Asda signs up to financial wellbeing App Wagestream
Asda has teamed up with financial wellbeing App Wagestream to help colleagues keep track of earnings and outgoings in real time so they can manage their finances more effectively.
The App, which can be downloaded for free on both the Apple and Google App stores, will show colleagues how much they have earned throughout the pay period and give them flexible pay, so they can access to up to 50% of their earned contracted pay when they choose. Colleagues can also connect the App to their bank account so they can access their real-time bank balance and outgoings, giving them greater visibility and budgeting control.
The App also allows money to be set aside automatically as a rainy day pot, encouraging colleagues to save. Every month each colleague is entered into a prize draw with a chance of doubling their pot. There are also tools to help improve financial education, such as a benefits entitlement calculator and a financial wellbeing quiz to benchmark progress and assess areas to improve.
Signing up to Wagestream comes just weeks after Asda announced it was investing £141m to increase hourly pay for retail colleagues by 10% this year, with rates rising to £11.00 in April and £11.11 in July.
Asda Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer, Hayley Tatum, said: “We understand that from time to time our colleagues may need a bit more financial help, something which would be made worse by the current cost of living crisis.
“We are always looking at ways we can help and giving our colleagues flexible access to their pay, alongside a range of support and guidance through the Wagestream App could prove vital in giving them financial peace of mind as well as their mental wellbeing.”
Wagestream was created with investment from the Fair By Design campaign, through some of the UK’s leading social impact organisations - including Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Big Society Capital and Barrow Cadbury Trust. It operates on a social charter - which means every service it offers must measurably improve the financial wellbeing of people in work. Around two million people now access Wagestream through their employer, globally.
Emily Trant, Head of Impact and Inclusion at Wagestream, added: “The most recent State of Financial Wellbeing index found that record numbers of workers are willing to move jobs if offered better financial support. As one of the UK’s biggest flexible pay employers, with a whole range of tools and services to support financial wellbeing, Asda will improve the lives of existing team members and strengthens its position as a retail employer of choice.”