DailyPay appointed Stacy Greiner as interim CEO Tuesday, on the same day Kevin Coop exited that job to become CEO of market research company Definitive Healthcare, according to press releases from the two companies.

Coop departed his role at DailyPay just two years after taking the top job at the earned wage access company in June 2022. He joined DailyPay from data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet, and now he’ll remain a “board advisor” to DailyPay, the release from that company said.

Greiner has been chief operating officer at DailyPay since August 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile, joining the company shortly after Coop took the top role.

“Given her current oversight of large portions of the business as COO, Greiner is well-poised to transition seamlessly into the function of interim CEO without impacting normal business operations. DailyPay is well-positioned to continue scaling growth and expanding profitability," said DailyPay Chairman Adam Boyden said in the release.

EWA industry evolves

Earned wage access providers allow employees to tap their earned wages before their regularly scheduled payday. There has been a proliferation of such companies over the past decade, with a variety of business models emerging, including some that work through the employer and others that directly service employees.

DailyPay works through employers, including clients such as battery-maker Duracell; taco restaurant chain Torchy’s; and BrightSpring Health Services, according to its website.

The leadership change comes as New York-based DailyPay matures as a privately-held startup, having been founded in 2015. The shift also comes as the industry increasingly faces more regulatory pressure, with new state laws shaping the nascent industry. The industry has also become more competitive.

“Kevin Coop joined DailyPay at a critical time in the company's growth journey,” the DailyPay release said. “Under his leadership, the company achieved many impressive milestones, including sustaining double-digit revenue growth.”

Earlier this month, DailyPay appointed Brett Pitts, a former top banking and payments executive. Pitts was formerly head of North American treasury and payments solutions at the bank BMO Financial Group, and before that was group head of digital at the bank Wells Fargo.

Pitts joins a board of directors that includes some members from DailyPay’s investors, including the private equity firm Carrick Capital Partners as well as the venture capital firms RPM Ventures and Intercept Ventures.

DailyPay weighs options

Companies with private equity owners are often focused on an exit plan for investors, mulling either a sale or an initial public offering. DailyPay had an opportunity to sell before Coop arrived, according to trade publication The Information, which reported neobank Chime had made two offers, including one for $2 billion, but was rejected.

DailyPay reportedly has set a goal to pursue an IPO by next year, according to a report earlier this year in Axios. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment on that possibility.

In an interview with Carrick last year, Coop suggested he wasn’t focused on such options.

“Often when people ask this of a PE-backed company they want to hear about their plan and whether they are trying to go public or to sell, but I don’t think about it that way,” Coop said in a March 2023 question-and-answer posting on Carrick’s web site. “If you’re building a generational business, the type of business that’s going to stand the test of time, you need to focus on supporting the stakeholders: the employer, their customers and employees, our own employees and our investors.”

Coop guided the company in raising $75 million in new equity funding earlier this year, plus $100 million in debt financing. Last year, he also lined up new bank partners in a bid to extend DailyPay’s EWA services to their corporate clients.

Prior to Coop taking the CEO post, the company was led by one of the company’s founders, Jason Lee, who was the CEO from 2015 to 2022.