For freelancers, payment design matters as much as speed

Nate Snow-Cornelius is vice president of global sales and markets at PayQuicker, a firm that develops platforms for cross-border payouts and business-to-consumer payments.

At a recent conference, a stat cited during a panel stood out to me: in Spain, independent workers will walk away from a job platform the moment signup gets too complicated. 

Spain is a useful lens for how little patience freelancers have for friction. The country has the largest independent workforce in Europe. If Spanish independent workers are walking away from projects because of inconvenience, it’s a good signal of how little tolerance independent workers have for cumbersome processes more broadly.

That thin margin for inconvenience underpins decisions about how companies design payment programs for independent workers. Getting paid quickly matters, but how workers access and use their money once it arrives matters just as much.

Registration abandonment illustrates the fundamental importance of ease and convenience for independent workers — a diverse labor pool that includes professionals from dog walkers, ride share drivers and graphic designers to educators and business consultants. Let’s not forget about affiliates, a new and booming category of gig-style work focused on selling. These classes of workers are looking for a simple way to make money with as few roadblocks as possible, and it doesn’t end at signing up. 

Financial inclusion, which refers to frictionless access to financial assets and services, is critical to retaining independent work. It’s the cornerstone of a successful payment program, and many companies are missing the mark. 

Financial inclusion means more than access.

Many companies operating in the independent economy conflate financial access with financial inclusion, but true inclusion goes beyond access. It ensures the entire payment cycle is seamless, from the moment an independent worker or affiliate closes a job to when they receive payment, which can be in real time, and how they can access and spend those dollars. That last step is often overlooked. Once a payment is received, workers want options for using those funds, from transferring money to a bank account to accessing it instantly on a prepaid card

Companies are often focused on the payment itself. That makes sense. Real-time payments are a critical aspect of financial inclusion. But the seamless availability of money post-payment is equally important. Companies often believe that every worker requires a personal bank account to accept payments and hold the funds separately, but independent workers often prefer immediate access to their funds in a digital wallet. 

A survey from 2022 found that nearly half of all independent workers store their earned income from independent jobs in an alternative app or digital wallet, not in a traditional bank. For workers, getting paid smoothly means having instant options and control over how funds arrive. When funds are locked up or delayed, it defeats the worker’s incentive and motive for pursuing independent work in the first place, which is often for fast cash.   

Focus on impact, not innovation. 

Companies are embracing real-time payments for independent workers. The Clearing House research shows that real-time payments increased 195% from the first quarter to the second quarter, and 30,000 businesses are now initiating real-time payments on the network every month. The growth is an exciting advancement, showing companies are listening to and responding to employee needs. However, as more companies adopt the technology for real-time payments, it’s essential to prioritize impact over innovation. 

Every feature and technology component should respond to and solve a problem to ultimately create a more financially inclusive environment — not to make the process bulky and hard to navigate. The former will attract and keep workers, the latter will lose them. If a worker cannot simply log in and access their pay, none of it matters.

Not all companies are ready for real-time payments, and that is okay. By taking intentional steps to modernize its payment system, processes, and payment technology, the company will be more impactful as it evolves toward real-time payments.

Flexibility is built into the model. 

Financial inclusion gives employees options and access to the money that they earn, but companies still remain at the helm of their payment systems. Although the data shows that independent workers want this type of inclusive and flexible payment system, companies are often hesitant to acquiesce, envisioning chaos for the accounting department and payment cycles. 

In reality, the company retains complete control of the payment system and the flexibility to make changes as needed — and in fact companies often do. During the holidays, for example, companies can choose to increase payment frequency to attract more workers and support retention by quickly delivering funds. They can adjust payment frequency as often as possible to fit the current needs of the company and its workers. 

Financial inclusion is about more than access to money or technology adoption, or even just real-time payments. It reflects an entire financial system that adapts to employee needs and standards. It can be found in the tracking of earned money, the payment speed and method, and the accessibility of funds. By implementing a well-rounded program with speedy payments, companies can create a financially inclusive environment that attracts and retains independent employees.