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The gig economy has long been treated as a temporary solution. A stopgap. Something many enter, few remain in, and even fewer design for. Yet today, it’s a durable and growing segment of the workforce — one that continues to face structural exclusion from financial systems built for different assumptions.
Despite the steady rise in independent, app-based labor, gig workers still confront barriers in securing fair and fast access to capital. Legacy underwriting models, designed around salaried employment and predictable income, often exclude this group by default. The result is a growing disconnect between how people earn and how they’re financially supported.
At FinTech Weekly, we've followed how fintech platforms are beginning to close this gap. But for many, progress remains focused on cosmetic change — building interfaces that look modern, while still resting on outdated criteria and limited flexibility. What’s needed is a structural rethinking of how financial products are designed, deployed, and supported for non-traditional earners.
That requires not only innovation, but lived understanding — a practical awareness of how trust, cash flow, and support systems work differently for people outside standard payroll. It's about making decisions around eligibility, pricing, and compliance that reflect the real conditions of the people these tools claim to serve.
To explore this further, we spoke with Ricky Michel Presbot, Co-Founder and CEO of Ualett, a bilingual fintech platform focused on the U.S. gig economy. With over two decades of experience building companies in fast-moving, impact-driven sectors, Ricky brings a disciplined perspective on what it takes to design financial systems for agility, clarity, and inclusion — from the ground up.
Enjoy the full interview!
1) You’ve spent much of your career focused on fast-moving markets and underrepresented user groups. What first signaled to you that the existing financial system wasn’t designed for gig workers?
What stood out to me early on was the disconnect between how hard gig workers were working and how few options they had to manage their cash flow. I remember spending time with rideshare drivers and delivery couriers in Miami and New York, listening to them share the same story: traditional banks required a fixed paycheck or years of employment history to even start a conversation.
Meanwhile, these workers had verified daily earnings and still couldn’t access short-term liquidity on fair terms. That gap, between real income and outdated requirements, was the clearest signal that the system wasn’t built for them.
2) Traditional credit systems rely heavily on fixed income and long-term employment history. In your experience, what are the most critical gaps these systems expose when applied to independent workers?
The biggest gaps are around speed, inclusivity, and accuracy. Traditional underwriting often assumes that if you don’t have a W2 or a credit file, you’re high risk. But for gig workers, income is real, it’s just more variable.
That variability doesn’t fit neatly into legacy models. As a result, millions of people are either excluded or charged punitive fees. Another gap is cultural: many underbanked workers come from communities that are skeptical of financial institutions because they haven’t felt respected or understood.
3) Designing for non-traditional earners requires different assumptions about cash flow, risk, and trust. What’s something your work has taught you about how financial tools need to adapt structurally, not just visually, for this segment?
One of the most important lessons is that you can’t just re-skin a traditional product. Structurally, you need to rethink underwriting, remittance expectations, and even customer support. In my experience, approving advances based on verified gig earnings (looking at actual daily cash flow rather than historical credit) can make access faster and fairer.
Flat-fee pricing with no hidden charges helps build trust from day one. And operationally, you need to set up a bilingual back office to ensure users could ask questions in their preferred language. True inclusivity requires rethinking systems, not just interfaces.
4) You’ve worked across strategy, operations, and leadership. What operational decisions have the biggest downstream impact when trying to serve financially underserved or unpredictable user groups?
Two decisions stand out. First, how you verify income and assess eligibility. Many organizations invest in partnerships with platforms like Plaid and Argyle to build real-time data pipelines so our underwriting could be dynamic and fair.
Second, how you handle support and education. For many users, this might be their first time using a digital financial product. Having a high-touch, bilingual support team isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s core to building lasting relationships. Those two areas, trust-based underwriting and accessible support, set the tone for everything else.
5) We’re seeing more platforms evolve into “financial hubs” for users, combining multiple tools in one place. What challenges arise when trying to move from a single-purpose product to a more holistic financial experience?
Expanding from a focused offering like cash advances into a broader platform requires discipline. You have to be clear about why users trust you and how new features will complement that trust, not dilute it.
For example, some companies aim to evolve into neobanks for gig workers, but every step (like introducing debit cards or credit-building tools) needs to be rolled out in a way that keeps pricing transparent and the experience simple. As you layer in new capabilities, you have to ensure you’re maintaining rigorous standards without introducing friction or confusion for users who value speed and clarity.
6) Many gig workers cross language, legal, and regulatory boundaries. How do you think about building financial systems that remain accessible across diverse communities without compromising compliance or clarity?
It starts with listening. Early on, spending time directly in the field to understand users’ needs firsthand made it clear that clarity and transparency are non-negotiable. Structurally, investing in multilingual support, culturally relevant education, and partnerships can help ahead of regulatory changes.
From a compliance perspective, work with trusted partners to ensure processes meet financial data standards while remaining user-friendly. The key is balancing rigor with respect, making sure people feel informed, not intimidated.
7) For fintech founders tackling infrastructure gaps in overlooked markets, what’s your advice on balancing urgency with long-term resilience in product and business design?
Focus on discipline over hype. From the start, the priority should be profitability, sustainable unit economics, and building trust with every advance. That meant scaling at a pace that allows time to refine underwriting and operations before expanding into new segments.
My advice is to stay close to your customers, spend time with them, understand their day-to-day challenges, and let that guide your roadmap. If you solve real problems with transparency and respect, resilience becomes part of your foundation.
About Ricky Michel Presbot:
Ricky Michel Presbot is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ualett, a bilingual fintech platform built for the U.S. gig economy. A proud Dominican entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in business development and strategic leadership, Ricky has built his career around scaling impact-driven companies and fueling innovation in fast-moving markets.
At Ualett, he leads growth, operations, and strategic direction, focused on positioning the company as a trusted financial ally to independent workers nationwide. His leadership combines big-picture thinking with operational rigor, enabling teams to execute with speed, purpose, and precision.
Ricky holds an MBA and brings deep expertise in market strategy, team leadership, and fintech product innovation. Under his leadership, Ualett has become a category leader in inclusive capital access, delivering fast, transparent financial tools tailored to the real needs of gig workers. His approach is disciplined, resilient, and rooted in long-term value creation for both the business and the communities it serves.
