The best (and funkiest) benefits of working for fintech firms

Most fintech companies can’t compete with big banks and technology giants when it comes to compensation. Like other startups, they have to win over recruits with their culture and the benefits they provide that less nimble firms simply cannot. American Banker’s latest 50 best fintechs to work for exemplifies this point. Most every firm that made the list offers employee benefits that many people probably haven’t even considered. Some benefits are wildly generous; others are interesting and more off-the-beaten-path. We compiled several of our favorites below, including some details we gleaned about each company’s current hiring plans.

nCino

Sitting atop the latest fintech rankings is Wilmington, North Carolina-based cloud banking provider nCino. The company features a number of unique benefits, but one in particular stands out. nCino fully funds its healthcare plan for employees, then tops off their health savings accounts with enough money to cover their annual deductible, according to a recent interview with founder and CEO Pierre Naude. Their healthcare plan is essentially free, outside of a likely co-pay or two.

Other benefits include free pre-work paddle boarding and surfing lessons, multiple break rooms with ping pong and pool tables, and wages that meet the national pay scale average, rather than the local market. Despite launching back in 2012, nCino says on its website that it still offers stock options to every new hire right from the get-go. It shows 65 job openings, mostly in Wilmington and London.

Jumio

Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Jumio has to compete locally with some of the most well-funded tech companies in the world. The online identify verification specialist offers one particularly interesting perk: it pays a gas company to stop by its Palo Alto headquarters once in a while to fill up the cars of its employees. Launched in 2010, Jumio appears to be in firm growth mode. The company is advertising nearly four dozen openings in Palo Alto, London, Vienna and Jaipur, mostly in technology, including roles for machine learning and artificial intelligence engineers.

Snappy Kraken

One of the smaller fintech companies to make the list, Snappy Kraken is “based” in Florida, though its top perk makes that fact wholly insignificant. Every single employee at the financial services-focused digital marketer works remotely and is offered a coworking space stipend. After three years with the company, employees can become eligible for a one-month paid sabbatical. They are currently looking for software engineers, system administrators and technical support specialists.

Braviant Holdings

Based in Chicago, Braviant Holdings is an online lender that uses data science and machine learning to provide credit to non-prime consumers. The company touts its casual culture, catered happy hours, professional development stipends and commuter benefits. New parents can work three days weeks for up to a month after their parental leave runs out. Its management team includes veterans from Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and UBS. Braviant is currently in need of engineers and an analytics manager in Chicago.

Kasasa

Online consumer bank Kasasa has one unique perk that can bring employees closer to together – or potentially cause some awkwardness depending on the circumstances. The Austin, Texas firm operates a “love fund” where the company will match employee contributions for colleagues who need help covering expenses like medical costs or repair bills, according to American Banker. Kasasa has more than two dozen current openings across marketing, product and sales.

Cross River

Located just across from New York City, Cross River brings in a barber and stylist once a month to offer free haircuts to employees. And the workday ends at 3 p.m. on Fridays. It has 42 openings across compliance, risk, capital markets and dev ops, among others.

CSI

Bank processing and compliance specialist CSI’s chief perk isn’t as interesting or fun as some of the others, but it’s plenty generous. The company contributes between 7% and 15% of an employee’s salary to its profit-sharing plan, with or without a contribution from the employee. CSI has 42 open positions across a number of states and says it welcomes student applications.

Better.com

Online mortgage lender Better.com is all about new parents. The company said it offers up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave and gifts employees $2,500 when they have a baby or adopt. The firm is advertising more than 50 openings in New York and California.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: btuttle@efinancialcareers.com Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by actual human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t).