The advertisements spring to life with bright colors and smiling, young women, usually Black or Latina, celebrating the arrival of desperately needed cash.
“Cha-ching!” the website of one smartphone app declares, displaying a curly-haired mother and child who look to be jumping for joy. “It’s payday all day, everyday.” Funds are available “in minutes” to help pay for groceries, rent and family celebrations without “mandatory fees” or interest, it says.
Another app features a photo array of six female workers and one man laboring in call centers, nursing homes, restaurants and retail. “Pay bills on time, with no late fees, no overdraft fees and no need for payday loans,” it says.
A third app, backed by actor Ashton Kutcher and NBA star Kevin Durant, pushes its product with a TikTok video where a young Black woman is approached while walking down the street in jogging shorts. “What if I told you I could get you some money right now?” she’s asked. Seconds later, when she has it, she exclaims: “Oh., my god!”
These apps — EarnIn, Daily Pay, and Brigit — are all examples of a fast-growing product called Earned Wage Access, which the U.S. Treasury Department said advanced $9.5 billion to consumers through 56 million transactions in 2020 and continues to grow.
Similar to a high-cost payday loan, these apps offer workers emergency cash ahead of proven, upcoming paychecks. Like payday loans, they are disproportionately used by women, especially women of color and single mothers.
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