Workplace finance company, Salary Finance, has completed the acquisition of rival firm, Neyber, a financial wellbeing provider that was facing administration earlier this year.
Neyber was backed by investment supergiant, Goldman Sachs, and offered an innovative product that offered finance and loan schemes through employers, coupled with financial advice and education on things and budgeting and savings.
The acquisition by $32-million-backed Salary Finance, will strengthen their foothold in the employee finance space, a fast emerging sector.
The combined company will now serve 500 clients and reach 3 million employees across a client portfolio that includes 15% of the FTSE 100 and large employers such as BT, Dixons Carphone, Virgin Active, Co-op, Asda, NHS Trusts and Police Forces.
Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and global chief executive officer at Salary Finance, said: “Salary Finance addresses a social problem, and market failure, where 40% of UK employees have no savings, and over six million employees have been refused a high street loan, leaving them little option but to take high-interest debt. We address this issue at scale, with products which are better value and create better financial habits, such as auto savings-linked directly from pay.”
The role of employee finance, allowing staff members to access affordable finance through their work, has gained a lot of momentum in recent years.
This has come at a time where payday loans and other high-cost lending has come under fire by the FCA and has resulted in large casualties in the industry of various household names including Wonga, QuickQuid and The Money Shop.
However, there is an ongoing issue that around 3 million Britons are dependent on payday loans every year but the number of payday lenders still trading is massively dwindling – and those still operating have extremely strict lending criteria.
Many other alternative forms of finance have emerged in recent years and are trying to solve the payday problem.
This includes Wagestream, a start-up with $51 million in backing, that allows employees to dip into any income that they have earned during the month so far – effectively avoiding the need to wait until payday.
Elsewhere, London-based Fund Ourselves is offering a peer-to-peer lending platform that offers short term loans ranging from £50 to £500 over 1 to 3 months, with no late fees and an interest-free 12-month extension if the customer is having financial difficulties.