What types of payments violate the law? Just about anything—including gifts, loans, services, vacations, or offers of future employment. It doesn't even matter if the value offered is very small.
Under the FCPA, even the attempt to obtain a benefit is a crime. A violation occurs at the moment an offer is made, a payment is promised, or something is just "authorized," even if no money is actually paid. You don't even have to be there to have committed a crime.