©2019 Visa. All rights reserved.
Postmates: Innovating payments to
boost retention with “Instant Deposits”
Postmates' key results of oering Visa Direct
10 15
%
to
increase in courier use of Instant
Deposits month over month
1
70
%
of deposits are made
using Instant Deposits
2
63
%
of the monthly active
Fleet use Instant Deposits
3
Staying competitive
with real-time
4
push-to-card payments
Postmates, the largest on-demand delivery network in the United
States, has a eet of couriers that take meals, groceries and goods
straight from merchants to customers—within 30 minutes or less.
When the company realized it needed to pay its couriers faster to
boost retention and stay competitive, they launched a program
called “Instant Deposits.” The program’s payments are facilitated by
Stripe’s Instant Payouts, a service that utilizes Visa Direct – Visa’s real-
time push-to-card platform that helps enable funds to be delivered in
real-time⁴ to accounts using debit card credentials.
Challenge: Postmates’ Fleet needed to be paid faster
Couriers depend on their Postmates earnings to pay for day-to-day
exp
enses. Before Instant Deposits, they had to wait 2-5 days to get
paid via ACH deposits. With all their major competitors touting on-
demand, push-to-card payments as an advantage, Postmates needed
to nd a faster solution. The results of the company’s quarterly NPS
survey conrmed the need for Instant Deposits—it was the benet
couriers valued most. Postmates listened and delivered.
Solution: On-demand pay at the Fleet’s ngertips
Since its launch in 2011, Postmates has relied on Stripe Connect, Stripe’s
p
ro
duct for multi-sided marketplaces. When the need arose to pay their
couriers faster, Postmates created Instant Deposits, using Stripe’s Instant
Payouts feature and Visa Direct. Now any courier who has an eligible
U.S. debit card is able to use Postmates Instant Deposits to gain access
to their earnings in real time, any day of the year.
Result: Faster pay, happier Fleet
Postmates is deeply committed to the economic wellness of the
com
munities they touch. Providing their eet with real-time access
to earnings has boosted retention while enabling couriers to cover
unexpected expenses. In the rst four months Instant Deposits was
available to couriers, the company saw a 10% to 15% increase in its use,
month over month. About 63% of their monthly active user base is using
the feature, and close to $200 million has been deposited on demand
3
.
Tapping into the future of on-demand payments
With the success they’ve seen as a result of oering Instant Deposits
t
o th
eir couriers, Postmates is now exploring how to oer merchants
real-time payments, too.
In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses need fast ways to pay
their workers, and merchants and sellers need exible ways to access
their earnings. For Postmates, sending funds directly to couriers’ debit
cards is the solution, and Instant Deposits running on Stripe and Visa
Direct makes it possible.
To upgrade your payments, talk to your account manager or visit
visa.com/visadirect.
“We projected that about
40% of deposits would
be made using Instant
Deposits. Within 3 months
of launch, we were at 70%.
This validates that the
majority of our users want
access to their earnings at
a moment’s notice.”
Emmanuel Pozo,
Product Lead on Fleet
and Fleet Experience
“No matter the time or day,
I’m able to cash out and
have the money available
in my bank account in
real time. Using Instant
Deposits is like having any
day be payday!”
Cli M.,
Charlotte, NC
1 Month-over-month feature usage, October 2018 to January 2019, Postmates Product Fleet and Fleet Experience Team
2 October 2018 to January 2019 feature usage, Postmates Product Fleet and Fleet Experience Team
3 Feature usage as of February 2019, Postmates Product Fleet and Fleet Experience Team
4 Actual fund availability depends on receiving nancial institution and region. Visa requires fast-funds enabled issuers
to make funds available to their recipient cardholders within a maximum of 30 minutes of approving the transaction.
Please refer to your Visa representative and the Visa Direct Original Credit Transaction Global Implementation Guide for
more information
©2019 Visa. All rights reserved.
