Walmart, Huge U.S. Employer, Will Let Workers Take Pay Before Payday
- 6 years ago
Walmart, Huge U.S. Employer, Will Let Workers Take Pay Before Payday
Earlier this week, the app warned Ms. Adderley, 30, that she had only enough money to safely spend $9.08 before her next paycheck.
Mr. Schlossberg, 30, said he set out to create a product
that could reduce the stress associated with money problems, joining a crowd of other so-called fintech start-ups seeking to disrupt the traditional banking model.
Walmart said the new initiative is intended to help workers avoid costly payday loans
and other debt traps, and reduce the stress that comes with financial hardship.
The Even app also helps workers manage their finances by pinpointing exactly how much they can safely spend before their next paycheck.
At first she was suspicious, she said, that the app was yet another in a long line of financial products like payday advances and “overdraft protection”
that end up driving low-income workers deeper into a hole.
“It is a fundamental problem with the capitalistic society,” Mr. Schlossberg said in an interview.
“It sounds like this may be a useful service but it doesn’t tackle the fundamental problem Walmart workers
suffer,” said Paul Sonn, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, a labor advocacy group.
Walmart executives said they learned about Even after reading a New York Times article about the firm a few years ago.
Before creating Even, one of the firm’s co-founders, Jon Schlossberg, had developed an app called
Knock, which allows phone users to unlock a Mac computer by knocking on their phone.
Earlier this week, the app warned Ms. Adderley, 30, that she had only enough money to safely spend $9.08 before her next paycheck.
Mr. Schlossberg, 30, said he set out to create a product
that could reduce the stress associated with money problems, joining a crowd of other so-called fintech start-ups seeking to disrupt the traditional banking model.
Walmart said the new initiative is intended to help workers avoid costly payday loans
and other debt traps, and reduce the stress that comes with financial hardship.
The Even app also helps workers manage their finances by pinpointing exactly how much they can safely spend before their next paycheck.
At first she was suspicious, she said, that the app was yet another in a long line of financial products like payday advances and “overdraft protection”
that end up driving low-income workers deeper into a hole.
“It is a fundamental problem with the capitalistic society,” Mr. Schlossberg said in an interview.
“It sounds like this may be a useful service but it doesn’t tackle the fundamental problem Walmart workers
suffer,” said Paul Sonn, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, a labor advocacy group.
Walmart executives said they learned about Even after reading a New York Times article about the firm a few years ago.
Before creating Even, one of the firm’s co-founders, Jon Schlossberg, had developed an app called
Knock, which allows phone users to unlock a Mac computer by knocking on their phone.