Bungii Uses Branch to Streamline Payments & Scale Fast-Growing Platform
Background
Bungii is revolutionizing the way people move bulky items by connecting them with local drivers, who use their own vehicles to transport items for customers.. Founded in 2015, Bungii is headquartered in Kansas City, MO, and serves 50 major metros across 500 U.S. cities. With a plan to quadruple the size of its fleet, the company realized the importance of adopting a timely, cost-effective payments solution that could not only build loyalty among their contractors but scale with the platform.
Embracing Gig Economy Payment Trends
One of the biggest challenges that Bungii faced was the delay in payment to its drivers. Mark Vanderweide, VP of Product at Bungii, knew that drivers wanted to be paid quickly and seamlessly. Working in the gig economy, drivers have a lot of options among platforms. Being able to provide fast payments after deliveries is a key differentiator for today’s workforce.
As a rapidly growing platform, Bungii realized that it needed a payments solution that could not only attract and retain their drivers but also help them scale effectively. Their initial solution was both slow and required Bungii to pay internal fees for paying out their drivers. “Previously, we had a weekly [payment] option through direct deposit into accounts, and the two biggest problems were that the speed wasn’t there and we were paying internal fees on our side for that payment every single time,” Vanderweide told FreightWaves.
Simple, Fast Payouts
Bungii's partnership with Branch simplified the process for paying contractors. With Branch, Bungii could pay in a single click and easily bank new drivers so that they could get paid day one. Drivers that signed up with Bungii could onboard with the Branch App, a free business checking account and debit card, to receive earnings faster. Plus, they could easily view their earnings within Bungii’s driver app.
“The magic all happens on the back end and [the drivers] actually don’t do anything to get paid,” Vanderweide explained. “As soon as they complete a delivery, that tells our back end the delivery is done. All of the accounting happens there. Then we send files on the back end to Branch and Branch disperses the payment.”
From Fees to Free
Branch not only enabled fast payments and onboarding, but also immediate time and cost savings for the company. The switch from Branch allowed Bungii to transition from spending significant fees each month to adopting a free, automated solution.
“[Branch] not only improves the lives of our drivers—who benefit from faster payments and improved cash flow—but it’s saved us time and money right off the bat. We went from paying three percent or more each month (with our previous solution) to a free solution that practically automated the hours we previously dedicated to driver payments.”
“As the expectations of today’s workforce continue to increase, companies must deliver faster access to pay, equitable financial tools, and meaningful rewards that empower working Americans and help them grow financially,” said Branch founder and CEO Atif Siddiqi. “We’re excited to partner with Bungii to create a compelling driver payments experience as they continue to rapidly expand across the country.”
Learn more about Branch’s 1099 Contractor payment solution here.
