It's kind of a slippery slope to start letting employers hold pay in an account they control... reminds me of the union busting articles on the top right now, with Facebook building employee housing now, the idea you brought up is the next step towards the "Facebook Store" and scrips.
I understand some people have trouble banking, but the answer should then be for us to ensure they can have equal access to banking, no matter what.
Agreed. But this is not some gig economy thing... when an institution needs to pay you and you don't have direct deposit, often they will send you a prepaid debit card instead of a check. Even the federal government does this [0]. These cards tend to have predatory fees.
I'm aware of that practice, and that's why I would hope that we could build something like the often talked about USPS bank, or whatever, so everyone can have equal access to real banking with no predatory practices.
Not that any gig companies are doing this yet, or even thought to do it, but I just don't like the idea of this being done in a "company scrips"-like fashion, there are some things that should be totally nuclear to the touch, and tying even more of your life to your company (in the USA you have medical, housing, food, etc. tied to your work) should be nuclear.
> and that's why I would hope that we could build something like the often talked about USPS bank, or whatever, so everyone can have equal access to real banking with no predatory practices.
I signed up on the wait list and emailed patio11 specifically to build such a product. Regarding your point about company scrip, I think prevention against that is best served by reaching out to your Congressional representatives, as well as members of the
U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, to legislate safeguards. Without the force of law, protections are only polite suggestions.
Will be interesting to see this product allows you to support customers who are e.g. on the ChexSystems list or have inadequate ID. Since it is real banks under the hood, same problems may apply.
I understand some people have trouble banking, but the answer should then be for us to ensure they can have equal access to banking, no matter what.