PayActiv expands partnership with Visa, scaling technology for earned wage access

By Pavithra R

PayActiv, a provider of financial wellness platform for employees, has revealed that 4 out of every 5 PayActiv users prefer to access their funds through Visa Direct’s real-time capabilities, a real-time push payments platform enabled by Visa, over all other ways of accessing wages through its solution.

PayActiv is a complete standalone ready-to-use mobile app and API which provides the funds for earned wage access. Earned Wage Access is a payroll innovation that helps hourly workers get access to wages they have already earned in between the two-week pay cycle.

“It is imperative that we support hourly workers on the frontlines and give them faster access to their wages to purchase life essentials, especially during this critical time. Visa is proud to partner with PayActiv to offer additional choice and flexibility to employers and employees when managing their financial well-being,” said Bill Sheley, SVP and Global Head of Visa Direct, Visa.

PayActiv studied its user’s preferred disbursement options from November 2019 to June 2020 and learned that a Visa Direct real-time transaction onto an eligible debit or prepaid card was preferred for 3 reasons:

1. timeliness and reliability
2. availability of services 24/7 and 365 days a year and
3. large vendor acceptance footprint.

The results come one year after PayActiv and Visa’s collaboration to make Visa Direct available for PayActiv customers, which include large franchises that offer PayActiv’s solution to their hourly workers. The partnership allows PayActiv customers to provide real-time payment of earned wages to their hourly workers via an eligible Visa card. Besides supporting banked workers, PayActiv also supports the unbanked by enabling access to wages through cash pickup, purchases on Amazon, or Uber rides directly through the app.

PayActiv has signed several new customers who will have access to Visa Direct’s real-time capabilities, across retail, food services, healthcare, and business processing services, including Integrity Staffing Solutions, a leading staffing firm in the U.S., specializing in temporary and direct-hire employment opportunities.

“Through our partnership with Visa, we are scaling our technology to provide the last mile of liquidity to get funds to workers when they need it most and to provide employers with a powerful employee benefit to retain and motivate employees without impacting the company’s cash flow. As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp, we aim to be a lifeline for workers, especially those on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Safwan Shah, CEO, and Co-Founder of PayActiv.

Recently, PayActiv raised $100 mn in Series C funding led by Eldridge.

Founded in 2012, PayActiv aims to improve employee financial health. According to company data, the firm currently serves more than 4 mn employees at over 1,000 businesses across retail, business processing services, food services, and over 400 senior living and healthcare businesses. Its clients include Walmart, Ibex Global, Wayfair, and many others.