Mastercard Partners with Clair for Hourly Wage Advances

Hourly workers can access cash advances of up to $75 a day.

Need to Know

  • The new Clair Debit Mastercard provides free advance wages to hourly workers.
  • Advances have no interest payments or other fees and are based on the hours they’ve worked each day.
  • Cardholders can immediately use advances to make purchases using the Clair Debit Mastercard.

Analysis

Mastercard has announced a new partnership with Clair to provide a debit card that gives hourly workers to cash advances, helping them avoid costly payday loans.

The Clair Debit Mastercard is now available to anyone who signs up for Clair, which is a fintech that provides fee-free financial services to hourly and gig workers. The new card will allow users to access cash advances, which are based on the hours cardholders work each day: when a worker clocks out of work or finishes a task, Clair offers them the ability to request an advance of up to $75.

The cash advances are interest-free and come with no fees, and can be accessed immediately, via the Clair Debit Mastercard, for purchases or ATM withdrawals. They are automatically deducted from an employee’s next paycheque. According to Clair, offering advances helps decrease anxiety and depression, and makes it less likely for an individual to miss a deadline or seek employment elsewhere.

“Hourly workers are the backbone of our economy –they shouldn’t have to wait two weeks to get paid, or face eye-watering fees to get advances or loans,” said Nico Simko, CEO and co-founder of Clair. “By partnering with Mastercard, who shares our mission to make financial products accessible, we’re working to transform the financial wellbeing of America’s 82 million hourly workers and giving them the tools they need to build brighter futures.”

Clair, which is currently to more than a million hourly workers, plans to continue working with Mastercard to expand its roster of products and services. Sherri Haymond, executive vice president of digital partnerships at Mastercard, said the company is “pleased to see Clair through this next phase of growth with this new offering and look forward to our continued partnership to meet the needs of the hourly worker segment through flexible and innovative payments technology.”

The Clair partnership is the second time in recent months that Mastercard has signed a partnership to benefit hourly and gig workers. The company previously partnered with Stride to offer medical benefits to gig workers in the US, marking the first time differentiated medical benefits were offered by a payments network. In November, Mastercard launched virtual cards for corporate clients, allowing companies to track and fund contactless employee spending remotely and securely.