Category: Newsroom

Expense Management. Payroll & Payouts. Employee Incentives & Perks
Still using cash and cheques? Take control of company spending with B4B prepaid cards. Stay up-to-date with the latest B4B Payments and Fintech news.

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.”

Tags B4B News, Cashless, fintech, LHV, partnership

Newsroom Uncategorised

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)

Tags B4B News, wirecard

Insights Newsroom Tools & Guides Uncategorised

Replacing flawed paper systems for school meals, with easy to use cards

There is huge pressure on schools to find reliable ways to enforce social distancing and infection control measures, and one of the most debated ‘hot spots’ will be around the serving of meals.

Cashless payment is now common in canteens, but in some instances still relies on paper – such as free school meal vouchers – or some handling of coins and notes. Both of which we will address in the article.

Existing systems to pay for food in school canteens – and recently in the wider community – have already caused education managers and headteachers countless headaches.

Recent press headlines show that users of free school meal vouchers have run up against system failures that left them embarrassed – and potentially hungry!

This shows that investment in the latest cashless payment systems is necessary for a number of different but equally important reasons, particularly to iron out issues with free school meals.

The free school meal fiasco

The technology exists to enable the Government to provide help for low-income families within schools, discreetly and reliably. Also, in B4B Payments, the Department of Education, local authorities, and schools have a supplier who can provide secure and hygienic payment cards within days.

Yet, the way meal vouchers have been distributed during the pandemic crisis has largely revolved around printed slips. In many cases, already challenged and stressed school staff have been tasked with printing off free school meal vouchers.

As the national media coverage has highlighted, this has left some parents with paper vouchers that don’t work when they try to redeem them in shops. A cause of massive confusion and upset.

Some schools have even resorted to creating their own systems to help low-income families, necessitating large payouts and deals with local food retailers and supermarket chains.

Is this really necessary, when a system exists to connect, streamline and simplify free school meal provision using prepaid cards from B4B Payments? Cards that can be used in shops, or within school canteens, with the minimum of admin and hassle!

Curious about the tends in cash vs card?

dOWNLOAD OUR GUIDE TO CASHLESS

How clean is cash?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other authoritative bodies are urging everyone to wash their hands well after handling coins and notes – especially in situations where you are eating and drinking. There has also been a widespread surge in moving towards payments via a smart device, credit or debit card, or prepaid card.

In a school, moving wholesale to prepaid cards limits contact between the children and cashier. It also means less likelihood of infection transmission on alternative payment tools or money. Another reason why the Department of Education and local authorities must take secure, easy-to-clean and convenient prepaid cards seriously.

Perhaps, this is one time when the ‘pester power of parents’ needs to come into play. They can persuade the Government to use the simplest and best technology to make school meal payment systems problem-free, with cards from B4B Payments that can be delivered in days.

Tags Cashless, money management, prepaid

Company News Insights Newsroom Tools & Guides Uncategorised

How to maintain customer service in challenging times

Due to the unprecedented situation of COVID-19, many businesses are struggling to maintain their customer service standards while complying with social distancing rules.

B4B Payments, who offer businesses smart, flexible payment solutions, were one step ahead of the cashless trend and recently shared their insights into maintaining customer service whilst co-hosting an online panel with PIF (Prepaid International Forum.)

During the first few weeks of the UK lockdown, demand for customer service surged as the UK public were unsure how nationwide restrictions would affect their day to day lives. Essential businesses who were still able to open, struggled with the demand for digital payments, as the government advised to limit the exchange of cash where possible. B4B Payments have been providing their services to help businesses with outdated payment systems to be able to offer digitised payment options. CEO of B4B Payments, Paul Swinton said, “We have always digitally engaged with our customers, and now with less time spent on commuting we have more capacity to identify opportunities where we can help customers.”

B4B Payments were able to effortlessly transition to working under the government’s new guidelines as they had created a COVID-19 crisis plan when news of the virus first hit UK headlines. The team were forced to put this plan into effect early when Paul learned one of his team had been exposed to the virus.

Early adaptation for remote working ensured his team were ready and prepared to quickly adapt to working from home. For example, each team member had access to well-configured technology to ensure they could work from home safely and productively. Technology the business is currently using includes Slack, VOIP telephony and signal encrypted chat software.

When the government announced working from home was essential, B4B Payments were able to confidently assure their customers they were offering business as usual. On the priorities of the company Paul said “Most importantly, robust steps had been taken to control the potential spread of the virus and to protect our valued staff members and their families. Our second priority that day was to underpin services offered to clients.”

In fact, the B4B Payments team were so efficient at transitioning to remote working, Paul has raised the question of how easily and willingly workers will transition back to the office environment. He explains, “We were concerned that some people would find it uncomfortable, but we are seeing quite the opposite…We need to be very aware of this because the crisis could trigger a shift towards more home working. Businesses will need to think carefully about this and develop interim plans.” Employees may be reluctant to return to a workplace due to fears of public transport and because they have enjoyed the flexibility that comes with remote working.

Download the PIF White-paper

As a company who offers financial solutions to businesses, B4B Payments are no strangers to dealing with sensitive information about payouts and anxious clients. During this time, the demand for charities to deliver prepaid card solutions to those in need has skyrocketed and B4B Payments are working tirelessly to ensure these payments can be made. Paul ensured every member of the B4B customer service team had refresher customer service courses to ensure they could help vulnerable, scared customers during this unprecedented time. He explained why these refresh courses were essential to his business as “With these rapid digitisation projects come many thousands of potentially very vulnerable cardholders who may need technical and other help from our customer support team.”

Of course, with COVID-19, businesses who were well prepared for the pandemic are not just scrambling to provide adequate customer service, they are quickly adapting to the new measures to enhance how they operate as a business. B4B payments, for example, are finding faster and efficient ways to adopt a pragmatic response to emerging client queries. As businesses are more readily available to discuss their specific needs during a pandemic, B4B Payments have found they are able to quickly spot ways they may be able to help a business.

So, how have B4B Payments managed to maintain their customer service standards during the pandemic? The answer lies in the early adoption of fintech. Paul explains “We all agree that it hasn’t been a massive change for us, but that’s because we sit in this highly innovative fintech space.” The pandemic may encourage more businesses to adopt cashless solutions in the future so they can stay ahead of the curve, rather than waiting for them to be enforced.

Tags Cashless, COVID-19, PIF, prepaid

Newsroom

The digitisation of arenas and sports events

As lockdown restrictions begin to relax around the world, many stadiums are preparing to welcome sports teams and fans once again. From local stadiums to large arenas, everyone involved in the sports industry is doing what they can to keep their staff and guests safe, including embracing new digital technology. Stadiums are beginning to encourage, and in some cases even make it mandatory, for their patrons to use digital and contactless payment solutions where possible.

What are the benefits of cashless payments for a stadium?

• Reduced theft as visitors and sports players will not need to bring cash into the stadium.
• Helps reduce the possibility of spreading COVID-19 or another virus as contact is limited.
• Better visibility to track where and how people are using money in the stadium.

How are contactless and digital card payments changing sports stadiums?

Making service faster

In the Stadium of the Future report by Oracle, it was revealed that sports fans in Germany would be willing to spend 68% more on purchases if the wait time for food and beverages was reduced by half. Similarly, US fans claimed they would spend 66% more on food and drinks if the wait time was reduced, as would UK fans by 61%. This sends a clear message to stadium employees – fans are willing to spend more on food and drink if their time queuing, being served and waiting to receive their food and drink is reduced.

By making contactless payment mandatory, stadiums could significantly improve their speed at serving food and beverages as money will not need to be regularly counted, distributed or stored in a safe, which can be very time-consuming processes.

Increasing sales of high-priced items

The price of food, beverages and merchandise in a stadium can vary. More often than not, however, stadiums charge a premium for food and drink as they try to offer their sports fans a unique sporting experience that they cannot receive or replicate from their home, including enjoying indulgent food and drink. It can be hard, however, for a sports fan to hand over their hard-earned cash to pay for food and drinks. Some sports fans may even purposely limit the amount of money they take to a game to ensure they do not overspend.

Contactless payments help consumers see money and pricing as digital, and eliminates the process of handing over their money physically. This often encourages sports fans to buy more food and drink.

LEARN MORE: b4b sporting events payment solution

Cashless spending in your organisation

Going cashless doesn’t stop with your visitors and fans. Prepaid business cards from B4B Payments are the perfect way to adapt cashless spending to not only your arena, but your organisation as well. Stop your employees from using their personal funds to purchase goods and supplies, entertain partners, and travel. With a prepaid card you can see exactly where your money’s being spent as it’s happening, the ultimate risk management tool. No need worry about excess spending or potential fraud.

Control the parameters yourself using the B4B online admin platform and mobile app. By removing spend on personal cards, you’re in control. You decide how much employees can spend, and what they can use their expenses for.

Have temporary employees and volunteers?

Paying temp workers doesn’t need to be difficult. Using a flexible B4B prepaid card, save money on handling costs and fees associated with traditional payroll processes.

Our innovative method can be particularly useful for businesses with temporary or short-term staff so that you, as a business owner, can meet the demands of your changing workforce and not be held back by limited resources. Our cards can be used for GBP, EUR, and USD currencies to create a bespoke experience for you.

Did somebody say branding?

Choosing a B4B prepaid card gives you a unique opportunity to showcase your brand. A stunning design will help promote your brand and create a positive association with your company every time your cards are used. For a seamless user experience, we also create a cardholder platform and unique landing page featuring your brand.

If you’d like to learn about prepaid cards, contact B4B Payments today. We are an expert fintech company who specialise in providing payment solutions for the sports industry.

read more b4b customer success stories

Newsroom Uncategorised

Sports after COVID-19

COVID has changed everything. The pandemic, which has swept the globe and affected nearly every country on all six continents, has caused cities to lockdown and normal activities to stop on a scale that has never been experienced before in living memory. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel – cities are now beginning to adapt to ‘the new normal’ and things are gradually opening up.

So, how does ‘the new normal’ affect sports? Competitive sports are loved by people all over the globe. In normal times, we flock to stadiums to watch our favourite football or rugby teams. But with some games being dubbed ‘super spreader events’, what is the answer for playing and watching sports during and after COVID?

Some competitive sports have already started to be played again, with strict testing and isolation procedures for the players. At the moment, no spectators are allowed in venues.

Undoubtedly, a lot will change. Social distancing will need to be undertaken by everybody involved in games for quite some time and this will cause a range of economic and social factors. Let’s look at some things that might change.

How can b4b simplify payments in sport? learn more

Virtual reality will become more common

Virtual Reality, or VR, helps people to see something as if it is actually taking place, and there will be a lot more of this as time goes on. Whether that be 360-degree photos on Facebook or fully immersive video, it will become much more normal to see games through this lens.

Journalism will focus on local sport

COVID is a time when everybody is looking inwards, focusing on their local area and what it has to offer. During the pandemic, it is harder for journalists to travel to report, meaning they may be more likely to focus on small, local teams rather than large-scale national reporting.

Athletes will seek independent forms of employment

It is projected that contracts for athletes will decrease, meaning that they will need to find other ways to fund themselves. They might become influencers, using their platforms to talk about certain topics and making money from sponsorships.

Coaches will become more tech-savvy

COVID is made much easier by technology – from the fact that we can pay using contactless cards to the ever-growing amount of TikToks to keep us amused – and coaches will undoubtedly become more tech-savvy throughout this crisis. During the pandemic, big decisions have been made over Zoom meetings, and with the pressing environmental crisis that will remain after the pandemic, this might be rolled out permanently.

Therefore, during and after COVID, coaches will likely rely on apps to communicate with their team members, draw up timetables and even train remotely.

School events will become important

Schools will need to adapt to playing sports safely, but they are likely to be children’s main involvement with the sporting world for some time. Sporting education in school will be crucial to the physical and mental health of students, as will education into different types of sports and advice on sporting careers.

Payments will change

Additionally, teams will have less funding and find themselves having to adapt in order to find the money to pay their staff. B4B offers safe, easy to use payment solutions for sports teams around the globe. Our contactless, prepaid business cards work anywhere where Mastercard® can be used, and can easily be topped up and utilised by players and organisation-staff alike.

Our prepaid card solutions are great for staff members earning anything from a few hundred to thousands of any currency a month, and they can be used to make payments across the globe. They are a fantastic way for any kind of sporting enterprise – from grassroots campaigns to full-scale sporting events – to organise their money better and reassure people of their job security during this difficult time.

read more b4b customer success stories

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Dos and don’ts of sports payments

As COVID-19 lockdown restrictions begin to ease around the world, many sports fans and athletes are rejoicing as sports games and tournaments are preparing to resume once again. If you’ve recently been put in charge of the sports payments for a travelling sports team, ensure you follow our guidance below…

DO elect a team treasurer

If you are unfamiliar with managing a travelling sports team or have never handled sports payments before, you may be tempted to split the financial responsibilities of your sports team. This, however, will only lead to confusion and make your finances difficult to manage and organise. Instead, elect one treasurer and find a simplified financial system, such as a prepaid payment solution, that will unify your financial expenditure.

DON’T use cash

Whether you manage a small grassroots sports team or an international team of athletes, you should avoid travelling and paying for services with cash where possible. When you travel with cash, you make yourself incredibly vulnerable to theft and put yourself at risk of fraud. With cash, it is almost impossible to track your team’s spending and can be very time consuming to manage and distribute.

In light of recent global events, avoiding the use of cash where possible is essential. Many businesses will only now accept contactless card payments due to the social distancing measures put in place due to COVID-19. Cashless card payments will help to reduce the spread of the virus and help safeguard your sports team and employees from putting themselves at risk of infection.

DO stick to your budget

To ensure you don’t overspend and harm the financial position of your sports team, it is essential you create a precise budget and stick to it. Pre-paid cashless payment cards will ensure your sports team do not go over budget as they will have a specific amount allocated to their card. It will also be easier to track where you have been overspending due to their digital spend visibility.

B4B Payments, voted the Best Prepaid Product of the Year in 2019, offers payment solutions without regional limitations, as they are Mastercard® approved, ensuring your team can travel with ease without having to change payment type frequently.

DON’T mix funds

If you manage multiple sports teams it may be tempting for you to only open one bank account and blend all of your funds and expenses. It is essential, however, that each sports team you manage has a separate bank account and you do not use your personal account to keep any of your sports team expenses.

DO create a payment plan

As sports games begin to take place once again, it is essential you keep your team safe and your finances organised. This is why before hosting or attending a sports event you should contact B4BPayments, to order your prepaid business cards. All prepaid cards are managed with a robust, flexible, and easy to use digital platform and mobile app.

To learn more about how sports events and other organisations are benefitting from contactless payment solutions read our customer stories.

read more b4b customer success stories

Tags business cards, Expenses, payments, Payroll, prepaid, Sports, Sports & Leisure, sports payments

Newsroom Uncategorised

The Future of Payments in Sport

Hint: It’s cashless

According to UK Finance, there were 39.3 billion payments made in the United Kingdom in 2018. Only 28% of these payments were made in cash, which is a 32% decrease over the past 10 years. By 2028, only 9% of payments are expected to be made in cash, so a huge number of businesses are choosing to ditch the payment method altogether.

The use of debit cards is on the rise and 98% of the UK population now use them regularly. Mobile and contactless payments are also on the increase and businesses from multiple industries, including hospitality and live events, are beginning to see the many benefits that cashless payment models have to offer.

Graph showing payment trends prepaid vs debit and credit

How can b4b simplify payments in sport? learn more

Sports stadiums, however, have been slightly more hesitant to adopt a cashless payment system, due to their long history of customers bringing wads of cash to spend on refreshments and merchandise. However, whether you organise grassroots, domestic, or international sports events, utilising a cashless payment solution in all aspects of an organisation can offer the following benefits:

Prevent Fraud

Many sports venues employ a more transient workforce than other businesses, which can increase the likelihood of employees committing fraud or theft. Using cashless payments for business supplies, employees have fewer opportunities to steal from the organisation and any strange payment anomalies are easier to identify via the data collected from digital transactions. Physical cash can be extremely difficult to keep track of. With a prepaid, cashless payment solution, temporary employees will not be tempted to slip some into their pockets.

Increased customer spending

Research suggests that customers are likely to spend significantly more at sports stadiums when they are paying via card or mobile payments rather than with cash. When your customers don’t have to worry about calculating how much cash they have in hand and physically hand it over, they are much more likely to be freer with their spending, whether they’re purchasing food, drink or sporting merchandise. Depending on the size of your sporting venue, that could add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds more per event and could lead to a significant increase in profit.

Save time and money

Businesses are required to pay a small fee for every cashless payment transaction, but this is insignificant when compared to the money that they could save. Manual cash management takes a significant amount of time and it can often take several hours a day to maintain accurate accounting records. From making trips to the bank to counting cash at the end of the day, the minutes spent handling cash can add up and staff will often have to be paid overtime. Cashless sports venues don’t have to worry about the time spent handling manual payments and will find that they have more time to invest in more important tasks.

Social Distancing

The current global pandemic has seen a huge number of businesses switch to contactless card payments to maintain social distancing measures and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. UK sports stadiums are predicted to reopen as early as autumn, but the post-COVID-19 world is likely to see social distancing measures continue. With cashless payments, customers can safely and hygienically pay for items in sports arenas without having to worry about coming into contact with each other, so it’s likely that we’ll see a further spike in the use of cashless payments in venues all over the world.

read more b4b customer success stories

If you run a grassroots, domestic or international sporting venue and are looking to eliminate antiquated payment processes and finally find the time to do the things that matter, B4B Payments has the perfect solution for you. Our prepaid cards can help you keep control over your corporate payments via a single platform and mobile app. Freeing up your business’s time and money, cut unnecessary costs, and streamline your accounting systems to make your business operations run seamlessly.

Tags Advice, Expenses, insights, payments, Payouts, Sports, Sports & Leisure, sports payments

Company News Newsroom Uncategorised

Powering through the Covid-19 crisis

“When the wind of change blows, some build walls, others build windmills.” Chinese proverb.

Do you know who’s powering along during the Covid-19 ‘crisis’? Fintech company B4B Payments is, and here’s how:

Thursday evening; a dreaded text

B4B CEO Paul Swinton was notified that one of his team had been exposed to the Coronavirus. Fortunately, the company had a Crisis Plan in place. One they’d wisely updated when Covid-19 first hit the headlines. Advance preparations included making sure all the team had access to well-configured technology designed for remote working. Including securely held systems on the Cloud. An email had already been sent to clients and other contacts saying B4B Payments was ready and well prepared to keep operational if the worst did happen. So, B4B was already equipped to offer ‘Business as Usual’ when the virus got too close.

Thursday evening part 2; so it begins

With a click, Paul activated well-considered protocols. All staff were told to start working from home with immediate effect. The Tech team responded by setting up a Whatsapp group to provide them with support and advice, and a way to ask for help.

Friday; getting things into perspective

By 9 am the whole company was self-isolated at home, ready for action and online. They were also displaying their strong sense of unity and community in this challenging time. Paul Swinton, B4B Payments CEO said: “Most importantly, robust steps had been taken to control the potential spread of the virus and to protect our valued staff members and their families. Our second priority that day was to underpin services offered to clients.”

One week later; windmills all working

The team, using a selection of tools including Slack, Trello, internal VOIP telephony, and Signal encrypted chat software is now a true ‘digital workplace’, connected online and powering along as efficiently and effectively as ever. That’s been achieved without compromising any of the comradery and team spirit that makes B4B Payments a first-class employer. Instead of banter around the coffee machine, the team now communicate, collaborate and just ‘chat’ in the virtual realm. Clearly, fully adhering to the self-isolation and social distancing advice from the Government and NHS. All proving the power of preparation, positive thinking and being agile.

Which brings us to another insightful quote: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin

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Tags B4B News, COVID-19

Newsroom Tools & Guides Uncategorised

Simple alternative to cash for tour guides

Cash causes so many problems for tour guides out in the field from security issues to admin issues and fraud. It can become extremely complex and troublesome when tour guides are a part of your business model and are out in the field or are working remotely.

Due to this increased demand and opportunity, travel and tour guide companies are now looking at alternatives to streamline their processes, reduce stress and improve business administration, as cash is often a headache to administer and audit. It is also open to fraud and expensive to manage. Cash is a complication that shouldn’t exist in the travel and tour guide sector.

Businesses in the sector are starting to turn to prepaid cards to eliminate cash-based problems and to provide an expenses solution that makes operations smoother.

Solving payroll and funding issues

Prepaid cards allow travel companies to send funds electronically to tour guides or guests, instantly anywhere in the world 24/7. It can also remove any delays caused be traditional banking processes or cash distribution. Eliminating any potential payroll and funding issues can increase employee motivation and as a result, have a positive effect on your business’s customer service.

Increase security and protect your employees

Cash is outdated. Instantly eliminate the burden and risk of carrying or storing cash when travelling is involved, for both tour guides and guests, by using a secure prepaid card. Moreover, prepaid cards are reloadable 24/7 so your employees will only need one card at a time saving your business time and money.

No need for any pesky administration

Prepaid cards can replace petty cash completely. Once combined with expense systems and powerful receipt management tools, companies can manage all of their expenses, payroll, funding and much more on one system. Furthermore, you are able to monitor spending in real-time and integrate with any existing accounting or ERP systems in your business, giving you full peace of mind.

Other benefits

Prepaid cards have obvious cost-based benefits however removing the hassle and headaches associated with inefficient cash-based systems can lead to happier employees. Moreover, this can free up time for your employees and tour guides so that they can focus on their job to create entertaining experiences for tourists and not on their finances. This can lead to higher retention rate with higher performing tour guides who are often difficult to source.

How to choose a prepaid card solution for your travel company

The prepaid solution from B4B Payments offers a Mastercard prepaid card that can be used in the millions of locations globally that accepts payment by Mastercard. Funds can be spent in-store or online, meeting the needs of tour guides, travel companies and other travel stakeholders.

The B4B solution is currently enabling travel companies, tour guides and tourism establishments to replace inefficient cash-based systems for the past 5 years. It was named winner of the Best Prepaid Card Programme category of the Card & Payments Awards 2019. To find out more about how we work with travel companies and tour guides, and how we can help you, call us on 020 3137 3420 or email us at sales@b4bpayments.com.

Tags Advice, Expenses, Payouts