Wirecard Targets Same-Day Payment For Gig Workers

Wirecard wants to accelerate payments to gig workers, and is enlisting gig economy company Moonrise to help.

The companies announced Wednesday (Jan. 10) that they are working together to provide same-day payment to gig workers on the Moonrise platform. Moonrise links these professionals to on-demand jobs, while Wirecard will provide those workers with a payment card to receive compensation within 24 hours after completing a gig, without charging fees to employees.

“Wirecard is one of the main drivers of the digitalization of payments – as the nature of work is evolving, digital and real-time payments are adapting to meet the market’s needs,” said Deirdre Ives, Wirecard’s North America managing director. “We are proud to facilitate workers’ fast, easy access to their pay. Having a same-day payment option gives individuals greater control over their finances, and partnering with Moonrise to offer this service aligns perfectly with our core value of offering consumers flexible and secure solutions for cashless payments.”

“For employers, tapping into a reliable, on-demand workforce can be game changing,” noted Moonrise co-founder and CEO Kara Kaplan. “For workers, the ability to accept a shift here or there can be the factor that enables them to take control of their finances. Wirecard has been one of our best partnerships. It was easy to implement the program because they understood what we were trying to do, and we felt right away that our mission was resonating with them.”

The gig economy is expanding, with new data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, reported in The Wall Street Journal last month, finding that the annual value of contracts for outsourcing workers hit $37 billion in 2016, up from $12.5 billion in 2000. Analysts noted that the figure is expected to rise by double digits in 2018.