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How to avoid invoice fraud

According to UK Finance, UK business lost a total of £93 million in 2018 to invoice fraud, with the average payment to fraudsters being £20,750. To help you avoid losing potentially thousands of pounds, we’ve put together a list of things that you can do to avoid invoice fraud.

Scrutinise all invoices

It’s extremely important for you to scrutinise all of the invoices that you receive. The differences between a false invoice and a real one will be subtle, but if you look closely, you should be able to identify a fake. Common indicators of a fake invoice include a different phone number or contact name for correspondence, a change in payment methods, changes in the amount to be invoiced, a new signature, blurred logos, the addition to bank details that didn’t appear previously and email addresses with small changes.

Listen to your instincts

This might seem trivial, but it is important to listen to your instincts when analysing invoices. If an invoice does not seem genuine, it is probably a good idea to take a closer look at it. In order to stay in control of your payments, try and be more confident when refusing payments or unexpected information requests so that you don’t end up making a mistake under pressure. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Don’t click suspicious links

This is a general rule of thumb for using the internet, but in order to avoid invoice fraud, never click on the links that appear in an unexpected text or email. Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated than ever and it is now incredibly easy to create email addresses that look genuine upon first glance, but if you look closely, you might notice that certain names or words in the address are spelt incorrectly.

Check on suppliers

Fake invoices are often issued under a legitimate name with a fake bank account number or email address or under a false business name. When you’re taking on a new supplier, it’s a good idea to do your research into their business to ensure that they are legitimate and to search for their business address on Google maps. If their address is a PO box or a residential address, this could indicate that they are committing fraud. Where possible, if your existing suppliers get in touch claiming that they are changing their bank account or address, contact them directly to make sure.

Conduct multiple-stage authorisation

If you have the staff capability, it’s a good idea to hold multiple people responsible for the authorisation of payments. You could give the department or person associated with the expenditure responsibility for authorising the payment. The more people you have on hand to check each invoice, the more likely it is that someone will spot something suspicious.


If you’re looking to take control of your company spending in a secure and safe manner, get in touch with our expert team at B4B Payments today.

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How to be a top performing CFO

If you are currently a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or hoping to secure a CFO role for yourself, you may be wondering how to be the best, top-performing CFO possible. Below we outline just some of the skills and characteristics a CFO should have to ensure they bring as much value as possible to their organisation.

1. Transparency

It is important a CFO knows how to create and maintain a trusting, transparent environment. The financial status and figures of a business are an essential element of its foundation. If a CFO is able to be transparent about the financial position of its company, it helps to build trust and ensures all departments and employees are working on the same page towards the same goals.

2. Communication

While it may seem obvious to say that a CFO should have good communication skills, simply being able to communicate well is not enough for a CFO. A CFO should have a flexible communication style that allows them to adjust their communication techniques when working with different departments or individuals. Throughout the course of a day, a CFO may need to communicate with subordinates, board members, business partners, suppliers and the media, making a flexible communication style essential to ensure they can build strong, lasting relationships with everyone they communicate with.

3. Solution-orientated

In a leadership position, such as a CFO, many people will look to you for business solutions, not problems. For this reason, a CFO must adopt a solution-orientated attitude and not fall into the habit of being rule or compliance-orientated, as this can limit the effectiveness of their decisions.

4. Teamwork

Many managers and those in a leadership position may think teamwork is a basic skill that everyone should have mastered in adulthood. In reality, however, it can be difficult for many CFOs to be able to adapt their understanding of teamwork in a leadership position. As a CFO, it is your responsibility to build and strengthen your team. For this reason, a CFO should never look to shine individually or expect personal praise, they should focus their time and energy on ensuring their team is as functional and efficient as possible, rewarding them rather than looking for individual praise.

5. Innovation

As a CFO, you have the power to make innovative financial decisions and revolutionise your department. For example, a CFO could introduce prepaid business cards that save their financial team significant time and money. The CFO must choose where to include innovation carefully, to ensure these changes help improve the efficiency of their company.


If you’d like to learn more about how prepaid business card solutions could benefit CFOs, do not hesitate to get in touch with B4B Payments today. We ensure CFOs can keep control over corporate expenses in one, convenient platform, ensuring to improve the efficiency of their department. For more information, contact B4B Payments.

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Expense Management Insights Newsroom Payroll & Payouts Tools & Guides Uncategorised

The Pros (and cons) of being a cashless organisation.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to question whether they should adopt a cashless policy or not. Recent global events, such as the coronavirus pandemic, have led to an increase in credit and debit card payments. Digital wallet services like Apple Pay are also experiencing exponential growth, as increasing numbers of consumers and vendors embrace cashless payments.

However, in some industries – particularly in business-to-business environments such as wholesalers or supply merchants – cash is still commonplace. This article covers the pros and cons of switching to a cashless payments model and is designed to help you to determine whether going cashless is the right solution for you.

The pros of adapting a cashless policy

Save time – and money!

While businesses are expected to pay fees on credit card transactions, it’s worth noting that processing cash sales can take much longer. Ultimately, the time spent processing physical cash transactions could be better spent elsewhere. With cashless transactions, you’ll spend less time making trips to the bank, counting cash at the end of the day, and entering cash transactions into your accounting software.

Increased efficiency

A simple tap or swipe of a prepaid business card, credit card, debit card or mobile phone is much more efficient than giving out petty cash. If your business frequently experiences last minute or on-the-spot purchase needs, you may find that a cash-free solution helps to alleviate backlog in accounting.

Easier accounting and money management

If you’re frequently spending time poring over transactions while trying to determine why your expenses aren’t tallying correctly, it’s time to think about going cashless. With a cashless solution from B4B Payments, each transaction is tracked and receipt uploads are a breeze with the mobile app. This makes accounting more accurate and increases efficiency in the workplace.

Reduced risk

If your business keeps cash on the premises, you’ll always be vulnerable to theft. By switching to a cashless policy, you’ll improve the physical security of your staff and customers. Cashless transactions are also more hygienic – and your team and vendors will value this in a post-pandemic world.

Enhanced expense management

Going cashless isn’t all about finances coming in – it concerns your outgoings, too. Whether you’re purchasing from suppliers or covering the corporate expenses of field agents and reps, your expenses are easily tracked and managed when you go cashless.

Access valuable data

Cashless transactions generate a multitude of valuable consumer information. This data allows you to analyse the purchasing trends and spending habits of your card recipients and employees, which can be used to improve your financial strategy.

Cons of adopting a cashless policy

Increased card fees

One of the biggest bugbears for small-medium enterprises is the dreaded card transaction fee. To combat this, some companies factor card fees into their pricing structure, which could mean having to slightly increase the amount you charge your customers for your products.

*Pro tip- Read the fine print. Many prepaid card programmes offer cheaper rates from the outset, with hidden fees or margins on FX rates for transactions. Ω`

Some people prefer cash

For some organisations depending on who you’re distributing your cards to, cash is still king. In particular, older recipients of funds, are more accustomed to paying with cash and could feel alienated by your decision to adopt a totally cashless policy.

Is going cashless right for your business?

There are a lot of variables to consider before going cashless. Businesses in certain industries might benefit from going completely cashless, while others might still want to hold out before no longer utilising cash payments.

Whether you’re ready to take the plunge or not, having a cashless payment solution can certainly increase efficiency, provide you with better understanding of where your money is going, and streamline your accounting process. If you’d like more information, why not contact us to find out how B4B Payments could transform your fund disbursement today?

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Expense Management Insights Newsroom Tools & Guides Uncategorised

How to cut business costs

No matter how established a business is, regularly looking for ways to cut and control costs and eliminate unnecessary expenditure is good business practice. In uncertain times, and when faced with an uncertain economy, every penny truly does count and even successful businesses should re-evaluate how they can cut costs.

1. Look for ways to be environmentally friendly

While swapping your bulbs for LEDs and installing solar panels may seem like unnecessary business expenses, in the long-term, they can help your business to save a significant amount of money. You can also encourage your employees to make better eco choices, such as switching off their computers rather than leaving them on stand-by and opting for digital documents rather than using paper. Buying reusable mugs and cups for your workplace is much more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than constantly buying single-use supplies. In a post-covid workplace, we recommend ensuring each member of staff has their own supplies to ensure the safety and health of your team.

2. Negotiate supply expenses

It never hurts to try and negotiate a lower price with supply vendors to see if you could get a better deal. If you have been with a vendor for the long-term, you can ask them to reward your loyalty and retain your custom by offering you a lower, more affordable price. If they are unable to do this, shop around for another vendor, you may be surprised at the savings you could make by switching to another supplier or company.

3. Reduce overheads

Do you really need an office? Since lockdown measures were put into place due to the global pandemic, many businesses are re-evaluating having a physical presence at all. It’s clear employees are adapting and thriving in a remote working environment and surveys show that by continuing to give your employees the choice to work from home, you will not only have a safer, happier team, but can significantly reduce your overhead costs by moving into a smaller office space or none at all. If you choose to have a smaller office space with fewer employees working physically in the office, this will also help you to lower your energy bills and keep employee expenses low.

4. Control expenditure

If you’re looking for an easy and efficient way to control employee expenditure, you may wish to consider B4B Payments. Having spent the last 14 years developing a robust prepaid card solutions that allows businesses to view and control their employee expenditure in real-time, ensures your organisation has total control and transparency over their employee expenses.

5. Reduce travel

Encourage all meetings to take place via video call or conference call, rather than allowing employees to travel frequently. This not only saves a company transport costs, but it also reduces the time employees spend and waste travelling from location to location. If it is essential departments or employees meet in person, use to ensure tracking your employees’ transport expenses is easy and you can factor this expense into your monthly or quarterly budget.

To learn more about the prepaid business card solutions that can help businesses of all sizes cut costs, contact B4B Payments today. From payroll to employee expenses and employee incentive management, we can help you manage your finances in one, convenient platform. Get in touch today to learn more about our effective solutions.

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The benefits of a branded prepaid business card

To brand or not to brand?

Wait… Is that even a question? Brand! Brand everything!

Often when somebody goes on a company trip, they’ll travel out with a business credit card in order to cover their expenses. This has been the typical method of corporate expense management and keeping your spending on trips under control. However, the use of the branded prepaid business card is on the rise. Here are a few reasons that these cards are beneficial for both the brand, the business, and its users.

A high level of management control

Using business credit cards can often be a struggle, as too many cards being in circulation can be difficult to track. Using a management control platform such as B4B Payments means that you can keep track of all of your corporate expense cards, generate spending reports, and load cards individually or in bulk. This makes the amount of control you have over your corporate expenses far more secure and is a big step towards accurate real-time tracking of company finances and spending.

Personalisation can boost your brand

The improvement of your brand is always a big benefit to any company, and prepaid business cards are not exempt from this idea. When your employees go to a conference and need to cover for their expenses, they can reach down into a wallet and show off your company’s brand whilst paying for anything they get when away. This is a quick and easy way to get your brand seen by more people, often industry professionals, whilst putting minimal effort into getting this exposure. With a colourful and vibrant company expenses card, your business can stand out from the crowd.

Control your expenditure

Everyone’s heard the nightmare stories. Employees often go on long trips to conferences or retreats and may overspend far beyond what the company initially anticipated. With a credit card, it is much harder to stay within these limits compared to a debit card. Using a prepaid business card, there is no credit involved. Your company’s representatives are limited by the amount that is paid onto the card, and therefore can’t overspend and leave your business in financial trouble. Peace of mind is valuable in business, and that is exactly what this card can offer you.

If you’re interested in a prepaid personalised business card in order to control your corporate expenses and get your brand out there, get in touch with B4B Payments. Our team of experts will help to explain all of the available options to you and find you a bespoke way forward.

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B4B Payments chooses LHV Banking Services to fuel growth

LHV, the financial and payment services provider, is pleased to announce award-winning corporate prepaid payments solution provider, B4B Payments (‘B4B’), has become the latest FinTech customer of its London branch. 

Since the launch of its London office in 2018, LHV has now quadrupled its client base to 120.  Customers are predominantly financial institutions and FinTechs, who have been drawn to LHV’s value proposition, its ‘one stop shop’ offering that covers large scale banking service requirements, and its partnership model whereby LHV works closely with clients to develop custom made solutions that satisfy their individual requirements. 

FCA authorised B4B will gain access to LHV’s full service offering including state of the art payment infrastructure and real time Euro and Sterling payments capability via Single Euro Payment Area (‘SEPA’) Instant and Faster Payments schemes respectively. In addition, B4B will benefit from access to LHV’s Application Programming Interface ‘LHV Connect’, which offers a wide range of services, including GBP and EUR safeguarding accounts, Virtual IBANs, currency exchange, liquidity services and where appropriate financing.

B4B Payments, veteran prepaid payment provider in Europe, is going global, expanding operations in North America and opening its first US offices in Boston. The platform enables organisations of any size to manage expenses, simplify payroll, reimbursements, and offer employee rewards and incentives.

As a leader in Fintech and prepaid business payments for over 14 years and voted the Best Prepaid Product of the Year in 2019, B4B Payments continues to offer innovative, flexible, and time-saving solutions that streamline and eliminate antiquated finance and accounting processes.

Andres Kitter, Head of LHV’s UK Operations, said, “Our decision to establish a presence in London post the 2016 Brexit referendum was to increase our presence in what remains one of the leading financial and fintech sectors in the world and in the process attract customers of the calibre of B4B.  The company has been operating for fifteen years, which shows significant experience and market resilience and we are delighted that two profitable organisations are partnering for continued growth.

“In a little over two years, we have not only quadrupled customer numbers in our London office to 120 but also significantly diversified our client base so that the companies we serve range from payment service providers to FX brokers and from startups to established financial institutions and unicorns. All our clients are subjected to comprehensive onboarding procedures and due diligence and encouragingly we have a growing pipeline of potential customers currently undergoing this process.  I am therefore confident that the momentum behind our London operations will be maintained going forward.” 

 B4B CEO and co-founder, Paul Swinton said, “We looked at a number of providers to provide safeguarding and virtual IBAN capabilities. LHV came out on top due to their flexibility, functionality and value proposition. We migrated our clients easily onto the platform and we are very happy with the service to date. LHV will also be able to support us when we establish our European operation later this month with a one stop solution.”

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NSSW provides support with prepaid Higher Education Travel Cards

Next Steps South West (NSSW) is an organisation, part of the Uni Connect programme, funded by the Office for Students. Their aim is to increase progression into higher education by inspiring young people, working with teachers and parents to overcome barriers.

NSSW use personalised, prepaid cards for their Higher Education Travel Card scheme to enable students to attend university and college open days.

B4B Payments provides forward-thinking payment processing solutions, enabling any size organisation to manage its expenses, simplify its payroll and offer rewards and incentives using prepaid cards. With over 1,000 customers and growing all of the time, B4B Payments was voted the Best Prepaid Product of the Year in 2019.

Taylor, a student at Eggbuckland Community College in Plymouth, was the subject of multiple interventions from NSSW, who offered one-to-one support, motivational talks and workshops to help him become the first member of his family to attend university.

With the help of B4B Payment’s prepaid cards, NSSW was able to cover the cost to help Taylor travel to attend a UCAS exhibition and open days at the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth. Following the support of NSSW, Taylor was able to earn multiple university offers to become an undergraduate student in September 2020.

With B4B Payment’s online portal, customers can easily load their cards with funds in a matter of minutes, track their expenditure and monitor access to their funds, giving organisations like NSSW complete control over their finances.

The whole process has been simple and straightforward. Nothing is too much trouble for B4B staff and their swift response to any matter that may arise and the ability to tailor cards to suit our needs is a definite win for us.

Annie Winsland, Central Team Leader at NSSW
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Tools & Guides

Wirecard Situation: Customer and Cardholder FAQ

Following the FCA’s decision on Friday to freeze all activity on accounts and cards issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd, we have created a list of common questions asked by both B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap customers and cardholders.

What happened?

Who are Wirecard Card Solutions?

What does this mean to me?

Why didn’t B4B Payments warn me about this sooner?

Is it only B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap customers and cardholders that are affected?

So, where is my money?

When will I be able to access my account?

I am expecting a payment. What happens if someone sends money to my B4B Payments & Bread4Scrap card now?

How will you keep me updated?

If my money is safe in a Barclays bank account, why can’t the FCA just release it?

The issues facing Wirecard AG in Germany have been known for a week. Did you not see this coming?

What actions are B4B Payments & Bread4Scrap now taking to resolve the situation?

How do I know my money is safe in the Wirecard Card Solutions Barclays account?

I loaded a float payment to my B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap account on the morning of 26 June. It shows as sent at my bank, but it hasn’t arrived at my admin portal. What happened to it?

My card is showing as ‘cancelled,’ does this mean I will need a new card?


 
What happened?

On 26 June 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority suspended operations of Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd UK, our card-issuing partner.

 
Who are Wirecard Card Solutions?

Wirecard Card Solutions is an e-money institution. B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap use them to provide e-money accounts to our customers, issue debit cards and process customer payments. That means the money in a B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap customer or cardholder’s account is not held by B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap, but with Wirecard Card Solutions. This money is kept in a ring-fenced (safeguarded) Barclays bank account.

 
What does this mean to me?

The FCA action means the money in B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap customer and cardholder accounts is frozen. Your money remains completely safe, but the FCA action means that you cannot access it right now. Read more on the FCA website

 
Why didn’t B4B Payments warn me about this sooner?

The Financial Conduct Authority suspended its permission for Wirecard Card Solutions Limited to operate on the morning of 26 June 2020. We had no prior warning that this was going to happen and that the FCA would freeze cards during their investigation with Wirecard in the UK. As soon as B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap learned that the FCA was suspending operations of Wirecard Card Solutions, we contacted all our customers to let everyone know.

 
Is it only B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap customers and cardholders that are affected?

No. Quite a few UK-based companies and their customers have been affected by the sudden suspension of Wirecard Card Solutions. Other e-money providers have also been affected.

 
So, where is my money?

If you’re a B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap customer or cardholder, your money is held by Wirecard Card Solutions in a ring-fenced Barclays account. The FCA action means that Wirecard Card Solutions’s account is frozen, so you cannot currently access your funds. When the FCA allows the money to be released you will be able to access it.

For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

 
When will I be able to access my account?

We expect the FCA suspension to be lifted – and so your inability to access your account and card is temporary.  When we have absolute clarity on the timing of card reactivation, we’ll immediately let you know.

For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

 
I am expecting a payment. What happens if someone sends money to my B4B Payments & Bread4Scrap card now?

Unfortunately, if you are expecting any payments using Bread4Scrap or B4B Payments (ie. your employer) our admin accounts are temporarily blocked from uploading funds or sending payments. For urgent payments, we suggest contacting the sender and ask them if it is possible to send funds to a different account. Please keep in mind we expect this situation to be temporary and resolved soon. It may not be possible for those senders to process payments externally to their B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap platform as their funds are also frozen. 

 For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

 
How will you keep me updated?

We will be informing our clients via emails, in the app and by posting the latest information here on our website. For our cardholders, we will keep you up to date via Twitter as well as here on the website. When cards are reactivated, we will send an SMS. Please ensure your mobile number is up to date by logging into your account and accessing your personal details. We know how difficult this situation is, and we are trying to keep you as informed as possible. As soon as we know more, we pass the information on to you.

 
If my money is safe in a Barclays bank account, why can’t the FCA just release it?

We believe that the FCA will eventually do this. They are reviewing the situation with Wirecard Card Solutions and need to make sure everything is in order before they can release the funds. At this stage the FCA have not told us how long this will take.

For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

 
The issues facing Wirecard AG in Germany have been known for a week. Did you not see this coming?

We were aware of the situation with Wirecard AG in Germany; however we were repeatedly reassured by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd that this would not affect operations in the UK.

 
What actions are B4B Payments & Bread4Scrap now taking to resolve the situation?

Our goal is to give you access to your money as quickly as possible. We are speaking to the FCA for further guidance. With regards to future plans, B4B Payments has been planning an updated long-term solution for when the UK leaves the EU at the end of the year. We can confirm we have accelerated these plans. Our goal is to continue providing a stable platform that will allow our customers uninterrupted use of their cards and funds moving forward (UK and non-UK). At this time, we are unable to give definitive timelines – but will have an update for you in the coming weeks. We assure you that the B4B team are working around the clock to resolve this situation.

 
How do I know my money is safe in the Wirecard Card Solutions Barclays account?

It is a requirement from the FCA that funds are stored in a ring-fenced account, and the FCA supervises regulated entities to make sure they comply with the regulation and store the funds correctly. All funds in the Barclays account belong to B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap customers and cardholders and cannot be used for any other purposes. Although the account was officially attributed to Wirecard Card Solutions, B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap had visibility of the Barclays account prior to the FCA suspension, and we saw no unusual activity.

 
I loaded a float payment to my B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap account on the morning of 26 June. It shows as sent at my bank, but it hasn’t arrived at my admin portal. What happened to it?

If you sent it out before 10am on 26 June it should have been delivered to the destination.

If you sent it after 10am 26 June it will not have gone. Unfortunately, we weren’t aware of that at the time that cards would be frozen. These funds are still in the ring-fenced Barclays account and should eventually be credited back to your B4B Payments or Bread4Scrap account and made available to you.

 
My card is showing as ‘cancelled,’ does this mean I will need a new card?

No. This is only a temporary measure put in place by the FCA to ensure cards are not used during this time. Once the FCA release their suspension of funds held by Wirecard, your card will be reactivated. 

 For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

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Client Update: Wirecard AG – Resolved

This situation has been marked as resolved.

Update 30/06/2020

13:00 BST

As of 12:15, all card spending has now commenced and all systems are operational. There may be sporadic card declines as the card data spreads through the Mastercard® network, however this will be temporary as some merchants and ATMs may not update in real time.

Our apologies again for the delay.


11:00 BST

Further to our earlier update below, we are still awaiting word from Mastercard® on when the cards will be re-enabled on their network. At the moment, cards are only capable of being loaded.

Like us, we know our customers are eager to get things back on track. Unfortunately, whilst B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap were ready, some of our partners were not. Please be assured our team are on the case and are seeking clarity on when this will be done and card spend transactions can resume.

Our apologies for this further delay. We will update you as soon as we know anything further.


08:00 BST

And… we’re back!

We’re extremely pleased to report that the FCA have now given written consent for Wirecard UK to resume regulated activity meaning that we can get services up and running. This confirms that all finances have been examined and it has been recognised by the FCA that Wirecard in the UK has been operating in accordance with its regulations and all funds are intact as expected. There are some continued conditions set by the FCA which should not impact further operations.

Please view the full FCA article here

The restriction on activities were lifted from 00.01 on 30 June 2020 and services are being restored.

Cards have now been reactivated.
Company floats may again be loaded.
Cards may be loaded as before.

We have been advised that all cards will be able to spend later this morning. If this changes we will let you know. It is possible that not all merchants (shops and ATMs) will be enabled straight away as the card data has to be re-populated through the Mastercard® network. Please note, that if cards don’t work at a particular merchant, this should just be temporary and they’ll be re-enabled soon.

This is great news but we want to assure you that we take this situation and the impact even just a few days outage has had on our customers and cardholders very seriously and we will continue to look at ensuring there is further resilience built into our operations.

Please expect further updates from us on both the Wirecard restart and future developments we are working on. On behalf of the entire B4B Payments team we thank you for your patience and understanding

Update 29/06/2020

Following the FCA’s decision on Friday to freeze all activity on accounts and cards issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd, we would like to first and foremost, reassure our clients and cardholders that your money is safe.*

This morning, the FCA have updated their messaging to reflect that progress is being made by Wirecard UK, however cards remain frozen.

For the most up to date information, we urge our clients to refer to the FCA website.

We are hopeful that the progress being made will mean your accounts and cards will be operational again within the coming day(s).

With regards to future plans, B4B Payments has been planning an updated long-term solution for when the UK leaves the EU at the end of the year. We can confirm we have accelerated these plans. Our goal is to continue providing a stable platform that will allow our customers uninterrupted use of their cards and funds moving forward (UK and non-UK). At this time, we are unable to give definitive timelines – but will have an update for you in the coming weeks.

We understand that this disruption has caused an unprecedented amount of difficulties within your organisation and are doing everything we can to ensure operations get back on track as soon as possible.

On behalf of the team at B4B Payments, we would like to thank all of our clients for their immense patience and understanding.

*Please note, all B4B Payments and Bread4Scrap client funds are subject to UK safeguarding rules as governed by the UK Financial Conduct Authority

Customer and Cardholder FAQ


Update 26/06/2020

B4B Payments have been informed by the FCA that all cardholder activity on cards issued by Wirecard Card Solutions have been temporarily frozen until further notice.

In the short term, this means that effective immediately cards may not currently be used for either load or spend transactions. We are aware that the FCA and Wirecard are working productively to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and it is our hope that this will be resolved early next week.

On behalf of the team at B4B Payments, we would like to apologise to all our clients and cardholders for the disruption this may cause and are doing everything we can to ensure operations get back on track as soon as possible. At this time, we would suggest not making any further float loads until we have spoken further with the FCA about next steps.

We would remind and reassure you that all funds are safeguarded under FCA rules. Please see our previous message below with regards to safeguarding.


Update 18/06/20

You may have seen recent press coverage regarding Wirecard AG the German payments company.

We would like to make our clients aware of some facts as it relates to us and you. In Europe, B4B Payments prepaid cards are issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd (WDCS) who are regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an E-Money Issuer (ref 90051).

Whilst WDCS is ultimately owned by Wirecard AG, it does not rely on Wirecard AG for liquidity, and is a profitable entity in its own right and is self sustaining. WDCS holds its own regulatory licenses and scheme memberships and third-party banking relationships.

We would like to remind and reassure you that both we, Payment Card Solutions (UK) Ltd t/a B4B Payments (B4B) and WDCS are regulated by the FCA and are required to take measures to ensure our customers money is protected as follows:

Safeguarding of Funds

B4B holds a commercial bin sponsorship agreement with WDCS to allow it to offer prepaid card programs to its customers and to operate and manage its client relationships with oversight from WDCS.

Both the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 have the principle of “safeguarding” of client funds and require safeguarding measures to be implemented by the authorised firm to protect customer’s funds.

 The safeguarding options are either:

•          Immediate segregation of the relevant funds received in exchange for e-money or payment services and placing them into an account held by an authorised credit institution

•          Relevant funds are covered by an insurance policy or guarantee from a UK or EEA authorised insurer.

Both WDCS and B4B have taken the appropriate step of safeguarding its clients’ funds by segregation and placing them in a protected ‘Client Funds Bank Account’ held with a UK or European based bank. At the current time, these banks include Barclays Bank and ClearBank as well as HSBC and LHV Bank (in Europe).

The effects of this are that, in the unlikely event that WDCS or B4B becomes insolvent, funds that have been loaded to a prepaid card or placed on a payment account, and which have arrived with and been deposited into the client funds account, are protected against the claims made by creditors. Cardholders and Clients can therefore be assured that no financial loss will be experienced by them should such a situation occur.

As soon as we have more information, we will share those updates on this page.

B4B Payments is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Authorised Payment Institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (Firm No. 777613)

Categories
Case studies Expense Management Insights Non Profit Uncategorised

Church Service: Finding solutions with B4B Payments

Connect Church took control of spending and increased the effectiveness of their multiple programmes by using prepaid business cards from B4B Payments.

Connect Church was founded 80 years ago in Birmingham and has grown to become a vibrant church for the modern age. It is multigenerational and multinational drawing people from across the city, and around the world, through its online services on Facebook and YouTube. It is run by a small staff who work hard to coordinate the work of more than 100 volunteers.

Until recently, the work of the church was facilitated using petty cash, or by people paying from their own pockets and claiming reimbursement. These methods were difficult to administer across so many activities and volunteers. Paperwork was not always submitted correctly, and the system was continually at risk. When staff made online purchases from their own pockets, there was often unavoidable delays before the money was reimbursed, which affected their family budget. Vital activities and services were delayed or adversely affected as a result. Connect Church needed a corporate expense management system that would work for them.

Finding payments solution that worked

As a way of facilitating the online payments, Connect Church first considered debit and credit cards, linked to the church’s main account. However, they quickly recognised that this would still be difficult to administer as well as being a security risk.

Using corporate expense cards through B4B payments turned out to be the ideal solution.

Now, funds are loaded onto the cards by the administrator, according to an approved budget. The process is simple, and fast so that even emergency payments can be quickly handled 24/7 and the cards can be topped up as needed.

Users can then make purchases anywhere that accepts MasterCard® payments, in-store, or online. Receipts are uploaded online, so keeping track is secure and straightforward. Because the administrator can view all transactions in real-time on the secure B4B interface, users are not able to make large purchases or be tempted by a large credit balance.

Set up was simple, and support was available at every stage. The church staff found that working with the B4B team was a pleasure throughout the process.

“From day one, our interactions with the B4B team have been warm and helpful. They have always been quick to respond to our enquiries for support, and even though we are a relatively small concern, we have always been treated well as their clients.”

Tracee McAtear, Executive Pastor

The proof is in the pudding

The church immediately saw an increase in the number of services and programmes they were able to offer. The staff and volunteers no longer held back by slow, cumbersome claim processes could focus on running the activities of the church. Staff and key volunteers felt empowered to make their activities happen without delay and without the risk of being personally out of pocket. The church, which is also a registered charity, is run by trustees who can now rest assured that funds are responsibly utilised and accounted for according to fiduciary regulations.