Fintech startup Advance provides financial benefits beyond the paycheck, partners with Sitel® Philippines

New on-demand salary platform Advance recently sealed a partnership with Sitel Philippines, one of the largest providers of customer experience products and solutions in the country, to advance employees' financial wellness through its services.

This partnership will integrate Advance’s financial services into the benefits program of Sitel Philippines, allowing over 43,000 employees to easily access a portion of their salaries anytime by way of a flexible credit line in as quickly as a few seconds, through a mobile app—an employee perk that comes in handy in different ways.

“It’s very user-friendly, and also very accessible. It’s transparent in that they see right away what they’re eligible to borrow, and the moment they need it, they get it instantly sent to their bank account or e-wallet,” Advance CEO and Co-founder Jaime de los Angeles told Philstar.com.

“It’s very aligned with the needs of our partner, where we want to ensure that the employees are safe, the rates are fair, and the service is always reliable, 24/7. We don’t just offer them instant access to credit, but also peace of mind,” de los Angeles added.

Access your pay when you need it

Accessibility is the promise of Advance. Through its app, it ensures that employees can easily avail financial services, especially during unforeseen situations or emergencies when cash is lacking but badly needed.

Hence, users get an amazing customer experience via Advance’s three-step process for requesting a salary advance with the Advance app.

A user simply needs to log into their account, choose the amount to be borrowed and the payment terms, then review selected items and digitally sign the legal contracts to finalize the request. Once accomplished, the borrowed amount is almost instantly credited to their chosen account.

According to de los Angeles, simplicity and ease of use were put at the forefront when they were planning for the platform’s design as they wanted to “maintain a level of familiarity with users to keep it intuitive while providing new and relevant value to give an even better experience”

Additionally, de los Angeles mentioned that their dynamic credit line is one of the platform's unique features.

“It removes this pressure on borrowers and gives them full control over what they need,” he said. “The ability to access their line  multiple times until credit is fully utilized really helps promote  the financial freedom that we’ve been pushing for. It gives employees added security knowing that have an immediate financial option should they need the assistance.”

Apart from salary advances, Advance also provides financial tools like bills payment and wellness education to Sitel Philippines employees, equipping them with knowledge on financial literacy, goals, spending and investment, as a way to cope with the economic state.

Partners for financial wellness

For workplaces like Sitel Philippines, providing overall employee wellness is company commitment—from health, education and training, diversity and inclusion, and now financial wellness. It is for this reason that the company has been continuously receiving recognition as one of the top employers in the country.

This is also why the company deemed it important to partner with Advance, to leverage their fintech solutions in providing only the best-in-class benefits for its employees to help them reach their goals.

“Our partnership with Advance is very critical, not only for providing short-term assistance to our employees during times of emergencies, but also to help them attain even bigger and long-term financial goals,” expressed Pam Donato, Sitel Group® VP for HR - Philippines and China. “We believe that financial wellness is part of a holistic approach for the total wellness we want for our employees.”

The partnership with Advance comes right on time so it could provide a “more efficient, effective, and great platform” for its employees.

“Post-pandemic, we always have to make sure that we are providing that support for our associates. I think Advance and Sitel Philippines have common goals. Their goal is to provide financial wellness and support to the workforce, and that’s also our goal and what we want to provide to our associates,” Donato told Philstar.com.

Sitel Philippines, through iniatives like Sitel My Associate Experience (Sitel Max) Caravan, continually equips employees with information on the benefits they are entitled to. Photo Release

On the part of Advance, this partnership is a big step in the right direction as they want not only to expand the reach of its services, but also to develop a deeper understanding of its users and to gain a  better sense of where they are financially.

“Sitel Philippines has always had a reputation as one of the leaders in the BPO industry for delivering exceptional customer service and support. One of our core values is customer centricity; we’re confident that this partnership will allow us to take our own service efforts to new heights, and we’re fully committed to providing Sitel Philippines and its employees the best possible experience through Advance. We are thrilled about the opportunity to work together to help employees be more financially resilient, and support Sitel push towards holistic and total wellness,” he concluded.

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