Capitalizing on the importance of Workers’ Day on Monday, Lastmile Financials Limited, a Nigerian fintech, has officially launched PayMasta, a new product to cater to the needs of Nigerian employees, seeking to cut their wages ahead of payday.
At the heart of PayMasta is Earned Wage Access (EWA), a system for employees to access their wages before payday. EWA, although it has been around for years, has only just begun to reach countries like Nigeria with very little credit culture.
PayMasta will immediately compete with Earnipay, which raised four million dollars in February this year to provide a similar product to most young Nigerians.
Lastmile was founded by Gerald Erih – Co-Founder/Chief Evangelist, Michael Domino Jr – Co-Founder/COO and Festus Aletile – Co-Founder.
Although the app is not yet available on any app store, with the website running on its own, PayMasta has already signed up a handful of businesses looking to integrate the new system into their structures.
Chief Evangelist, Gerald Erih, argued that with PayMasta, a conversation that has dominated Nigerian families about how to get money before payday will finally come to an end. With EWA, users can withdraw up to 75% of their salary before payday. But, the company is working to bring the number to 100%.
“At PayMasta, we help people achieve financial freedom,” Erih said.
“Our target audience is people who work 9am to 5pm everyday and live paycheck to paycheck. In Nigeria, this is about 80% of the working population. Our goal is to not only allow them to have access to the money they earn when they need it at all times, but also help them plan their finances and track their expenses.
Capitalizing on millennials’ love of easily accessible products, which has spurred their interest in fintech, Erih added that on the PayMasta app which he says will be on app stores before the end of the month, users will need very little paperwork and credit will be almost instantaneous.
He added that it won’t cost employers anything, but “a nominal fee” will still be charged to employees who apply for the EWA on the app.
“Financial stress is the digital factor affecting employees around the world,” he said.
PayMasta is different, says Eric
But, unlike companies that usually provide payday loans to employees, PayMasta is different because it is not a loan company at all. What it does is provide access to what was earned before payday.
“We don’t give you a loan, you just access what you earned before payday,” Erih added.
He also clarified that the company will not work with companies that do not care about the rights of its staff. “We are all employees. We will not engage with organizations that fail to protect employee rights,” he said.
The company has partnered with labor unions to achieve this. “We have a very good relationship with the Labor government,” he said.
The app will also include other features to buy data, pay light and cable bills, send money, and more.