Malaysian firm rolls out app for on-demand pay
PAYWATCH Malaysia Sdn Bhd seeks to popularize Earnedwage Access (EWA) in the Philippines to provide “financial wellness” among employees and boost productivity and retention in private companies.
EWA is a “solution that gives employees the ability to access their already earned wages,” a Duke University document read. “If needed, outside of a traditional pay cycle.” (https://duke.app.box.com/s/cmuizfmhdsl0jj8j0l8gqqijrwhuphrv)
The Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiabased Paywatch is an EWA service provider that enables employees to withdraw their wages from Paywatch’s applicationbasedonhowmuchworkwas completed. Employees can access the cash without needing to file for cash advances or apply for loans.
Paywatch Philippines Finance Corp. President Rowell Del Fierro said in a news briefing last Tuesday that EWA is not a loan or salary advance, but an employee’s salary.
Del Fierro explained that a company must first enroll in the program as they will dictate how much their employee can access their earned wages. Some companies allow 30 percent up to 50 percent of an employee’s daily wage to be accessed, he added.
For example, if an employee earns P1,000 per month and has access to 30 percent of it, P300 will be added to the balance that can be withdrawn on Paywatch’s app. Once an employee has been given a salary, the balance will go back to zero.
Paywatch will charge P38 per transaction in the application. The maximum transaction is up to P3,500.
“This is an additional tool for the individual to manage their own financial matters and cash flow,” Del Fierro said, stressing that this will help employees avoid falling into debt traps and paying high-interest rates from loans.
Paywatch Malaysia President and Founder Alex Kim said the company aims to provide fair financial access to all employees.
“We are a debt-free solution geared to improving the lives and financial security of employees,” Kim said.
Financial stress, Kim noted, is the biggest factor that affects employees’ productivity and mental health. Getting paid every two weeks or once a month could be a long time for employees to wait and in the middle of the payroll period, employees tend to exhaust their wages and oftentimes need funds for expenses, Kim added.
Paywatch, Kim said, allows employees to have more control over how and when they access their wages whenever they need emergency funds or to cover their day-today expenses instead of resorting to loans from financial institutions or informal loans through family and colleagues.
In terms of employee retention, Kim reported that EWA users stay on their jobs longer than non-users and enables companies to save up to $500,000 on rehiring costs.
Kim said that employee retention is the biggest human resource challenge, followed by employee engagement and recruitment.
Paywatch has been in the Philippine market for six months as an EWA service provider for private companies in the country such as real estate developer Shang Properties, delivery app Pick.a.roo, and agricultural firm Wilmar International.
The service provider has also worked with food and beverages (F&B) companies such as Pizza Hut and KFC as well as retail and manufacturing companies, and even the academe in Malaysia. Paywatch was founded in 2020 and claims to have more than 500,000 users globally.