Source: Finance Derivative
By Frederick Crosby, CRO at Nium
The past eighteen months has seen a significant shift in working cultures all over the world. Enabled by the latest technology, opportunities for gig workers are now bigger than ever before. Indeed, in 2019, Mastercard projected the gross volume of the global gig economy would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.4% until the end of 2023, a trend that has been accelerated and expanded by the pandemic.
Yet those who are looking to take advantage of the opportunity this brings need to be prepared for the practical challenges. Working across borders, currencies and cultures brings with it many complications, as well as huge opportunities.
The challenge of a global workforce
A global workforce offers extraordinary depth of talent, but earning its loyalty with seamless, intuitive payments is anything but straightforward. Unpredictable payments are among the most common reasons for independent workers to switch employers. Gig workers earn around 58% less than full time employees on average, and often struggle with cashflow problems. Late payments, as well as high costs from foreign exchange conversion, commissions or transaction fees add significantly to the cost of doing business for many gig workers.
Every employer of remote workers expanding into new territories, or any platform connecting remote employers and employees, is in a continual arms race for talent acquisition. Since the first concern of any gig worker is to be paid promptly and with no hidden fees, seamless transactions offer the best possible competitive advantage. But arranging prompt, flexible and efficient payment to anywhere in the world is not without its challenges.
While in-person transactions can be settled with cash or the touch of a card, transactions in the gig economy that cross international borders are highly complex. Their settlement may require bank transfers, international payment processors and remittance companies, or partnerships with an array of more agile, nimble fintechs for each part of the process. Take international bank transfers, for example. The traditional network for sending money between bank accounts is SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). While SWIFT is effective, it is slow, and expensive for both payer and payee. Transaction fees can mean that when the money finally arrives, there are heavy deductions for gig workers on receipt and a higher cost of doing business for employers. This is particularly an issue where the individual sums for each transaction are small.
When serving workers in so many countries, gig employers need to cope with different expectations and requirements. Countries with large unbanked populations, for instance, will require payments to be made direct to card, or into digital wallets. Prompt payment is always a plus, but depending on where gig workers are based, they may have different expectations in terms of how they get paid, and be entitled to different employment rights.
With so many important considerations in play, any gig employer or gig platform provider needs to stay ahead of these gig economy trends:
On-demand payments
Faster payments attract more workers and retain them for longer, by offering a better experience. Given the financial pressures that many gig-workers are under, on-demand payments, arriving in near or real-time, are increasingly a need rather than an expectation, especially due to the added economic uncertainties introduced by the pandemic. The age of many gig workers also plays a part in this trend. A significant proportion hail from younger, millennial and generation Z demographics. These ‘digital natives’ are not just tech savvy; they are far more used to the speed and convenience of a mobile-first, app-enabled world. A gig employer that wants to avoid losing young talent to rival platforms needs to find a way to keep up with the standards they expect. In practice, this means faster payment cycles, as well as conveniences like self-service payroll.
New rights for gig workers
The gig economy is developing rapidly, and so are the employment regulations that cover this kind of work. That complicates payment terms from one territory to another, and it is vital to keep on top of the latest changes. Some nations, especially in developed economies, are seeking to treat gig workers more like traditional employees, granting them more rights and putting greater onus on the platform through which they find work. This issue has raised its head repeatedly in 2021 and is under debate across a number of global territories.
Direct-to-bank payments
To serve the needs of gig workers in different countries, including those who are unbanked, access to a range of payment options is still key, from wallets to virtual debit cards. However, increasingly, the one solution that gig and freelance workers prefer above all is to have their money transferred directly into a bank account. Direct-to-bank payments may be increasingly popular, but they come with significant challenges. Banking regulations are strict and complex, and it is vital for gig employers to work with a partner who is a licensed electronic money issuer (EMI) or the local equivalent, who can hold client funds securely and ensure the necessary anti-money-laundering standards are met for international transfers, with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) information in place. In addition to these regulatory requirements, bank transfers across borders introduce a number of other challenges. Expert support is therefore needed in order to meet the demand for real-time payment at the same time as direct-to-bank payment.
Ultimately, faster payments help businesses save money on interest payments by reducing the lag between payment release and payment credit. They also help gig workers avoid unnecessary late payment penalties and charges. Consistent, regular payments help workers plan their finances and life milestones better by giving them clarity on their cashflow. In the increasingly competitive world of the gig economy, employers must earn their workers’ loyalty, and improve their own bottom line, by making payments as rewarding and convenient as possible.
