Activehours has raised $22 million in debt and equity financing, bulking up its war chest to disrupt payday lenders and help consumers avoid finance charges on credit cards and overdraft fees on bank withdrawals.
The Series A round was led by Matrix Partners with participation from March Capital Partners as well as continuing participation from Ribbit Capital, Felicis Ventures, and other existing investors, according to a statement released last week. This brings its total funding to $26.1 million.
Activehours has become a hot item in the world fintech, recently included on the Forbes Fintech 50 list for 2016. Fintechs have been putting fees and finance charges in the crosshairs, and Activehours offers a new take on this, essentially enabling workers to withdraw their pay as they earn it through the mobile app. This way they can repay credit cards before interest rate charges pile up.
Launched in 2014, the company says individuals working with 12,000 companies have used the app. The company doesn’t charge, but asks users to tip — whatever they think is fair. Matrix general partner Dana Stalder tells Techcrunch that users are tipping regularly enough that they can project revenues. The company won’t reveal how much the typical user tips.
Stalder explained to Techcrunch:
“This is a service for the barista, or the person working in bookstore, or a teller at a bank. … It is the 50 percent of [the U.S. population] that has revolving debt on their credit cards — plus another big cross section of those who don’t.”
Activehours has struck partnerships with Uber and Sears, integrating the service so workers can easily access their earned pay. It also recently launched Pay Booster, which gives users Pay Your Way Shopping points worth 1% of the amount withdrawn. The rewards are good at Sears, Kmart, shopyourway.com, and Lands End.