Lecture series
Earned wage access, end to end
Earned wage access lets workers draw part of the pay they have already earned before payday. This course explains how it works, how the money moves between employer, provider and worker, what it costs and how to compare that cost, how rules in different markets treat it, the risks for workers and providers, and how a programme is run and monitored. Eight lessons.
8 of 8 lessons published. Lesson 1 is free to read.
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- 01What earned wage access is, and how it differs from a loanMost workers are paid after they work, at the end of a week, a fortnight or a month. Earned wage access closes part of that gap by letting them draw wages already earned before payday. This lesson explains what the product is, its two main models, how it differs from a loan, what it costs and how often it is used, using the measurements regulators and central banks have published.
- 02How the money moves: wages earned, the advance and repayment from payrollAn advance looks simple to the worker: money arrives now and less arrives on payday. Behind it, three parties exchange data and money on a fixed cycle. This lesson follows that cycle step by step in the two models, shows how the amount available is calculated, why speed carries a price, and what happens when repayment from pay falls short.
- 03Fees, subscriptions and tips: measuring the true costEarned wage access is rarely priced as interest. Workers pay a fee for each fast transfer, a monthly subscription or a tip, and some pay nothing because the employer does. This lesson sets out each way of charging, shows how to turn each into one comparable measure, an annual rate, and explains why the cost over a year of use matters as much as the cost of one advance.
- 04Is it credit? How rules treat earned wage access in different marketsWhether earned wage access counts as credit decides which rules apply to it: cost disclosure, affordability checks, price caps, licensing and complaints. Markets answer the question differently, and the answer often depends on how the product is built. This lesson explains what makes something credit in law, the features regulators look at, how the United States and the United Kingdom have answered, and the questions to ask in any market.
- 05Risks for workers: repeated use, affordability and protectionsEarned wage access is meant for an occasional gap between paydays, but many workers use it every pay period. This lesson looks at how often it is used, how repeated use builds up, why affordability is hard to see from outside, which protections are built into products and laws, and the principles international bodies set for treating financial consumers fairly.
- 06Working with employers: payroll integration, deductions and consentIn the employer-partnered model the employer is not the one advancing money, but the programme cannot run without it. The employer holds the record of wages earned, makes the deduction from pay and decides what workers are told. This lesson looks at how the payroll connection works, what wage law says about deductions, what workers consent to and how their data are protected, what happens when a worker leaves or a deduction goes wrong, and what an employer checks before signing.
- 07Risk, funding and losses for a providerA provider of earned wage access advances money, is repaid from pay some days later and, in the design described by the US consumer regulator, cannot pursue the worker when repayment falls short. This lesson looks at who carries the risk, why advances go unrecovered, how to measure losses, how the advances are funded and what that costs, and the controls that keep losses small.
- 08Running a programme: limits, disclosure and monitoringOnce a programme is live, three sets of settings decide how it treats workers and how much risk the provider carries: the limits on how much and how often a worker can draw, what the worker is told before and after each advance, and what is measured and done about it. This lesson takes each in turn, using the measures regulators and international bodies have published, and ends with a review of the course.
Quiz and certificate 10 questions; those on lesson 1 are free to try. Read every published lesson and score 80% or more for a certificate of completion.
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