Wagestream Raises £17.5M to Expand Service Offerings

Wagestream, a financial wellbeing app that streamlines how employees receive their salaries has announced raising £17.5 million in a funding round. The funding round was led by British Patient Capital which invested £7 million in the company.

The other investors that participated in this funding round include Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Northzone.

Exclusive: Wagestream, an employee benefits platform used by 3m staff at companies including Asda, Bupa and Burger King, as well as the NHS, has raised £17.5m of funding from an arm of the British Business Bank alongside other new and existing investors. https://t.co/2OwiDJFr9D

— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) April 17, 2024

Wagestream is a platform that launched in 2018. It has worked with 1,000 employers across the UK, Spain, and the United States. The platform allows three million people in these countries, including shift and frontline workers, to have an easier time managing their payslips.

Wagestream is used by employees to help them manage their salaries better. Through this platform, an employee can choose when they want to get paid. They also get to make savings for an emergency, pay bills, and even receive debt advice.

Several leading employers in the UK including Burger King, Hilton, Asda, Bupa, and the NHS have already integrated Wagestream to make the offerings available to their employees.

New Funding To Expand Service Offerings

The company plans to use the funding secured in this funding round to increase the range of services that it offers. It also seeks to become a comprehensive financial platform that offers a wide range of services to both low and middle-income employees.

One of the initiatives that Wagestream is working on to streamline its service includes a credit-builder card. The platform launched this card after the acquisition of a startup company known as Keebo. Keebo leverages Open Banking data to approve customers depending on their financial habits.

Keebo is different from other credit companies that use the credit score to analyze customer behavior. With this offering, Wagestream looks to appeal to employees looking for a friendly credit platform where they can access debt without much hassle.

The other initiatives that Wagestream is also working on include shopping discounts and financial coaching powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It is also planning to offer loans to employees to give them more financial freedom.

The CEO of Wagestream, Peter Briffett, opined that the company believed in the potential of frontline workers. Therefore, it was making financial services more accessible to these workers to ensure that they can achieve financial balance by meeting their basic and daily expenses while also having a good credit score while planning for the future.

“We believe frontline workers deserve essential services and better financial futures. More than 1,000 employers agree,” Briffett said. “Together we’re closing the gap, with a platform that helps wherever people are in their financial life – from paying off debt to saving for the first time, to building a credit file and planning for the future.”