As independent contractors, it can be tough applying for insurance, credit cards, mortgages, and more because we don’t have a ‘steady paycheck’. What’s worse, our net income after deductions and expenses makes it seem like we’re earning a lot less, so many financial institutions have made drivers jump through hoops to get access to loans and other basic financial products.
However, what if there was a company that could pull all that information for you with only two clicks and increase your chances of getting approved for said financial products?
In this article, senior RSG contributor Paula Gibbins will cover Argyle, a company that is working with businesses to help drivers, couriers and other gig workers get access to credit, lending and more.
Argyle is one of our B2B affiliate partners, and they are looking to support new businesses that offer services to rideshare drivers, gig workers and more. If you’re looking to connect with them, you can reach out to Harry directly for an intro or contact the Argyle team here and mention Harry sent you for special pricing.
While you may not have heard of Argyle yet, it’s doing the behind-the-scenes work to help gig workers show proof of employment and earnings. While drivers don’t sign up with Argyle directly, you likely have signed up with a company using Argyle’s technology to qualify for a number of different products and services.
So we figured it would be interesting to go over how Argyle works so you understand what they’re doing, which companies are using their technology, and how they can help you.
What is Argyle?
Argyle provides the technology that makes it easy for gig workers to grant access to their employment and financial records on the Uber, Lyft and every other gig work platform to businesses like lenders, banks, and insurance companies.
Why would gig workers want to give businesses access to their employment records? For one, several businesses and loan institutions require proof of employment and earnings before they will approve consumers for something like a personal loan, insurance product, or even a cash advance.
With Argyle, it’s easier for gig workers to prove that they are gainfully employed and have a steady income, allowing those gig workers to prove financial stability and look like less of a risk in the eyes of these businesses.
For example, I recently went through the pre-approval loan process for buying a house. When my mortgage financial advisor needed access to my bank information, she sent me to a portal where I logged into my financial institution and gave them permission to view my statements to prove my income, savings and more. Argyle provides a similar service: where I was provided with a list of employers and a platform to share this necessary information securely.
Some cool use cases we’ve seen so far include:
- Use your work history with delivery companies to qualify for a subsidized e-bike rental.
- Qualify for better rideshare insurance rates based on your driving history.
- Create a driver profile with Deliverful and stand out when applying for your next driver job.
How Argyle Works
If you ever applied for a personal loan in the past, you probably filled out a long form with your employment and income information—and hoped that the lender took your word for it. Or maybe you had to scramble to find proof of your employment and income and upload it digitally for the lender to review. Or even worse, you had to reach out to Uber for help with proving your income 🙂
Now, if your lender uses Argyle, you simply select the gig platforms you work for from their database and enter the username and password you use to sign in to work for those platforms.
From there, Argyle connects the data in your gig employment account to the lender, so they have the verifiable information they need to approve your loan application.
Instead of hunting down all the detailed information a lender requires, you complete your application with two clicks. It is an entirely consent-based data exchange (you give access, and you can take it away at any time, too), and it’s secure. Argyle uses military-grade encryption and meets the strictest security compliance standards, so you can have peace of mind that your data is safe.
Argyle has also raised $22.6 million in funding from companies like Checkr (background checks) and F-Prime Capital (a healthcare and technology venture capital firm), needless to say they are legit on the technology and start-up scene.
RSG has also personally tried out the service and vetted the founders. Listen to Harry’s podcast interview with Argyle COO and co-founder Billy Marsden here.
Real-World Examples of Argyle in Action
If you run across Argyle in the real world, you might not even realize you’re using it. That’s because Argyle technology integrates seamlessly with the apps and platforms that rely on them to connect to gig workers’ employment records.
Here are more examples of how Argyle has integrated with real-world partners:
Cash advances
Moves was founded exclusively for gig and independent workers as a fair and affordable alternative to payday loans. With Moves, even gig workers without strong credit have access to the cash advances they need to cover emergency expenses, establish a financial safety net, and achieve their financial goals—without high fees or unsustainable repayment plans.
Moves also provides gig workers with a platform to keep track of their earnings across multiple gig apps, so they can figure out how to best spend their time and maximize their income.
Driver Profiles
Argyle has integrated with Deliverful to help drivers create profiles based on their work history in the gig economy. Aggregate your trip counts, ratings and more and be matched with employers willing to pay for the top drivers.
By partnering with Argyle, Deliverful has made it easy for drivers to track their availability, driving patterns, expected compensation, and more. Deliverful also provides an easy onboarding workflow, making it simpler for drivers to submit and view background checks, enroll in payroll systems, and access benefits like financial and vehicle tools.
In addition to partnering with Deliverful, Argyle also works with Gridwise, one of our best mileage tracking apps. Working with Gridwise, Argyle is able to automate earnings and performance tracking, provide breakdowns for how drivers are performing across different apps, and provide drivers information on the best places to earn, find trips, and more.
Insurance
Gig workers in the rideshare and gig economy are often charged a high premium for car insurance. It’s one of the reasons we offer such a comprehensive rideshare insurance guide!
Argyle currently is working with insurance providers, like Buckle, to get drivers access to better insurance rates.
With companies like Buckle, Argyle works directly with the insurance provider. There’s no credit check. Rideshare drivers simply enter their zip code, connect their rideshare account using Argyle, confirm their vehicle information, and they’re done!
Argyle helps drivers save money by providing insurance providers an accurate report of total distance and time spent driving on a platform, plus helps file insurance claims by providing proof of on-platform activity at the time of the incident. This helps provide reassurance to drivers that Argyle has their back – giving them critical proof that Uber and Lyft demand without causing extra work for the driver.
Employment benefits
Gig companies typically don’t provide their workers with benefits, which puts the burden on gig workers to figure out how to cope with hardships like missed work due to illness—an ever-increasing issue with the current state of the world. To help gig workers bridge the gap, one Argyle customer offers a flat-rate, month-to-month benefits subscription.
All benefits packages travel with the gig worker, no matter what company they find themselves working for at any given time. The package features include an income guarantee, sick leave, 24/7 telehealth services, legal protection, automatic mileage tracking, and soon, bookkeeping services to help gig workers manage and boost their earnings.
Lending
Stilt is a mission-driven company focused on helping immigrants and other underserved communities build financial security through low-interest personal loans that don’t require a social security number, cosigner, or credit history.
A large proportion of Stilt customers work in the gig economy, so Stilt makes sure that its application and underwriting process is inclusive of gig workers’ unique employment and cash flow circumstances.
“Before Argyle, our users had to upload paystubs or a verification letter from HR, which made the process cumbersome.” — Rohit Mittal, CEO at Stilt
What’s Next for Argyle?
Argyle is already integrated into 95% of the gig economy, and their goal is to give all US workers access to the benefits of Argyle (like the ones mentioned above.)
In the future, Argyle is working to build out more integrations with employer and payroll providers. If you’re interested in working with Argyle from a business standpoint, make sure to contact Harry to be connected with Argyle!
If you’re a driver, chances are you may see Argyle on an app or platform in the future – if you haven’t already.
Drivers, have you seen Argyle in action, either through a lender, insurance company, or benefits company? What use case would you like to see a company partner with Arygle to offer next?
-Paula @ RSG