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Hastee Pay

Hastee review May 2023

The wage version of your Oyster card, to get paid as you earn.

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By

Valentina Cipriani

Updated

Fact checked

Payday is still a far away dream, but your dog has decided to eat all the chocolate of your Easter egg and now needs a vet check. Or you’d forgotten you were supposed to save for a great gift for your mum’s sixtieth birthday. Or your fridge suddenly breaks after 10 years of faithful service. Wouldn’t it be great if you could access some of your salary – which, after all, you’ve already earned – with a bit of advance?

It’s what is generally referred to as a “salary advance”, and with Hastee, you can actually do that. If your employer has signed up to the service, you can see on a dedicated app how much you’ve earned at any point in the month and withdraw part of it early, in exchange for a fee that’s cheaper than many other forms of borrowing (such as overdrafts or payday loans).

Since it’s money you’ve already earned, you aren’t borrowing it. This means your credit score isn’t checked, there’s no interest rate and you won’t be asked to pay it back. You’ll simply get a bit less in your final pay.

Hastee is one of the few startups offering salary advances. Compared to its competitors, it’s more expensive for employees but is completely free for employers. Since you can’t use it unless your company offers it as a perk, this could make it easier to build a case for it (there’s actually a pretty handy form on Hastee’s website that lets you refer your employer).

Unlike some competitors, Hastee only does salary advances. It doesn’t do employee loans (money borrowed at a more competitive rate because the repayments are taken directly from your wage) or savings options (where part of your salary is automatically put into a savings account to help you save money without being tempted to spend it).

How does it work?

Hastee’s salary advances are a pretty straightforward product, easy to understand and use. Here’s what you need to know:

  • For employees. You can withdraw up to 50% of what you’ve earned, anytime during the month. For example, say it’s a week after payday and you’ve made £400 after tax, you can withdraw up to £200. Your first monthly withdrawal, up to £100, comes for free. After that, there’s a 2.5% fee on each withdrawal; for example, withdrawing £200 would cost you £5. This also constitutes the main drawback of Hastee: while some competitors charge a flat fee, using Hastee becomes more expensive the more you withdraw. On the other hand, you can make as many withdrawals as you like and the price won’t change.
  • For employers. Unlike many of its competitors, Hastee is totally free for employers. There’s no impact on the company’s cashflow because the salary advances are directly funded by Hastee. Hastee is also fully insured so that, even if a company doesn’t pay the advances back, there will be no interruptions to the service.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • An affordable alternative to payday loans.
  • Not a loan – no credit checks are carried out and you don’t need to pay the money back.
  • It doesn’t matter if you have bad credit.
  • No impact on the company’s cash flow.
  • Free for employers.

Cons

  • It becomes more expensive the more you borrow.
  • It doesn’t offer employee loans or an automated savings option.
  • If you spend too much throughout the month, you may have trouble meeting your regular expenses.

Frequently asked questions

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