3 Impressive Advantages of Payroll Cards for Farmworkers
Farmwork is a hard job. This is why you deserve to receive every cent of the money you earn. But if you don’t belong to a bank and currently cash checks to get your wages, you might be losing out on some important income.
That’s why getting paid by paycard may be the perfect solution for you, without the hassle of ever having to open a bank account.
What is a payroll card?
Each month, your employer will load your wages onto the card and you will have immediate access to your full wages on payday to spend as you wish.
There are no fees to enroll with most paycards, meaning every cent you earned gets loaded onto your card. However, make sure you ask the provider about ATM fees, monthly fees, withdrawal limits, and other fees before you accept enrollment.
What are the benefits of having a paycard?
The list of advantages a paycard can provide you is long, so here are three of our favorite reasons payroll cards are such a great tool!
1 - No more waiting for your money
You deserve to have access to your money the second it gets paid to you on payday, and you shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get it, either! After all, you’ve already done the hard work on the farm, why do you have to do extra?
“[With checks] you wait in line about 20 to 30 minutes, and with the card you get to an ATM, it’s available, you withdraw [cash], or you go inside [the bank] and it’s faster.”
Having a payroll card means your wages will become available the moment they are paid, with no effort on your part to collect them.
So no more waiting in line to pick up your check, for the mailman to bring your check, or waiting in long lines to cash your paycheck!
2 - No check-cashing fees
“There are many times when the company is not registered at the stores, so they don’t want to cash your check - and you need to look for stores where the company is registered.”
Not only is it a hassle to wait in line to cash a check, but many check-cashing and local retailers charge you each time you do so. In the US, check-cashing locations charge an average of 4.11% of the value of your check every time you cash one.
To put it into perspective:
An average farmer's salary is about $38,383 per year. If you are paid weekly, that equals 52 payments of $783.13 a week. Now, let’s imagine you are charged 3% every time you cash a check. 3% of $783.13 is $22.14. Over the course of a year, that’s $1,151.49 of your hard-earned cash wasted on check-cashing fees.
Imagine what you could do with that extra money!
3 - Added security for your money
Understandably, some people have concerns over the safety of their money in the bank. But paycards come with a PIN (Personal Identification Number) that is secret and unique to you, so no one except you can access your money.
Plus, with all your money safely on one card, you don’t need to worry about carrying cash around that could easily be lost or stolen.
“[If] you carry cash maybe you could lose it, but with your card, if you lose it, you could replace it for another one and your money is there.”
With a payroll card like Ganaz for example, in the unlikely event that someone else manages to use your card, your money will be protected as long as you notify us straight away.
4 - Bonus: Shop online!
If you don’t have a debit or credit card already, then you’ve been missing out on convenience. With a payroll card backed by Mastercard for example, you’re able to purchase the cool gadgets online and have them delivered to your door, pay for concert tickets online, or simply pay your electric bill.
“It’s worked very well and for my shopping it hasn’t been declined, I simply shop to what’s been deposited to the account, I use it, and it works good.”
Give paycards a chance
At Ganaz, we want to help support farmworkers across the US to access their hard-earned money as easily as possible without having to pay an unfair fee to access their cash.
With the Ganaz payroll card, we give you back complete control of your finances. So, if you want to enjoy the benefits of a payroll card system, tell your employer about us.
“That they should try it, that they should be encouraged to try the card, it has many benefits, you can make your payments, your shopping, it’s the same as carrying money and we need to lose the fear of trying it [the payroll card].”
You can find out more at our website: www.ganazcard.com
Aurora Vega, NWFM, Crew Supervisor during interview with Ganaz.
The Ganaz Payroll Card is issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.