Tuesday, Pinwheel launched Earnings Stream, providing up-to-date historical, projected income data with analytical capability.
Using Earnings Stream, fintechs and financial institutions can add new products, like cash flow underwriting or earned wage access (EWA), to alleviate the financial stress of traditional underwriting and pay periods. Access to money now can save customers money, especially in a pinch.
Pinwheel’s earnings tech is powered by consumer-permissioned, real-time data connectivity. Kurtis Lin, co-founder and CEO of Pinwheel said they developed Earnings Stream data to answer consumer demand for EWA to create a fairer financial system.
“While they have long wanted to offer these products, it’s been nearly impossible to execute at scale throughout the fintech industry,” Lin said. “EWA is a unique product because it benefits all parties. Consumers are excited about meaningful liquidity, financial institutions are happy to acquire customers, and employers are pleased to see their workers have less financial stress.”
Data makes it easier
Before Earnings Stream, banks or fintechs would need to retrieve data from thousands of payroll providers and T&A platforms. Then, firms would have to analyze and make sense of the data before it could go toward products like EWA. Pinwheel said it is the only provider that eliminates these barriers by connecting to sources directly and packaging the necessary information into a single API endpoint.
Pinwheel can track net wages for work completed using advanced machine learning and paystubs data. The system ensures that accrued and projected earnings are always reliable and accurate.
The product then goes a step further by applying analytics and intelligence to help customers make sense of the data. Converting earned wages into future earnings is one of the most common requested options for pay data, so Pinwheel added this feature.
Pinwheel said it plans to expand its over 1,600 payroll providers that already cover 80% of U.S. workers and their list of top 40 T&A platforms. With this, fintechs and financial institutions can leverage Pinwheel’s added analytics layer to bolster their EWA strategy. Robert Reynolds, Head of Product of Pinwheel, said they are excited to offer a new medium for fintechs to deliver critical consumer tools.
Earnings Stream built for easier EWA
“Earnings Stream was built so our customers can best help their customers, especially amid this time of economic uncertainty,” Reynolds said. “By building products that have eliminated direct deposit switching friction, consumers can more easily use these services, and banks and fintechs can establish longer-term customer relationships.”
Earnings Stream is mutually beneficial for consumers and providers, the company said. It is most effective for increasing customer lifetime value and reducing acquisition costs when paired with Pinwheel’s Deposit Switch product; EWA offerings encourage customers to move their direct deposit.
Pinwheel said EWA is the most immediate use case for Earnings Stream, but having access to accrued and projected earnings will open up “infinite” possibilities for innovation, like financial wellness tools, educational services, cash flow underwriting, and more.
“We firmly believe the introduction of Earnings Stream is the first step in helping to fast-track so many needed changes to the finance industry, such as minimizing the prominence of predatory loans or high-interest credit cards,” CEO Lin said. “I’m proud of our team for developing what we believe will be one of the fintech industry’s keys to building truly impactful EWA products. Many of our customers are working on exciting use cases that we’re excited to see hit the market soon.”
