Wal-Mart Will Allow Workers to Have Early Access to Pay

  • Retailer’s employees will get eight free uses of Instapay tool
  • Startup PayActiv had been discussing deal for almost a year

Employees restock shelves at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in Burbank, Calif.

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., working with two financial-technology startups, will allow its 1.5 million-strong U.S. workforce to draw on their salary ahead of payday -- or squirrel some of it away for a rainy day.

The world’s biggest retailer has unveiled financial-planning tools designed by Even Responsible Finance Inc. and PayActiv Inc., a move that lets its employees access earned wages ahead of scheduled paychecks and avoid bounced checks or payday lenders.