People’s Champion finalist 2018: Salary Finance

Start-up name: Salary Finance
Founders: Asesh Sarkar
Started in: July 2015
Based in: London
Business description: Financial wellbeing platform for employees

Shortlisted categories:

The Founders Pledge Social Impact Award, and B2B Business of the Year

The Salary Finance story:

Salary Finance was inspired by a very personal experience.

Co-founder and CEO Asesh Sarkar had helped his children’s nanny pay of her debts by giving her a loan that she repaid monthly from her salary. But it was indicative of a much bigger problem…

Sarkar wondered: How can we live in a world where a minimum-wage worker could be paying 1,000% on a payday loan, yet their CEO on a six-figure salary can get the same loan at 3-4% per annum?

Sarkar’s solution was to create a platform that could address the problem at scale.

Salary Finance combines employee loans, education and saving products. It helps people get out of debt more quickly by partnering with employers to provide a low interest loan repaid through payroll.

The business estimates that it can save UK employees alone £4bn in interest payments annually, whilst helping them borrow responsibly and learn better habits. It’s already on track to reach one million employees by the end of 2018.

Not content just dealing with debt, Salary Finance now offers a saving plan as an extension of its loan facility. Employees simply choose the amount of their salary they wish to save and can change their deduction amount at any time.

Why Salary Finance made our shortlist:

So many of us live our lives constantly burdened by enormous debts. Salary Finance is alleviating that burden. Borrowers have already saved more than £76m using the platform, and are helped to get out of debt between six and 12 months sooner.

That’s a real, measurable difference to people’s lives, which is why the platform is in the running for both The Founders Pledge Social Impact Award and B2B Business of the Year.

Where to find out more about Salary Finance:

Website: www.salaryfinance.com
Twitter:  @salaryfin