Nearly 60% of Freelancers Will Pay for Instant Payouts

Consumers facing financial difficulties are more willing to pay for faster access to their wages.

As found in “Measuring Consumer Satisfaction With Instant Payouts,” a PYMNTS Intelligence study created in collaboration with Ingo Money, consumers who need quick access to funds are willing to pay for instant payouts, although this willingness varies among industries and workers. For instance, the percentage of freelancers, or those working on contracts or consulting projects, who will pay for an instant disbursement are nearly double those of hospitality workers.

The study, which drew from a survey of over 3,900 consumers, examines the evolution of instant payments across use cases to better understand where it’s getting traction, and how companies that don’t offer it as an option may be at risk.

Customer Satisfaction

According to the study, instant payments offer the fastest access to funds, leading to higher consumer satisfaction when receiving disbursements through instant rails.

On average, 78% of consumers are very satisfied with instant payments disbursements. Due to the higher satisfaction, over two-thirds of consumers say they are highly likely to maintain their client relationship with an issuer if offered free instant payments. Moreover, some of them are willing to pay for receiving instant payments, hinting at a business opportunity for payment processors.

Willingness to Pay

Consumers’ willingness to pay for instant access to their wages varies depending on the kind of work they do, PYMNTS found.

For example, 58% consumers who receive payments for freelance, contract or consulting projects are willing to pay a fee to receive the payments instantly.

Meanwhile, only 22% of those receiving payouts for gig hospitality work are willing to pay a fee, suggesting that their payouts are so small that paying a fee is a burden. In that case, providing free instant payouts could be a means of retaining employees.

Sending Funds

PYMNTS Intelligence also examined instant payout options from the enterprise point of view.

“Streamlining Ad Hoc Payments With Instant Pay,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Money report, takes a closer look at ad hoc payments, or “irregular payments made outside normal invoicing and payroll processes,” per the study.

According to the report, around 45% of companies making ad hoc payments already pay to issue disbursements instantly, while 5% would be very or extremely willing to pay fees. The share goes up with the business size, reaching 10% in the case of businesses making more than $1 billion revenue.

This willingness to pay for immediate disbursements points to a growing demand for the service among businesses and suggests that senders are interested in expanding instant payouts in the future.