138: Safwan Shah — An Innovative Way to Pay Your Team Right Away

Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher

Today’s episode addresses two different areas in the world of cash as well as a novel and innovative business. We’ll be taking a dive into the employee/employer relationship and the stresses that lead to lead employee discomfort around the topic of cash.

Safwan Shah is the Founder and Ceo of PayActiv, an employer-sponsored financial wellness platform. With a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Safwan has a unique perspective about the finance industry. His company serves millions of employees worldwide and settles over $1B in timely EWA funds annually.

Safwan is originally from Pakistan and has been in Silicon Valley since the mid-90s, where he stumbled into becoming an entrepreneur. As an engineer, Safwan has had the opportunity to work in several NASA centers throughout his career.

PayActiv started after Safwan noticed a pattern among employers and employees. People work every day, yet they get paid after every two weeks, or after a month. Is there a reason why employees are giving a time loan to their employer? Yet, if you own a store or shop, you pay your vendors and even your landlord in advance, and your customers pay you almost immediately.

For employers, cash flow is often an issue. At a large company, around 50-70% of payroll consists of hourly workers. Before an employer can get up one morning and decide to pay their workers instantly, there is definitely some logistical challenges they must first think through.

What happens when an employee wants early pay or even an early bonus? Employers often get annoyed by these requests because of how time-consuming it is to fulfill. PayActiv helps employers eliminate these painful logistical challenges by creating a seamless way employees can ask for their pay (and receive it) without bothering anyone.

Interview Links:

PayActiv.com

Safwan on LinkedIn

Resources:

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