CloudPay partners with Visa to deliver faster digital pay options

By Joy Dumasia

CloudPay announced a new partnership with Visa to reduce payroll payment cycles that typically take 2-3 days through banking systems, down to seconds. The new digital payment method makes salary payments directly to employees’ debit or credit cards using Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push payment platform. Visa Direct leverages the payment provider’s powerful, global network to facilitate fast digital payments worldwide, with state-of-the-art security and compliance controls.

After completing a customer’s payroll cycle, CloudPay can now make salary payments in seconds rather than days. Pay-to-card transactions are made via Visa Direct to any 16-digit debit or credit card number (PAN). Employees can still receive salary payments as usual in their bank accounts, but the payments arrive faster and more flexibly via Visa Direct’s single point of connection rather than through disparate systems.

CloudPay also offers a global FinTech mobile app connected to Visa Direct. Employees use the CloudPay NOW app to make fast pay-to-card payments from their earned wages before payday, anytime, anywhere. Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a low-cost, high-value benefit that enables employers to address new employee expectations, specifically on-demand access to wages earned. 

Launched in June 2021, CloudPay NOW is the only EWA solution that operates globally. After two months, the first CloudPay NOW customer, a global luxury retail brand, reported a 30% uptake by their employees. The brand offers CloudPay NOW as an employee benefit to give on-demand access to wages that have already been earned in effect, choosing your payday. Using the mobile app, employees make instant salary payments to debit or credit cards 24/7, without the limitations of banking hours. 

CloudPay CEO, Paul Bartlett, said: “I think global organizations will jump at the chance to transform treasury processes with new digital payments because the time and efficiency savings for treasury and payroll are nothing short of dramatic. And progressive employers looking for ways to improve employee experience are becoming interested in earned wage access, and the opportunity to offer this benefit globally with CloudPay NOW.”

Nicky Alexander, Head of Visa Direct, Europe, said: “Enabling solutions that help workers access their paychecks faster through EWA and payroll solutions is more vital than ever. This is why our partnership with CloudPay is so important. We are delighted Visa Direct is now supporting businesses in their efforts to enhance their payroll systems and enable on-demand payouts for their workers.”

Checkout.com is the payment service provider that provides the secure transaction processing of salary payments between CloudPay and the Visa network. 

Moshe Winegarten, Head of Commercial UK and Ireland at Checkout.com, said: “At Checkout.com, we partner with innovators who wish to embrace emerging technologies and develop new business models. Our close integration with Visa Direct simplifies the complexities previously associated with paying out to consumers and enables our merchants to make real-time payouts globally through a single API. We’re proud to support CloudPay to launch this new service and continue providing its customers with real-time, innovative payroll solutions designed for the digital economy.”

Bartlett added: “By combining the end-to-end service of global payroll, payments and earned-wage access, CloudPay continues to innovate the modern pay experience for employers and employees. We are delighted to break new ground with Visa Direct and look forward to continuing to do so.”