Two years ago, numo LLC, the fintech subsidiary of PNC Financial Services Group Inc., introduced indi, its first product.
Now indi has teamed with gig economy marketplace Jobble to launch a new debit card addressing the accessible banking needs of independent contractors.
Jobble, based in Boston, is a five-year-old platform that connects gig economy workers with hiring companies that offer flexible work opportunities. Jobble has partnered with over 14,000 businesses and lists more than four million jobs in about 1,600 cities across the country.
The new offering, indi for Jobblers, includes a debit card and mobile app with tax savings and expense tracking features. It is supported by PNC Bank and powered by the Mastercard network. Payments from Jobble to the indi for Jobblers card can be made instantly.
According to numo CEO David Passavant, It allows independent workers to browse job opportunities and find work that works for them, get paid quickly via Jobble, simplify their financial lives though the indi mobile app and earn rebates at thousands of participating merchant locations nationwide with the Mastercard Easy Savings program.
“The gig economy has proven to be essential to the U.S. economy and at Jobble, we are doing our part to ensure these workers are supported,” Corey Bober, Jobbler COO and co-founder, said in a prepared statement. “In continuing our mission of supporting the everyday hustle of all independent workers, Jobble is excited to work with indi on a banking solution that meets the specific needs of gig workers, freelancers, side hustlers and independent contractors across the country.”
Passavant said talks with Jobble go back about a year and a half. It is the “first company of that size,” he said, that indi has teamed with, though other betas are going on. And indi has evolved a bit since it debuted in September 2019 with the addition of payment functionality; numo, or, rather, indi, can offer white label products.
“It took us time,” Passavant said. “You can use the indi brand for your card, or you can use your own brand. For a lot of employers, that’s an attractive way to strengthen their connection with their contract workers.”
Two other factors have impacted numo and indi — the Covid-19 pandemic and PNC’s recent acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares, which has propelled PNC to rank as the nation’s fifth-largest bank with a coast-to-coast presence.
The data says that since the pandemic started, more people are pursuing gig work because of the flexibility and that’s a good thing for indi and for us,” Passavant said. “More employers are thinking about, ‘How can I offer my target workforce more flexibility in terms of work location and the profile of the work, including contract work?' Some types of gig work declined, like dog walking — when everyone stayed home, dog walkers weren’t needed as much. Particularly what I’m excited about is this free agent workplace, which has been around for a while — people work for multiple employers at the same time.”
This is also increasingly involving highly skilled and well-compensated professionals.
PNC’s (NYSE:PNC) expanded footprint positions indi as a new tool in the arsenal of its business bankers and relationship managers.
“PNC is now working with a lot more businesses of all sizes and many of them hire contract workers so they’re having all sorts of conversations with young businesses and this will be a unique offering they can speak about,” Passavant said. “This is part of the core of what makes numo unique: We look to find good ideas that work even better because of the connection to PNC.”
Based in East Liberty, numo employs about 50, some of whom are also involved with indi. At present, numo is incubating three other companies. Two are too early stage for Passavant to discuss, but there’s a lot of excitement about Triple, which has implications for indi.
“Triple is an intersection of fintech and advertising technology,” Passavant explained. “Next year, indi users will get custom rewards programs.”
He offered the example of a gig employer who hires drivers.
“We can offer accelerated cash back and custom offers on things like gas, repairs, car accessories,” Passavant said. “That’s a huge opportunity we’ll be pressing the gas on.”
