SteadyPay
SteadyPay is a UK fintech that provides subscription-based income smoothing and interest-free short-term loans to hourly-paid and gig economy workers. Its mobile app uses Open Banking to detect pay patterns and offers CashWave loans, TopUp income smoothing, and credit bureau reporting.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What SteadyPay does
SteadyPay is a UK-based, FCA-authorised fintech (authorisation number 789333) founded in 2017 by John Downie in London. It provides subscription-based income smoothing and short-term credit products targeted at UK workers with irregular pay — primarily hourly-paid employees, gig-economy freelancers, and contractors whose income fluctuates due to variable shifts, sick leave or holidays. The company serves this segment through a mobile app on iOS and Android, augmented by an employer-channel B2B2C offering and an embedded-finance white-label arrangement with at least one partner bank that reported 20% customer uptake.
SteadyPay firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SteadyPay
- Legal name
- SteadyPay Limited
- Website
- https://steadypay.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- SteadyPay is a UK fintech that provides subscription-based income smoothing and interest-free short-term loans to hourly-paid and gig economy workers. Its mobile app uses Open Banking to detect pay patterns and offers CashWave loans, TopUp income smoothing, and credit bureau reporting.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SteadyPay industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Fintech / Earned Wage Access
- NAICS
- Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522), Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223)
- SIC
- Personal Credit Institutions (6141)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Small-Dollar Short-Term Installment Loans (Non-payday) (FSAKAMAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cash Advance (Online & Storefront) (FSAKAMAC)
Keywords
Where SteadyPay is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
SteadyPay business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Fees (CashWave): Monthly subscription service at £30 per month providing access to £50-£500 loans repayable over 3 months. No interest charged on advances; subscription fee represents the cost of the service.
- Subscription Fees (TopUp): Monthly subscription service at £28 per month providing access to income top-ups up to £1,000 credit limit. No interest charged; subscription covers the cost of the service.
- Subscription Fees (Credit Builder): Weekly subscription at £7 per week bundled with TopUp, or standalone £4 per month for credit building product. Reported to credit agencies monthly.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | CashWave: £50-£500 instant loans with £30/month subscription |
| Subscription | Monthly | TopUp: Income smoothing with £28/month subscription |
| Subscription | Monthly | Credit Builder: Standalone credit building at £4/month |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
SteadyPay product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SteadyPay delivers subscription-based, interest-free credit services to UK workers with irregular income via a mobile app. CashWave provides £50–£500 short-term loans repaid over three months for a £30/month subscription; TopUp smooths income by advancing money up to a £1,000 credit limit when pay falls below the user's average; Credit Builder reports monthly repayments to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax to help customers improve their credit score. All products use Open Banking (via Salt Edge) to read-only access the user's bank account, automatically detect pay patterns, and determine eligibility without interest charges or hidden fees.
Product overview
SteadyPay is a subscription-based credit service designed for UK workers with irregular or hourly income, particularly gig economy workers. The core product portfolio consists of CashWave (short-term loans of £50–£500 at no interest, repaid over three months via monthly subscription) and TopUp (income smoothing that advances money when pay falls below average, with £1,000 credit limit). Both products operate on a subscription model rather than charging interest. Credit Builder is a bundled or standalone add-on that reports repayments to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax to help users build credit scores. SteadyPay for Employers allows businesses to offer the app as a staff benefit to reduce financial stress and increase worker engagement. All services are accessed through a mobile app (iOS/Android) that connects to the user's bank account via open banking to automatically detect pay patterns and determine eligibility.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CashWave: Short-term loan product offering £50–£500 with no interest, repayable over three months in monthly instalments. Representative APR 91.25%.
- TopUp
- Credit Builder
Products and services
- CashWave A short-term subscription-based loan product offering £50–£500 with no interest charged, repayable over three months in equal monthly instalments through a £30/month subscription. Representative APR 91.25%. Repayments are reported to credit reference agencies to help build the customer's credit score. Targeted at UK consumers with irregular or hourly income who need short-term liquidity without paying interest.
- TopUp An income-smoothing service that automatically advances money when the user's pay falls below their calculated monthly average, protecting against reduced work hours, sick days, or holidays. Provides access to top-ups up to a £1,000 credit limit with a minimum top-up of £25, priced at £28 per month or £7 per week. Representative APR 36.4%. Designed for UK hourly-paid and gig-economy workers with variable income.
- Credit Builder A credit-building product that reports fixed monthly payments over 12 months to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax to help users improve their credit score. Available as a standalone subscription at £4 per month or bundled with TopUp at £7 per week. On average, customers move up one credit score band every 4–6 months. Targeted at UK consumers with thin or damaged credit files.
- SteadyPay for Employers A B2B2C employer benefit program offering the SteadyPay app as a voluntary staff perk to hourly-paid employees. Designed to reduce worker financial stress, improve retention, and increase engagement. Requires no payroll integration from the employer. Targeted at UK employers of hourly workers in sectors such as hospitality, retail, and logistics.
Quantifiable outcome
- 91%+ customer satisfaction maintained for 14+ months
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use SteadyPay
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SteadyPay technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability2 records
Feature4 records
SteadyPay partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Fair by DesigncorePartnership with Fair by Design, an organization addressing the poverty premium. The partnership aims to provide fair banking solutions and reduce the additional costs that people with lower incomes pay for essential services.
- SlingercorePartnership with Slinger, a hospitality staffing platform, to support gig workers in the UK hospitality industry. Slinger connects hospitality businesses with staff, providing job opportunities and shift management. SteadyPay provides income smoothing to help Slinger workers achieve financial stability between gigs.
- Salt Edge LimitedcoreThird-party provider enabling read-only bank account integration via Open Banking. Salt Edge transmits account information to SteadyPay to determine top-up eligibility and repayment timing.
- Judo PaycoreThird-party payment processor managing continual payment authority for automatic collection of subscription payments and top-up repayments from customer debit cards.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights8 records
SteadyPay competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Dave: US-listed (NASDAQ: DAVE) banking and EWA app offering cash advances, budgeting tools, and credit-building. Comparable to SteadyPay's full product suite (income smoothing + credit builder) at much larger scale and with public-company financials.
- MoneyLion: US digital finance platform offering earned wage access, credit-building loans, and financial content. Overlaps with SteadyPay across the income-smoothing + credit-builder bundle, though at significantly larger scale.
- Earnin: US-based EWA pioneer offering no-fee cash advances against earned income. Same product category as SteadyPay's TopUp but US-focused and significantly larger; useful as a scale and category-validation comparable.
- Even: US EWA platform partnering with employers to offer on-demand pay and budgeting tools. Comparable to SteadyPay's TopUp and B2B2C employer channel but US-focused.
Direct peers
- Salary Finance: UK financial-wellness platform providing salary-deducted loans, savings, and financial education through employer partnerships. Overlaps with SteadyPay's employer-benefits distribution and small-dollar credit mission, though anchored in employer payroll-deduction rather than open banking.
- Wagestream: UK-headquartered earned wage access provider partnering with employers and banks to let workers stream earned wages before payday. Closest direct competitor to SteadyPay's TopUp product and shares the B2B2C employer-benefits distribution model.
- PayCaptain: UK EWA and on-demand pay provider targeting employers and their hourly workforce. Comparable offering to SteadyPay's TopUp with a similar employer-channel focus.
- Hastee: UK EWA platform offering salary advances to employees via employer partnerships. Directly competes with SteadyPay's TopUp in the same UK hourly-worker segment with a similar employer-channel GTM.
Others
- Wonga: Former UK payday lender (now operating as a lower-cost installment lender post-FCA reforms). Represents the legacy high-cost-credit category SteadyPay positions itself against; useful as the 'what we are not' benchmark.
- Credit Karma: UK credit-monitoring and credit-builder platform reporting from UK credit bureaus. Adjacent to SteadyPay's Credit Builder product and relevant for understanding the credit-education ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SteadyPay social profiles
Digital presenceSteadyPay compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
SteadyPay financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SteadyPay leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
SteadyPay funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SteadyPay M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SteadyPay
What does SteadyPay do?
SteadyPay delivers subscription-based, interest-free credit services to UK workers with irregular income via a mobile app. CashWave provides £50–£500 short-term loans repaid over three months for a £30/month subscription; TopUp smooths income by advancing money up to a £1,000 credit limit when pay falls below the user's average; Credit Builder reports monthly repayments to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax to help customers improve their credit score. All products use Open Banking (via Salt Edge) to read-only access the user's bank account, automatically detect pay patterns, and determine eligibility without interest charges or hidden fees.
Is SteadyPay a public or private company?
SteadyPay is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was SteadyPay founded?
SteadyPay was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is SteadyPay based?
SteadyPay is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does SteadyPay make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Fees (CashWave) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Fees (TopUp) and subscription Fees (Credit Builder).
Who are SteadyPay's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Dave, MoneyLion, Earnin and Even. Direct peers are Salary Finance, Wagestream, PayCaptain and Hastee. Others are Wonga and Credit Karma.
Does SteadyPay have an API?
No public API is recorded for SteadyPay.
What industry is SteadyPay in?
SteadyPay's product category is Consumer Fintech / Earned Wage Access. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAKAMAI, Small-Dollar Short-Term Installment Loans (Non-payday), with a secondary code of FSAKAMAC, Cash Advance (Online & Storefront). Its NAICS code is 522 and its SIC code is 6141.