Salt Labs, a Chime Company

The Chief of Chime Enterprise and Founder of Salt Labs, Jason Lee, has always been a man with a vision.

His first venture, DailyPay, was revolutionary. It introduced earned wage access (EWA), or on-demand pay, to the world. For the first time, hourly employees could access their earned wages before payday, breaking free from overdrafts, late fees and predatory payday loans. Yet, as the days turned into months, Lee noticed something troubling.

“While on-demand pay had eased the burden, it hadn’t lifted it entirely,” Lee said. “Workers were still trapped in a cycle of scarcity, their resources too limited to allow for anything beyond survival.”

Lee realized that while DailyPay had solved one problem, it hadn’t addressed the root issue—the resources were still too scarce for savings, leaving little room for dreams.

That’s when Salt Labs was born.

Today, Salt Labs, who was recently acquired by Chime earlier this year, partners with best-in-class employers to help employees capture, measure and reward themselves for their work. This drives savings and financial progress, resulting in a profoundly motivated and engaged workforce.

The company has introduced a simple yet powerful principle — time is money. For every hour worked, employees earn one “Salt,” — a non-cashable asset — and employees can build and track their Salt in a user-friendly app that is mobile and desktop friendly.

Salt mirrors a savings account. Employees build their Salt Balance every hour they work and have set goals on a range of rewards from experiences like family vacations to financial products such as stocks or treasury bonds. This system encourages employees to set and achieve financial goals and adds a deeper meaning to their daily work, offering something beyond their typical paycheck.

Breaking New Ground in Employee Savings

Salt Labs offers a groundbreaking approach to savings, particularly for individuals who feel constrained by their paychecks. Traditional rewards programs often fail to address the unique needs of hourly workers. Now, these workers, who typically cannot participate in retirement or stock option plans, can save and build wealth without additional paycheck deductions. Salt makes savings a natural outcome of working, a concept Lee describes as “Earn to Save.”

“Salt represents more than just a new savings mechanism,” Lee said.

“We offer hourly workers a way to transform their short-term mindset into long-term financial planning. Unlike traditional cash savings, which they may quickly spend on immediate needs, we encourage workers to think about their future and the rewards they can achieve by saving consistently over time. By transforming earning into an opportunity to save, we help workers build a financial cushion many have never had before.”

The genius of Salt lies in its ability to shift the mindset of hourly workers from living paycheck to paycheck to thinking more long-term. Salt does this by making saving an integral part of the earning process. The platform requires minimal effort from employers, yet it delivers significant value by turning the simple act of working into an opportunity for saving.

This concept redefines the value of time. For the first time, hourly workers see their labor contributing to something beyond day-to-day survival. Salt gives their work a new sense of purpose, providing a pathway to attain goals that once seemed unattainable. The simplicity and transparency of Salt’s model make it easy for employees to track their progress through the app, which displays their Salt Balance and helps them monitor their savings goals. This motivates workers to act like owners, pick up extra shifts and invest more time in their work, knowing their efforts are directly linked to achieving their savings goals.

The platform’s effectiveness is evident in its users’ behavior, who save an average of 59% of their earnings and set goals for over four personal goals. This shift in behavior underscores the platform’s ability to instill a savings mindset in a demographic that has historically struggled to set aside money for the future.

A Behavioral Science Approach to Employee Loyalty

Salt Labs’ brilliance lies in its ability to help workers save and how it taps into deep-seated psychological principles to foster loyalty and engagement. The platform harnesses the endowment effect, a behavioral science principle that suggests people place a higher value on objects they own than those they do not. This effect is at the core of its success. By allowing employees to earn and accumulate Salt, the company creates a sense of ownership and attachment. Workers become emotionally and psychologically invested in their Salt Balance, which they perceive as a personal asset.

The endowment effect has a profound impact on employee engagement and retention. Just as airline miles or credit card points can drive customer loyalty, Salt motivates workers to stay with their employers longer.

By transforming earning into an opportunity to save, we help workers build a financial cushion many have never had before

Employees work not just for a paycheck but to build something they own of lasting value. This sense of ownership is powerful, leading to a 56% reduction in turnover among Salt users and a significant increase in employee satisfaction. Additionally, 91% of Salt users report feeling more financially secure since using the platform.

Case Study: Incept’s Call to Make Frontline Employees Act like Owners Through Salt

The impact of Salt Labs’ approach is best illustrated through its clients’ success stories.

Incept, a company that adopted Salt to enhance employee engagement and retention, saw remarkable results after implementing the platform.

With high turnover rates and low participation in traditional 401(k) programs, Incept turned to Salt Labs for a solution. The platform provided a more engaging and practical way for employees to engage with their work daily, and made savings accessible and rewarding.

The outcomes were striking:
● A 61% improvement in employee tenure
● A 78% user adoption rate for the program
● A noticeable increase in savings behavior among employees

The program’s success was so evident that even salaried supervisors requested to be included, underscoring its broad appeal and effectiveness. Incept’s CEO, Sam Falletta, highlighted the program’s ability to make seemingly unattainable goals a reality for employees, thanks to its innovative approach to savings and rewards.

A Vision for the Future

Salt Labs has revolutionized employee recognition by turning time into a valuable asset that workers can save and grow. Through its unique platform, the company empowers hourly workers to take control of their financial futures, fostering a sense of ownership and loyalty that traditional rewards programs often fail to achieve.

Salt Labs’ innovative approach has not gone unnoticed. The company was recently acquired by Chime Financial, a leading financial technology company, in a move that promises to expand Salt’s reach and impact. Now operating as Chime Enterprise, the Salt Labs team continues to build on its success, leveraging Chime’s platform to offer even more benefits and products to hourly workers across the U.S.

Under Lee’s leadership, Chime Enterprise will continue empowering employers to enhance their employees’ financial security, with a mission to unlock financial progress for all employees.

Changing Lives, One Salt at a Time

The story of Salt Labs is one of innovation and impact. Tested across a broad spectrum of workers, Salt is not just an employee recognition tool — it’s a vehicle for financial empowerment. By giving hourly workers a way to save and build long-term value, Salt Labs redefines what it means to recognize and reward employees at work. This pioneering approach boosts employee engagement and retention and provides a pathway for workers to achieve financial goals they may have never thought possible.

As Salt Labs continues to grow under the Chime Enterprise umbrella, the future looks bright for both the company and the workers it serves. The combination of Salt’s groundbreaking approach to savings and Chime’s expansive platform promises to bring financial progress to millions of employees, changing lives one Salt at a time.