Jason Lee ’ s Big Idea That Might Change The World

Fotis Georgiadis Oct 29

Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?

When I realized the need for on-demand pay, my first thought was to build completely from the ground up, to truly start from scratch. By creating DailyPay, that’s exactly what we did. We created a new “pay experience” for both the employee and the employer.

From the employee’s viewpoint, she is now at the center. She has complete control over her pay. She can see what she earns each day, access her money to pay bills on time, and put money from her earned pay directly into her savings account, all before what used to be called payday.

From the employer’s viewpoint, they have a much more engaged workforce. You see, when you put employees at the center of the pay experience, they actually start behaving differently. For starters, they stay with the company longer. Our clients report an increase in retention of 45%. Employees are also more engaged at work and more likely to pick up extra shifts. Importantly, this is all accomplished without changing a single thing about the employer’s payroll process today.

How do you think this will change the world?

The antiquated payroll system is an outdated relic of the past. We are living in a digital, contactless world where you can access almost anything you want at the touch of a button. And millions of our users have come to rely on easy access to their money as they earn it. It has literally been a life-changer for millions.

As we’ve been building out our franchise, we started to notice something interesting. We didn’t set out to become a bank, but we noticed our users treating us like one.

78% say they use the DailyPay product to avoid overdraft fees. It’s cheaper and now that they have savings in their bank accounts, they avoid the risk of the bank shutting down their account due to a negative balance.

Almost all of our users pay a portion of their bills directly out of their bank account, but that service is completely useless if they don’t have the money in the account to pay those bills on time. 87% of DailyPay users say they use our product so that they can pay bills on time that they would otherwise pay late.

Not everyone has or wants to use a credit card to go to the store freely and buy things whenever they need them. This is why 74% of our users say they transfer earned wages so that they too can buy groceries or supplies today, when they need them as if they had a credit card.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?

The only obstacle in our way is fear of something new. For payroll professionals, the last thing they want is their job to become more complicated, but in reality, we are making their jobs easier. The benefits administrator has been so focused on the suite of benefits, they have neglected the one thing employees care about most — getting paid quicker. Seeing opportunities for innovation, improvement and change gives one the ability to change the world.

What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?

We are well on our way to widespread adoption. 86% of Fortune 100 companies that offer an on-demand pay benefit use DailyPay as their provider. The global pandemic has accelerated this adoption as companies begin to realize that DailyPay is a zero-cost benefit that can support their employees through both dayto-day life and unprecedented financial emergencies.

With a DailyPay benefit, employees are more productive and stay at their jobs longer. This saves companies millions each year on recruitment costs and gives them a competitive advantage when trying to attract top talent.