On-Demand, Earned Wage Access (EWA) solutions have been growing rapidly, particularly as the need to attract workers in a tight labor market gets increasingly difficult. Given the success of EWA providers, this is only attracting more competition which necessitates incumbent players to innovate and reach out to new markets. One trend is for providers to look at their technology less as a product and more as the platform for any and all worker distributions.
An announcement from card issuing platform Marqeta on Finextra is just one example. Here, Marqeta is providing card processing services and has partnered with Branch, a workforce payments platform, to get drivers for Uber Freight paid about two hours after confirmed delivery, a process that normally can take weeks to accomplish. Branch is also providing a mobile wallet that drivers can use to manage their account and card. Here’s more from the article:
Uber Freight has partnered with Marqeta and Branch. Through Marqeta’s modern card issuing platform and Branch’s digital wallet, Uber Freight can pay carriers significantly faster than the industry standard, at no additional cost. Rather than waiting 30 days or longer for the traditional accounts payable process, carriers on Uber Freight can get paid two hours after approved proof of delivery, a 99.7% reduction in wait time.
“We’re seeing growing demand for faster payments that better reflect the real-time nature of today’s workers,” said Renata Caine, SVP of International, Strategy and Planning, Marqeta. “Uber Freight is a leader in the transportation industry and their deep knowledge of logistics makes them a fantastic partner to bring our modern card issuing and Branch’s accelerated payments to a new market.”
According to the American Trucking Association, the U.S. trucking industry is responsible for transporting 70% of all goods in the country and the industry’s total revenue reached $879 billion in 2020. But with relatively few technological advances in the industry, driver experiences have largely remained unchanged for decades. E-commerce purchases jumped 33% to $792 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic, making up 14% of all retail sales and putting more pressure on shipping companies to satisfy customers and improve the experience for carriers in an increasingly competitive industry. Developed with the growing number of small carriers in mind, this new solution can provide carriers with greater cash flow and helps them afford the large upfront investments and expenses required to keep their businesses running and growing.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group