A financial wellbeing platform used by half a million employees听has accelerated its global growth with the acquisition of the Australian operations of fellow FinTech Earnd.听
London-headquartered听Wagestream听is听backed by social impact charities such as the Joseph听Rowntree Foundation and Barrow听Cadbury Trust.听
The acquisition will see听Earnd Australia鈥檚听leadership, product, customer and local market expertise become part of an expanded听Wagestream听Australia team.听
Founded in听2018, Earnd has grown to become Australia鈥檚 largest provider of on-demand pay, also known as Earned Wage Access.听听
Offered as a benefit by employers, this allows workers to access their money as it鈥檚 earned, throughout the month. EWA is proven by data to听lead to better financial health and reduced reliance on predatory lenders and other forms of credit.听听
A number of听employers in Australia now offer the service, including Hungry Jack鈥檚, JD Sports and The Adecco Group.听听
/new-frontier-for-radius-payment-solutions-following-acquisition/
Still headquartered听in Sydney, Earnd Australia鈥檚 full team of 14听鈥撎�including听both co-founders听鈥撎�will听become part of听Wagestream鈥檚听expanded Australia division.听听
Earnd founder Josh Vernon said: 鈥淔inancial stress听is an issue that impacts听the majority of听the working population. We set out to tackle that, using innovative technology to help workers improve their financial wellbeing, with tools like on-demand pay to give them more control.听
鈥淚t was instantly clear that we share this same mission with听Wagestream,听which has already become the UK and Europe鈥檚 leading financial wellbeing provider听鈥撎�giving听over half a million workers that same type of financial control, and more power over their pay.听听
鈥�Our priority now will be ensuring there鈥檚 a smooth integration between听both teams, so that our clients听鈥撎�and听their employees听鈥撎�in听Australia continue seeing the huge benefits of better financial wellbeing.鈥�听
Peter听Briffett, founder and CEO of听Wagestream, added: 鈥淲ith a social charter at听our core, we remain completely focused on improving the financial health of people in work, globally.听听
鈥�Josh and his team have built an innovative, technically impressive, fast-growing business in Australia听鈥撎�but听most importantly, one with the same mission and听organisational values as听Wagestream.听
鈥�We鈥檙e excited听to be part of this new chapter for Earnd, and to begin working together on that shared mission.听听
鈥�We鈥檙e confident the Earnd team鈥檚 product, client and local market expertise will not only accelerate our growth in Australia, but also support our journey in scaling听up to support the financial health of even more workers across the globe.鈥�听
/seedrs-crowdcube-merger-terminated-over-competition-concerns/
Wagestream听closed a 拢20m Series B fundraise last year. It is the only financial wellbeing platform backed by leading charities, proven by data, and built around the employer.听听
It helps employers provide a suite of financial resilience tools to their听employees 鈥� allowing them to track their income, access earnings on-demand throughout the month, put money away with a micro-savings tool called听Safestream, and learn about money management with financial education and coaching delivered in app.听听
Wagestream听and Earnd Australia听say their听shared financial wellbeing expertise will now create an accountable, transparent market leader with established teams in the UK, Spain, Australia and the United States.听听
The combined social impact business is now helping around 500,000听workers improve their financial wellbeing, through power over their pay and a set of easy-to-use financial tools.听