![SF Announcement](//images.ctfassets.net/5gwys9m2e7bh/2fGqv4cBknFnv5KhoFx8Ss/3cfcc7d823b8997bbcedbe41f5176805/announcement1.gif)
# Global workplace finance platform Salary Finance has acquired Neyber in a deal completed on 9 March 2020. 


The acquisition creates the UK’s largest employee financial wellbeing platform.  Salary Finance will now serve 500 client partners and reach 3 million employees. The client combined portfolio includes 15% of the FTSE 100 and many household name employers, such as BT, Dixons Carphone, Virgin Active, Co-op, Asda and public sector organisations including NHS Trusts and Police Forces.  
 
As a result of the acquisition, 1 in 10 UK employees will now be able to access Salary Finance financial wellbeing solutions through their employer. 
 
The acquisition was structured as a pre-pack administration, with Neyber assets acquired by Salary Finance and staff transitioned under TUPE.
 
The acquisition of Neyber, which was founded in 2014, will create a larger scale operation benefitting from expertise within both organisations.
 
Salary Finance will now provide the broadest set of employee financial wellbeing products in the market, including salary-linked savings and investments, loans, on-demand access to pay, protection insurance (income and critical illness cover) and financial education. In partnership with Nest and HMRC, Salary Finance also provides a pension savings sidecar product and access to HMRC’s Help to Save product linked to payroll.
 
Police Mutual will join Salary Finance as a new investor as part of the acquisition. Goldman Sachs, another former Neyber investor, has also joined Salary Finance as an investor.
 
Existing investors Blenheim Chalcot and Legal & General continue to invest in and support the business. Salary Finance also operates across the US, where Goldman Sachs is well positioned to support business growth.
 
Asesh Sarkar, Salary Finance Co-founder and Global CEO, commented: 
> “We are delighted to welcome the Neyber team and clients to the Salary Finance community, and thank the Neyber founders Martin Ijaha and Monica Kalia for building such a strong team and helping to create a category that hundreds of employers credit with helping the lives of their staff. 
> 
> “The Salary Finance mission is to help millions of employees around the world become financially healthier and happier. The Neyber acquisition, and the additional scale that gives us, takes us several steps forward in achieving our mission. We are excited to get to know and work with our new colleagues and clients.”

The transaction marks a milestone in this high growth sector and enables Salary Finance to invest further in product innovation to expand on the existing product set – an aim central to the firm’s goal to create the best solutions for improving employee financial wellbeing.
 
Research shows employers are increasingly focused on employee wellbeing, but that 36 per cent of UK workers have money worries directly impacting their performance at work. In fact, Salary Finance research shows that those with money worries are 14 times more likely to suffer from sleepless nights and four times more likely to be suffering with depression and anxiety.

Asesh added: 
> “Salary Finance addresses a social problem, and market failure, where 40 per cent of UK employees have no savings, and over six million employees have been refused a high street loan, leaving them little option but to take high interest debt. We address this issue at scale, with products which are better value and create better financial habits, such as auto savings-linked directly from pay.”

Salary Finance loan customers typically save £600 in interest, they pay off their debts six to 12 months sooner and see a five to 10 per cent increase in their credit score.

Neyber’s existing customers should continue to make loan repayments in line with their existing agreements, if any action is required they will be contacted by a representative of Salary Finance.  

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FinTech Salary Finance acquires Neyber, creating UK's largest employee financial wellbeing platform

This year, our DNA of Financial Wellbeing research went further than ever before. We surveyed over 11,000 employees, spanning the length and breadth of the country across all industries. We also heard from more than 700 employers on their views about financial wellbeing in the workplace.

In total, over the past four years that we’ve run the DNA of Financial Wellbeing Report, Neyber has heard from over 42,000 people, making DNA the largest research of its kind. 

### [ Click here to watch the webinar which runs through the key findings from this year's report](https://www.gotostage.com/channel/4523caedb4f3484680079459388443db/recording/992659cccbba49f3920d55d7c6f87d86/watch "DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2019 / 2020 Webinar")

It’s fair to say that when this journey began, and when Neyber began in 2014, financial wellbeing wasn’t a term that many employers would have recognised. But fast-forward to 2019, and we have moved from "What is financial wellbeing and should we be doing it?" to "What's the best way of doing it?"

# State of the Nation
- Most employees struggle to reach payday
- Higher paid employees impacted too
- Financial worries impact stress, anxiety, sleep and depression

Financial worries are once again the top concern of UK employees, with three in five individuals feeling the strain this year. What’s more, they’re worrying about their later life and retirement too – this is their second biggest concern. 

Not surprisingly, financial worries are taking a toll on people. One in three employees have felt stressed, one in three have felt anxious, one in four have lost sleep and one in five have felt depressed.

Those impacted are not just lower-paid, as people with the highest salaries are worrying too. Monica Kalia, our Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder, said:

> Across the UK, an estimated 20.3 million workers are affected by money worries. And these worries are not just confined to the young or lower paid in the workforce. Although money worries do decrease with income, almost half (46%) of employees earning over £70,000 per year are affected too. Nearly half of those aged up to 64 are saying they are affected by money worries.

## Money worries are not just a low-income problem; this graph shows people in each income group who say they are affected by money worries.

![unnamed](//images.ctfassets.net/5gwys9m2e7bh/1GRLGCVvUAnGdJdk9ULcPb/ec0898820634dc28d916677d22ea3ee1/unnamed.png)

Just over half (52% vs 50% last year) of those researched have to borrow money to meet basic financial needs. Twenty-seven per cent use credit cards to get by, building on the issue regularly. Just 2% borrow from their employer, perhaps through a loan or payroll lending.

On top of this, many employees can’t save because they don’t have the spare income. This can cause issues if something unexpected happens and can lead to more debt. Of those with no savings, 80% have debt to repay.

Our report also shows that:

- For those who have debt, the average amount is £7,555, around a third of their annual salary.
- 36% say they sometimes or often struggle to pay off credit cards.
- 45% run out of money between pay cheques.
- One in three people have £1,000 or less in savings.
- One in four people don’t save regularly and of those that do, the most common amount saved is less than £50 each month.
- One in four people would be able to cover their regular expenses for less than a month if they lost their income.

## Later life is a big worry too

The DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2019/2020 shows that employees aren’t just worrying about today. Later life and retirement plans have risen in importance from third to second place in the biggest concerns of employees, taking over from physical health which was last year’s second biggest concern. Just one in three employees believe they can look forward to a good lifestyle in retirement and nearly a third (29%) aren’t aiming to save for retirement.

# Employers are starting to get it
Employers have started to recognise how important financial wellbeing truly is. Nearly three-quarters now have a financial wellbeing strategy in place - although only around half are confident that it is well-developed. 

More concerningly - employers seem to be doing this as a 'nice to have', or something that benefits only employees. This year's research showed the cost that poor financial wellbeing has on the UK economy:

- 1.6 million employees taking time off work; costing £478 million
- Nearly 3 million employees struggling to focus at work; costing £516 million
- 3.6 million employees looking for a new job because of money worries; a potential cost of £14.2 billion in turnover.

Ultimately, not prioritising employee financial wellbeing could be costing UK employers a grand total of £15.2 billion each year.

# Fixing the problem requires deeper understanding

To understand employee financial needs, we have developed five financial wellbeing stages for every individual, regardless of age, income or gender. Almost half of British workers are in groups one to three. The groups are:

1. Getting started – where employees tend to run out of money before pay day.
2. Taking control – where employees may need to borrow, and struggle to pay off credit cards.
3. Finding balance – employees aren’t borrowing to meet financial commitments, but they are still paying off credit cards and don’t have enough of an emergency savings buffer
4. Building resilience – employees are in control of debt they have and feel they have enough for things they enjoy; they have an emergency fund to cover at least three months’ wages.
5. Planning ahead – employees are financially comfortable, with savings and retirement plans in place. They may be investing and can spend money without causing a financial strain.

Providing support that is relevant to the differing needs of employees is an important part of an employer’s support. Financial wellbeing is not just about paying off debt, but about ensuring employees feel in control and confident about their future as well.

[To find out more, click here to download your copy of the report.](https://cloud.e.neyber.co.uk/DNA-2019 "DNA of Financial Wellbeing download page")

DNA 2019 / 2020 Cover

Our latest research: The DNA of Financial Wellbeing 2019 / 2020

## Can you remember how you spent your first pay check? 

Being paid for the first time is one of life’s many milestones and the beginning of a lifelong relationship with earning, saving and spending money. 

Getting that relationship right from the start is the basis for good financial wellbeing, so employers have a unique opportunity to help young employees when they first join the workforce. 

Here are ten ways that employers can help support employees’ financial wellbeing right from the start: 

## Build a budgeting habit

Don’t let employees fall into the trap of thinking that budgeting only matters when money is tight. Good budgeting means that employees have a plan that will help them understand how much money they have day-to-day, to spend within their means, and save (no matter how little). 

That puts an individual in control – and feeling in control of money is at the root of all financial wellbeing. 

## Offer access to appropriate financial products

Younger workers haven’t had the opportunity to build up a credit score, so it can be difficult to get approval for certain types of financial products. 

Offering access to these the workplace means employees are not on their own when it comes to finding appropriate ways of saving and borrowing and that could also mean they have access to better forms of finance, should they need to borrow money. 

## Provide financial education

Most young workers won’t have had any financial education at school. They may have learnt money habits and attitudes from their parents and other family members, or from their peers. 

For some, that will be an inspiring first introduction to financial matters – but others may need to find ways to break away from repetitive patterns of debt and poor financial wellbeing. 

Plus, the future for young employees today will be very different from that of their parents, and they’ll need support to think about their short, medium and long term financial goals in a changed world. 

## Support saving for the long term

Pensions auto-enrolment means that for many workers, their first pay check is also the point at which they start saving for retirement. The longer employees save for, the more likely they are to build up a credible retirement pot by the time they reach their 50s and beyond. 

Even at the current minimum contribution rate of 8%, someone who saves all through their working life could build up a credible ‘pot’ by the time they leave the workforce. But faced with more immediate aspirations and financial demands, it can be tempting for young employees to opt out. 

Make sure they don’t miss out on the ‘free money’ in terms of employer contributions and tax relief. 

## …and help with today’s priorities

First-time workers will also have short and medium term aspirations, such as saving for a house purchase (or even to be able to rent on their own) and paying off student debt. 

There are plenty of ways employers can help – from loans to cover rent deposits, to generic guidance or financial advice that can help employees prioritise and work towards their financial goals. 

## Build a safety net

Having savings to fall back on for unexpected expenses or shortfalls in earnings is a vital part of feeling in control of finances. 

As younger employees become more independent, moving out of the family home and renting or buying independently, the need for a safety net becomes much more important.  Even a small amount of money put away regularly will soon add up.

## Automate savings

Saving money before you have the opportunity to spend it is the best way of building up a safety net and getting into good habits. Salary exchange for pensions is just one way to do that, as is consolidating any debts and automating repayments. 

## Consider offering a LISA

The Lifetime Savings ISA can be a great savings mechanism for younger workers saving for a mortgage, or as an extra form of retirement savings. It’s open to anyone under the age of 40 and could deliver as much as £1,000 a year as a tax-free bonus. 

## Use technology

Used in the right way, technology has huge opportunities to help employees of all ages with their money management. And that will only increase in coming years – services such as Osper and GoHenry mean that many children now manage money digitally from the very start.  

There are excellent tools to support employees in understanding how they spend their money, and also to help them save, for example by rounding up spare change from purchases and putting it into a savings account. 

## Get imaginative

Saving, debt management and good budgeting habits are all crucial to good financial wellbeing. But there may be other ways that employers can help younger workers achieve their personal goals without being held back by money. For example, the coffee giant Starbucks announced recently that it will fund online tuition fees for UK staff who want to study for a degree. 

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10 ways to help employees feel financially well right from their first pay check 

We’re delighted to announce that Guy Clarkson is bringing his experience and expertise to the team at Neyber. Guy will be responsible for engaging the UK’s larger private sector employers in building financial wellbeing strategies for employees.  

He will draw on considerable national and international experience gained while working at Thomsons Online Benefits as a member of the Client Management leadership team. In that role, he had first hand experience of working with a wide range of employers to engage their employees, notably on themes like pensions and savings.

## Guy said:

"The benefits and pension industry has traditionally focused on tax and national insurance efficiencies, as well as achieving better member outcomes in retirement. I feel that the industry has, however, forgotten about the employees that are just about managing and cannot begin to consider entering into a pension matching arrangement, however attractive the scheme may be.

"To me, Neyber is an extremely important component in bridging the savings gap and supporting vulnerable members of the UK workforce who are not currently able to start saving money for the future. I want to help educate the disenfranchised with savings and offer people financial education and products that are very much needed to resolve the negative.”

In our 4 years, we have grown exponentially, now reaching over 1 million employees in almost 300 organisations, such as Royal Mail, Co-op, Asda, Anglian Water, Harrods, UK Power Networks and London City Airport.  

## Monica Kalia, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, said:

"Guy’s reputation, excellent all-round employee benefits experience and ability to adopt a consultative approach when engaging with senior stakeholders is a perfect fit for our business. The financial wellbeing market is moving at pace and Guy is perfectly placed to drive exponential growth.”



Guy-Clarkson

Guy Clarkson brings his expertise to Neyber

For businesses who want to encourage saving, workplace ISAs are a good place to start. These are not a new innovation, however better technology, lower costs, and payroll integration have made them an easy and cost-effective solution for employers.

## 1)	Engaging the young

Between stratospheric rent rises and wage stagnation, many young people can’t see a way to prioritise long-term savings – particularly when it comes to retirement.
However, workplace ISAs offer a good middle ground. By offering a stocks and shares ISA you can encourage young people to think about longer-term saving, whether that’s to pay for a wedding, property or even a pension.

Phil Hollingdale, director at Smarterly said: “Employers increasingly realise that younger staff aren’t very engaged by pensions contributions. Workplace ISAs let businesses help employees save for the things they really want.”

## 2)	Beating the lifetime allowance

Mid- and higher-earners are at risk of reaching the lifetime allowance, leading to a hefty tax bill of as much as 55%. In fact, HMRC collected £110m in revenue in 2016/17 – a huge jump from the £40m collected in 2014/15.

However, as the Lifetime Allowance has decreased, the government has consistently increased ISA limits. This makes ISAs a tax efficient alternative for those employees likely to reach annual or lifetime allowances - often senior management.

## 3)	Better business benefits

Money issues cause financial stress among employees. In fact, research has shown that 30% of people lose sleep worrying about finances.

This can have severe business implications – including low productivity, mental health issues and absenteeism.

Promoting financial wellness among employees is not only the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense. 

That’s why more employers are looking at holistic strategies, covering everything from helping deal with debt to planning for the future.

Workplace ISAs create a savings vehicle for employees but equally, when embedded within a holistic financial wellness strategy, can empower employees to take control of their finances.

## 4)	 Encouraging people to save better

Many consumers shy away from investment products, believing that they’re too confusing or too risky. In fact, 75% of all money saved in ISAs in 2017 went into cash. 
Monica Kalia, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Neyber says: “In the UK, low financial literacy is at the heart of everything. Lack of financial knowledge prevents people from using more sophisticated products.”

Offering ISAs in the workplace helps normalise investments. And if products are delivered alongside guidance can help workers transition to a product better suited to long-term saving.

## 5)	Harnessing better technology

Workplace savings solution can be a cost-effective benefit to provide. Unlike their retail counterparts workplace ISAs can easily be integrated with payroll, making saving easy. And platform technologies combined with robotics mean that investments can be offered at a lower cost to consumers.

60% of employees believe their employer plays no role or doesn’t care about their financial wellness. But savings products and education programmes can improve employee engagement and bridge the gap between what staff want and what employers are able to provide.



Smarterly blog

Five reasons employers should consider workplace ISAs

## Congratulations on the win. How does it feel?
__Monica:__ It feels great! It’s always such an honour to win an award like this one. Diversity in business is something I speak about a lot, so it’s great to be recognised for something that I’m genuinely really passionate about. 

__Lopa:__ This year, which marks the 100 years of women’s suffrage, it was particularly pleasing that Monica Kalia was chosen as the Chairman’s Award winner. She is the first female winner although - given that each year the list already showcases the Top 5 Women - Monica was selected as the Chairman’s Award winner for her work rather than her gender.

Monica has previously appeared on the list in 2016 and 2017, but it was the cumulation of financial wellbeing provider Neyber’s strategy and the £100 million investment into employee lending that really impressed the Chairman, Dilip Joshi MBE.

> “In my working life in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, payroll lending was commonplace but I hadn’t appreciated how complicated this process had become nowadays until I read about Neyber’s success in providing a technological solution for access to fair finance for millions of UK employees delivered in an ethical and sustainable way,” 

“I was even more impressed that Monica and her co-founders had created this business and scaled it within just four years,” he added.

Diversity UK hopes that Neyber will go on to attract greater support from government and financial institutions in encouraging this form of fairer finance which provides better value for money for the employee and a greater loyalty and wellbeing for the employer.

## Lopa, you’re the founder and CEO of Diversity UK. Tell us a bit about what the awards stand for and the story behind them?

__L:__ The Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech is the definitive list of Asians working in the digital and technology sectors in Britain. The aim of the list is to showcase diverse talent; from startup founders, technologists, venture capitalists and investors; to the game changers and digital influencers in business and social enterprise. Dilip Joshi MBE, Chairman of Diversity UK, explains the ethos behind the initiative, “we started the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list to create a platform to celebrate companies and individuals who embody the spirit of our endeavours in diversity and inclusion in the workplace.” 

## Fintech is a really competitive sector, how were the winners and finalists chosen?

__L:__ There is a robust process in choosing the finalists. The list is part curated by myself for  Diversity UK. The nominations process opens in January and closes at the end of March each year, followed by a shortlisting process by a panel of judges who are experts in their field. 
Each nominee must be able to demonstrate; an executive level of seniority, impact, level of innovation, investment and growth, as well as a level of influence. Individuals are then assessed from a longlist to a shortlist by the panel of a dozen judges.

## Monica, what do you think are the benefits of having diversity bedded into business culture?

__M:__ Financial services is typically dominated by a very specific demographic, and as a fintech we get to shake things up a bit. To me, it seemed such a wasted opportunity not to reflect the progression and innovation of this industry in the way that businesses in the industry were actually run. 

In the space that we’re in, we’re focusing on financial inclusion and that means providing something that reflects the diversity of the UK workforce. 

At Neyber, we have people from almost every continent on the planet! My co-founders and I benefit hugely from this because we get to tap into that incredible global pool of talent to deliver products and services that suit our incredibly diverse customer base. We’ve got people in our business who can relate, and understand what our customers want to achieve in their financial lives. We’re very lucky. 

## How do you think business leaders can drive diversity in their business?

__M:__ Creating a diverse and innovative culture starts from the top, and my co-founders and I recognize that every decision we make has a direct reflection on who we are as a business and the talented team we have working at Neyber. I think if people at the top buy into the importance of diversity, and consciously embed this belief in their practices and policies then it becomes synonymous with the business as a whole.

monica award win

Neyber founder, Monica Kalia, recognised as the Top Asian in UK Tech sector

## Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest builders’ merchants, is bolstering its employee wellbeing programme by offering financial knowledge through Neyber to its 30,000 employees. 

Financial wellbeing fits with Travis Perkins’ people-led values, and overall the company aims to support employee engagement, reduce absence, improve safety, embrace their multigenerational workforce and be seen as an employer of choice.

Neyber’s financial education insights will work alongside Standard Life and Hymans Roberts for pension offerings, Barclays for My Money Works, Aviva for its employee assistance programme and My Perks (TP’s Reward and Recognition platform) from Reward Gateway.

Simon Naylor, Head of Group Benefits, explained: 

> “Financial wellbeing is not just important to us to attract and retain the best people, although that’s clearly essential for us - we feel that facilitating financial wellbeing is the right thing to do”.

Travis Perkins centres its financial wellbeing communications on established health and safety messages, which its employees readily engage with. It has a diverse workforce of lorry drivers, forklift operators and branch and store colleagues serving customers, so the financial education programme will use a wide range of digital channels, including a Financial Wellbeing Hub with online tools to support staff with financial planning and access to a debt management tool. Articles, videos, debt calculators, webinars and podcasts are also included, to guide employees on specific circumstances.

Staff also receive a weekly email focused around financial wellbeing, and from February will be able to access low-cost loans direct from their salary.

Paul Nelson, Group Head of Reward at Travis Perkins, added, 

> “When it comes to communications, we intentionally use similar language across both our health and safety messages and financial wellbeing messages, as this is easily relatable to staff and helps financial health messages to permeate through to all employees".

Travis Perkins links conversations around financial health to employees’ life events, such as a marriage or birth of a child. This helps employees to put financial issues into context for their own lives.

> “What we’ve found is that the way to trigger discussions, advice and guidance is to hook it into life events,” continued Nelson. “For instance, instead of talking to employees about investments and ways to save, we talk about things an employee may want to consider if they’re getting married or having their first child.”  

Information on financial wellbeing is primarily available via Travis Perkins’ benefits portal, My Perks. The organisation also uses targeted campaigns centred around financial health, as well as reward champions within the business to help promote these messages. In addition, the organisation has an active Google Plus community of employees, which it also uses to share ideas and messages.

Monica Kalia, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Neyber, said: 

> "We are delighted to be supporting Travis Perkins to build their financial wellbeing strategy. We’re committed to helping employees build financial resilience and it’s great to see this being adopted by a leading company such as Travis Perkins”.
> 

Paul Nelson summed up: 

> “Our aim is to build a mature, modern, comprehensive financial wellbeing strategy, from saving to investing to providing knowledge and education, as well as intervention to support employees as they need it”.



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Travis Perkins partners with Neyber to improve employees’ financial fitness 

We're proud to announce that Neyber has secured up to a further £100M in a capital investment round led by Goldman Sachs. The investment includes debt and equity as part of the recently completed series C fundraising round providing Goldman Sachs with a stake in the company. In addition to this, we have also secured £15m of lending capital from existing investors led by Henry Ritchotte and Gael de Boissard in this investment round. 

Since launching nationally in January 2016, Neyber now counts over 80 private and public sector organisations across the UK as clients, including some of the largest UK employers. We are especially proud to say that we have saved our members £14M in interest payments and developed an addressable market of 700,000 employees.

> This is a groundbreaking transaction for Neyber and the most significant milestone in our development to date. 

This transaction brings Neyber’s award winning proposition further into focus and comes at a time when Neyber is launching with some of the largest employers in the UK. This capital investment will allow Neyber to embrace these opportunities and expand the universe of employees that Neyber can serve. This supports our mission of improving the financial wellbeing of even more UK employees.

Goldman Sachs joins Police Mutual and WGC to create a group of core strategic investors in Neyber's future. Collectively the investment and expertise these three organisations bring across areas such as capital markets, financial services and credit risk will serve to cement Neyber’s position as the leading player in the UK salary deducted lending market. 

Dennis Beeson, a senior executive with Goldman Sachs Private Capital, said:
> “We are excited to partner with Neyber on its period of rapid growth. Employee financial wellbeing is of increasing importance to UK employers and Neyber is a key player in the evolving market. Neyber’s strong management and leading technology platform ensure its continued success.”



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