Payroll Meets Progress: Instant Payments are Here

When Tom Sagi joined his brother’s Silicon Valley real estate development company, his role wasn’t limited to scouting land or negotiating deals. While his brother focused on building some of the Bay Area’s most stunning homes, Tom became his right-hand man – and that meant also running HR. One of his key responsibilities: making sure more than 30 hourly employees got paid every other Friday.

At first, payroll sounded simple enough, but this task quickly turned into a headache and the hardest part of his week. For companies with salaried employees, payroll is predictable, but for hourly employees, payroll is a moving target. Every pay cycle, Tom would spend hours sorting through muddy, handwritten timecards from several job sites. He’d count hours, key them into spreadsheets, calculate workers’ comp premiums, and triple-check the numbers for accuracy. 

Payroll was taking Tom and a small team nearly a full day of work every week. “Instead of using the supercomputer in my pocket to finish payroll in a minute,” Tom recalled, “I’d spend an entire day, with help from four other people, just to pay our team. That didn’t make sense.”

Turning Frustration Into Innovation

After nearly a decade of frustration, Tom keenly understood this pain point wasn’t just his problem; every company with hourly workers faced the same inefficiencies. That insight sparked an idea that would change his career – and the payroll industry.

In 2018, Tom launched Hourly, a payroll and insurance platform built to eliminate the stress of managing hourly employees. The vision was simple: paying people should be fast, accurate, and stress-free. With Hourly, business owners could run payroll in seconds and get back to focusing on growth.

The platform immediately struck a chord with business owners. What started with seed money from Tom’s siblings quickly grew into a venture-backed company with more than $40 million raised, and ultimately, acquisition by major international insurance group, weSure. What began as the “worst part of the week” in a small construction office is now a fintech solution serving tens of thousands nationwide.

Payroll at the Speed of Now

Even with Hourly’s platform, one challenge remained: speed. For employees, a paycheck isn’t just money – it’s rent, groceries, and stability. With 78% of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, a delay can have real consequences. 

That’s why Hourly became one of the earliest adopters of SouthState’s Instant Payments, a breakthrough technology that makes payroll as seamless as sending money through an app. If a data error or cutoff ever threatens to delay funds, Hourly can now make it right within seconds. 

While many of their competitors haven’t yet adopted new technologies, Hourly can deliver what employees truly expect: pay that’s instant, accurate, and reliable.

Finding a Bank Who ‘Gets It’

Building Hourly wasn’t just about technology; it required finding the right financial partner. When Tom first started his venture, he spoke with 17 banks. Most either hesitated or lumped payroll providers with categories like crypto, overlooking the straightforward nature of payroll transactions. Tom needed a financial partner who truly understood fintech, processed payments in-house, and had the tools to grow alongside him.

Then Tom found SouthState. From day one, SouthState leaned in – bringing expertise, creativity, and an appetite for innovation that matched Hourly’s own.

“Working with SouthState feels like working with a startup inside a big bank,” Tom said. "They move fast, listen closely, and always find solutions when others can’t.” 

“Working with Tom and the Hourly team has been a great example of what happens when innovation meets responsible banking,” said Matt Roberts, Senior Vice President, Payments Banking at SouthState. “Our goal is always to help visionary companies like Hourly redefine possibilities, while ensuring the financial infrastructure behind that innovation remains safe, sound, and built to last.”

From acquisitions and complex transactions to regulatory conversations, SouthState’s responsiveness gave Tom confidence at every stage.

Collaboration That Redefines Banking

Hourly operates in a tightly regulated industry, requiring state-by-state money transmission licensing or formal exemptions. SouthState partnered closely with Hourly throughout the process, helping them secure 30+ states regulatory exemptions and paving the way for secure, scalable growth. 

That’s the difference between having a bank and having a financial partner. SouthState combines the stability of a large financial institution with the creativity and responsiveness of a startup, making it an ideal match for an innovative company like Hourly.

The Future of Payroll Innovation

Now, with the backing of a global insurance leader, Hourly is scaling its technology to reach even more businesses. SouthState continues to play a central role, staying ahead of the curve with new capabilities like sending and receiving Instant Payments through both RTP® and FedNow®. These solutions not only strengthen Hourly’s platform and reduce risk, but also ensure they can connect with the widest possible range of accounts in the growing instant payments ecosystem.

For Tom, the takeaway is simple: entrepreneurs don’t just need a bank account; they need a bank who truly understands their industry, speaks their language, and delivers on promises. 

Together, Hourly and SouthState are showing how the right vision, and the right bank, can transform payroll from a weekly headache into a seamless advantage. That’s the power of banking forward.