Category: Company News

Employee payments are a crucial aspect of any business, but managing payments can be particularly challenging for companies with a global workforce. In such situations, traditional payment methods may not be practical or cost-effective, leading to delays in payments and unhappy employees.

That’s where prepaid cards come in, providing an innovative solution to enable businesses to streamline their global payment operations. Available in both physical and virtual forms, these cards can be preloaded with the desired amount and distributed to employees regardless of their location. This offers employees immediate access to their funds, enhancing their financial flexibility.

Interested in finding out more? Join us as we explore the challenges and benefits of using virtual, physical, and prepaid cards for employee payments around the globe.

Uncovering the Convenience of Virtual and Physical Prepaid Card Services

To streamline payroll management, businesses worldwide are turning to card services. In many regions, traditional banking systems make it difficult for employees to open bank accounts. Prepaid cards offer a practical and efficient solution, allowing employees to receive their payments directly onto a card that can be used for purchases or cash withdrawals.

The introduction of virtual prepaid cards has further increased the level of convenience in accessing funds. Platforms like B4B Payments empower businesses to instantly generate virtual cards, effectively eliminating the waiting periods associated with the delivery of physical cards. This feature is particularly beneficial for employees requiring quick access to funds, such as those on business trips or working remotely.

Moreover, prepaid cards reduce the necessity for employees to carry large sums of cash or depend on expensive wire transfer services. This approach not only saves time and effort but also proves more cost-effective for both employees and employers.

The global prepaid card market, projected to reach $4.1 trillion in transaction value by 2026, according to Juniper Research, attests to the increasing demand for this convenient form of payment. This growth is primarily driven by emerging markets, where the reach of traditional banking systems may not be as extensive.

B4B Payments’ prepaid cards serve as a more permanent solution, available in the form of virtual and physical branded cards. They can be easily topped up via an intuitive platform, making prepaid cards an accessible solution for companies aiming to streamline their employee payments.

Boost Your Payroll Security with Card Services

Virtual, physical, and prepaid card services offer unparalleled security for global payments, thanks to features like fraud protection and real-time card locking. It’s worth exploring these security features in the context of international transactions, where unique security challenges often arise.

The Role of Security Features in International Transactions

Businesses conducting international transactions face unique security challenges, such as potential fraud and unauthorised use. Some common security issues include payment card data breaches, phishing attacks, and unauthorised access to payment systems. Here, card security features play a crucial role in mitigating these concerns.

Card Services Security Features: A Detailed Look

Card services, including virtual, physical, and prepaid cards, offer a secure payment option for businesses and employees alike. They come equipped with multiple security features to guard against fraud and unauthorised transactions.

One of the primary advantages of these card services is their built-in fraud protection measures. Many card providers offer round-the-clock fraud monitoring and protection, ensuring that any suspicious activity is promptly detected and addressed.

Additionally, the ability to lock and unlock cards in real-time serves as a key security feature. If an employee loses their card or suspects unauthorised use, they can instantly lock the card, preventing further transactions. Once the card is found or the issue is resolved, it can be quickly unlocked for continued use.

Virtual cards offer enhanced safety as they eliminate the risk of physical loss or theft. These cards typically have unique card numbers and security codes, providing an additional layer of protection against unauthorised use.

Benefits of Global Payments with Card Services

Adopting card services for global payments provides several benefits to businesses. Not only does it ease the

payroll process, but it also helps foster a sense of trust and satisfaction among employees. Moreover, it simplifies international transactions by bypassing the need for multiple currency conversions and mitigating exchange rate risks.

In a world where remote work is becoming the norm, global payments through card services are more relevant than ever. These services make it possible for companies to pay their employees promptly, irrespective of their location. Plus, employees can access their funds instantly and use them according to their needs.

Furthermore, card services also offer transparency in transactions, allowing companies to monitor and control spending more effectively. This helps in budgeting and financial planning, leading to more informed business decisions.

In summary, card services for global payments offer an efficient, secure, and convenient solution for businesses and their employees.

The Future of Employee Payroll is B4B Payments

As businesses grow and expand globally, the need for an efficient and secure payroll system becomes more apparent. Prepaid cards present an innovative solution, simplifying the payment process while ensuring enhanced security. 

At B4B Payments, we offer a variety of prepaid card solutions that are accepted globally that have been built on our 15 years’ experience in the business, perfect for managing payroll, employee expenses, travel expenses, incentives, and rewards.

Learn more about B4B Payments and how our card services can streamline your employee payment process, saving your business time and resources. The future of employee payroll is here; embrace the change and enjoy the benefits.

Discover how to increase your fintech speed-to-market with a BIN Sponsorship solution that supports you during regulation and beyond.

For fintech startups or businesses with financial services, starting a payments and FX journey can come with unique challenges. With an EU market valued at over €430 billion alone, becoming operational in the fintech space is crucial to building a strong customer base.

One of the more laborious processes that is essential for any fintech or financial service business in the digital space is the establishment of the company as a regulated Electronic Money Institution (EMI).

Establishing a business as an EMI is critical to allow companies to issue and receive electronic payments (e-payments) from consumers or businesses, in addition to becoming an independent facilitator for Payments and FX. With a process that is often drawn out over several months, businesses are vulnerable to missing valuable trading time.

But is there a way to start trading without EMI-regulated status? B4B Payments can get your Payments and FX services to market ahead of the competition, as well as the advantage of adding embedded cards to your business plan.

Payments and FX – the tools for scalability

Speed-to-market is critical for all businesses to accelerate revenue. But it’s just as important for fintech companies in their infancy if they want to build a platform for scalable growth. The quickest route to market is leveraging Payments and FX from third-party companies, like B4B Payments, allowing companies to trade quickly and efficiently.

Securing investment is critical for business growth. While investors may believe in an idea in principle, seeing it in action and being able to analyse performance data can be the key to determining the pen-to-paper investment that fintechs need to grow.

Investment in the fintech space peaked in recent years, and decreased by 30% in 2022 from $130 billion to $96 billion. With this decline, we are starting to see signs of impending economic difficulties. With a crisis on the horizon, having a serviceable and active product in the market could be a huge differentiator as the investment gatekeepers become more critical of their spending.

B4B Payments offer competitive payment and FX services, offering companies the chance to make a head start on the competition. With B4B Payments, companies are able to make and receive high volumes of transactions in 25 currencies through SEPA, Faster Payments, CHAPS, USD ACH, DKK Intraday, and SWIFT.

The key to successful scalability is the preparedness of a company to adapt to changing consumer needs and market conditions. To facilitate this it’s crucial that products and services are made available cross border as soon as possible.

Using B4B Payments low-cost FX, companies looking to make the jump overseas can do so for a reduced up-front cost. With transparent rates for incoming and outgoing payments, companies can offer their services in up to 25 currencies at a competitive FX rate.

The Challenges of EMI Licensing and Regulation

Whether a business is applying to become a small EMI (not generating more than €5 million) before registration or a fully authorised EMI (over €5 million), they are required to comply with specific regulations.

One of the biggest barriers to product entry into the market is the process of becoming a licensed e-money issuer through EMI Regulation. Registering as an EMI allows fintech companies to issue e-payments legally, often followed by acquiring a card scheme membership. This, sometimes laborious process, stalls the potential for fintech and financial services to push their product to market quickly in both domestic and international markets.

Regulations such as Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017, as well as providing a level of detail on a businesses’ operations, such as place of business, central management and control, balance sheets, forecasts, and more.

While this process is necessary for fintech and financial service companies that want to grow, there is a way to get to market while applying to become a regulated EMI: BIN Sponsorship.

BIN Sponsorship 2.0 and embedded cards as a solution

BIN Sponsorship is a solution that has been on the market for a short time. It helps fintechs and financial services leverage EMI-regulated businesses to offer their services faster.

B4B Payments offers payment services to businesses across sectors, and we have taken BIN Sponsorship to the next level, helping non-regulated EMIs to get their products to market as quickly as possible, as well as offering support and solutions to companies that are at later stages of their business journey.

For non-regulated EMI’s, BIN Sponsorship 2.0 offers authorisation by the FCA and the Bank of Lithuania, allowing businesses to provide payment and card services across the UK and the EU, as well as the opportunity to leverage our licences and Mastercard Principal Member status.

Using B4B Payments as a BIN Sponsor, businesses have the ability to trade in that all-important test-and-learn phase of early business. What’s more, once an e-money licence or regulated EMI status has been acquired, businesses can continue to outsource their scheme management, settlement, and collateral requirements to us. Once a full card scheme membership is obtained, we can continue to support it by safeguarding accounts and payments. 

With virtual payment critical on fintech services – like online trading platforms – embedding them into bespoke platforms is the logical next step in scalability. Embedded services can help enhance customer experience with directly integrated services, drive growth through customer engagement and retention, and are easily set up through merchant accounts and instant payment confirmation.

At B4B Payments, we also offer embedded financial services to enrich business propositions post-regulation. With these services, businesses can integrate payments, cards and virtual account solutions directly into their platform through a single API.

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to go to the market ahead of the competition.

Connecting with your business

Here at B4B Payments, we have over 18 years of experience in payment innovations.

Our goal is to keep our clients one step ahead of their competitors and to ensure that they can keep their teams happy by facilitating fast and transparent global transactions.

Book a demo with us now to learn more about payments, FX and BIN Sponsorship, and discover whether B4B Payments can help optimise your business journey.

Fast and secure payments & payouts are a must-have for B2B and B2C businesses alike – discover how B4B can supercharge your business or PISP.

There are two common challenges throughout industries across the globe: payments and payouts. From businesses in tourism looking for quick payments, payout services to customers, or Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) looking to facilitate fast payments for their partners, and even corporate businesses looking to distribute their expense networks across the globe, speed and security is essential.

For small businesses alone, 30% reported late payments problems are due to poor practices. However, there are a myriad of ways businesses can speed up their payment services. Depending on the nature of the challenges, ways to improve payment speed can include:

• The deployment of an instant payment service
• Issuing card services
• Supercharging Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) for instant confirmations

Why speed and security is important

Building a reputation as a company that pays out quickly and securely is worth its weight in gold. Whether you’re a gaming business paying out winnings to your customer base, an online retailer providing refunds for your customers, or a travel company providing stranded passenger payouts, it’s important to be faster than your market competitors, or your customers will start looking elsewhere.

Slow, unsecure payments and payouts and other financial risks can drastically impact business reputations, which Deloitte reports as one of the biggest strategic challenges companies face. Speeding up and tightening processes can remove the risk of holding up the supply chain for B2B transactions, or dragging down review and approval ratings through data protection breaches or delayed payouts.

It’s not only your reputation that can be on the line, too. Fintech Global claims that a third of UK consumers are spending less in online transactions because payouts are taking too long to reach their bank, as well as 52% saying they’re unlikely to do business with the same company if payouts are taking too long to complete. While this may not have a great enough impact to dampen reputation, it can slow down business growth at the first hurdle.

But, how can businesses tackle this potential pitfall while still offering secure payments and payouts to their customers and other businesses?

Fast, secure payments and payouts

The easiest way to secure fast payouts is by offering physical and virtual cards to your customers. Card services like these allow the transfer of funds instantaneously, enabling consumers to make transactions and check their balances as quickly as possible.

Debit card usage is becoming increasingly popular as we head towards a cashless world. In the UK, for example, debit card usage rose by 8.1% in 2022, with over 2.1 million transactions occurring in November alone.

B4B Payments offer these services, allowing businesses to distribute funds, as well as consumers to spend worldwide. Providing fast and secure payouts is a mark of a reliable and reputable brand, and with B4B Payments, businesses are able to advertise the fact that they have the ability to distribute these services through the use of branded cards. This means companies can distribute payment services on behalf of B4B Payments.

Branded cards are designed by businesses, for a business’s customers, allowing them to place marketing collateral onto each card, in the form of a logo or business name – which can be an easy way to spread the word as cards begin to circulate to customers or partners across the globe.

Virtual and physical cards are a great way of securing payments too, especially in the world of corporate expenditure. They allow companies to track and record business payments through one dedicated online platform, as well as pre-load and top-up cards for on-the-go expenses like travel, events, and more.

Facilitate quicker payments and payouts as a PISP

But what about the intermediaries? with PISPs initiating payments or payouts on behalf of businesses like fintech and financial services, it’s important to be able to provide a fast and efficient service for your merchants and partners to ensure continued business.

With B4B Payments’ Reconciliation for Open Banking service, PISPs can use their own VIBAN infrastructure as a merchant account. This offers merchants the ability to make fast and secure payments in 25 currencies, including SEPA, FPS, USD, ACH, and SWIFT.

Our services integrate directly into bespoke PISP interfaces through the B4B Payments API, or allow selected merchants access to our digital platform.

Making payments fast and secure is the name of the game for PISPs, and our confirmation and reconciliation services do just that. With instant notifications of funds received, PISPs are able to improve relationships and maintain integrity and trust with your merchants through domestic rails in the UK and EU.

For established PISPs or new-to-market, B4B Payments is able to offer support, allowing those businesses to leverage our own e-money licences to launch your products, and offer additional settlement and safeguarding services once PI authorisation is granted.

Connecting with your business

Here at B4B Payments, we have over 15 years of experience in developing safe and secure payments and payouts for businesses.

Our goal is to keep our clients one step ahead of their competitors and to ensure that they can keep their teams happy by facilitating fast and transparent global transactions.

Book a demo with us now to learn more about our payment and payout solutions, as well as our Reconciliation for Open Banking service that we offer for PISPs.

Increased demand by consumers for faster payments makes prepaid cards a strategic choice for insurers looking to gain an edge

The competitive landscape between insurance companies continues to be fierce as new technologies and digital-first entrants penetrate the marketplace. A significantly growing area of competitive differentiation that has come into focus is the ability of insurers to provide payment options and instant payments.

Digitally connected customers are seeking carriers providing instant and same-day disbursements. The change in consumer behavior and expectations has paved the way for more insurers to leverage instant issue and reloadable prepaid cards as a simple and cost-effective means of growing and retaining their customer base. Additionally, using these products is one key step companies are using to prevent the loss of market share to so-called “digital born” competitors.

The delays between filing a claim and receiving reimbursement can be frustrating for insured individuals. Without the funds to pay for things like repairs or medical bills, policyholders may need to use their savings – or worse yet credit cards – until an insurance payment is made.

However, by using prepaid insurance cards, insurers can immediately provide the necessary financial support, reducing the pressure on both you as the insurer and your customers while significantly simplifying claims processing.

In a recent study by PYMNTs , when given the option, consumers chose instant payouts 23% of the time, followed by its closely related cousin, same-day bank account transfers, at 21%. These choices were far and away favorites compared to checks at 12% and cash at 7%.

Prepaid cards present carriers with the opportunity to eliminate manual processes and greatly reduce the time and cost associated with cutting checks, including printing, postage, and replacement costs. Should a check go missing, issuers may have to take on the cost of stopping payment, and if recurring payments are required, the time and cost associated with doing so add up quickly. Beyond the time it takes to get a check, recipients, who may need funds urgently, must wait to use the funds after making a deposit and for the check to clear.

A digital, prepaid approach to disbursements provides an enhanced customer experience and reduces costs associated with service calls. Customers want to know where their checks are, and in today’s market, they are quick to make their frustrations known on social media.

Additional benefits also include:

· Minimizing fraud issues. If a customer misplaces or loses a card, an insurer can quickly cancel the card and instantly reissue a card.

· Avoiding fees and fines through better compliance with state “prompt pay” requirements.

· Delivering funds domestically and cross-border safely and securely.

· Provide funds to unbanked or low-banked customers.

· Use physical or virtual prepaid cards to make multiple claim disbursements on a reloadable card (e.g., worker’s comp/disability) or make an instant one-off disbursement.

· Create physical and virtual cards with your company’s logo to promote your brand and attract new customers.

services are under pressure to provide card services for versatile use within their consumer communities. 

Using prepaid cards for insurance claims changes how funds get distributed to the insured. Otherwise, the process of completing an insurance claim is like the traditional filing method. Once a claim is approved, an insurer can act as its own card issuer.

· Prepaid cards can be provided to customers with no funds added to the cards until a claim is filed.

· Adjusters can provide insurance carriers with a prepaid card, and the adjuster can load cards instantly based on their assessments. If repairs exceed the initial assessment, the agency or the adjuster can instantly add more funds.

· Insurers can instantly issue a virtual card that recipients can add to a digital wallet and use immediately, especially when needed to support emergencies.

In each approach, a disbursement can be made quickly rather than rattling around internal systems and processes.

Card recipients can use the card at an ATM to withdraw cash, pay bills in person, transfer funds to their bank account, or make purchases from online and brick-and-mortar merchants. This provides customers with total flexibility to address their needs better.

By adding prepaid cards as a payment option, insurers can stand out from competitors and go beyond protecting them financially. B4B Payments has built an end-to-end, embedded payment offering, that offers insurance companies everything needed to develop their own embedded finance offering, from flexible payment accounts to instant payments on easy-to-use prepaid cards and seamless APIs that easily integrate into existing systems.

If your company is looking to streamline its disbursement processes, gain the needed competitive advantage, and deliver immediate payments to your customers, contact us for more information or to request a short demo.