Kwik Fit offers staff real-time wage payment

ETEL Group, Kwik Fit and Stapletons Tyre Services tyre retail brands, has made Wagestream available to its 7,000 staff. Wagestream offers a suite of financial education solutions including real-time access to earned pay.

According to the company, these services are available to staff alongside a hub of financial education tools designed to help them become more confident with their money and more able to avoid financial stress.

The Wagestream platform allows users to track their pay, regularly save small amounts directly from their pay packet and, when they face unexpected expenses, draw on a portion of their wages before payday so they don’t have to get into debt. This is known as income streaming.

ETEL employees will have access to a range of financial education tools provided by Wagestream in conjunction with The Money Advice Service, including webinars that teach staff how to look after their money and an online resource hub that identifies what information and entitlements are relevant to them. This is in addition to Safestream — a micro-savings tool that allows them to proactively put aside small, regular sums straight from their pay cheque.

More than 380,000 UK workers currently have access to Wagestream with clients including household names like Bupa, Rentokil, Brewdog, Zizzi and Roadchef, SA Greene King, Fuller’s and Honest Burgers — as well as nine NHS Trusts. Wagestream research shows that 77 per cent of users felt less stressed, 38 per cent avoided going into their overdraft and 43 per cent said they had avoided using a payday loan.

Paul Binks, Group People Director at ETEL, said: “Wagestream has already been adopted by a raft of household names and we’re pleased to be able to offer the service to our employees. We’re very excited about the financial education tools this platform will deliver for us. In addition, giving staff access to money they have already earned so they can meet unexpected expenses helps them to avoid having to turn to payday lenders and other short-term credit providers.”

Peter Briffett, CEO and Co-Founder of Wagestream, commented: “We’re pleased to welcome ETEL to the financial wellness revolution.”