Smartstaff Partners with KarmaLife to Strengthen Financial Inclusion for India's Blue-Collar Workforce

PNN
Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 16: Smartstaff, a full-stack workforce management platform for India's blue-collar industries, has announced a strategic partnership with KarmaLife, India's leading Earned Wage Access (EWA) and credit platform. The collaboration integrates Smartstaff's workforce management technology with KarmaLife's EWA product, enabling blue-collar workers to access a portion of their wages instantly, anytime before payday. Importantly, with KarmaLife providing the financing, employers can offer the benefit without capital outlay.
The first deployment under this partnership is live, a garment manufacturing and export company, making it one of the first in the apparel sector to offer workers instant credit access without any capital burden on the business.
Addressing a Growing Market
* India's gig and blue-collar workforce is projected to grow to 62 million by 2047, according to a Labour Ministry study.
* A significant portion of this segment faces irregular cash flows and limited access to affordable credit.
* Nearly 90% of gig & blue-collar workers run out of salary before month-end, according to a KarmaLife and Catalyst Fund (a global accelerator that supports inclusive tech innovators) survey.
Earned Wage Access solution directly addresses these challenges. Its model has shown measurable business outcomes:
* 40-50% increase in retention for employers offering EWA.
* 23% improvement in workforce engagement (increase in shift hours).
* 82% of workers report a better quality of life after adoption.
Leadership's comments
Rohit Rathi, Co-founder & CEO, KarmaLife said:
"Blue-collar financial inclusion is no longer optional -- it is business-critical. With Smartstaff, we are combining two scalable platforms: workforce management and earned wage access. This creates a powerful model for employers across manufacturing, logistics, and retail to improve retention and productivity while giving workers meaningful financial flexibility."
Arpit Dave, Co-founder & CEO, Smartstaff added:
"We've seen first-hand how salary advance access transforms retention and productivity; it's been part of our platform for over three years. Partnering with KarmaLife now allows us to bring these same benefits to enterprises without adding strain on their capital, making financial inclusion scalable for the entire sector."
About Smartstaff
Smartstaff is a full-stack workforce management platform purpose-built for India's blue-collar enterprises. The platform streamlines core operations like attendance, payroll, and compliance, and has onboarded over 1 million workers across industries. By combining automation with a mobile app for employees, Smartstaff has helped 100+ enterprises reduce costs, strengthen retention and engagement, and manage large workforces with ease.
About KarmaLife
KarmaLife is India's largest Earned Wage Access and earning-linked credit platform, empowering gig and blue-collar workers with financial flexibility and resilience. By partnering with leading employers and NBFCs, KarmaLife serves hundreds of thousands of workers across 50+ enterprises. Its AI-driven KarmaScore enables responsible access to credit and financial wellness solutions, positioning KarmaLife as India's most trusted financial wellness platform for workers.
Media Contact:
Deepak Bhardwaj
Marketing, KarmaLife
deepak@karmaLife.ai
+91 8587052846
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