Do Creators Get Paid in USD or Local Currency?

It depends on the creator's payout country, not on Brillay defaulting everyone to USD. Brillay derives each creator's settlement currency from the country connected during Stripe onboarding: creators in the United States are paid in USD, and creators in Brillay's other 40 supported payout countries are paid in the settlement currency Stripe assigns to that country, such as GBP, EUR, JPY, AUD, or MXN. Tips let followers send a one-time thank-you, with nothing for you to deliver and no membership for them to join.

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What currency does Brillay pay creators in?

Stripe pays you in the currency tied to the country where you connect your bank, rather than automatically paying every creator in USD. A creator onboarding from the United States is paid in USD, one from the United Kingdom in GBP, one from Japan in JPY, and one from Mexico in MXN, across Brillay's 41 supported payout countries.

Brillay's 41 supported payout countries map to 19 distinct payout currencies, according to Brillay's onboarding country list and its payout-country guide for creators outside the US. Your currency is the one Stripe supports for bank payouts in your country, which may not always match the currency name you expect.

Stripe's own payouts documentation states the underlying rule, including its exceptions:

"Bank accounts generally must be located in a country where the payout currency is an official currency. For example, SEK bank accounts must be based in Sweden. Stripe also allows you to settle and pay out to banks in select additional currencies, or pay out to non-domestic bank accounts." — Stripe, Receive payouts documentation

How does Brillay decide which currency a creator gets paid in?

When you connect your bank through Stripe, the country you choose determines the currency you use for prices and payments. There is no separate currency dropdown anywhere in Brillay's setup, so that single country choice sets both the bank-account details Stripe requires and the currency every price, earnings total, and payout is denominated in.

Stripe assigns a default currency to each supported country for payments and bank payouts (Stripe, Country Spec object). That default is strongly determined by the account's country, but it is not absolute: Stripe documents that platforms can enable connected accounts "to receive and pay out funds in up to 18 currencies instead of automatically converting funds to their default currency" (Stripe, Enable multi-currency settlement). A Brillay creator's dashboard totals and Stripe payouts use the single payout currency tied to their payout country, with payouts running through their own Stripe account and Stripe handling the payout timing (pricing and how Brillay works).

Do US creators get paid differently than international creators?

Your payout currency is tied to your payout country. Creators follow the same setup in every supported country; only the currency used for their prices and payments changes. Every creator connects Stripe, picks a payout country, and receives that country's payout currency automatically; a US creator lands on USD for the same reason a Japanese creator lands on JPY, not because USD is a default.

The eurozone row moved in 2026: Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026 at a conversion rate of 1.95583 lev per euro, bringing the number of EU member states using the euro to 21, according to the European Central Bank's press release. A Bulgarian creator connecting Stripe through Brillay in 2026 therefore settles in EUR rather than lev.

What happens when a follower pays in a different currency than the creator's payout currency?

The checkout is priced in the creator's payout currency, so the creator's payout is unaffected; any conversion happens on the follower's side — see how currency conversion works when followers pay internationally for the mechanics of that step. Followers see your fixed price in your currency; no follower account is needed. Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. Their card issuer may still add a foreign transaction fee.

These are two separate costs with two separate sources, and Stripe documents both. Stripe's currency documentation states that "if the charge currency differs from the customer's payment method currency, their bank or card issuer might charge the customer a foreign exchange fee," and separately that "if the charge currency differs from your payout currency, Stripe converts the charge to your payout currency" (Stripe, Supported currencies). A UK creator pricing a Paid Question in GBP is charging in GBP, which is already the payout currency, so Stripe performs no conversion; a follower paying with a USD-issued card may still see a fee from their own issuer.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Regulation Z commentary gives an illustrative breakdown of how those card-side fees stack. The figures below are the CFPB's worked example, not a legal cap or an industry average:

"In a transaction processed through a credit card network, the network may impose a 1 percent charge and the card-issuing bank may impose an additional 2 percent charge, for a total of a 3 percentage point foreign transaction fee being imposed on the consumer." — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z § 1026.4 commentary

Actual issuer foreign transaction fees vary by card and by issuer, and many cards charge none; a follower should check their own cardholder agreement rather than assume the CFPB's 3-percentage-point example applies.

Does getting paid in local currency cost more in fees?

No — being paid in a local currency adds no Brillay fee, because the platform fee is the same percentage in every supported payout currency. Costs appear only when currencies mismatch: Stripe adds a conversion fee when the charge currency differs from the payout currency, and a follower's card issuer may add its own.

Stripe's published US pricing lists 2.9% + $0.30 per successful domestic card transaction, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% "if currency conversion is required" (Stripe pricing). Those three line items are distinct: the 1% conversion charge is a Stripe payout-side cost, the 1.5% international-card charge is a Stripe cost driven by where the card was issued, and any foreign transaction fee is charged to the follower by their issuer or network. Stripe's rate card also varies by market, so the 2.9% + $0.30 figure is the published US-account rate rather than a universal one.

Charging in the creator's own payout currency is what keeps the 1% Stripe conversion fee off most Brillay transactions, since Stripe applies that fee only when a conversion is actually required.

Can a creator choose USD instead of their local currency?

Brillay sets the payout currency from the connected payout country. A creator outside the United States who specifically wants USD would need a Stripe account eligible to settle in USD, which is a different arrangement from selecting their own country at onboarding.

Stripe's payouts documentation is explicit that bank accounts "generally must be located in a country where the payout currency is an official currency," with additional-currency payout available only in select cases. For most creators, receiving their own currency directly is the cheaper outcome rather than a limitation to work around. Creators comparing payout setups can read how to get paid as a creator without a US bank account for the banking side of the same question.

Local-currency payout vs a USD-only payout: which costs less?

Getting paid in your own currency avoids converting USD before the money reaches your bank, though card-side fees paid by followers are unchanged either way.

The size of that avoided step is documented rather than hypothetical: Stripe charges an additional 1% when currency conversion is required, and Stripe supports charging in over 135 currencies with conversion into the account's payout currency. A creator who settles in their own currency also prices in a currency followers recognise — GBP, EUR, JPY — without converting from USD in their head before setting a price.

Frequently asked questions

Does Brillay always pay creators in USD?

No. Brillay pays each creator in the payout currency tied to their Stripe payout country — USD for US creators, and the corresponding payout currency (GBP, EUR, JPY, AUD, MXN, and others) for creators in Brillay's other 40 supported payout countries.

Can I pick my payout currency separately from my country?

No. Brillay uses the payout country chosen during Stripe onboarding to set the payout currency automatically. Choosing the correct country up front is what determines the currency.

Will I lose money to currency conversion if I get paid in my local currency?

Not on the Brillay side. Card processing is separate. Stripe applies its 1% conversion charge only when currency conversion is required, which does not occur when the charge and payout currencies already match.

Does the follower's country change what currency the creator gets paid in?

No. The checkout is priced and settled in the creator's currency, based on the creator's payout country. A follower paying from a different country pays through their own card, and their issuer may charge them a foreign exchange fee, according to Stripe's supported currencies documentation.

You do not need a big audience or a monthly plan: create your free Brillay page, put Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, Tips, Goals, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries behind one link, and set each paid offer's price in your country's currency.