backed 1:1 by reserves (US Treasuries and deposits). The provider earns the yield on those reserves for as long as employees hold balances. Partners like Bridge handle issuance and compliance.
+
+- **Card interchange.** Stablecoin-backed cards with automatic conversion at point of sale generate 1-2% interchange on spend. For a client with 1,000 employees spending $2,000/month on cards, that's $240K-$480K in annual interchange revenue.
+
+- **Tokenized investment products.** Wallets can offer tokenized money market funds yielding 3-3.5%, or structured credit products at 6-8%. This gives employees access to yields they wouldn't typically get through a traditional payroll deposit, and creates distribution revenue for the provider.
+
+The wallet approach also simplifies global rollout. Non-custodial wallets don't hold customer funds, so they don't require banking or payment institution licenses in every jurisdiction. A provider can launch wallets across dozens of countries with the same infrastructure. That's fundamentally different from custodial financial services, which need per-market licensing.
+
+This is the most ambitious path, and it requires investment in infrastructure, compliance, and product. However, it's also the path that transforms payroll from a low-margin transaction business into a platform with compounding revenue streams. The unit economics shift from "fee per payout" to "lifetime value of a financial relationship."
+
+For more on embedded wallet patterns for platforms, see [Embedded Finance](/learn/use-cases/embedded-finance).
+
+## What to evaluate before building
+
+Not every payroll provider needs to go to level three on day one. The right starting point depends on your client base and where the pain is sharpest.
+
+- **Where are your clients' employees?** If you're primarily in the US or Europe, the pain points are real but less acute. If you serve companies with contractors across Latin America, Africa, or Southeast Asia, the case for stablecoins is immediate and measurable.
+
+- **What corridors are most expensive or unreliable?** Focus stablecoin payouts where correspondent banking is slowest and most expensive. Start there.
+
+- **Do you want to capture value beyond the transaction fee?** If the answer is yes, the wallet path is worth serious evaluation. You can start with payroll account funding and cross-border payouts while building toward wallets.
+
+This is a multi-year build, and partner selection matters more than most providers expect. Choose partners who are thinking long term.
+
+## Other factors to consider
+
+Stablecoins solve real problems, but they create new considerations.
+
+- **Regulation and compliance don't disappear.** Stablecoins change the payment mechanism, not the regulatory framework. Tax withholding, labor law, and reporting requirements still apply in every jurisdiction. Some countries restrict or prohibit stablecoin payments entirely, so you need to verify the landscape in every market where you operate.
+
+- **Not all employees will want stablecoins.** Maintaining parallel payroll rails adds complexity, but forcing adoption creates friction. Offer stablecoins as an option, not a mandate.
+
+- **Employee education takes work.** Workers unfamiliar with digital wallets need clear onboarding. Support teams need training. This is operational investment that's easy to underestimate.
+
+## Building with Tempo
+
+The stablecoin you pay employees with is only as reliable as the infrastructure it runs on. At scale, the differences between chains become operationally significant.
+
+- **Privacy for sensitive payroll data.** Salary information on a public blockchain is a non-starter. Tempo's opt-in privacy solution keeps salary amounts, employee identities, and payment patterns shielded from the public while maintaining full auditability for compliance and internal controls. Employees and employers get privacy by default. Auditors and regulators can access data when required.
+
+- **Predictable delivery during congestion.** Dedicated payment lanes ensure payroll transactions process on schedule even when the network is busy. Missing a payroll cycle because of network congestion is not acceptable.
+
+- **Compliance and reconciliation built into the chain.** Native memo fields attach travel rule identifiers, invoice references, and reconciliation metadata directly to transactions, so payroll records map cleanly to onchain activity. Allow/blocklists for transaction control. These aren't add-ons; they're native to the chain.
+
+- **No account rent.** When you're provisioning wallets for hundreds of thousands of employees, account rent fees on other chains become a real cost line. Tempo doesn't charge account rent.
+
+- **Low, predictable fees paid in stablecoins.** No token management overhead. No gas price volatility. Fees are measured in cents and can be sponsored so employees never see them.
+
+<Cards>
+  <Card
+    description="Want to explore stablecoin payroll on Tempo? Email us to discuss your use case."
+    to="mailto:partners@tempo.xyz"
+    icon="lucide:mail"
+    title="Get in Touch"
+  />
+  <Card
+    description="Start building on Tempo with our guides, SDKs, and documentation."
+    to="/quickstart/integrate-tempo"
+    icon="lucide:rocket"
+    title="Build on Tempo"
+  />
+</Cards>
+
+## Related reading
+
+<Cards>
+  <Card
+    title="Global Payouts"
+    description="Cross-border payout mechanics, cost comparisons, and getting started steps."
+    to="/learn/use-cases/global-payouts"
+    icon="lucide:globe"
+  />
+  <Card
+    title="Embedded Finance"
+    description="Embedded wallet patterns for platforms and marketplaces."
+    to="/learn/use-cases/embedded-finance"
+    icon="lucide:wallet"
+  />
+  <Card
+    title="Deep dive: Stablecoins for Payroll"
+    description="Full blog post with detailed analysis and use case examples."
+    to="https://tempo.xyz/blog/stablecoins-payroll"
+    icon="lucide:book-open"
+  />
+  <Card
+    title="TIP-20 Tokens"
+    description="Reconciliation memos and stable fee mechanics."
+    to="/learn/tempo/native-stablecoins"
+    icon="lucide:tag"
+  />
+</Cards>