Massive Companies Are Offering Emergency Savings Benefits. Is Your Business Next?

Last month we covered some of the biggest trends to be expected in the benefits market in 2023. Among them, emergency savings stands out as a particularly major trend, and for good reason. In today’s economic landscape, employees are in need of extra financial support from their employers. While many were still trying to recover from the uncertainty created by the pandemic, 2022 brought a new set of financial challenges in the form of rising living costs and high inflation. According to research by Moody’s Analytics from October 2022, the average American household spent $433 more per month to buy the same goods and services it did a year prior. This kind of strain leaves the average employee that much more vulnerable to financial emergencies and less likely to be able to cover their monthly expenses on their own.

In response to these problems, huge companies are starting to adjust their benefits offerings. Instead of focusing on traditional financial benefits like retirement savings, many are starting to see both the need and the desire for programs that encourage short-term saving and help employees build healthy financial habits. Could your business be next?

In the last half of 2022, Starbucks introduced a new emergency savings benefit for their employees called My Starbucks Savings. The program is designed to help Starbucks employees save for unexpected costs by offering them cash incentives as they reach certain saving milestones. According to Starbucks’ SVP of benefits, Ron Crawford, their aim with the program is to “build a behavior, build a savings muscle, because that's what our partners are asking for, that they're wanting to save, but they struggle with how to get it done”.

Starbucks is far from alone. QUBER has partnered with huge multi-national corporations that have prioritized employee well-being and invested in helping their employees get to the next level with their money. Both Levi’s and KFC run their employee savings programs through QUBER, offering their employees the chance to earn dollar-for-dollar matched cash incentives as they grow their savings through the app. Both companies are invested in helping their employees develop the habit of consistent saving through behavioural science cues. 

The benefits of emergency savings are many. Emergency savings programs are highly customizable, allowing employers to choose many of the main program features such as program length, saving goals for their employees, the amount and frequency of incentive payouts and more. Emergency savings accounts are also easily accessible: QUBER’s emergency savings benefits are available within seconds through QUBER’s mobile app, meaning each employee can access their savings independently and receive cashouts when they need them. Also, as employees at any income level can live paycheck to paycheck, emergency savings benefits are equally desirable for all demographic groups. All types of employees have a use for extra liquid cash and can benefit from the financial literacy education these types of programs offer. 

So, if your business is looking for a cutting-edge benefit that your employees will thank you for, look no further: emergency savings is the way. QUBER’s innovative benefits platform leverages behavioural science to help employees make long-lasting changes to the way they manage their money. Our combination of proactive habit forming, financial literacy education and our prize-linked Save to Win contests will have your employees thanking you. Our platform works for employees in Canada and the US.

If you’re interested in learning more about how QUBER’s emergency saving accounts can improve the lives of your employees and strengthen their relationship with your business, book yourself a meeting with our team for a demo of our platform in action or send us an email at contactus@quber.ca.