Instacart personal shoppers get quicker access to earnings

After recently revamping its pay model for personal shoppers, Instacart is now enabling them to get paid faster.

The San Francisco-based online grocery delivery company yesterday launched Instant Cashout, a new service that gives its personal shoppers in-app access to their earnings 24/7.

Photo: Instacart

Through the Instant Cashout option, shoppers can transfer their payments from Instacart to a debit card and immediately access the funds instead of waiting for weekly direct deposits to a bank account. Instacart said shoppers can get cash in less than five minutes, whereas bank transfers can take days and often occur only during business hours.

“We understand there are times when shoppers need to get paid quickly, and with this new feature you don’t have to wait a week to get paid,” Instacart said in a blog post announcing Instant Cashout. “Now you can cash out your earnings on your terms,” the company added.

Instacart partnered with Stripe, a San Francisco-based payment technology specialist, to develop the Instant Cashout option. The feature is powered by Stripe’s Instant Payout platform.

According to Instacart, the service comes in response to feedback from shoppers, who said they would like the ability to get paid on a more frequent basis.

Related:Under fire, Instacart changes personal shopper pay model

“Getting paid the same day can help pay for an unexpected bill, save up for something big or fund a family outing,” the company said. “For example, an Instacart shopper could complete a shift at 9 p.m., request their Instant Cashout and then use the money moments later, on their way home, to buy gas or anything else they need.”

Instant Cashout has been rolled out in select cities “from Boston, MA, to Bend, OR” and is slated to be available to all U.S. personal shoppers by June, Instacart said. Shoppers will receive an email when the feature becomes available in their area.

Last month, Instacart began implementing a new payment policy for its roughly 50,000 personal shoppers in the wake of criticism that they weren’t receiving their full compensation.

Chief among the changes, customer tips are now kept separate from the payments Instacart makes to shoppers in fulfilling orders, and minimum payments were raised for delivery-only batches (in which a shopper delivers the order after another person picks the groceries) and full-service batches (in which a shopper picks, packs and delivers the order).

Instacart said the updated policy ensures that orders carry a guaranteed payment level — including for collecting groceries and/or delivering them — and personal shoppers get their full tips from customers.

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