To curb the activities of loan sharks who take advantage of low-income earners, SeamlessHR in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has emphasised the need for financial inclusion for blue-collar workers.
They emphasised the need to leverage data to provide sustainable financial services to low-income earners.
They gave the advice at a stakeholders’ engagement and product launch themed, ‘Optimising Blue-Collar Employee Welfare and Productivity’ held in Lagos.
SeamlessHR also introduced the earned wage access (EWA) financial product, called Breeze Payer, which allows employees to access their salaries before payday and manage financial emergencies without paperwork.
Breeze Payer is an application that aims to drive talent retention for employers through solutions like EWA. It enables employers of blue-collar workers to efficiently manage their payrolls, facilitate salary and wage disbursements and connect their workforce to the market of financial value-adding services.
Additionally, the platform helps wage earners build their credit history, which could facilitate access to larger loans with longer tenors and improve their overall financial well-being.
Chief People Officer, SeamlessHR, Elizabeth Okonji, said to build a viable economy, the workers who engage in productive activities in the ecosystem must thrive.
Deputy Director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lynn Eisenhart, said most people lack access to affordable financial services, hence the need to partner with organisations to provide visibility to workers through the deployment of solutions to improve lives.
“Employees are our most valuable asset. People stay because of how organisations treat them and the benefits they enjoy during their stay. Blue-collar workers deserve to be empowered by financial services and empowered by their organisations so they can be more productive. We want to give them access to financial resources at their fingertips through the Earned Wage Access platform. This is why we have partnered with SeamlessHR and employers, to leverage employee data and create sustainable solutions,” she said.
