PayMeNow, a Earned Wage Access platform backed by Bryan Habana has launched in Namibia and aims to provide financial relief to employees who are struggling financially, especially those who are low-paid.
The platform allows employees to access their earned wages before payday, with the aim of promoting responsible financial behavior and encouraging saving.
According to Habana, co-founder of PayMeNow, the digital system eliminates the need for costly payday loans or overdraft fees.
“PayMeNow provides an easy-to-use mobile app that allows employees to access up to 25% of their earned wages at any time. The service is available to all employees, and there are no hidden fees or interest rates,” he said.
“We recognize that sudden and unexpected expenses can happen at any time, and our service gives employees a way to access their earnings without having to turn to expensive loans or other fees.”
In addition to benefiting employees, the PayMeNow platform also benefits employers by reducing absenteeism and employee turnover and increasing employee satisfaction.
“With PayMeNow, employees have more control over their finances, which leads to increased financial stability and reduced financial stress,” Habana explained.
PayMeNow is linked to Lynkwise, a payroll administrator, as a technical partner to ease the payment processes between employers and service providers. The platform is also expected to change a vicious debt cycle into a savings mindset and turn employees into financially resilient citizens.
“Our vision is to initially ease the burden inflicted by payday and microlenders through affordable, real-time access to a portion of their salary and then educate and assist in reaching financial goals,” said Habana.
This comes as microfinance institutions in Namibia are giving out more loans to the private sector compared to traditional banks, according to latest figures from the Bank of Namibia.
A report by Simonis Storm shows that credit extended to the private sector from microlenders has been outpacing credit uptake from commercial banks for most of the post-pandemic period.
