The world has witnessed a drastic change in technological development and acceptance since the pandemic hit the ground. Many people have started new businesses or workspaces for their existing businesses. The changes have worsened the case of unemployment for manual blue-collar laborers simultaneously increasing the opportunity for workers in the e-commerce and IT sectors. There are about 500 million blue-collared workers in India as per the recent estimation that sprang out in Jan 2022, which include 210 million in the agriculture and allied sector, and left 290 million include retail, manufacture, construction, transportation, e-commerce, and logistics.
New research evaluates that over two-thirds of India’s blue-collar employees earn less than ₹15000 per month. In fact, the research also suggests that less than 15% of employees earn between ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 every month. Logistics, e-commerce, and information technologies are the platforms that have proven themselves better at recruiting and paying logical wages regardless of gender, while in other sectors women are paid 19% less than their male equivalent. In addition, workers in grocery, supermarket, and textile industries earn the lowest scale of ₹8,300 per month. Employees that fall under these statics usually face numerous financial difficulties in building a basic lifestyle for themselves.
The problems in workers’ finance
No bank accounts
Most of the low-income group population of India is unable to create a bank account due to less documentation and a low literacy rate. They are often paid in cash which is now considered the most unsafe mode of keeping funds, also without any official bank account, they are forced to keep their funds at home which is vulnerable to theft.
Out of expense allowance
Employees who are field workers such as construction laborers, site surveyors, transportation drivers, etc. Frequently need to use fuel allowances to travel but find it hard to pay for sudden purchases when out of funds given by the employer. The hassle to submit the expense report after all purchases is another headache for them.
No health insurance
As the monthly salary that a blue-collar employee gains are exceptionally low, they fall out of the health insurance criteria set by companies. The difficulty exists because there are no such benefits or any such provisions given to these workers.
No company benefits
Companies that allow their employees to enjoy a few benefits do not consider the freelancers inside the employee section and hence such workers are denied these kinds of benefits.
Prepaid card benefits
The use of prepaid cards has increased rapidly in India while somewhat contributing to the digital transaction growth of the country. With the wide variety that the prepaid card offers they are designed to benefit the users. There are many ways through which an employer can benefit their employees by using prepaid cards such as,
Prepaid card as Payroll card
A payroll card is provided by an employer to employees for depositing salary into their account. The card is best used by low-scale employees without any bank account. This allows the worker to have an account without wasting any time on heavy documentation and keep their money safe in the payment account. On the other hand, by using the payroll card an employer can be freed from the hassles of distributing salary to multiple employees and keep up with the record.
Prepaid card as fuel card
A fuel card is a savior for drivers and other such workers as the card is specifically designed to fulfill the needs of fuel purchasing. The employer issues the card for employees and loads it with the required funds as per the requirements whereas, in the case of sudden fund requirement at any position during the travel, employees can easily ask for more instantly from anywhere. Additionally, employers can effortlessly disburse the fund in multiple accounts and release the employees from the duty of filling expense reports by effortlessly tracking their purchases.
Prepaid card as health benefit card
Being low-paid employees blue-collar workers are neglected by health insurance companies. As the name suggests the card is used to pay for medical bills. Employers can issue these cards for their employees and load them as per their health benefit policies. On the other hand, the employee gets an account that saves for future medical needs apart from the salary.
Prepaid card as Government benefit card
The card is provided by the government for the low-income group population that follows the government schemes such as child support, health support, education support, etc. Employees with low literacy status can apply for the card with the help of the employer and enjoy government benefits.
Services by BankIT
BankIT helps its customers to issue a card with easy KYC access for multiple employees through its web portal.
BankIT’s Government solution card helps customers to digitalize their payments through government benefits programs such as child benefits, bus fares, employee mandatory payments, and tax refunds.
BankIT through its wide network of agents works on all the digital surfaces to provide its services to an unbanked, under-banked, digitally illiterate, and migrant population of India.
BankIT gives its customer a wide variety of prepaid cards to choose from, fuel cards, gift cards, expense cards, meal cards, corporate cards, employee cards, student cards, etc.
A company can also customize the cards as per the benefits and policies that are provided for the employees.
A business may gain a reputation whenever the employee uses specially designed cards according to the company’s desires.
BankIT takes care of its customers with a 24*7 service and follows safety measures to protect the card of each user.
