The payroll process has been, and still remains, one of the most straightforward and unimaginative areas of finance – employers transfer the salary to the employee’s bank account at the end of the month.
Enter fintech.
Financial technology and its evolution has slowly yet steadily been revamping the payroll process for quite some time. As a matter of fact, payroll fintech adoption is expected to become one of the most highly adopted practices in 2021.
The most obvious relationship between payroll and technology has been the automation in the delivery of salaries within a company. Things have changed drastically with technology giving employees more accessibility to their money, more options and greater freedom.
As for employers, advanced payroll technology gives them a powerful tool for attracting and retaining talent. Companies can now use this technology to build their company culture and prove to employees they care about them.
What payroll fintech has achieved, is to humanise a very dry accounting discipline and bring it closer to HR.
Let’s have a look at the features and benefits that are propelling payroll fintech to become a household name.
Real-Time Payments
Have you ever wondered why we get paid once a month when you work every single day? What if something happens during the month and you need access to money you have already worked for? Why should you wait till the end of the month?
The obvious answer to these questions is that it would have been a logistical nightmare for companies to keep tabs on employees wanting to access their money on a daily or a weekly basis.
That’s exactly what fintech is here to resolve. Look at Wagestream for example. Through a simple API integration, employees can track their earnings through an app, access their earned wages, save directly from their salary and even access to financial education tools.
Why resort to pay-day loans when you can get paid real-time? Pretty awesome, right?
Salary Advance
Following the same line of thinking, there’s salary advance. With this feature, employees can access their salary one month in advance without the pain of applying for a loan or worrying about interest rates.
Features like salary advance build strong relationships between companies and employees, enhancing financial resilience and trust between the two. A good example is Deel, a payroll fintech company that modernizes the way people get paid, allowing them to access their earnings up to 30 days in advance.
Previously, we mentioned how payroll fintech is bridging the gap between accounting and HR. In this scenario, we see how payroll can actually offer a service that was traditionally available by banks.
As you can clearly see, fintech is giving payroll such a huge scope, such a broad area of influence, offering both companies and employees flexibility and benefits.
Crypto Payroll
We live in an era where cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream. What started as a fringe, almost cult idea is now taking over the financial world. This alternative currency is slowly becoming a mainstream means of payment with companies like PayPal making it available.
How would you feel about getting paid in crypto and enjoy all the benefits associated with it? Companies like BitWage are making that possible. Using BitWage allows employees to receive a portion of their wage in digital assets with faster, cheaper international invoices, direct bank and wallet deposits.
Recap
There you have it. Something as mundane and dry as payroll getting the fintech makeover and being transformed into a user-friendly product. It’s amazing what technology can do for finance areas that were previously thought as simply serving a mere function.
As you can see, the boundaries are endless when it comes to the power of tech. How would you like to see your payroll routine change (apart from maybe, an increase in the amount of your salary)?
