EZ Wage – a Singapore-based financial wellness platform – has entered into a partnership with a renowned Bangladeshi readymade garment (RMG) manufacturer Croydon Kowloon Designs Ltd (CKDL) to ensure financial wellness for over 4,800 employees.
During its pilot, over 45 per cent of the on-boarded employees availed EZ Wage services.
Waiting for payday is challenging, particularly if an unexpected expense threatens to override budgeting plans mid-month.
To eradicate the problem many employees benefited from the employee-benefit of "Earned Wage Access" as a solution, enabling employees to withdraw the required funds from their paychecks prior to payday.
The withdrawal amount is not a loan, but rather a portion of the earned wages. This invaluable employee benefit helps build an emergency savings fund, bridges the gap between paychecks, and helps ease financial stress brought by monetary emergencies.
Both the CKDL management and employees are content with the lessened load on HR departments that does away with lengthy loan approvals and makes access to earned wages a matter of minutes.
Kamruzzaman, a sewing operator from CKDL is an EZ Wage service recipient.
Sharing his experience, he said, “Many times, money is needed for family necessities in the middle or at the end of the month, but getting a loan from friends or someone else is tough. But now we no longer have to go through these difficulties by using EZ Wage. Such services, in my opinion, should be provided by all organizations.”
Waleed Shafiqullah, an investor in EZ Wage said, “Financial crisis becomes the biggest problem for lower and middle-income workers in Asia. Many struggle to meet their fundamental necessities because they have few choices for saving money over the long term.
“By giving financial freedom to those EZ Wage aims to build a stress-free workplace for marginal people. Besides, going forward, by 2023 EZ Wage aims to enable 100,000 nonbank users in EZ Wage to collaborate with MFS, Banks, RMG, and other large manufacturing companies.”
Fatima Batool, the founder of EZ Wage, added “real change must begin by truly empowering those that need financial freedom the most. This includes women and more importantly, the masses, who often have difficulty surviving paycheck to paycheck.
“EZ Wage was conceptualized to bring financial independence that would truly be reflected in the motivation and productivity of the blue-collar. The workers have seen to be stress-free in terms of monetary emergencies.
She continued, “We hope to empower more and more people in Bangladesh, as well as globally, with the next-generation employee benefit of earned wage access. We also sincerely hope women can move towards financial literacy and become adept at taking part in their family’s financial decisions with the financial independence that follows.”
Singapore-based EZ Wage globally offers immediate yet affordable access to income that has already been earned. Instead of having to wait a whole till Payday for their own money, employees can withdraw the required amount in four simple swipes on the EZ Wage App.
It does away with the need to borrow from loan sharks, saving many from the clutches of the debt spiral. EZ Wage’s main aim is to empower the marginalized sections of society, especially women, by working hand in hand with social impact charities.
