5 November 2025
Wagestream is the largest provider of Earned Wage Access in the UK, serving 1000+ employers (fintechcouncil.org). But size isn’t everything. This page unpacks Wagestream’s pricing, features, and recent funding moves, then shows where FlexEarn is different (and often leaner) so you can decide with facts, not hype.
From an employee's perspective, Wagestream's Earned Wage Access service will appear similar to that of FlexEarn.
The difference lies in how Wagestream gets reimbursed. They set up a new e-money account for each employee. Each salary is re-routed to that account. Any reimbursements and fees are paid to Wagestream, with the remainder going to the employee's bank account.
This is called the 'Intercept Model'.
FlexEarn operates a simpler model which allows for less friction in onboarding, less maintenance and less cost.
FlexEarn allows employees to withdraw a portion of their salary in advance, just like Wagestream. The difference is FlexEarn's reimbursements are simply paid via a single payment from the company to FlexEarn, once per pay period.
Therefore there's no need to intercept salaries as withdrawals are simply deducted from wages. This is called the 'Deduction Model'.
