ActiveHours

ActiveHours, now known as EarnIn, is a mobile financial platform that allows hourly and shift workers to draw on wages they have already earned before payday. Founded in 2013 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company was built after its founders observed the cash-flow strain that irregular pay cycles impose on employees. It operates in the United States and competes not with banks but, in effect, with payday lenders.

The product suite includes Live Pay, which makes pay available as it is earned; Cash Out, which lets users draw down accrued wages ahead of the scheduled payday; Balance Shield, designed to help users avoid overdrafts and manage account balances; and Credit Monitoring, a tool for tracking and improving credit. The firm is funded by voluntary user tips rather than interest or compulsory fees, an approach it presents as central to its business model.

ActiveHours serves employees at more than 25,000 companies and has raised nearly $65m in venture capital. Its engineering work spans mobile platform development, fintech infrastructure, real-time payments and financial wellness tools - the last a reference to products such as balance management and credit monitoring rather than a category of its own. The stated aim is to loosen the grip of rigid fortnightly pay cycles on the American hourly and gig workforce.