Professional services and business process outsourcing organisation Capita has introduced a personal finance app to support the financial wellbeing of its 45,000 employees.
The organisation, which partnered with financial wellbeing app Level, will give employees the chance to access their pay early. In the coming weeks, UK employees at Capita will have the flexibility to access their pay, as and when they earn it, capped at £500 per withdrawal, subject to a flat fee of £2. This feature has been introduced to help employees deal with unexpected expenses while avoiding expensive overdrafts and short-term loans from payday lenders or banks.
Employees can also choose to have some of their pay automatically put into a savings account chosen by Level to maximise the interest rate, giving staff the best solution when contributing part of their funds to the chosen account. Additionally, Level will provide a series of optional nudges, providing users with tips on how to save more and spend less on essential purchases.
Level, that can be accessed via an employee's desktop, mobile, or through SMS, has received positive feedback after being trialled to 2,000 employees.
The financial wellbeing and education tool is in addition to Capita paying its UK-based staff the real living wage in line with rates set by the Living Wage Foundation. From April 2020, staff have been paid at least £9.30, and £10.75 in London. From 9 November 2020, these living wage rates have increased to £9.50 and £10.85 respectively.
Will Serle, chief people officer at Capita, said: “We felt that giving our employees the right tools to manage their finances during these extremely tough times was just the right thing to do and we have seen already from our pilot how many people it is helping. This is another important step in building a truly responsible organisation, following the introduction of the real living wage to all UK employees earlier this year. By looking after our employees, we are helping build an environment in which they are happier and more productive, and in turn delivering a better service to our clients.”
