Ep. 85: Making Payday, Every Day

Nico Simko, CEO and co-founder of Clair, was working long hours at his college job but had to wait nearly two weeks to receive any of the money he had earned. He wanted to find a better way for employees to be paid, so they weren’t having to wait to see their money. By the end of 2019, Nico had figured out how to make this possible. 

Instant pay options have been around for a few industries, like driving for Uber or delivering food on Doordash, but there weren’t options for other industries. Most 9-5 workers would still have to wait for their company to pay them, whether that was bi-monthly or monthly. Nico knew Clair would be able to bridge the gap between these two options, creating a new on-demand payment option. 

Clair allows employees to access up to 50% of their paycheck, before payday. There also aren’t any fees for accessing your wage early. This allows customers to easily, and freely, access their money whenever they need it. 

“You’ve earned $1000. You want $100 right now because your paychecks coming in 3 or 4 days. You need it for an emergency expense. Like we see it as microloans at Clair, and the view for us was let’s do it for free. That was the goal.”

Nico focuses on a customer-first approach at Clair. He values staying ahead of the customer, consistently assessing their needs, and figuring out how to bring in new features to help with changing needs. Additionally, Nico hopes that this new payment option will better the relationship between employers and employees and increase overall wellness. 

In the next few years, Nico is excited to continue expanding Clair, bringing in even more financial opportunities. He wants to increase Clair’s available products, while also increasing product distribution. 

“We have multiple options in terms of financial products but I want to expand that. I really believe that if you’re going to give people the ability to get paid in real-time, give them also really good budgeting tools.”

Listen to this podcast to learn more about the future of on-demand payments with Hunter and Nico.

More about Nico

Nico Simko is Co-founder & CEO of Clair, the mission-driven fintech company behind the first free, consumer-friendly on-demand pay solution backed by an FDIC-insured bank. Nico co-founded Clair in 2019, inspired by his experience as an Argentinian-Swiss immigrant working an hourly job in college. After eagerly awaiting his paycheck to keep up with his bills, Nico decided to create Clair to help workers get paid as soon as they finish their shifts.

Prior to Clair, Nico led M&A due diligence processes for J.P. Morgan’s payments division, where he developed expertise on the lesser-known financial pain points that many Americans face. Nico holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University. He is based in New York City, where Clair is headquartered.