BBVA and venture capitalist Anthemis Group are providing seed funds to U.K. fintech Wollit that will offer a subscription-based cash flow product for gig economy workers.
The seed funding is provided by BBVA’s and Anthemis Group’s
“This funding supports our first product, The Wollit Income Promise, which offers a financial safety net for the 14 million U.K. workers whose income fluctuates from month-to-month. With this, we set to end their monthly gamble of feast or famine and provide a safer, more sustainable option than the short-term, risky alternatives,” Liad Shababo, Wollit's CEO, said in a press release.
Separately,
Wollit stated that its Income Promise product is an income stability tool that enables workers to take home the same amount of money each month even if their hours and earnings fluctuate by using its subscription-based service.
The primary target of the Income Promise are gig economy workers or what Wollit called “zero-hour workers,” people whose contracts do not guarantee any hours of work at all. Examples of these types of workers could include food delivery people working for
Wollit considers its product to be socially sensitive to the plight of millions of workers whose income fluctuates with every pay period. The Income Promise product will be accessed by downloading an Apple or Android app and answering a few basic questions to determine a worker’s credit limit which is personalized for each applicant.
Each month if a worker is short of their usual earnings, Wollit will offer a direct debit top-up offer, as it does not exceed their total credit limit and the user's subscription fees are up to date. In the months the worker exceeds their normal earnings, Wollit will seek to recoup the top-up funds owed.
