HRWorld has an interesting article today about how employers are increasingly moving to a paperless payroll system that both saves money and provides a much more convenient and secure payment mechanism for the legion of workers out there who don't have bank accounts.

Writes HRWorld: Paying employees who don't have a bank account is a problem facing a growing number of businesses. Such "unbanked" individuals would like to be spared the trouble and expense of using check-cashing stores, supermarkets and other nonbank sources to receive their salary. Meanwhile, companies that currently pay such employees with currency need to escape the security, payroll and regulatory headaches that accompany cash disbursements.

To address the need for a secure, hassle-free electronic employee-payment system, various financial institutions and third-party vendors have created payroll debit-card - or paycard - services. It's a trend that seems to be catching on. A 2006 study by Boston-based financial-research firm Aite Group LLC estimated that expanding paycard use will lead to nearly 60 percent market growth by 2009.

Employment attorney Carrie Hoffman of Gardere Wynne Sewell agrees: "Because it is all electronic, these systems can dramatically lower payroll processing costs and in an industry such as retail that is operating on an increasingly thin profit margin, the savings can help keep a business operating," she says. To interview Ms. Hoffman about the increasing use of paycards, contact Rhonda Reddick at 800-559-4534 or rhonda@androvett.com.