[UK] Warning to workers using Wagestream salary advance app

A warning has been issued over a financial app used by workers at many of the UK’s biggest chains, Yahoo reports.

Users of the salary advance service Wagestream - marketed by their employers - claim it became too easy to slip into debt.

One Pizza Express worker told The Guardian about their experience using Wagestream, which works with clients including Asda, Next, Superdrug, Burger King and a number of NHS trusts. The app allows workers to access a suite of services, including salary advance.

However, the loans reportedly come with 29.9 per cent APR. “It is easy to fall into a negative pattern, streaming wages early,” the worker said. “But imagine streaming wages and also loan payments.

"You could end up being a wage slave, having to work just to pay your debts back.”

A PizzaExpress spokesperson stated that staff had had access to Wagestream since November 2021, and it was part of a “range of tools our team members can use”.

“Participation is entirely voluntary and Pizza Express does not pay for the platform nor receive any financial incentives for team members using any of the services,” the spokesperson said.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said, “For now, the need for credit among those living in hardship continues. Against this backdrop, there is a role for responsible and impact-focused lenders to help families manage the cost of essentials during periods of hardship.”

Wagestream reportedly stated that it applied “rigorous affordability and underwriting criteria to every loan issued. Our comprehensive lending assessment includes detailed information from payroll, open banking, credit bureaux, and usage of other Wagestream products.

“Wagestream was founded on a social charter to improve workers’ financial wellbeing. By partnering with employers, we help people who are underserved by traditional financial institutions to earn, learn, save, spend and borrow on their own terms.”

Source: Yahoo

(Quotes via original reporting)

A warning has been issued over a financial app used by workers at many of the UK’s biggest chains, Yahoo reports.

Users of the salary advance service Wagestream - marketed by their employers - claim it became too easy to slip into debt.

One Pizza Express worker told The Guardian about their experience using Wagestream, which works with clients including Asda, Next, Superdrug, Burger King and a number of NHS trusts. The app allows workers to access a suite of services, including salary advance.

However, the loans reportedly come with 29.9 per cent APR. “It is easy to fall into a negative pattern, streaming wages early,” the worker said. “But imagine streaming wages and also loan payments.

"You could end up being a wage slave, having to work just to pay your debts back.”

A PizzaExpress spokesperson stated that staff had had access to Wagestream since November 2021, and it was part of a “range of tools our team members can use”.

“Participation is entirely voluntary and Pizza Express does not pay for the platform nor receive any financial incentives for team members using any of the services,” the spokesperson said.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said, “For now, the need for credit among those living in hardship continues. Against this backdrop, there is a role for responsible and impact-focused lenders to help families manage the cost of essentials during periods of hardship.”

Wagestream reportedly stated that it applied “rigorous affordability and underwriting criteria to every loan issued. Our comprehensive lending assessment includes detailed information from payroll, open banking, credit bureaux, and usage of other Wagestream products.

“Wagestream was founded on a social charter to improve workers’ financial wellbeing. By partnering with employers, we help people who are underserved by traditional financial institutions to earn, learn, save, spend and borrow on their own terms.”

Source: Yahoo

(Quotes via original reporting)