Provider comparison
Salary Finance vs Wagestream
Side-by-side comparison from the PerkIQ directory. Cover, pricing, regulator status, and fit at a glance.
Category
Financial Wellbeing
Financial Wellbeing
Best for
500-50,000+ employees
50-50,000+ employees
Pricing model
Free for employer
Free for employer; small per-transaction fee
UK presence
Since 2015
Since 2018
Regulator
FCA-authorised
FCA-authorised
Strapline
Salary Finance offers UK employees salary-linked loans, savings, and financial education. Loans repaid via payroll deduction at significantly below market rates.
Wagestream is the UK's leading financial wellbeing platform, offering earned wage access, salary tracking, savings, and financial education. Used by 800+ UK employers including ASDA, NHS, and Bupa.
What's included
- Payroll-linked loans. Loans repaid via payroll deduction at APRs well below high-street credit cards or payday lenders.
- Payroll-linked savings. Tax-efficient gross-pay savings into FSCS-protected accounts, building emergency funds without effort.
- Financial education library. Articles, videos, and interactive tools covering budgeting, debt management, pensions, and savings.
- Free for employers. No setup or platform fee. Salary Finance is paid by the lending margins, so the employer side is fully free.
- Earned wage access. Employees can draw down wages they have already earned ahead of payday, without changing your payroll cycle.
- Salary tracker and budgeting. Real-time view of earned-to-date pay, plus simple budgeting tools and spend categorisation.
- In-app savings. FSCS-protected savings pots funded by automatic gross-pay deductions, helping employees build emergency funds.
- Financial coaching and education. Free 1-to-1 coaching calls plus a content library covering debt, savings, pensions, and budgeting.
Who it's for
No fit notes published.
No fit notes published.
Pricing approach
No pricing notes published.
No pricing notes published.
At a glance
- FCA authorised
- Founded 2015, London
- Salary-linked loans & savings
- Below-market interest rates
- Free for employers
- Enterprise focus
- FCA authorised
- 800+ UK employers (ASDA, NHS, Bupa)
- 3m+ workers covered
- JRF-backed
- Founded 2018, London
- Free for employers
Pick the right one with data, not a sales pitch
Score your benefits stack with PerkIQ and you'll see which of these (or another provider entirely) closes the biggest gaps for your team.
Information on this page is editorial, gathered from public sources and the providers' own materials, and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation. For a quote, contact each provider directly or speak to an FCA-authorised broker. PerkIQ is not a reseller and earns no commission on provider sign-ups.
