Fintech is increasingly touching every aspect of our lives, from retail to banking to blockchain, and now it’s coming for employee benefits. But how could fintech innovation change employer benefits?

Employee benefits are essentially a payment or subsidy to employees—with some strings attached. They can apply this payment to specific areas, such as health, student loan debt, 401(k) plans, transportation and more.

Benefits are among the biggest drivers of why employees choose companies—and stay. Yet benefits plans remain, in many instances, opaque and difficult for employees to quantify. How much is that health insurance coverage really worth? What about that 401(k) plan?

I think fintech will do for benefits what it has done for other sectors: increase speed, flexibility and transparency. Thanks to fintech, consumers can now sign up for a checking account on their phone and transact on the same day. Thanks to buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech innovation, consumers can make almost any purchase on the web as a monthly payment plan and then pay for goods the way they get paid (monthly vs. upfront). And thanks to fintech, consumers can shop rates within minutes for everything from a mortgage to a personal loan to almost any other type of financial product.

In fact, fintech is already coming for benefits programs through payroll innovation that provides transparency and ease and includes features like the ability to unlock paychecks early (thanks to platforms like Gusto), easily refinance and pay off student loans (with programs like SoFi at Work) and gain access to financial guidance and coaching and even credit-building (via programs offered by Brightside, for example). This is just the beginning.

As the CEO of a healthcare fintech company, I believe the next frontier is health benefits. Today we see flourishing telehealth options via employers, yet still relatively narrow benefit administration programs for specialty areas. The available benefits are often narrowly tied to programs around weight and diabetes, exercise, mental health and fertility, to name a few popular choices. But employees need more flexibility and choice as individual and family health needs vary dramatically. Why is expensive IVF covered but not breast cancer or menopause treatments, and vice versa?

Fintech companies are working to solve these problems by offering financial plans that cover all healthcare needs and receive a direct employer subsidy that is equal across employees. This type of innovation is what companies like mine, Future Family and others are working on, and it is designed to make health benefits fast, flexible and transparent for those that need them. This can be especially important to small-to-medium businesses and emerging tech startups that rely on attracting and retaining top talent. Such decisions often come down to which employer can offer non-salary perks like a comprehensive benefits package.

Some things to keep in mind when looking at fintech benefits for your company.

Look for flexible plans.

I’ve noticed one reason many employers don’t offer more comprehensive elective benefits is that they’re typically very expensive and may not be used by every employee. Consider the fintech options introducing more budget-friendly solutions that allow employers to choose how much they want to contribute to an employee’s plan and also when they want to contribute rather than forcing them to pay upfront.

Let fintech work harder.

The most innovative fintech isn’t just offering up one service; it’s providing a comprehensive solution, whether that’s through bill-pay management in addition to digital health coaching or also coordinating your prescriptions. For example, patients often have to deal with several different payment channels, including their clinic, loan provider, pharmacy, or more. To make things easier for employees, look for fintech solutions where they only have to deal with one single payment stream while also having access to support systems and advisors that make the process easier.

Consider talent retention.

A recent study found 39% of respondents would change jobs for better healthcare benefits. While many companies struggle to retain and attract top talent, comprehensive benefits are something employers would be wise to consider. The market for fintech in employer benefits is rapidly growing, bringing a massive influx of new ideas and solutions but also a confusing array of plans for employers to offer. Employers need to carefully look at their options, identify what is important to the employees they want to keep and attract and build plans with retention in mind.

Avoid programs that encourage unsustainable debt.

The goal of an employee benefit program should be to help support employees with their essential expenses and to improve quality of life. Programs for student loans, transportation and healthcare can accomplish this. However, using fintech solutions to encourage increased discretionary spending can be a bad approach. This is already a concern with some “buy-now-pay-later” programs that make it “painless” to overspend. In other words, I recommend employers avoid subsidizing loans for broad discretionary expenses and rather focus benefits on specific areas such as transportation or healthcare.

Overall, fintech innovation in the benefits space is a win-win for employees and employers. Employees receive benefits that are flexible enough to cover what they need and easy to understand the value. And fintech healthcare innovation for employers means they can attract not only happy, healthy employees—but also loyal ones. New solutions are allowing employers to subsidize their employees’ benefits monthly instead of paying upfront. Both the employee and the employer are spreading costs over time, and incentives are aligned.

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