As part of our new Spotlight series, we are sharing the tech startups that we’re most excited about! This week we’re focusing on Hastee, a startup that was founded to ‘revolutionise the way people are paid’.
According to the Workplace Wellbeing Study 2020, two-thirds of workers in the UK have been affected by personal finance-related stress in 2020. However, despite this high figure, a shockingly low number of businesses offer a financial wellbeing programme. It was this gap in the market that Hastee stepped in to fill.
So what exactly does Hastee offer?
Hastee allows workers to access a portion of their earned pay as soon as they’ve earned it. There is no financial impact on their employer’s business. It integrates seamlessly with payroll and has no impact on the employer’s cash flow, but is extremely beneficial for reducing financial stress for workers.
Employees can access their pay immediately with no credit check, no debt and no interest, allowing them the ability to face their mid-month expenses without having to resort to living off of crumbs - or falling back on extortionate short-term loans.
Such loans are called payday loans, and they’re supposed to tide people over until payday, but they come at a high cost. Often repayment plans are extortionate and simply add to borrowers’ financial concerns in the long-term: a report by Citizens Advice found that 56% of people interviewed had not managed to arrange a payment plan that they felt was affordable. Furthermore, payday loans can lead to a rabbit hole of repeat borrowing and spiralling debt.
This is the problem Hastee aims to tackle, by allowing workers to access the money they earn as they earn it, rather than having to wait until the end of the month to get it in a lump sum. Their clients include the likes of Bluebird Care, The Vurger Co., London City Airport, Brightsparks and Green Energy Consulting, and their case studies can be accessed here.
We look forward to seeing how Hastee continues to grow and revolutionise the way workers are paid, with financial freedom at the heart of their mission.