- Clients that use U.S. Bank’s prepaid Focus Card for payroll can offer their employees access to their wages as they earn them, thanks to a new partnership between U.S. Bank and Payactiv.
- Employees will not only benefit from early access to their wages, but will also have access to Payactiv’s other financial wellness tools.
- “We’re proud to be on the leading edge, developing a solution that helps our business clients provide additional convenient options for their employee payroll,” said U.S. Bank Payment Services Vice Chair Shailesh Kotwal.
U.S. Bank is partnering with financial wellness company Payactiv this week. Under the agreement, U.S. Bank will leverage Payactiv’s earned wage access (EWA) tools.
U.S. Bank’s commercial clients that use U.S. Bank’s prepaid Focus Card for payroll can enable their employees to access a portion of the wages they’ve already earned. Employees can access their funds on their U.S. Bank Focus Card, via an instant deposit into their checking account, or other payment options.
In addition to benefitting from early payouts, employees will have access to other financial wellness services such as savings and bill management tools, financial education, and a discounts marketplace.
“The future of payments is one where companies may soon say goodbye to the traditional, biweekly payroll,” said U.S. Bank Payment Services Vice Chair Shailesh Kotwal. “Employers recognize that providing employees on-demand access to earned wages improves employee satisfaction and recruiting efforts. We’re proud to be on the leading edge, developing a solution that helps our business clients provide additional convenient options for their employee payroll.”
Payactiv was founded in 2011 to help companies send their employees their wages as they earn them, as opposed to bi-weekly. “We provide timely access to liquidity – so a single mother can pay for daycare between paychecks and a healthcare worker can cover an unexpected car expense,” explained company CEO Safwan Shah.
California-based Payactiv has raised $134 million in funding and earned a Best of Show award for its 2016 demo. In 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) approved Payactiv’s EWA program as exempt from the federal Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z rules governing creditors. “Employers can take comfort in knowing that PayActiv continues to be the leader in responsible EWA for employees,” Shah said at the time.
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