Incumbent solutions to accessing employment records have meaningful shortcomings - requesting information from the employer is cumbersome, TWN is expensive, and nobody can pull granular information into work records.
As a result, ongoing, real-time VoI / VoE has been infeasible. This results in sub-optimal outcomes across a number of verticals. E.g.:
Payday / cash advance lending Pew estimates that the payday and cash advance industry rakes up $9B on loan fees alone each year. A large portion of these loans have exorbitant interest rates, and prey on the most vulnerable. The industry has been plagued with problems because the lender has no way to see if their client is working to pay back money advanced to them.
Insurance Gig insurance providers have struggled to underwrite policies for contractors. Underwriting models are generic, and pricing is non-dynamic. Additionally, claims processing is wrought with fraud. Many drivers file claims under their professional policy for accidents that occur on personal time.
Loan servicers Loan servicers act in the dark. Because they cannot get information into a worker's status, all actions taken for problem loans are retroactive (i.e. when the borrower stops paying).
With Argyle, we believe these businesses can reinvent themselves by leveraging ongoing, real-time transparency into an individual's work activity. Leveraging our system, a business can:
Payday / cash advance lending When a lender gains transparency into their borrower's work as it occurs, the lender can provide a loan against actual income earned, but not yet deposited into a bank account.
Beyond removing the blackout problem that payday lenders have been plagued with, access to real-time earnings provides new benefits that have until now not been possible: