Connecting your bank for pay on-demand
Basiq has partnered with Cheq, a fast-growing fintech aiming to put an end to the payday distress cycle by providing consumers with on-demand access to their wages.
With the rise of the subscription-based model of consumption and increases in direct debits, consumers have less oversight over the money going out of their bank accounts. This can make budgeting hard, especially when it comes to unplanned bills like car or home repairs.
Most payroll systems don’t calculate earned wages in real-time, meaning employees are often caught up in a cycle of being cash-rich on their payday or cash-poor as they await their next paycheck. For those living paycheck to paycheck, payday loans can be a debt trap, with escalating service fees compounding quickly.
Cheq challenges traditional credit distribution by placing the power of earned wages back in the hands of consumers, giving them the ability to line up their income with their expenses. Co-founder and CEO Tarek’s experience as a management consultant highlighted the importance of delivering this solution directly to consumers: “Pay on-demand solutions that work with employers face a lack of employee penetration and friction to growth from a business standpoint. There are psychological barriers consumers need to overcome when revealing their financial circumstance to employers. We’re pioneering the pay on-demand solution directly to consumers, to maximise takeup and achieve the critical mass needed to solve this issue on a national and even global scale.”
Unlike a credit card application, set up with Cheq is simple. Using Basiq, Cheq customers can easily connect their bank accounts with bank-grade security, to detect pay schedules and expenses. From signup to loan approval, Cheq users can expect money within their account – in 8 minutes. Using the data, Cheq also focuses on the financial wellness of customers by helping them create a budget that gives them an overview of income, spending habits, upcoming bills and alerts them to how much cash they have leftover to spend.
Cheq is growing rapidly, with nearly 10,000 users to date and over $20 million in annual underlying loans forecasted. Their app is consistently ranked amongst the top 5 financial apps on the Apple and Google Play stores, a testament to the importance of customer-centric credit distribution when almost half of all Australians are living paycheck to paycheck.
To join the pay on-demand revolution, head to Cheq’s website and download the app. For more on how you can innovate with financial data, check out the Basiq website.
