WorkWhile CEO: Earning Power Belongs Alongside Credit and Debit

Credit bridges the period between a purchase and a paycheck. For a worker whose next shift is uncertain, borrowing today creates a problem that must be solved with future earnings. Sixty-eight percent of workers surveyed by WorkWhile said they would take additional shifts rather than use interest-bearing loans when faced with an unexpected expense.

Khalaf argued that choice reveals financial discipline conventional credit scores miss. "They're demonstrating better fiscal responsibility than all the top 5% who are over-leveraged in the stock market," he said. Repayment history does not tell a lender whether a worker can find another shift, what that shift will pay or how quickly that income arrives.

WorkWhile has begun building products around that information. Its assignments feature lets workers commit to multiple shifts, and Khalaf said workers have started watching wage fluctuations and taking shifts when compensation is favorable. Software could eventually identify those opportunities and present them for approval.

The model has its own constraint. WorkWhile pays workers within 24 hours, while customers typically pay in 30 days. That working-capital gap limits how much demand the company can accept. Same-day pay has the strongest effect on repeat-worker rates on the platform, Khalaf said.

He made a prediction about the future of payroll itself. "I believe that in the next decade, if workers are not paid daily, they will not show up to work," Khalaf told Webster.