Floatpays wants to banish Januworry

Floatpays is a technology platform that enables on-demand access to pay, seamless savings and financial education to help build employee financial wellness for a more engaged and productive workforce. The company is on a mission to help businesses enhance their employee value proposition with a product that enables employees to build financial wellness.

The company has launched a savings solution to augment its on-demand access to pay offering.

Founder Simon Ward explains that in South Africa the first month of the year has inadvertently earned itself the title of “Januworry” – and for good reason.

It is the time of year when South Africans feel the pinch after the festive season splurge. And for the businesses who employ them, the knock-on effect of employee financial stress includes absenteeism, productivity losses and lower performance levels, which directly impacts profitability.

Ward proposes a solution where employees can make a direct investment from their earnings each month. “Contributions to the Floatpays savings account are made directly from a person’s earnings via their employer’s payroll system. The employee determines how much they want to contribute each month and can make a single withdrawal against this account on a date set by their employer.”

“This encourages employees to be more discerning around their spending and more invested in building their savings in anticipation of the end of the year,” he says.

The Floatpays platform enables employees to access a portion of their accrued pay easily and affordably, whenever they need it during a pay cycle and not have to wait until payday. Employees pay a transaction fee per withdrawal and there is no interest or hidden fees charged.

“We wanted to create a holistic solution to help employees build financial wellness. We knew that this meant we needed to help people reduce their reliance on debt, start saving and learn how to manage their money better. The launch of our savings feature further strengthens our ability to help people become financially well,” says Ward.

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Featured image by Tim Gouw/Unsplash