B4B Payments has been granted Authorised Payment Institute (API) status by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
B4B Payments issues hundreds of thousands of prepaid cards across Europe. This new status will enable it to further enhance its product set and expand operations by offering additional payment services under its own licence whilst expanding the core functionality contained within its in-house software platform.
We will continue to maintain our excellent relationships with our e-money BIN sponsorship partners and continue to grow the prepaid side of our business but this new status gives us increased access to the value chain and to offer additional payment services including bill payments to our wide ranging customer base. This is an exciting period of growth for B4B Payments as our main products have grown by over 200 percent in the last year and we are looking to expand further in 2018.
Obtaining FCA authorisation was a natural next step for B4B Payments as many of the processes required have been in place for many years, however we would like to thank NeoPay for their support in helping with the application.
B4B Payments are pleased to announce the launch of the Bread4Scrap Prepaid Card solution to the Scrap Metals industry.
Law changes brought in by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 mean that Scrap Metal dealers cannot pay cash for materials brought to them and must use an electronic means of payment or cheques to provide an audit trail of payments for scrapped metal.
Many dealers are put off by the high costs and insecurity of using cheques and want greater convenience for their customers to make use of their funds immediately.
The Bread4Scrap solution allows participating dealers to issue a new prepaid card and load it within seconds and give their customers an electronic means of payment, which they can use immediately at over 35 million locations where cards are accepted. Paul Swinton, CEO of B4B Payments said: “This is a very quick solution for the weigh bridge operators and cash offices and a highly convenient way for their customers to receive funds. We are confident that Bread4Scrap will be a huge success for our customers.”
UK holidaymakers in Europe could be wasting up to a £1bn a year when they change their Sterling into Euros, says Paul Swinton, CEO of B4B Payments, a leader in smart and flexible corporate expenditure solutions.
“There are around 42 million trips to Euro zone countries by UK residents each year and they spend some £18bn worth of Euros. In these tough times, people could save themselves a lot of money with a little planning, simply by ordering a prepaid Euro card and loading it with the amount that they want to spend on holiday”, explained Paul.
B4B Payments has launched the BreadFX Euro Currency Card to address this issue. It has very competitive exchange rates, no commission to pay, and no fees for normal usage. * “Typically, you could get up to 10 percent more Euros for your pounds than you would at an airport currency exchange shop. If your holiday spending is about £800, it means you could get up to an additional £80 worth of Euros to spend ‘for free’,” continues Paul.
Once you receive your BreadFX Prepaid Mastercard (link to www.breadfx.com) you can email or text to exchange Sterling from your bank account to Euros on the card. BreadFX publish their daily exchange rates on their website so that you can compare with other ways of obtaining Euros. Paul maintains BreadFX could save the typical holidaymaker between 3 percent and 10 percent of the costs of their Euros, compared to travellers’ cheques, or many High Street or airport currency exchanges.
The card is accepted at some 30 million outlets worldwide wherever the Mastercard® Acceptance Mark is displayed. It can also be used to draw cash from an ATM for pocket money. As with many other Mastercard® cards, the cardholder has a unique PIN, so it can be considered a safe alternative to carrying large amounts of cash, or hiding money in a hotel room. However, BreadFX advise that you should keep the card as secure as cash and never disclose the PIN or keep it near your card.
The BreadFX card is also a convenient alternative to travellers’ cheques as you don’t usually need to have your passport with you as proof of identity. Because you pre-load the card with the amount of Euros you want to spend, you can control your budget but if you want to top up the card, all it takes is an email or text. If you lose your card it can easily be replaced (for just €7.50) or a replacement couriered to you at the cost of the courier service.
So what are the advantages against taking your ordinary UK debit card or credit card on holiday? The exchange rates with the BreadFX card are usually better, so you save money. If using a UK debit or credit card, exchange rates will vary on each transaction and there may be additional charges levied by your bank for using your card abroad, making it difficult to keep an accurate track of your spending.
*No fees for normal usage except €1.50 ATM fee. See website for full terms and conditions.
Notes to Editors:
The BreadFX Prepaid Mastercard® is operated by B4B Payments Ltd. All currency transactions are carried out by Cornhill FX. The card is issued by Wirecard Card Services Ltd.
B4B Payments was formed in 2006 to run, manage and operate prepaid card programmes. The Bread Prepaid Mastercard has become one of the industry leading general spend prepaid card programmes. Using knowledge and experience built up during its operation led to a natural progression to join forces with Cornhill to begin delivering travel money programs via prepaid cards.
Cornhill FX is part of the Cornhill Group and was established to provide a superior service to clients (large and small) requiring assistance with foreign currency conversion. With FSA regulation and servicing 1000’s of clients including many FTSE100 companies, Cornhill process a sizeable number of transactions daily that allow them access to the very best exchange rates on the market.Original research for B4B Payments conducted by YouGov (June 2010) as an omnibus survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults aged 18+. Other data sourced from The Office of National Statistics MQ6 Survey on Transport Travel & Tourism and from B4B Payments own research.
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