⭐ SOLD OUT ⭐ UK's leading Financial Wellbeing conference on 20th May 2026
8 mins
May 21, 2026
Preview the 2025 Impact Report
In a world where financial stress has become a silent barrier - costing US businesses an estimated $1.9 trillion annually and pushing the UK's national financial wellbeing into decline - the case for workplace finance has never been stronger.
Our Impact Annual Report 2025 provides an in-depth look at how Stream's Workplace Finance platform is delivering real, measurable change for everyday workers.
The US penny went out of production. The world got a new Pope. Japan elected its first female prime minister. 2025 was a year of pivotal change around the world, and especially for Stream. In September 2025, Wagestream became Stream, reflecting our evolution from a Flexible Pay (or Earned Wage Access) provider, to a complete Workplace Finance ecosystem.
Our mission – fair financial tools for the everyday worker – is still at the heart of our work. As promised in 2024, we continue tackling the systemic injustices and exclusions faced by these workers. In 2025, we didn't just grow; we built a safety net.
Stream operates across six markets in the UK, Europe and North America and is available to over 3.6 million members through our partnerships with 1,500+ global employers. We look to understand the struggles our members encounter day-to-day and the nuances of their roadblocks, so we can reimagine the financial frontier for everyday workers.
We saw all-time high participation in savings this year and increased engagement with credit in the UK as members plan ahead, however, the macro-economic landscape for the year remained challenging in all regions.
- In the UK, national financial wellbeing saw a decline, with the FinWell Index dropping from a baseline of 100 to 99.1 (The State of Financial Wellbeing, Stream. 2025.)
- In the US, financial stress has become a 'silent barrier,' with 47% of employees reporting distraction at work due to money worries and disengagement costing US businesses an estimated $1.9 trillion annually (In New Workplace, U.S. Employee Engagement Stagnates, Gallup. 2024.)
In 2025, we sought to understand how this manifests in the workplace and how access to the Stream app can help. This report provides a transparent audit of our impact, our successes, our failures, and our roadmap for 2026.
UK
In 2025, the UK accounted for ~67% of our membership base. Our app and feature set is more mature in the UK, and therefore we see a wider range of impacts in this market.
Europe
In 2025, we supported employers in Ireland, Spain and Portugal. However, as EU members represent less than 2% of our base, we have excluded analysis from our impact reporting for 2025. This is likely to continue in 2026.
North America
In 2025, we supported employers in the USA and Canada. North America now represents over 31% of our member base. However, Canada represents less than 1% of those members. We focus on the USA for North American analysis in impact reporting for 2025.
1,589 employers offered Stream to their employees
3,656,231 employees reached
£85 million in cost savings
We recorded globally more than:
230 million app visits
34 million transactions
£17 billion of pay processed
Employers offering Stream:
UK: 1,348
Europe: 52
North America: 189
Global: 1,589
Employees with access to Stream:
UK: 2,453,341
Europe: 54,430
North America: 1,148,460
Global: 3.6m
Market growth
Stream overall growth: 38%
US: +151%
UK: +27%
Flexible Pay (EWA): +48% growth
Workplace Savings: +131% growth
Workplace Loans (UK only*): +936% growth
*USD converted to GBP using 2025 average exchange rate of 1 GBP = 1.3188 USD
We collected 94,520 'life impact' survey responses from app members in 2025. Here's what they told us.
80% feel more in control of their money
85% say Stream helps them manage their money better
75% feel less stressed about money
This flows through to real life change. Across several points in time, starting at three months after using the app and stretching to five years later, our global members report meaningful improvements in their personal lives.
74% report their life is improved
22% sleep better and worry less
74% feel more hopeful 35% focus more at work
Savings is the big success story of 2025. The number of monthly active savers more than doubled, but the real impact was the interest payments. Stream calculates and pays interest daily. A transition to a high-interest savings account means that £1.6 million pounds accumulated to savers - paid back into their accounts every working day.
Savers: 392,293 (+131%)
Deposits: £243M (+164%)
Interest paid: £1,556,603 (+477%)
In 2025, 28,968 Stream app members had an active loan, totalling £76.3m borrowed. Our borrowers saved £3.79m in interest and fees, compared to their open-market alternatives. That's £130 back in the pocket of each borrower in 2025.
Borrowers: 28,968
Cost savings vs available alternatives: £3.8M
Average saving per person: £130
The poverty premium is the systemic disadvantage where those with the least money pay more for essential services and not just as an accident of bad luck either. It is a structural 'tax,' imposed on people who are least able to afford it, paying hundreds more for financial services each year. The concept exists globally, but currently only the UK has a standard benchmark that allows us to measure how the Stream app counteracts the poverty premium. In 2025, we measured our impact more rigorously than we ever have before. Beyond our direct impact, we also calculate how Stream counteracts the poverty premium.
People helped: 899,242 (455,487 strictly in poverty premium)
Net cost savings: £81,100,000 (£40.0M strictly in poverty premium)
Average net saving per person: £90.17 (£40.0M strictly in poverty premium)
We now measure impact across two cohorts:
Cohort 1: Those who strictly meet the poverty premium definition with household income at or below 70% of median income, equivalised for household size. £40.0m net / 455,487 workers
Cohort 2: Workers in high-cost credit cycles who do not technically meet the strict poverty premium definition, but face near-identical financial pressures. $41.7m net / 443,755 workers
Note: cost-saving methodology only applied to the UK for 2025
Better understanding of adverse outcomes
Extending impact — predicting adverse financial outcomes, improving interventions
3/5 — In progress
Progress:
- More sentiment data collected over longer timeframes, now covering up to five years in all markets.
- Scaled Open Banking, for vital external financial behaviour data.
- Machine learning shows promise; better vulnerability detection capability.
Scaling workplace savings
Extending impact — making savings accessible to every worker, in every market
5/5 — Goal achieved
Progress:
- Built out 'default on' savings in the UK and US, with market-leading interest rates.
- Stream's work on savings featured in UK Government's Financial Inclusion Strategy, leading to a National Coalition for workplace savings.
The right tools for each market
Extending impact — adapting products to cultural, societal and regulatory context
4/5 — Largely on track
Progress:
- Launched US features designed for income maximization.
- US Tax Optimizer for auto-generation of IRS W-4 values to improve cashflow.
- UK 'Find and Combine' pensions consolidation built and piloted.
Quantifying our 'softer' impact
Better measurement — counting what counts, not just what's easy to count
2/5 — Limited progress
Progress:
- Behaviour change data captured and quantified in the 2025 poverty premium impact calculation.
- Launched academic study in partnership with a Stream client and leading university to study productivity.
As we look towards 2026, we make three new commitments to our members.
The new promise:
- Build real wealth
- Financial literacy for all
- Leave no one behind
1. Build real wealth
Building wealth isn't just for the ultra-wealthy. In 2026, we aim to better understand what wealth really means for those with low and moderate incomes. We will support our members to set and work towards long-term financial goals, and we will create financial tools that support those aims. In 2026, our intention is to move members from "getting by" to "getting ahead" across their full financial timeline.
2. Financial literacy for all
We've built the toolkit. We've solved for access. Now we need to ensure every member has the confidence and understanding to use it well. Starting in 2026, we aim to improve financial literacy for one million people, and we'll measure it using Stanford's 'Big Three' methodology. This methodology focuses on measuring people's ability to understand how wealth can grow, shrink, and be protected. Although just three, straightforward questions, today most people worldwide cannot answer them correctly.
3. Leave no one behind
Although the vast majority of our members experience positive outcomes, there are still those who need extra support. This is a formal continuation of the 'better understanding of adverse outcomes' opportunity we set in 2025.
A responsible impact organisation doesn't ignore the margins. In 2026, we commit to understanding the experience of the members for whom our tools may not be working. We'll extend our proactive detection systems, and design interventions that reach people before harm compounds. No one gets left behind.
2025 proved that when workers have access to the right financial tools, the impact is real and measurable: £85 million in cost savings delivered to 3.6 million people, and three in four people reporting a meaningful improvement to their lives. This is excellent progress, but we must keep raising the bar. That's why we make a commitment to these three new goals, and will continue to work on those still in progress from 2025.
Talk to us about the positive impact we can have on your teams and your business.
