Earnin
Also a provider — view Earnin’s profile →“Can an earned wage access consumer app evolve into the end-to-end payroll and financial wellness platform for both workers and their employers?”
Founded2013
HQPalo Alto / Mountain View, CA
FoundersRam Palaniappan
Total raisedunknown
Latest roundSeries C
IndustryFintech / Consumer banking
The story
Founded in 2013 as Activehours to give hourly workers early access to earned wages with no mandatory fees. Grew primarily as a consumer EWA app (Cash Out, Balance Shield) before adding credit monitoring, savings (Tip Yourself), and Early Pay. In 2025 made a significant platform pivot by launching EarnIn Payroll — a B2B payroll infrastructure product targeting payroll service bureaus and employers — signaling a move from consumer fintech app toward a vertically integrated payroll + EWA platform serving both ends of the employment relationship.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
2013
Founded as Activehours by Ram Palaniappan, formerly president at UniRush/RushCard.· pivot
2014
Launched mobile app providing earned wage access — users could cash out wages before payday.· banking
2018
Raised $125M Series C to scale Cash Out and real-time wage tracking.· ipo
2024
Launched Early Pay product enabling direct deposits up to 2 days sooner for a flat $2.99 fee.· banking
2025
Launched Live Pay product enabling real-time pay streaming up to $1,500/pay period.· banking
2025
Cross River extended a $150M senior secured revolving credit facility to fund the Cash Out product.· lending
2025
Launched EarnIn Payroll — a full-stack payroll platform bundling payroll, tax/compliance, HR, benefits, and EWA.· pivot
The stack
5 layers disclosed in Earnin’s embedded-finance stack
Money movement
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Sponsor bank
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
5 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.