Services offering advances on earned wages, similar to Earnin, can provide access to funds before a scheduled payday. Some of these services bypass Plaid, a common third-party platform used for connecting financial accounts. Direct bank verification, manual uploads of pay stubs, or alternative methods of employment confirmation are utilized instead. For instance, an application might require users to submit screenshots of their online timesheets or connect directly to their payroll provider.
Circumventing Plaid may appeal to individuals with concerns about data security or those whose banks are not supported by the platform. Historically, the rise of such alternatives is linked to evolving consumer preferences for data privacy and the diversification of technological solutions within the fintech sector. These services aim to offer financial flexibility while prioritizing user control over data sharing.
