The demand for instant access to earned funds has now extended to traditional batch payroll - gone are the days of waiting two weeks to be paid. PayActiv partner businesses can now offer real-time deposit capabilities of earned funds to their employees by utilizing Visa Direct’s real-timepush payments platform. The funds can be made available in real-time to a Visa debit or reloadable prepaid card, including the new PayActiv Visa® Prepaid Card.

There is a global shift toward increasing demand for instant access to funds driven by changing consumer expectations, partly fueled from the rapidly growing gig economy. As more tasks are being requested on-demand, gig economy workers expect to be paid out just as quickly as the task they completed. This demand disrupts the traditional payroll cycles and begs the question: “why is payday every other week?” Currently, more than 50 million Americans struggle to pay bills, and over 78% live paycheck-to-paycheck.2 This trend is leading to productivity loss at work, as one-in-three US employees say they are distracted by personal finance.3

“Visa Direct is helping to power a fundamental shift in how employees access wages they have already earned, outside of the traditional two-week payroll cycle,” said Cecilia Frew, SVP Global Commercialization of Visa Direct, Visa. “We are proud to be partnering with PayActiv to offer additional choice and flexibility to employers and employees when managing their financial well-being.”

With on-demand access to earned wages from PayActiv and the ability to receive them in real-time through Visa Direct, eligible employees can unlock the benefits that real-time access to funds provide and participating employers can have a competitive advantage and incentive to attract and engage employees. By implementing Visa Direct, PayActiv is able to give users real-time access to PayActiv’s on-demand payroll program, and allows employers to quickly implement the solution, with little to no set-up costs.

PayActiv Visa Prepaid Card

The PayActiv Visa Prepaid Cardis the first general purpose reloadable prepaid card that offers real-time and recurring access to already earned, unpaid income. The timely access to these funds is intended to provide users liquidity and relief from unforeseen fees. These fees can reduce take-home pay by up to $200 every month4.

The PayActiv Visa Prepaid Card has worldwide acceptance at merchants that accept Visa debit cards. Keeping in line with its mission to be a social impact organization, PayActiv does not charge any monthly fees to cardholders and can act as a solution for those who do not have access to a traditional checking account.

Key cardholder benefits of the PayActiv Visa Prepaid Card include:

Real-time access to earned but unpaid wages, tips, and commissions when using PayActiv.
The entire suite of financial wellness services of PayActiv are included as an ancillary benefit on the PayActiv Prepaid Visa Card.
No fee for loading earned wages on the card multiple times within a pay period.
No cardholder fees for usage at merchants within the United States accepting Visa debit, or cash withdrawals at MoneyPass® ATMs.
Feature-rich mobile app that enables cardholders to track spending and access to earned wages.

“With financial stress our industry needed earning enlightenment. The PayActiv Visa Prepaid Card is exactly that - a game changer and a win-win solution. Employers can get better retention, recruitment and engagement and employees can get on a path of holistic financial wellness with timely access to their earned but unpaid wages,” said Safwan Shah, CEO of PayActiv. “The PayActiv Visa Prepaid Card changes the paradigm of how workers get paid. PayActiv processed more than $1B in 20185 and we anticipate a significant expansion in both customer base and volumes during 2019.”

The PayActiv Visa Card is issued by Central Bank of Kansas City, Member FDIC, and processed by i2c.