Marqeta , the global modern card issuing platform, has announced today that it has been selected by WorkWhile to power accelerated wage access to its workers. Through a debit card, WorkWhile workers can access their wages as soon as their shift hours are approved, helping to reduce their need for credit and improving their financial well-being.

Instead of waiting for a weekly pay check or long digital transfers to arrive, workers will have faster access to their earnings. The companies are working together closely to make the cards available to WorkWhile workers in 2023. As representatives say, getting workers faster access to their earnings has always been a core value of the WorkWhile platform.

By offering this new card, in partnership with Marqeta, they can give workers instant access to their earnings. The WorkWhile platform helps hourly workers connect to open shifts in 17 states across the US. The platform allows workers to choose when, where, and how they want to work, along with benefits such as faster access to pay, free virtual healthcare services, and complete pay transparency.

The company’s third-annual flexible worker survey shows that flex work continues to remain popular with workers. Most surveyed workers, 73%, said that flexible work pays at least as much, or more, than traditional work. When asked about their earnings, 63% of workers reported that more than half their income comes from flexible work, while one in three respondents said that over 75% of their annual income comes from flexible work—reinforcing the value of faster-than-ever access to their earnings.

Only 8% of surveyed workers said they prefer traditional work to flexible work. Marqeta helping the workers Alongside powering WorkWhile’s new debit card, Marqeta’s platform will allow the workers to tokenize their card instantly into a mobile wallet, and the company will handle KYC onboarding of cardholders, as well as disputes. The Marqeta platform powers accelerated wage access through debit cards, allowing its customers to also add in money movement and financial services offerings for their cardholders and deliver embedded finance solutions.

Accelerated access to earnings, as well as a debit card, will provide workers with tools to pay for essential expenses and unexpected costs without incurring debt. Through the possibilities opened up by new modern payment technologies, the old-fashioned two-week pay cycle can become a thing of the past. The company has seen rapid adoption of accelerated wage access, with volumes growing 100% quarter-over-quarter from Q3 2022 to Q4 2022, as the company reports.

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