Originally published on techround.co.uk on December 04, 2020
Interview with Chieu Cao, co-founder of Perkbox and now Mintago
Techround speaks to Chieu Cao, co-founder of Perkbox and now Mintago on his career, the impact of financial wellbeing on employers and employees, and what Mintago is doing about it.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I started my career at the cusp of Tech really taking off – from Amazon to Yahoo! to Microsoft. I was always drawn to the innovative nature of entrepreneurship and solving problems with new solutions. My last venture was as the co-founder and CMO of Perkbox, the fastest growing employee experience platform in Europe. I’m currently the founder and CEO for Mintago, a financial wellbeing solution.
Given your history, what attracted you to the wellbeing space?
My mission is always to build a better society, one relationship at a time, starting from the workplace. We tackled the diversity of employee benefits in Perkbox, but Mintago is the next wave of that concept. We’re starting to see the impacts of COVID-19 as it morphs from a health crisis to a burgeoning wealth crisis. People are worried about money and how that plays a role in their future more than ever, and forward-thinking business and employers are recognising this duty of care.
Why does the financial wellbeing of employees impact employers?
A recent PwC survey cited that over half of employees felt that financial matters and challengers were the leading cause of their stress, prompting reduced productivity, engagement, and performance at work. Ultimately, the less confident an employee feels in their ongoing financial obligations or future, the more likely the company they work for will suffer those consequences. We’re at a really critical time for this movement, especially as remote culture becomes more of a reality. When asked if they would prefer employee benefits or a pay rise, we found most employees would choose the latter. That’s a significant shift in the way HR and senior leadership need to start thinking about employee engagement and benefit culture.
How does Mintago aim to solve this problem?
For an employee solution to work, it needs to be employee-centric, secure, and unbiased. No employee is the same and neither are their financial journeys and goals. Whether it’s pensions, mortgages, or clearing debt, the holistic nature of Mintago means employees won’t fall through the cracks. Take pensions, for example. It is estimated that 95% of millennials are underfunding their pension. This is not only bad for their long term financial security, but can also cost employers in business savings. Our platform optimises the way pension schemes are structured, as well as provide services that will incentivise employees to boost contributions. We just introduced a Pension Hunter product as well that allows employees to find and consolidate their pension pots from old employers into one, simple dashboard.
What can we hope to see from Mintago in the future?
We’re excited to see the technology behind Mintago develop to shape and reshape people’s relationships with money in lasting and effective ways. As an unbiased platform, our goal is to cut through the noise and form real partnerships that help employees and their employers feel better about their finances and more in control of their life. The future lies in connecting this great technology with a deep understanding and appreciation of human psychology and empathy.
This article is outside the Mintago blog