Background

Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) is a renowned fine dining group based in New York, that recently celebrated 40 years in the industry. As pioneers in the industry, they’ve set a new standard for the industry, becoming well-known for their ethos of “enlightened hospitality,” which involves creating the ultimate experience for both their guests and employees. 

Though they already were paying their employees weekly, USHG was looking for a way to empower their workers with even greater financial flexibility. That’s where Branch came in. We spoke with USHG’s Kelly MacPherson (Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer), and Patti Smith (Chief Administrative Officer), about why they partnered with Branch to create the USHG Digital Wallet, and how it’s impacted their business and employees.

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Before: Finding Tech That Fits an Ethos of Enlightened Hospitality

Before implementing Branch, USHG paid employees on a weekly basis. But as part of their commitment to enlightened hospitality, they wanted to find a tool that could offer even greater financial flexibility to their workforce—especially in an industry that’s shifted away from cash-based tip payouts.

“A long time ago you’d walk out of a shift with all your cash tips at the end of the night; but it’s not a cash business anymore,” MacPherson explains, noting that because most consumers don’t tip with cash, restaurants then put those tips onto paychecks. “We wanted a way to provide our employees access to their tips in a faster way. And for us, it was equally important that the back-of-house staff also had an option to access their pay more quickly.”

USHG set out to find a way to provide faster access to earnings for both front and back-of-house staff. For their front-of-house employees that meant fast, cashless tips after every shift. For their back-of-house staff that meant providing earned wage access, which allows employees to take an advance of the money they’ve already made. USHG knew that this type of flexibility is particularly helpful when managing unexpected expenses.

“It’s so important that our people are taken care of,” says Smith. “All it takes is for your car to break down, your hot water heater to go, and you need your money [sooner]. It’s our job to make that easier for people.”

USHG evaluated several different solutions, conducting a thorough search for the right technology that could integrate with their existing systems and provide an immediate benefit to their teams. Smith notes that they spoke with many providers, but chose Branch for the ease of use and ability to actually accelerate access to earnings as promised.

“Many people claim to have same-day or next-day pay, but in reality, that might mean more like two days,” says Smith. “Branch said: this is what we’re able to do, we’re here to help you put it together, and we’re here to help you implement it. And it was easy. It was probably the easiest thing we implemented this year.” 

Implementation: A Custom Solution For Greater Financial Flexibility

When USHG discovered Branch, they found a partner who could help them deliver fast, flexible access to earnings for all of their employees through a custom-branded solution: the USHG Digital Wallet and Card. This digital wallet and debit card allows front-of-house staff to get cashless tips sent to their accounts right after they work. 

It also allows back-of-house staff the chance to take an advance of up to 51% of what they’ve already earned if they need to, through earned wage access. The percentage was meaningful to USHG, especially as it relates to their belief in investing in the people who they trust to take care of their guests.

“One of the concepts of the USHG ethos is the idea of ‘one hundred percenters.’ We believe an employee should have 51 percent of their skillset be emotional skills—which is really about hospitality. The other 49 percent needs to be technical skills,” says MacPherson. “When you put them together, you’re able to deliver the level of service we want to give to our guests.”

Offering earned wage access also aligned with USHG’s belief in offering emotional and economic prosperity for their employees, giving them tools to not just earn a good wage, but make a living. 

When it came time to roll out the solution, USHG was pleasantly surprised with how seamlessly Branch fit into their existing tech stack, while still keeping their brand front and center. “It was done in the time it was said to be done,” says Smith. “We didn’t have to jump through a bunch of hoops to go and do it. It was very flexible.”

MacPherson echoes that sentiment, noting that “we don’t have engineers on staff, so the partners that we use really become an extension of our team. Branch was able to do that; they were able to be the heavy lifters and put this in place and have it work seamlessly within our entire tech stack.”

Another unexpected use for the USHG Digital Wallet and Card has been per diem payouts. USHG often sends employees out to open new locations and help train staff members. While on location, these employees need access to funds for meals and other on-the-road expenses. If these individuals don’t have access to the cash they need on-hand to travel, they may not be able to facilitate these new openings. Through Branch, these individuals can continue to help USHG expand while feeling confident that they don’t have to expense things for later—they can arrive with pre-funded cards that take care of their needs.

“We’re able to pre-fund their cards before they go, and we don’t have to deal with money transfers or checks,” explains Smith. “Some of our trainers don’t have extra cash on-hand to front those expenses, so it’s been very helpful.”

Educating their employees on all of the ways Branch can deliver greater financial flexibility has become a significant talking point for the USHG team. They’ve incorporated the benefits of Branch into the onboarding process of new hires, so every employee that comes on board is aware of the different options they have to get paid. 

“We talk about the USHG Wallet and Branch on our new hire orientations every Thursday,” says MacPherson. “It’s one of the coolest things we’ve done for our teams this year.”

Results: Boosting Worker Well-Being While Providing a Competitive Advantage

With the USHG Digital Wallet up and running, the team started to see positive results right away. Tipped employees have loved the option to get their tips right away without having to wait to be paid in cash or have earnings put on a check. Instead, tips are sent straight to their USHG Digital Wallet, where they can spend or save the money immediately. Back-of-house employees have also enjoyed the flexibility of earned wage access, knowing that if an unexpected expense pops up, they’re able to take an advance of their own money to cover it, instead of having to take out a high-interest loan.

Since the launch of the wallet, USHG has seen high engagement, with 98% of users returning each week and fewer employees requesting 401k withdrawals—which has been a major marker of success for the USHG team. Using a digital wallet has also helped employees manage their budgets by offering insight into how their cash flow varied on certain days, and the various elements that went into their paycheck. Having that awareness, combined with the option to access your earnings when you need it, has resulted in true financial empowerment for USHG’s staff.

“When you need access to your pay quickly, you shouldn’t have to take that out of your 401(k),” says Smith. “We’ve seen a drop in requests for 401(k) loans because now people can get access to their earnings through Branch.”

In addition to providing daily tip payouts and earned wage access, the USHG Wallet also comes with built-in financial wellness tools like a savings feature, cashback rewards, and personalized spending insights—all of which go a long way in providing a meaningful benefit to USHG’s employees.

“One of the reasons we went with Branch was their focus on the employee experience and the usability of the product,” says MacPherson. “It went beyond just giving them access to wages; it was the tools embedded in the app to help workers understand their finances a bit better, giving them tools to be able to understand their financial management and savings.”

Throughout the process, USHG has valued Branch’s ability to help deliver on their promise of enlightened hospitality, supporting the people who power their business through whatever financial ups and downs life brings.

“We believe this is a competitive advantage in a tough labor market,” says MacPherson. “Everyone has a unique financial situation. This is a benefit we can offer our employees that we believe sets us apart from other restaurant companies that may make people wait two weeks to access their pay.”

Moreover, MacPherson and Smith note how straightforward and simple the process has been, from start to finish. 

“The team at Branch—our customer success manager, the engineering teams, and account managers—have just been professional rock stars. [We value] partners who think like we do and are on a mission to make things simple and easy to use,” says McPherson. “Branch was highly regarded as one of the best partners my team has worked with.”

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