Atomic, the provider of payroll connectivity is announcing today its partnership with Hydrogen, a Fintech platform that “enables businesses to quickly launch white label debit cards with no coding and one, all-inclusive platform.”
By partnering with Atomic, Hydrogen “enables organizations to seamlessly integrate payroll connectivity with its platform, unlocking features for employers, employees, gig-economy workers, and payroll providers.”
For companies and organizations that work with the unbanked or underbanked, they can now offer consumers “a wallet or card to deposit their payroll, with auxiliaries like cashback and rewards on card purchases an added bonus, a win for both workers and employers.”
Jordan Wright, Atomic CEO and co-founder, said:
“The rise of EWAs prominence in recent years is a signal workers’ wages are not going as far as they used to. We anticipate workers are going to demand financial health benefits that help them get ahead of bill payments and scenarios driving repeat usage of EWA between pay cycles. Our partnership with Hydrogen enables organizations to quickly and seamlessly launch applications to help workers tackle financial stress and for employers to retain and attract talent.”
Evy Natan, Senior Partnerships Manager at Hydrogenm remarked:
“This partnership is a unique opportunity for organizations to quickly get custom debit card programs to market for workers. In turn, these card programs create opportunities to monetize revenue from interchange fees—versus penalty or interest fees—that in time encourage recurring usage and loyal customers.”
The announcement comes “at a precarious time in the American job market when wages are tightening and unemployment hovers near half a century lows at 3.7% in August, according to the Labor Departments.”
Workers are financially strained “as the costs for household goods increase from inflationary pressures.”
Simultaneously, the rate of costs “outpaces wage growth, driving workers to seek out alternatives to either meet bill due dates or incur fees.” Workers are also “utilizing employer-sponsored earned wage access (EWA) benefits and direct-to-consumer solutions to access earned but unpaid wages.”
The Hydrogen-Atomic partnership “yields numerous value propositions for Hydrogen and its clients.”
Gig economy companies can “leverage Hydrogen’s Atomic widget to empower their 1099 workers access to pay with a great user experience to boot.” Employers can “offer automatic deposit switching and automated funding of Hydrogen cards, earning consumers rewards and cashback on purchases and yielding profits from interchange for employers.”
Meanwhile, consumer-focused organizations can “re-channel earned profits from interchange fees back to community building and other needs.”
For both companies, the partnership “brings Atomic and Hydrogen further in their shared vision to close financial health gaps for all workers by powering the next generation of financial wellness benefits.”