Gig workers cherish their freedom, and most of them would rather not commit to a 9 to 5 desk job. Always on the move, gig workers are growing larger in numbers: according to Morganstanley.com “within ten years, freelance workers may represent more than 50% of the U.S. working population.”
Flexible type of freelance work that one can do whenever, from wherever via a smartphone or laptop: this is the essence of the gig economy.
Gig workers cherish their freedom, and most of them would rather not commit to a 9 to 5 desk job. Always on the move, gig workers are growing larger in numbers: according to Morganstanley.com “within ten years, freelance workers may represent more than 50% of the U.S. working population.”
At AppJobs GAP we are all about freelance work; no matter if it means being a Doordash courier or a freelance writer. We believe gig work represents the future of work, and strong changes need to happen if we want this to be sustainable for all parties involved.
If we think of compensation processes or financial procedures in general, the gig economy relies heavily on digital solutions in order to grow, but the system is sometimes slow to catch on.
Traditional banking for example, may fail to meet the unique needs of freelancers around the world. Costly money transfers from abroad, currency exchange rates and slow transactions can be a major problem. This is why more and more digital banks are being preferred by freelancers all over the world. They are faster, more flexible and take into account the unique needs of gig workers.
Let’s take a closer look at gig workers’ needs:
- A gig worker breathes and lives technology. Not only do gig workers prefer doing all their business interactions online but they expect to have this option. It is easier and they know how to go about it. It is only normal for them to use a digital bank.
- Gig work is fast. Accepting projects, communicating about them and delivering them happens in a flash. And gig workers want their money to end up in their bank account equally fast and not with enormous banking fees when it comes to international transactions. Digital banking is a better option in this sense. For example, using Monese, you can make international money transfers with a fee of 0.5% to 0.75% of the transfer amount at existing interbank rates.
- Gig workers are interested in banks that do not stumble upon bureaucratic processes that make transactions and services hard. Having chosen the gig worker’s life, means they expect equally flexible services from their bank. For freelancers that have clients all over the world, for example, it is important to have the opportunity to accept deposits in multiple currencies. Digital banks are on to this and already offer more convenient services than traditional systems. For example, with the digital Revolut you can hold a physical balance in 16 currencies!
- Gig workers do not work 9 to 5 and their clients may be situated all over the world. A brick-and-mortar bank operating 9 to 5, is, thus, not the best possible option for them!
- Gig working comes with flexibility, but also with less traditional, more unpredictable income flows. Traditional banks don’t like unpredictability and find gig workers more “risky” clients. This needs to change and banks need to include gig workers, find ways to lend them money with the appropriate criteria or offer suitable savings services for retirement etc. Anyfin, for example is a type of credit service that takes over your payments for open bills and charges you way less interest than any credit institute would.
To sum up, gig workers need faster and more flexible services from their banks and sprouting digital banks are doing a better job so far understanding and fulfilling the gig economy’s needs and expectations. It is time for more institutions to do the same and the rising blockchain technology might play a key factor to transforming the current traditiona
