Top Employee Fintech Trends for 2023

Employers continue to look for opportunities to offer benefits and HR functions that better support, retain, and engage employees. They turn to financial technology products and service providers to deliver cutting edge innovations that integrate with traditional financial methods and meet the evolving needs of consumers and employees.

Here are the key trends emerging as more fintech companies introduce HR-focused solutions:

App-centered hiring and payroll technology

Companies and HR departments are always looking for ways to reduce friction while also bringing simplicity to company processes, employee compensation and benefits.

Apps like Eddy, Paycom, and Zenefits offer comprehensive HR platforms that streamline some of the most complex and tedious HR processes, such as hiring, onboarding, payroll, and performance management by breaking the reliance on paper documents and spreadsheets.

Insurance on-demand

With the IPO of popular fintechs like Lemonade, the creation of a new economy of on-demand insurance services seems like a no-brainer. Insurance on-demand services can offer employees a health or life insurance policy in a matter of minutes with the same ease as ordering food delivery or a ride. Financial institutions partnering with these fintechs increase efficiency and simplicity of the onboarding and underwriting process.

Investing made easy

App investment platforms have become a highly-utilized employee benefit. Robinhood’s Partner Stock Program enables companies to grant stock to their full-time employees as part of their compensation. Acorns’ platform enables employees to invest spare change, invest while they bank, and earn bonus investments. Equitybee provides startup employees the funding they need to exercise their stock options.

Fintech and the 401(k)

Along with health insurance, companies that offer a retirement plan are ticking off requirements high up on the priorities list for potential job candidates. A key component to the future development of an employee’s financial path, 401(k) and investment apps help them realize their goals. Companies like Penelope and Ubiquity make it easy for small businesses to offer 401(k) retirement benefits through non-depository trusts which eliminate obstacles, such as limited administrative resources, when offering these plans.

Facilitating financial inclusion in the workplace

A recent study from BMO’s Real Financial Progress Index shows 40% of Americans under age 35 do not have enough money to cover an emergency. Financial stress on the homefront impacts an employees’ mental health, morale and productivity, so serving those who will benefit from having fast and convenient access to financial resources is a welcome development. Companies like Dave, Earnin, HoneyBee, and DailyPay allow people to access their earnings before they receive their next paychecks. Employees avoid the predatory nature of payday loans and can cover their essential needs by gaining early access to their own money when they need to.

Apps that deliver employee recognition

Today’s human resource and management professionals understand that employee recognition establishes high-performance standards, promotes employee relations, promotes engagement, and boosts retention and productivity. Companies like Bonusly and Teamphoria facilitate a positive feedback ecosystem for employees while issuing financial incentive rewards like e-gift cards, charity donations, and cash.

Money management gamified

Akin to workforce development in the mental health space, financial therapists are now a popular option for employees who want to gain a better understanding of how their habits and attitudes towards money and financial planning impact outlined goals. Apps such as LearnLux, Brightside, and StockTrak provide financial simulation and gamification options, easy access to Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs), and personalized financial plans. Employers can offer this service as part of a benefits package.

Seamless and convenient expense reporting, streamlined and automated

Many companies and accounting departments have adopted expense reporting platforms to streamline and automate the employee reporting process from any location. Concur, Ramp, and Fyle all provide convenient apps that simplify, centralize, and reduce employee busywork, while seamlessly enabling approvals, reimbursements, and reconciliations. Reporting metrics and analytics are also provided via these technologies.

Incentivize Survey Respondents to Increase Participation

An evolving space in the employee fintech industry is the option for HR departments and managers to add employee incentives to company communications requests such as surveys, questionnaires, training quizzes, and event invitations. These materials are easily deployed to employees and include metric evaluations for useful insights that can help shape company policies while keeping senior leaders on the pulse of internal activities and bolstering company culture. Virtual Incentives, Tremendous and appyReward all have platform offerings that entice employee involvement.

Actual Agency wields the power of narrative storytelling and data-driven conversations to enable full-spectrum media activation that increases brand visibility and achieves core business objectives. Our integrated programs amplify brands and reduce buyer risk via integrated communications that build trust across a company’s ecosystem. We step beyond thought leadership to create pack leaders and win the ground game through deep industry expertise. Interested in who we chose for the top 50 Fintech leaders of 2022? Read more here.

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