Hourly worker

[4] The technology to access the earned income can be implemented in a variety of ways: automatically credited to a prepaid card, deposited via ACH to the user's existing direct deposit or, in a bifocal approach, the accrued income is transferred to a bank account opened by the EWA provider.

In August 2016, Uber pioneered EWA in partnership with Green Dot, allowing drivers to request their earnings after each ride in exchange for a small payment.

[5] In July 2018, ADP, America's largest payroll provider, began offering the EWA solution in its marketplace.

[7] On April 19, 2024, Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS) signed the fourth Earned Workforce Access Act (EWA) into law in the United States.

Earned income access providers are positioned as an ethical solution for payday lenders because they typically charge a small flat fee rather than interest, and there is no recourse, credit implications or underwriting for earned income access transactions.