Why On-Demand Wages Could Kill Payday – Page 6 (Feature Story)
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APRIL 2019 Why On-Demand Wages Could Kill Payday – Page 6 (Feature Story) powered by Australia’s DHS delivers $2.2M AUD in disaster relief using NPP – Page 10 (News and Trends) What the rise of P2P solutions means for disbursements speeds – Page 14 (Deep Dive) ™ Disbursements Tracker Table of Contents WHAT’S INSIDE A look at how government agencies around the world are turning to disbursements to deliver financial 03 assistance to residents FEATURE STORY Mark Wes, head of risk, payments and compliance for Gusto Capital, explains why on-demand earned wages are 06 challenging traditional paydays NEWS AND TRENDS 10 The latest global trends showcasing how disbursements are changing business and banking practices DEEP DIVE 14 Fast-acting P2P services are raising users' expectations of how quickly salaries can be disbursed PROVIDER DIRECTORY 20 A look at the top disbursements market companies, including three additions ABOUT 111 Information about PYMNTS.com and Ingo Money Acknowledgment The Disbursements Tracker™ is done in collaboration with Ingo Money, and PYMNTS is grateful for the company’s support and insight. PYMNTS.com retains full editorial control over the findings presented, as well as the methodology and data analysis. © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 2 What’s Inside Digital disbursements have made significant inroads Around the disbursements world in various industries, changing the speeds at which Visa recently announced a partnership with on-de- payments like insurance claims and gig workers' mand payment access solutions provider PayActiv, salaries are delivered. Businesses aren’t alone in which can now use Visa Direct’s real-time push pay- embracing disbursements, either — several govern- ment capabilities to make deposits to gig workers’ ments are now using them to quickly provide finan- accounts, debit cards or reloadable prepaid cards. cial aid to their citizens. British bank HSBC has formed a disbursements Australia is among those putting disbursements to partnership of its own, announcing it will collaborate use, aiding residents affected by natural disasters. with payment solutions provider PayPal. The finan- The Department of Human Services’ (DHS') Cen- cial institution (FI) will now be able to use the latter trelink Master Program recently issued $2.2 million to disburse funds to corporate customers' bank ac- AUD (roughly $1.56 million USD) in disaster relief counts, or even to their own PayPal accounts. funds to the city of Townsville, which recently experi- enced floods. The DHS used the country’s New Pay- PayPal is keeping busy when it comes to disburse- ments Platform (NPP), enabling the funds to settle ments, having recently released its own solution, within seconds instead of days. Across the globe, Instant Transfer. The new feature enables the firm's Ireland’s Department of Social Protection has part- consumer and business users to instantly trans- nered with financial services giant Visa to help deliv- fer funds to their bank accounts, putting an end to er welfare funds to recipients’ bank accounts within the usual one-day wait. Instant Transfer is enabled 30 minutes — much faster than the speeds offered through a partnership with JPMorgan Chase, which by previously used paper checks. provides PayPal with access to The Clearing House’s (TCH's) Real-Time Payments (RTP) network. Instant Faster payments aren’t beneficial for just govern- Transfer will become available on Venmo, PayPal’s ments — they're also changing how companies com- person-to-person (P2P) service, in the near future. pensate their partners, suppliers and employees. © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 3 What’s Inside Deep Dive: How P2P services raise the disbursements bar Executive Insight P2P services like Venmo and Zelle enable users to quick- ly transfer funds via their smartphones, and the speed What could instant payouts do for employees and what do they mean for the and convenience they offer could be creating dissatis- employers offering them? faction among workers paid differently who want faster wage access. The most recent PYMNTS Disbursement “Instant payouts have proven popular and taken root in the gig Satisfaction Index™ found that roughly 52 million work- economy because ofthat industry’s natural affinity for speed, convenience and choice. People that ... work at the push of ers are still being paid by paper check, even though de- a button expect to be paid in the same way. This has proven mand for faster salary settlements is likely to increase as to be a beachhead upon which a broader instant wage move- faster payments are made available in other areas. This ment has begun. Workers in every industry are also consum- ers and they harbor the same desires for speed, convenience month’s Deep Dive (p. 14) outlines how fast-acting P2P and choice. Further, multiple studies have found thatworkers services are raising the bar on disbursements. across the spectrum are financially insecure and more sus- ceptible than ever to income fluctuations or unexpected ex- On-demand wages could make every day payday penses. Instant access to their wages is one way they might head off cash shortfalls. ... Workers are no longer content waiting for payday to get their earnings as faster forms of disbursements hit the There are challenges presented by this capability as well. Workers will need help understanding when and how best to market. Some workers can now receive on-demand, tap their available funds. The traditional two-week pay cycle instant access to their earned wages via their smart- enforces budgeting. But platforms like Gusto, Zenefits and phones. For this Tracker’s Feature Story (p. 6), Mark Paylocity can help deliver this functionality with context to help workers make better financialdecisions. ... This is an Wes, head of risk, payments and compliance for Gusto easy step [for these platforms] as the mature push payment Capital, explains how the company’s Flexible Pay solu- infrastructure that enables instant wages already exists. tion is challenging some long-held perceptions about The capability to instantly send safe-to-spend funds to any traditional paydays. consumer account has been widely embraced by lenders, insurers and others that seek to lower operational costs while meeting customer demands. Ingo Money alone has April Tracker updates disbursed more than $18 billion in funds through its instant Each month, the Tracker’s provider directory highlights money services. leading disbursements players. This edition boasts more Ultimately, this type of service will also help employers boost than 175 providers, including three additions: Glance Pay, loyalty and stem attrition to save on expensive hiring and training costs. Those on the front end of the trend can also Pay-me and RappiPay. use it to attract talent from competitors. Instant wages can become a key component in the whole-person benefits trend that recognizes the value of time off, flexible working hours, remote staff and more, driving satisfaction,productivity and revenue.” DREW EDWARDS, CEO of Ingo Money © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 4 What’s Inside FIVE FAST FACTS Portion of New Payments Platform transactions 95% that require responses within 15 seconds Share of consumers who say speed is 72% important when receiving disbursements Portion of first-time P2P payment users 50% aged 45 or older Share of Australian citizens expected to 67% use real-time payments by 2023 Portion of consumers who believe being able to choose how they receive disbursements is “very” 72.9% or “extremely” important © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 5 Why On-Demand Wages Could Kill Payday © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 6 Feature Story The weekly or biweekly pay cycle can seem like an Digital payroll solutions provider Gusto, for one, awfully long time for the roughly two-thirds of U.S. launched an instant payments solution — dubbed workers who live paycheck to paycheck — especially Flexible Pay — for small to mid-sized businesses if they are hit by unexpected, costly events. Accord- (SMBs) last year, granting employees on-demand ing to the most recent PYMNTS Disbursement Satis- wage access. In a recent interview with PYMNTS, faction Index™, this wait is becoming unacceptable: Mark Wes, head of risk, payments and compliance 72.9 percent of surveyed consumers said having a for the company's subsidiary, Gusto Capital, spoke choice in how they received their disbursements was about Flexible Pay and how on-demand wages are “very” or “extremely” important, and only 50.3 per- challenging long-held perceptions of payday. cent were offered a choice at all. Helping workers avoid financial pitfalls The Index also discovered that the gig economy is Flexible Pay, which is currently in use at Texas SMBs, among one of the first areas to disrupt the normal utilizes direct deposit to disburse workers’ earnings pay cycle. Faster payments are starting to become a as consumer loans. Gusto claims millions of dollars’ mainstream concept for gig workers, with 53.5 per- worth of loans have been issued to workers over the cent of disbursements being made instantly. Access past nine months. On-demand wages allow them to these types of payments isn’t limited to just the to be less beholden to scheduled pay periods, Wes gig economy, though. © 2019 PYMNTS.com All Rights Reserved 7 Feature Story said, adding that the service has seen increased not have to explain to their managers or bosses why adoption from SMBs in food services, including bak- they seek their wages early. eries, restaurants and cafes, where many workers “The employee controls when they want to cash out are on hourly shifts. on wages they have already earned,” Wes said. “That “The biweekly pay cycle is kind of a relic of old times,” means the employee doesn’t have to have that awk- he said. “[This] schedule delays people from getting ward conversation with [her] employer and ask for a the cash they’ve earned.” payday advance.” On-demand earnings offer workers a financial lifeline Wes believes that this discretion and convenience should they be blindsided by unexpected expenses.