Companion Launches Creator Payments For Faster Brand Onboarding And Early Creator Pay

Apr. 01, 2026

Billion Dollar Boy Group, global leaders in creator-led brand building, today announces the launch of Creator Payments, a new integrated service designed to automate creator payments and vendor onboarding for brands at scale, via its proprietary SaaS platform, Companion.

Creator Payments, in partnership with payment platform Lumanu, streamlines one of the most complex and operationally intensive areas of creator marketing, including payment workflows, creator onboarding and compliance to reduce friction for brand teams and creators.

The service also includes Early Pay, an optional feature offering creators greater flexibility and certainty around when they are paid.

The launch follows a successful four-month trial involving global brands, which have benefited from more efficient, transparent and scalable creator partnerships. Almost one in ten (7%) creators commissioned by the agency during trials also opted in to Early Pay.

A Smarter Operating Model for Brands

Creator Pay handles the full creator payment process, managing up to 14 separate administrative actions per creator. This includes streamlining invoicing, handling tax requirements and managing creator onboarding. Brands gain real-time visibility into payment and processing statuses through a single, dynamically updated dashboard, reducing internal complexity and reliance on manual finance workflows.

The launch of Creator Payments is designed to help senior marketing teams reduce operational risk, improve governance and free up time to focus on performance, creativity and long-term brand partnership value.

Addressing Creator Financial Wellbeing

Early Pay eliminates payment delays for creators - enabling them to receive payment immediately upon completion of content deliverables.

The BDB Group has proudly kept and upheld a competitive payment policy against industry standards. However, the group recognizes that payment timings remain a structural challenge within the creator economy, with implications for creator wellbeing, content quality and brand relationships.

In a survey of more than 1,000 creators across the US and UK, BDB Group found that over half (52%) had experienced burnout, with financial instability cited as the leading cause by 55% of respondents. By introducing Early Pay as part of Creator Payments, the BDB Group aims to reduce financial pressure where needed, while improving trust and sustainability across brand-creator relationships.

It hopes to see even greater adoption of Early Pay as the feature rolls out globally across the agency’s territories covering 60+ markets, including the USA, EMEA and more.

This launch builds on BDB Group’s wider commitment to supporting creator entrepreneurs, including the launch of FiveTwoNine in 2024 - a global platform and creator community offering education, tools and financial consultancy, with 1,600+ members subscribed worldwide.

The launch of Creator Payments and Early Pay follows recognition of Companion as Best Influencer Marketing Platform or Technology at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards 2025. 

Irving Shark, Founder and Head of Product at Companion, BDB Group, commented:

“Creator marketing has matured quickly, but the operational backbone - payments, onboarding, tax and compliance - hasn’t always kept pace. That gap creates inefficiency for brand teams. Creator Payments closes that gap. It streamlines the end-to-end workflow, from creator onboarding through to payment, giving brands a single, live view of where everything sits. The impact for senior marketers is simple: fewer bottlenecks and greater confidence that campaigns are running efficiently and securely, allowing teams to focus on performance rather than admin.”

 

Thomas Walters, Chief Innovation Officer, Billion Dollar Boy Group, added:

"Through Early Pay, Creator Payments also tackles one of the greatest challenges facing creators: financial insecurity. Behind every great piece of creator work is a human running a small business - and too often that business is operating with real uncertainty. Through our global creator community, FiveTwoNine, we often hear of creators feeling isolated, burnt out, and stuck in a cycle of unpredictable cashflow. That instability doesn’t just hurt creators, it affects brands too; putting unnecessary strain on brand-creator relationships and potentially impacting the final output. By streamlining and de-risking this process, brands remove friction, retain trust and protect their reputation. Creator Payments is a smarter operating model for brands who want consistency, credibility, and long-term value from their creator investments. It’s a key milestone towards creating a healthier creator ecosystem overall."

 

Tony Tran, CEO at Lumanu, added:

"Paying creators is not the same as paying a traditional B2B supplier. These are individuals running real businesses, producing work that directly shapes how consumers experience your brand. When payments are delayed or overly complex, it doesn’t just create frustration. It damages trust. Creator marketing is built on relationships, and broken trust leads to bad ROI and brand risk. Lumanu is proud to partner with BDB and Companion to power Creator Payments because this isn’t just another feature launch. It reflects a broader shift in how creator programs should operate: marketers treating creators as true partners rather than vendors to be handed off to finance."