As the future of work turns ever more towards flexibility, remote talent and the hustle, the gig economy is more buoyant than ever before. It’s a landscape that’s erupting with new models and platforms to connect freelancers with companies and customers, from ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber to freelance marketplaces like Fiverr.
For the freelancers operating on those platforms, the speed and ease with which they get paid is paramount. There’s a need for embedded payments to streamline the process and make it simple for workers to manage their earnings.
But while some are doing exactly that, others are only just scratching the surface. The sector is ripe for disruption by anyone who can weave together an idea for a slick user experience with the embedded finance tools that make it possible.
Allowing payment on their terms
At the heart of what makes the gig economy such a thriving sector is its flexibility. For freelancers that means the ability to self-manage their work and their income. And for the customers engaging them it’s the opportunity to find the exact blend of talent and experience their job demands.
But there’s currently a huge disconnect between those expectations and the flexibility that marketplaces are able to provide. Many platforms lack options for freelancers to specify the currency they’re paid in, or whether they get paid in advance or immediately after a job. And because of that, freelancers can’t provide any flexibility in their payment terms for their customers.
Regulatory restrictions are partly to blame for those limitations. But embedding the right financial solution into a marketplace – one that optimises the flow of payment from customer to platform to worker – can go a long way to offering freelancers and customers the freedom they’re looking for.
It’ll certainly help gig economy workers who want more than to receive a bulk transfer at the end of each month. Instead they would be able to log into a portal and manage their earnings whenever they need to. The experience would become much more user-friendly, and crucially, it would restore the individual control that freelancers live for.
Smooth, integrated onboarding
Weavr doesn’t just help to speed up payouts, it also gets freelancers onboarded quicker in the first place.
Due diligence is an essential part of any freelancer partnership. Is this person who they say they are? Do they have the right eligibility to work? Are their payment details correct? There’s a never-ending list of boxes to tick, and that usually means someone on the other end who has to receive and review all of the paperwork.
That can be arduous, and it can take an age. But Weavr can integrate the process directly into the marketplace. With fast, optimised onboarding, freelancers can then start earning right away without having to wait days for the paperwork to clear manually.
All the freelancer has to do is create their profile and upload screenshots or photos of their documents, and they’ll be verified in a matter of minutes. There’s no lengthy back and forth, just information shared directly with the marketplace. And if they don’t have a bank account we can create that for them too as part of the process.
The best platform for freelancers will be the one that enables them to work and get paid with little friction. Once they find that experience, they’ll be far less likely to jump anywhere else.
Without the right tools you can only go so far
Previously, to build this type of superior customer experience, you would undergo a huge financial and compliance burden. You would need to engage with a plethora of institutions: Banking as a Service providers (BaaS), fraud prevention companies, AML and KYC, KYB vendors, SCA providers, BIN sponsors and many more. And it would cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds.
For all that expense, it would still take six months to take a proposition to market – if you’re lucky. More likely it would take you nine or even 12 months.
With Weavr, that time-to-market becomes 4-8 weeks, at a fraction of the cost, and the compliance burden is taken care of for you.
Most freelance marketplaces are still using rigid finance solutions that don’t give their users the tools they need. The sector is an open goal, and any platform that can offer freelancers and their customers a flexible, effortless experience will be able to take full advantage of this moment.
You don’t have to become a bank to do this. Weavr’s white-labeled solution works straight out of the box to help you build financial services into your marketplace, and we take care of compliance so the burden isn’t on you.
If you’re looking to take more control over the process, introduce faster payments and build a marketplace that forms loyal relationships with freelancers and customers via embedded finance, get in touch to see how easy it can be.
