Gig Economy

My hometown of Baltimore was the first city to install gas street lights in 1816 in an effort to curb crime. More cities quickly followed suit.  By the turn of ...

The labor market remained sluggish in the third quarter, but demand for freelance talent in areas related to artificial intelligence (AI) helped drive 2% year-over-year growth in gross services volume ...

UPS is reportedly increasing its use of gig delivery drivers as eCommerce volumes grow. As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Oct. 29), these drivers use their own vehicles to deliver smaller, low-volume ...

In the instant economy, how fast money moves determines how people work, spend and stay loyal. The new “Money Mobility Ecosystem: Meeting Recipient Expectations in the Instant Economy,” a collaboration ...

What was once a stopgap for hard times is fast becoming a fixture of American financial planning. According to a new PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Do the (Side) Hustle: Four in 10 ...

Federal employees are increasingly turning to side gigs amid ongoing layoffs and a government shutdown. That’s according to a report Monday (Oct. 13) from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which offers up the ...

Non-custodial stablecoin wallet MiniPay has integrated Noah’s financial infrastructure to enable freelancers, creators and sellers to receive global payouts. This solution enables these customers to receive ACH/SEPA transfers in U.S. dollars ...

Generation Z is often portrayed as a disruptive force, reinventing money, work and consumption. Yet PYMNTS Intelligence’s “Gen Z Decoder Ring” report suggests something more subtle, and in some ways more ...

Freelancer platform Fiverr is laying off 250 employees across different departments as part of a restructuring plan that aims to make the company artificial intelligence (AI)-focused “from the ground up.” In ...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun sending over $6.7 million to consumers as part of its settlement with gig work company Arise Virtual Solutions. The settlement resolved the FTC’s allegations that Arise violated the FTC Act ...

Money movement platform Thunes launched a partnership with payroll company Ontop. The collaboration is designed to give freelancers and remote workers real-time access to their earnings around the world, according to ...

Employment marketplace Upwork appears to be expanding beyond its freelancer-focused roots. In releasing its quarterly earnings Thursday (Aug. 7), the company announced it had acquired Bubty, a platform to help enterprises manage a range of workforce ...

Demand for workers with artificial intelligence skills was a boon for Fiverr in the second quarter, according to a Wednesday (July 30)  earnings press release. Fiverr saw a nearly 15% year-over-year ...

Mastercard says it is expanding its payments partnership with Uber. The new agreement, announced Thursday (July 24), will see Uber employ several Mastercard solutions, including Mastercard Move for facilitating real-time disbursements, and Mastercard One Credential, ...

Papaya Global and Worksome have partnered to help businesses of all sizes manage and pay freelancers, contractors and gig workers globally. The collaboration brings together Papaya’s platform that helps enterprises pay ...

With the news Tuesday (July 8) that consumers expect inflation to hold steady over the next 12 months at 3%, the focus turns to the ways consumers will manage the ...

Traditional 9-to-5 employment, and the bi-weekly paycheck, is no longer sufficient for a significant portion of the U.S. population, leading many to pursue alternative income sources known as side hustles. ...

Borderless work requires borderless payments. The rise of the contingent workforce — including freelancers, gig workers, remote teams and cross-border hires — is pushing companies, banks and FinTechs to rethink the ...

Imagine you’re owed a payment, whether it’s a gig paycheck, an insurance claim or a loan disbursement. Now, imagine two scenarios: one where you get to choose how that money lands ...

Papaya Global launched a dedicated platform designed to help enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs) manage and pay freelancers, consultants, gig workers and independent contractors. The new Contingent OS platform provides ...

The speed of instant payments is a well-known attribute. For many large businesses, instant disbursements for nonrecurring, or ad hoc, payments are becoming a strategic tool, particularly for managing vendor relationships, ...

Consumer spending, the key engine of the economy in the United States, is in danger of stalling. The U.S. Census Bureau released retail data Thursday (May 15) showing that sales growth ...

The 9-to-5 workday is going the way of the door-to-door salesman. So is the definition of “work.” For a growing number of Americans, a traditional job is no longer their sole, ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reportedly dropped a lawsuit against Walmart and Branch that it filed in December. The agency filed a notice of dismissal Tuesday (May 13), Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The ...

The promise of payments that clear in seconds rather than days has moved from a bright idea to a strategic imperative for banks of all sizes. Yet as real-time payments rails ...

When the economy starts to get wobbly, the warning signs typically emerge in closely-watched measures: government indicators of declining economic growth, rising prices and depressed consumer sentiment indexes, falling earnings ...

Roughly seven and a half years after The Clearing House (TCH) launched its RTP® network — the first new U.S. payments infrastructure in four decades — 24/7 instant transactions are ...

In today’s fast-paced world, waiting days for a payment to clear can feel like an eternity. That’s why instant payments are in demand, giving businesses that owe money to vendors, ...

President Donald Trump wants to remove taxes on workers’ tips. Republican lawmakers want to turn that campaign trail proposal into concrete legislation. And Uber and DoorDash, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported ...

Even before the pandemic, PYMNTS noted that 32% of workers participated in the gig economy in some way, either to supplement their incomes, or to cobble together revenue streams that ...

Payments and financial services tech firm Fiserv finalized its purchase of Payfare. The completed deal makes the founders and employees of earned wage access (EWA) provider Payfare part of the Fiserv ...

Fiverr’s fourth-quarter earnings results, released Wednesday (Feb. 19), showed traction in the company’s services business, which includes subscription-based revenues, cementing freelancers’ relationships with buyers over several months. However, a muted macro ...

The gig economy and gaming industries have driven a rise in ad hoc transactions, payments made outside of regular invoicing and payroll. Businesses are relying on instant payments to streamline ...

Work marketplace Upwork earned record revenue in 2024 and attributed its gains in part to artificial intelligence (AI). In an earnings release and other materials issued Wednesday (Feb. 12), the company ...

As criticism of traditional biweekly and monthly payroll systems increases, workers in gig, freelance and contract roles are more vocal about the financial strain caused by delayed payments. This has sparked ...

Gig workers and other independent contractors can take collective action seeking better compensation and job conditions without being challenged by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the regulator said Tuesday (Jan. ...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the New York attorney general aim to require gig economy platform Handy Technologies, which currently does business as Angi Services, to pay $2.95 million ...

Nuvei joined forces with Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), a B2B tech provider for the online gaming sector. The partnership is designed to let gaming operators optimize their payments functionality via their ...

Earned wage access (EWA) is expanding platforms, including the eCommerce and ridesharing mainstays that rely on drivers for deliveries and trips, and the FinTech providers that offer enterprises new financial ...

Both Walmart and FinTech company Branch said Monday (Dec. 23) that they will defend themselves “vigorously” against a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) lawsuit filed against the companies. The CFPB sued ...

Payments and financial services technology company Fiserv is acquiring earned wage access (EWA) provider Payfare. “This acquisition complements the embedded finance solutions of Fiserv with card program management, a white-label consumer app, and a ...

Payroll/HR platform Remote says its clients can now pay contract workers using stablecoins. The new offering, launching initially for businesses in the U.S., allows companies to pay contractors in 69 countries with the ...

What do gig workers and gamers have in common? Both are driving a seismic shift in how businesses manage payments — and instant is the name of the game. For ad ...

Uber reportedly told New York City’s taxi regulator that proposed changes to commercial auto insurance requirements may leave drivers unable to insure their vehicles. The company submitted written comments ahead of ...

The success of the gig economy hinges on its underlying digital ecosystem, particularly APIs, which power real-time services like Uber and Fiverr. But APIs are vulnerable to misuse, with advanced threats ...

Ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies is suggesting a pay cut for its drivers in New York City, citing lower gas prices, as it tries to lower the price of rides in ...

Fiverr shares rocketed ahead by roughly 30% on Wednesday morning (Oct. 30) after third-quarter results highlighted that programs geared toward encouraging buyers to spend more — as they seek freelancers ...

As we head into the fourth quarter of arguably the most innovative year in payments since the pandemic, the liberation of capital is emerging as the story of the year. Money ...

Uber and Lyft have lost a chance to have an appeal heard by the Supreme Court. The case involves lawsuits brought against the companies by the state of California, which claimed ...

Earned wage access (EWA) company Payfare said Thursday (Sept. 26) that it is withdrawing its previously issued 2024 financial guidance for revenue and earnings after learning that its core services agreement ...

Workers are growing increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of traditional payroll and outdated biweekly pay periods, especially in today’s economic climate, where many live paycheck to paycheck. For gig ...

Jump has raised 11 million euros (about $12.2 million) to grow its platform that provides French freelancers with some of the benefits associated with traditional jobs. These benefits include French CDI ...

Although jobless claims newly reported for the past week were only slightly higher, the psychological effect may be one where consumers are more cautious about spending. The U.S. Department of Labor ...

Fraudsters, like consumers, love a good deal. And the gig economy, estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars in 2023 and employing 38% of the U.S. workforce, is becoming ...

Lyft has debuted a new feature designed to help commuters stay within budget. “To make your day more predictable, we’re launching price lock, a new subscription that caps the price of ...

Lyft expanded its offerings with earned wage access for drivers and a new service for pet owners. The earned wage access offering is one of several new features for the Lyft ...

The side hustle — and the ancillary streams of income those hustles provide — now is a lifeline in the paycheck-to-paycheck economy, across all income levels. Earlier this year, PYMNTS reported ...

Freelancer platform Fiverr saw its revenue rise 6% year over year, to $94.7 million, in the second quarter of 2024 despite macroeconomic volatility. In the company’s Wednesday (July 31) earnings report, ...

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday (July 25) that gig workers can be classified as independent contractors, ending a long legal battle in the state. The court’s ruling upheld a lower-court ...

OCN, a gig worker-focused FinTech formerly called OneCarNow, raised $86 million in equity and debt in a Series A funding round. The firm, based in Mexico, will use the new funding ...

Cross River Bank has formed a partnership with payments solution provider MassPay. The collaboration, announced Tuesday (July 9), is designed to expand access to domestic instant payments, particularly in sectors like the gig economy and ...

Tax compliance solution providers TaxBit and Taina Technology have teamed up to help digital marketplaces with their onboarding and reporting needs related to gig workers. Designed for users in the United ...

Uber and Lyft agreed to a settlement with the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, resolving the office’s multiyear litigation against the ridesharing companies. The settlement includes rules on wages, benefits ...

Uber has reportedly been locking out drivers from its app during periods of low demand over the past month in response to New York City’s minimum pay rule. Lyft is threatening ...

Razorpay now enables Indian freelancers to reduce the cost of accepting international payments. The company’s MoneySaver Export Account allows freelancers to open an account in any country, accept payments locally via ...

Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. That’s why many of the most exciting innovations within payments are aimed at helping businesses build better balance sheets and support healthy ...

Thanks in part to the influx of gig workers and demands of key industries, enterprise small- to medium-sized business (SMB) payers are sending 28% more instant ad hoc payments than ...

Uber said Monday (June 10) that a U.S. appeals court decision rejecting the company’s challenge to a California law that could force it to treat drivers as employees rather than ...

Life as a freelancer is not for the faint of heart. Freelancing often requires constant hustling, as these workers generally look for new projects even before current projects are completed. And ...

Social media offers a running commentary on consumer sentiment and serves as a barometer of backlash. It may be the case that tiplflation is pushing individuals to scale back on gratuities, ...

Being a freelancer requires constantly drumming up work while hoping for prompt payment. Moreover, consumers who work freelance, contract or consulting rely on disbursement payments for part, if not all, ...

On Tuesday (May 21), the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging a ballot measure known as Proposition 22. The measure, which was approved by nearly 60% of ...

Ride-hailing platform Lyft said it wants to lift its driver’s earnings. Earlier this year, the company introduced a new standard for drivers, ensuring they will always earn 70% or more on fares per week, after external ...

Uber and Lyft are facing a trial in Massachusetts over allegations that they misclassified their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. The trial is part of a larger legal and ...

Insurance platform Oscar Health recorded its first-ever net profit amid record customer enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans. During an earnings call Tuesday (May 7), CEO Mark Bertolini said that total plan membership was up 42% ...