Reflections on 9 years and ￡1 Billion in workplace finance

This week, Salary Finance turned 9 years old - a milestone that has made me reflect on the journey we’ve been on and everything we’ve achieved along the way.

From a simple idea of using employee benefits to deliver fairer and more inclusive financial services, to building an employee financial health company that today supports a community of 4.5 million employees in the UK and 20 million employees in the US.? I think it is fair to say the SF team has achieved a huge amount.? And as with all good tech companies, we are only just getting started!

To mark the occasion, alongside a summer party for our team (SFers), this note shares some reflections on our successes so far and what’s to come.??

Solving a real employee need?

From day one, we have obsessed about improving the financial health of employees and being there for them in their times of need (including through covid and the cost of living crisis), by providing access to a financial safety net.? Whether it’s consolidating existing debts, covering an unplanned expense, or an emergency, we provide employees with access to salary-deducted loans, advances and savings, along with financial education.? For many of the employees who use Salary Finance, we are their only option, and for the vast majority, we are by far the lowest cost.

Since launch, we have funded over ￡1 billion in workplace finance (salary-deducted loans and advances).? This has saved employees hundreds of millions in interest costs, helped them become debt free sooner, boosted their credit score, and most importantly, reduced their stress.??

One thing that has remained consistent since launch, is my daily review of our Trustpilot page (here).? Our 4.8/5* rating across thousands of reviews, alongside a customer NPS score of 75 (world-class), and the real-life stories we hear everyday about how we’ve helped people, are a constant source of inspiration for me and the SF team to keep building.

Building a client community?

Salary Finance is an employee benefit, which is only available to employees whose employer is signed-up and integrated with us.? All employers are busy, especially HR teams, and we are super grateful to all companies (clients) which have chosen to partner with us.

As things stand, in the UK, we are fortunate to partner with ~600 clients who employ 4.5 million employees.? Our client community continues to grow and every month we celebrate new client partnerships with household name employers.? Our clients include 20% of the FTSE 100, 9 of the 10 largest retailers, 1 in 3 NHS trusts, and employers covering almost every employment sector in the UK.? In the US, following our merger with FinFit, we together now reach over 20 million American employees.

For our clients, as reported in the Harvard Business Review (here), employees who use Salary Finance are 28% more likely to stay with their employer, along with many other benefits of having a less financially stressed workforce.?

Creating a new industry?

Salary Finance was an original idea, from first principles thinking, and a belief that all employees - not just senior ones - should have access to fair finance options to meet their needs.? Whilst building something original and innovative has been hugely rewarding, it has been quite a feat, with limited playbooks to follow and lots to build and learn along the way.? After 9 years and ￡1 billion in workplace finance, we have developed deep organisational learning of what works, and tech and processes which get better everyday.? In H1 alone, we have processed over 1 million salary deduction payments.

As we’ve created a new industry, at the intersection of FinTech, HR Tech and employee benefits, we have paved the way for new companies to enter.? Whilst some see competition as a problem, I am proud of the collective impact the industry is having.? As the industry creator, authentically motivated by solving real employee financial needs, we are excited about continuing to innovate and grow our impact with clients and their employees everyday.?

Building a team and culture??

Over the past 9 years, hundreds of colleagues have joined us to build Salary Finance, with teams in four countries at different points.? Along with new joiners, there have of course been some leavers, as the years have passed.? But one thing has remained constant, which is ingrained in our culture: SFers who genuinely care about delivering products which improve the lives of employees.? I am incredibly proud of the SF team and what and how we deliver on a daily basis.??

Managing our own finances??

Creating a new industry has required a lot of capital, for building technology and processes which didn’t previously exist (like a proprietary loan management system integrated to payroll payments and employee data), building a client community, and lots of learning along the way, as we have perfected the model.? We are grateful to our equity investors (Legal and General, Blenheim Chalcot, Experian, Goldman Sachs) who have collectively invested over ￡100m in Salary Finance and we are pleased to now be transitioning into profitability in H2, to enable our next phase of growth and impact.?

Where next?

Although it sounds cliche, we are just getting started at Salary Finance.? We are excited about 10x-ing our impact in the years to come, using our deep learnings from our 9 years and ￡1 billion in workplace finance.?

We are excited about continuing to increase our engagement with existing clients and their employees, supporting them in their times of need.? We are excited about continuing to evolve our products and deliver a user experience over them which transcends traditional financial services product silos and makes it easy for all employees to set-up and have a financial safety net in times of need.? And we are excited about offering new financial services to employees through the workplace, to enable us to support more employee needs.

To all SFers, our clients, members, and investors and funders, and well wishers, thank you for your support and contributing to SF’s growth and impact over the past 9 years.??

Onwards and upwards!

Asesh,

Co-founder and CEO.