Company

Bolt is a leading mobility super-app offering ride-hailing, e-scooter services, carsharing, and food delivery across more than 50 countries and over 600 cities. Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, Bolt employs approximately 4,500 people across 53 countries and continues to expand rapidly into new markets, including North America, Central and Southeast Asia

Challenge

As a highly regulated technology company, Bolt requires operational licenses to function in each market , making payroll compliance and accuracy mission-critical to its ability to grow and maintain its business presence. Bolt’s global payroll operation had become fragmented, costly, and stretched thin. The incumbent provider fell short on service and advisory, and capability gaps among in-country resources drove tax filing errors, late payments, and compliance penalties, a material risk for a company whose operating licenses depend on payroll accuracy in every market.

Internally, a 16-person in-house payroll team was spread across an Estonian payroll system, multiple local accounting firms in long-tail markets, and Workday integrations that had not yet been fully optimized for global scale.

Solutions

Bolt selected Papaya Global to consolidate, modernize, and manage its global payroll operations , replacing a fragmented provider landscape with a unified platform and a scalable, modern managed services model. Papaya’s solution now spans over 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and North America, integrating directly with Bolt’s Workday HCM.

The engagement also extends beyond core payroll, with Papaya’s in-country partner (ICT) network delivering HR compliance services in long-tail locations where Bolt cannot cost-effectively maintain local staff, a value-added extension covering statutory filings, employee registrations, and regulatory reporting.

Key elements of the Papaya solution

• Workforce OS deployment -With Papaya, Bolt moved to Workforce OS deployment – a single source of truth and control for payroll data, processing, and reporting worldwide.
• Workday Global Payroll Connect integrations – moves employee data back and forth between Workday and Papaya. No more manual exports, spreadsheet uploads, or chasing data between teams – information flows directly from HR into payroll, and updates flow back into Workday.
• Managed payroll & localized compliance for approximately 4,500 employees across 50+ countries.
• Cross-border payments and FX through Papaya’s wallet solution, covering approximately 90% of Bolt’s country footprint.
• A flexible, scalable, compliant operating model designed to support Bolt’s rapid expansion, new market entry, and evolving workforce needs.

Dedicated support

Papaya worked hand-in-hand with Bolt to shape the platform around its global operating model, rather than forcing a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach. Beyond configuration, the Papaya team remained engaged throughout the eight-month migration, providing senior leadership involvement, hands-on guidance during country go-lives, and proactive advisory on process improvements. Support was consistently responsive across time zones, keeping the program on track to meet Bolt’s aggressive deadline without disruption to payroll operations.

Impact

Partnering with Papaya Global enabled Bolt to consolidate a complex, multi-vendor payroll environment into a single, scalable, and compliant function – delivering measurable results across cost, operations, and growth.

• Nearly 50% reduction in payroll operating costs through lower fees, a leaner team, and competitive global pricing.
• Met an aggressive migration deadline, avoiding a costly contract extension with the prior provider.
• Eliminated recurring compliance penalties, late-payment charges, and incorrect tax filings.
• Reduced operational workload by 37%, freeing teams to focus on insights, tax optimization, and unlocking R&D tax credits in Romania.
• One unified platform for consistent, compliant processing and real-time reporting across all countries.
• Rapid market expansion supported by Papaya’s in-country partner network for local compliance in long-tail markets.
• Automated data flows via Workday integration, reducing manual intervention.

Why it worked

The success of this engagement was rooted in:

Papaya Global became a strategic partner built around Bolt’s needs.

• Unified a fragmented payroll landscape into one platform, delivering consistent, compliant processing and real-time reporting across all countries.
• Scalable, flexible model enabling rapid country onboarding and local compliance coverage in long-tail markets.
• Workday  integration automated data flows and reduced manual intervention.
• Senior-level partnership with proactive advisory tailored to Bolt’s fast-moving requirements.
• Significant cost savings through competitive global pricing, cutting payroll operating costs by nearly 50% while expanding service scope.

Looking ahead

The partnership between Bolt and Papaya Global continues to mature and expand. Key priorities include migrating remaining countries – including Bolt’s largest payroll in Estonia onto the Papaya platform, expanding Workday integrations across all countries, and rolling out Papaya’s payment solution to additional markets as wallet coverage grows.