VISA DIRECT BLOG How on-demand access to earned wages is starting a new financial wellness Journey — in America and beyond

For more than half a century, the way Americans get paid hasn’t really changed. After World War II, the bi-weekly pay cycle became the norm: work for two weeks, wait for payday, repeat. For millions of people, that rhythm has defined everyday life and shaped their financial reality.

But when expenses don’t follow a tidy two-week schedule, people are left to bridge the gaps any way they can. The traditional paycheck to paycheck cycle can create financial strain long before it creates financial stability. That strain shows up in many familiar ways: relying on high-interest credit, taking out short-term loans, or juggling bills in ways that are stressful, time-consuming, and often expensive.

Today, that pattern is starting to break. A new generation of financial technology is giving workers something they’ve historically lacked: on-demand access to a portion of the wages they’ve already earned. And at the center of this movement is DailyPay¹, a company whose mission is simple but ambitious: helping ordinary workers build stronger financial foundations.

On a recent episode of the Visa Direct Money Travels podcast DailyPay’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ryan Mang, explained how their earned wage access (EWA) solution with real-time payment capability enabled by Visa Direct is changing lives, reshaping employer expectations, and opening the door to a new era of financial wellbeing across the U.S. and beyond.

The problem with the traditional pay cycle

Most workers don’t experience expenses in two-week increments. Life happens² when it happens. Be it a medical bill, childcare emergency, or simply the rising cost of groceries and transport. As Ryan puts it, payroll schedules often “aren’t set up for real-world realities.” Instead, they force workers into a system that doesn’t reflect how people actually live or budget.

When workers can’t wait for payday, they often turn to whatever options are available. That might mean dipping into credit cards, delaying essential purchases, or, in some cases, taking out short-term loans. Those stop-gap solutions may fill a temporary need, but the long-term effect can be destabilising.

Ryan has seen this throughout his career in payroll: “You cause financial disarray for people who simply can’t wait for that paycheck to hit their account.”

Earned wage access flips that story. Instead of waiting for a fixed payday, workers can access a portion of wages they’ve already accrued, giving them the flexibility to meet urgent needs without turning to costly alternatives.

A broader audience than you might expect

One of the biggest misconceptions about earned wage access is that it’s only relevant for hourly workers or people with irregular shifts. In practice, the opposite is true. Ryan has seen DailyPay adopted across every demographic:

• Full-time employees
• Salaried workers earning above six figures
• Freelancers, gig workers, and shift teams
• Parents managing household unpredictability
• Workers facing unexpected life events

Financial strain, he notes, “Comes in a lot of different shapes and sizes.” And needing flexibility is not a measure of income, it’s a measure of lived experience. A medical diagnosis, a broken boiler, or a sudden change in family circumstances can disrupt anyone’s financial plans, regardless of salary.

Younger workers may be the most vocal in asking for financial tools that offer visibility and control, but the appetite reaches far beyond Gen Z and millennials. In practice, we see workers of all ages engaging with earned wage access in similar ways. It reflects a simple reality: financial flexibility is a universal need, not a generational trend.

Stability first, education second: a new approach to financial well-being

For decades, financial literacy programs have tried to help workers build better habits, from budgeting tools to retirement seminars. But these programs often fall flat because the audience they’re designed for is already under pressure. Ryan notes, “If somebody is not feeling financially stable, it’s very hard for them to take a step back and learn the next step forward.”

DailyPay’s philosophy begins with stability. Once people feel more secure day to day, they have the headspace to build healthier, long-term habits. This is where engagement becomes so powerful. Workers log in to DailyPay an average of 7 to 10 times a week. That creates repeated touchpoints: short, focused moments where the platform can help workers understand their wages, explore saving opportunities, or plan ahead.

It’s a fundamentally different approach to financial wellbeing: instead of asking people to attend classes or digest complex guidance, DailyPay meets them where they already are - in the flow of their working lives.

A benefit employers can’t ignore

When earned wage access first emerged, it was viewed as a useful differentiator for employers. Today, it’s increasingly becoming an expected part of the benefits landscape. Employers recognize that financial well-being is closely linked to engagement, productivity, and retention. If workers are worried about covering everyday expenses, it becomes harder for them to focus, perform, or plan ahead.

Offering on-demand access to a portion of earned wages gives employers a practical way to support their teams in the moments that matter. And workers notice. Once people have experienced greater visibility and control over their wages, they tend to value it highly and look for it elsewhere if it’s no longer available. That pattern is especially clear in sectors with high turnover, such as hospitality, healthcare, and retail, where financial flexibility can become a meaningful reason to stay.

Why haven’t payroll companies built this themselves?

If the need is so clear, why haven’t major payroll platforms built their own on-demand pay solutions?

The answer seems to lie in the infrastructure. If we think about it, traditional payroll systems were designed to scale predictable, scheduled payments across millions of workers. That architecture isn’t built for dynamic access.

Instead, the market has evolved in the same way other employer tools have: through specialist solutions that integrate with broader platforms. It mirrors what happened with benefits decision-support tools, scheduling tools, and other point solutions that sat on top of existing HR technology.

Rather than rebuild these capabilities themselves, many payroll platforms are choosing to integrate with specialist providers. It reflects a broader trend across workforce technology: when a solution delivers clear value and strong user engagement, integration often proves more effective than reinvention.

A mission grounded in people, not software

What sets DailyPay apart is not just its technology, but the ethos behind it. The company has built a culture that pays close attention to the lived experiences of the people using its tools. Ryan shared one story that illustrates this well: a mother who worried she wouldn’t be able to afford a small birthday celebration for her four-year-old. After being reminded she had access to earned wages through DailyPay, she was able to make it happen.

Stories like this surface regularly, and they highlight something important. Financial stability shapes everyday moments, family life, and the sense of control people carry. Earned wage access can play a small but meaningful role in that picture.

Businesses like DailyPay are now expanding beyond the U.S., starting with the UK. And the timing matters. Ryan notes that while American workers often navigate a bi-weekly pay cycle, many workers in the UK, and much of Europe, rely on a single monthly payday. That structure offers even less flexibility when unexpected bills arise, or prices rise faster than wages. Despite the differences in payroll traditions, the pressures are strikingly similar across regions:³ higher costs, limited savings and a growing need for tools that give workers more control over their own wages. And internationally, the opportunity is not just about changing pay cycles. It’s about helping employers introduce financial-wellbeing benefits into markets where they’re less established; creating a meaningful point of differentiation in recruitment and retention.

What comes next: the future of financial wellbeing

For Ryan, the long-term potential goes far beyond giving workers earlier access to wages. The real opportunity lies in helping people build lasting financial resilience: savings, budgeting, credit building, long-term planning, and eventually investing.

As Ryan explains, “We’re still in the early innings of a true financial-wellness platform.”

As more workers engage with earned wage access tools, the bigger the impact. If people can stabilize their daily finances, they can begin contributing consistently to savings vehicles, whether future equivalents of today’s 401(k)s or something new entirely. And when savings rates rise across millions of households, the effects are felt economy-wide.

Put simply, giving people control over their earned wages today lays the foundation for a healthier financial future tomorrow.

Earned wage access represents a shift in how people think about work, money and control. Whether someone is supporting a family, building a career, or managing multiple jobs in the gig economy, access to a portion of their earned wages can help them stay on track and move forward with confidence.

DailyPay’s role isn’t to replace the payroll system. It’s to modernize its impact — ensuring workers aren’t constrained by schedules designed for a different era.

And as Ryan reflects, “Why shouldn’t every person have access to their wages when they want it, how they want it?”

It’s a simple question with profound implications. And for millions of workers, the answer is already reshaping what financial well-being can look like, not just in the U.S., but everywhere people work, earn, and strive for a stronger financial future.