We are proud to have won the Best end-to-end issuing and payment solutions UK category from the World Business Outlook Awards. The application was supported and substantiated by our partner, Voly.

Voly is an award-winning fintech provider specialising in financial management for the yacht and multi-assets industry. Recently the Voly offering has been successfully adapted to support the music, TV and film industry.

They were looking for a card issuing and payment platform to help streamline and scale their yachting and music business more quickly, and B4B was able to support them through this journey.

B4B and Voly partnership

Our partnership with Voly has successfully developed over many years. Although the financial services landscape has changed significantly during that time, both companies were committed to innovating to stay at the forefront of their industries. We have understood the ever-changing needs of Voly’s business and have worked hard to adapt and evolve our offerings, to ensure they have the best solution available in the market.

Talking about the partnership with B4B, Ian Flanagan, Found and CEO of Voly Group says:

Voly’s collaboration with B4B has been a great success. B4B understands our product and the industries in which we provide financial management services. In working with B4B, we have built a relationship that provides a market-leading treasury management solution for the yachting and music space. It was definitely a learning experience for both parties to begin with, but one which has gone from strength to strength over the years and we look forward to continued growth and collaboration with B4B

Next-gen solutions for future businesses

B4B Payments’ next-gen solutions are designed to scale flexibly over time to support fintech companies like Voly. From direct payments to client branded cards, B4B’s offering is designed to be either embedded within a client’s infrastructure or as a stand-alone product.

Our commercial model is streamlined, and uncomplicated, technical requirements are minimal and significant control is placed within our client’s hands. We believe these attributes are fundamentally important to corporates who wish to save time, money, and hassle.

Paul Swinton, CEO of B4B Payments says:

We value our partnerships and our relationship with Voly has lasted many years and will continue building together a leading-edge solution for the yachting, music,  TV and film industry. We’re committed to providing innovative solutions that make a difference to our clients and being recognised for this is a big honour

Partnering with B4B Payments allowed Voly to provide more value for their demanding customers and helped the company to scale quickly while also giving them an edge over the competition.

To find out how our solutions can help you, contact us today!

The travel industry was particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the future looks brighter. Industry bodies expect to see a boom in travel as people make up for years spent at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As travellers return to the road or the skies, there are signs that they’re prepared to spend more to make their next trip special – 80% of US travellers aged 18-34 are planning to “go big” on their next trip, and boomers expect to spend at least $4000 on travel in the next 12 months. 

With consumers champing at the bit to jet off, travel and tour operators are in an ideal place to capitalise on the situation, offering new and innovative ways for their guests to make their trip extra special. 

Prepaid cards have a long history of use in the travel industry – foreign exchange providers have offered prepaid currency cards for many years, giving travellers a convenient, secure alternative to carrying large amounts of foreign currency when they travel. In 2022, there are tons of ways prepaid cards can be used to elevate your customers’ travel experience and increase their lifetime value. 

Post-COVID recovery

While many holidaymakers can’t wait to get away without the stress of masks and restrictions, others remain cautious. Data from booking.com suggests that nearly half of all travellers opted to avoid public transport while travelling in 2021, and 79% of global travellers will take more precautions due to COVID. 

With consumers looking to travel companies to support them to stay safe while travelling, contactless prepaid cards could be a useful way of reducing potential transmission points and help customers feel more confident bouncing back from the pandemic. 

Cruise onboard spend

Prepaid cards are the perfect choice for cruise onboard spend, allowing your guests to purchase everything from spa treatments and souvenirs to onshore excursions. Prepaid cards are particularly useful for cruise passengers as they can be used in multiple currencies, making it easy to make purchases onshore as well as on board. 

A branded card makes it easy for guests to manage their onboard funds, as well as offering an easy method for applying any incentive or reward payments they may have earned. 

Best of all, funds loaded onto a branded card can be saved for a future trip, encouraging repeat travel and increasing customer lifetime value. Payment cards could even be used to incentivise customers when they’re not travelling – for example, by offering discounts at select partner retailers. 

Tour groups

Security is a high priority for many guided tour groups. Organised tours are highly visible and can easily become a target for pickpockets and thieves, leading many tour operators to set requirements that guests wear travel belts or take other security precautions to keep their belongings safe. 

Branded prepaid cards could help you offer another level of security to your guests. By requesting that funds are stored on your company’s prepaid cards, you can easily freeze lost or stolen cards to avoid funds being lost, and can quickly transfer your guest’s funds onto a new card instead. This means that if the worst happens, you’re able to respond quickly and get your tour back on track – saving your guests the hassle of having to call their own banks to freeze cards, or arrange alternative payment methods in the interim.

Tour guide expenses

Prepaid cards aren’t just useful for your guests. They’re also perfect for employees like travel representatives or tour guides. 

Prepaid company expense cards can make it easy for your representatives to manage expenses, both for themselves and on behalf of the groups they’re working with. With the option to set automatic top-ups to a preset limit, your guides will always have access to the funds they need to deliver amazing experiences for your guests, and with easy photo upload of receipts and automatic integration with your accounting system, reporting is a breeze too. 

Delay subsistence funds

Every travel organisation occasionally runs into problems with delays or cancellations. While these are unavoidable, the way your brand supports customers can have a significant effect on their experience with you, and on the effect of disruption on your reputation. 

While many travel operators provide vouchers to delayed or stranded guests, prepaid cards could be a more user-friendly and modern option. While vouchers are only accepted by specific outlets, a prepaid MasterCard or Visa can be used in millions of locations worldwide, giving your guests more choice and a better customer experience. Prepaid cards can also be topped up instantly, allowing your customers to cover the cost of pre-approved expenses like taxis or hotels without needing to front the funds from their own money and claim back later. 

Trust B4B to elevate your guest experience

Prepaid contactless cards from B4B can help travel companies deliver an elevated customer experience to their customers, and help make their return to travel extra special. To find out more about how we can help, book a demo today.

In March, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced that the government is ready to spend £150 million to give every school in England access to a high speed broadband connection by 2025.

Following the pandemic, remote learning has seen a boom, initially through necessity but now because it’s been proven to work. Technology in classrooms is enabling students to engage in learning in a very different way to how they engaged ten years ago, with EdTech creating IT tools to provide a more engaging, inclusive and individualised learning experience.

So how is EdTech helping universities meet the needs of their students?

Open to different learning styles and paces

It’s a widely accepted fact that different people learn in different ways and at different paces. Some people learn better by reading, listening, talking, doing or drawing – there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different learning styles.

EdTech allows for all of these different learning styles to be considered, understood and catered for.

Where historically, students might have had one – and only one – opportunity to sit through a two hour lecture with nothing but a textbook and their own notes to refer back to, they can now access the same information in multiple formats whenever they need it. It might be as basic as a film of the lecture with accompanied transcript, or more engaging, interactive, online courses – either way, students can now learn in their own way and at their own pace, which can only lead to a greater sense of agency in their own learning and greater academic outcomes.

24/7 Accessibility

A big way that EdTech is helping students is by making learning accessible to all. For example, text to audio and audio to text tech enables students with impaired vision or hearing to benefit from lectures, either virtual or in person, alongside other learners. While specific support, such as signers or braille formats may still be needed, this kind of EdTech means all learners can engage and work with the same material.

Video lectures, either streamed or recorded for later viewing, allow students with other commitments, such as caring responsibilities or health considerations, to watch and learn from lectures without having to leave their homes and without having to put other aspects of their lives on hold. They also allow neurodivergent students, such as autistic students or those with ADHD, to manage their own learning environment and learn at their own pace, in chunks of time that work best for them.

Collaboration

EdTech is opening up the ways that students can communicate and collaborate with one another.

Project management tools and e-learning resources make it possible for students to work together without having to be in the same room or even available at the same time. Group projects can operate in a fluid way, allowing students to still engage and learn together, whilst still being available for other important commitments.

Tutors can also input and feedback virtually, meaning that questions can be asked and feedback can be given more regularly, making learning possible at times that suit everyone.

Paperless classrooms

Asides being messy and difficult to keep track of, excess paper isn’t great for the environment – and this is an issue close to young people’s hearts.

In September 2021, a global survey found that 60% of young people aged 16 to 25 felt very or extremely worried about climate change, and more than 45% said that these feelings affected their daily lives.

It tracks then that paper-based learning isn’t what students want, especially given that students today are digital natives. But EdTech allows for students to learn in a paperless environment.

Cashless systems

Younger generations are more likely to rely on cards and digital banking than cash in their day to day life, so cashless payment is expected at university too – especially if remote learning is now commonplace.

Introducing fintech into the university experience can bring huge benefits to students. By issuing students with prepaid cards on enrolment, they can easily receive bursary and scholarship payments quickly and to be accessed immediately. The risks of fraud and human error in inputting bank details are also diminished and processing payments is much quicker than bank transfers or, even worse, cheques.

Prepaid cards can also play an important role in societies, events and clubs. Student union and society fundraising activities often leave students in charge of large budgets but prepaid cards allow students to easily access and take control of their activities. Prepaid cards can also have restrictions that mean funds can only be spent in certain shops, meaning that the budgets can be kept safe.

Cards can also be used as a recruitment and engagement strategy – students can be offered meals and travel expenses to attend open days or to volunteer, making these events and opportunities accessible to all students without racking up their own expenses.

And students facing challenging circumstances can be paid hardship funds in an efficient and cost-effective way, meaning that money can reach them quickly and when it’s needed.

EdTech has transformed the way that students engage with higher education, from making learning more accessible to different people with different schedules, reducing the impact of learning on the environment, and making for safer and more efficient payment solutions.

To find out how B4B Payments can help meet the needs of your students, get in touch today. 

Increasing numbers of businesses in all industries are making financial services part of their business proposition to improve their traditional offering and delight their customers.

Whether it’s offering branded cards or buy-now-pay-later payment accounts, embedded finance (or Banking as a Service) can help you offer attractive new features and drive customer engagement and loyalty.

To offer electronic payment accounts like these, companies need an Electronic Money Institution (EMI or eMoney) license. For companies offering payment cards, they’ll also need to be a member of a card scheme like MasterCard or Visa.

Businesses exploring the potential of adding embedded finance features into their business offering quickly discover that the process of applying for these licenses is complex and daunting. Instead, many opt to partner with a BIN sponsor, leveraging another organisation’s license and scheme membership to offer services without the regulatory burden of becoming authorised themselves.

There are a number of BIN sponsors on the market, and it can be difficult to differentiate the benefits offered by different providers. Here are a few things to consider when selecting a BIN sponsor for your business…

Does my BIN sponsor have the right licenses for my needs?

Starting with the obvious – it’s important that your BIN sponsor has the correct licenses for your needs. This sounds simpler than it is, particularly if you want to offer your services internationally.

For the UK, for example, eMoney licenses are issued by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, since Brexit, UK-authorised EMI’s are no longer automatically able to access SEPA, the Single Euro Payments area, to make and receive payments across Europe. If you’d like to offer payment services in Europe, your BIN sponsor will need a separate license for this if they’re a UK EMI – B4B Payments is authorised by the Bank of Lithuania, meaning our Emoney License is applicable across Europe, as well as by the FCA for UK operations.

In the United States it’s even more complex; eMoney licenses are managed at a state level rather than federally, so you’ll need to apply to the individual licensing boards for the states you’d like to offer services in. Other countries across the world have their own individual, separate requirements too. Similarly, it’s important to check you’ll have access to the right card scheme memberships, to be sure you’re able to offer cards which are familiar and widely-usable in stores or ATMs in your target country.

Does my BIN sponsor have experience working with businesses like mine?

While the first area to check is that a prospective BIN sponsor holds the relevant licenses and scheme memberships, that’s not the end of the story. Not all BIN sponsors are cut from the same cloth, and like all businesses, each will have its own specialist areas of expertise.

It goes without saying that different businesses have different needs, and even though BIN sponsorship may seem a simple service, partnering with a BIN sponsor who has experience working with businesses in your industry or sector can help smooth the path and ensure a positive, productive relationship for years to come.

For example – a fast-moving fintech needs a partner who understands the importance of maximising speed to market, and who’s willing to push the boundaries of their service offerings to deliver new and innovative solutions and to work with them through their own applications for EMI licenses or scheme membership. At the other end of the spectrum, a business who simply wants to issue store cards will have simpler needs and could be happier with an off-the-shelf co-brand solution which can be cheaper to mobilise.

What other areas could my BIN sponsor support me with?

At its simplest level, BIN sponsorship simply involves issuing BIN ranges – the first six numbers on a payment card which identify the bank who issued it. However, if you’re in the process of launching your own card scheme it’s likely that you’ll need far more than just this service.

Some additional services, such as regulatory reporting, compliance management and fraud monitoring, are the responsibility of the BIN sponsor by default. However, things like card manufacturing or foreign exchange services may not be.

To avoid having to coordinate multiple third-party suppliers, it’s worth checking the full range of features a prospective BIN sponsor is able to offer throughout your growth lifecycle, as investing in an end-to-end solution could significantly reduce the time it takes to bring your card scheme to market.

Can my BIN sponsorship solution scale as my company grows?

Many fintech organisations see a partnership with a BIN sponsor as a temporary state, and have ambitions to hold their own eMoney license, scheme memberships or even their own banking license.

The process of applying for these licenses is lengthy and expensive (with good reason – it’s vital that regulated entities are asked to prove their suitability to offer such critical services), and can take many years to acquire. They’re also not a one-and-done process – there are a number of intermediate steps on the path to becoming a fully regulated financial institution, and in the fast-moving world of fintech the path to authorisation can seem painfully slow.

For fintech companies, a BIN sponsor should be able to accommodate and support your business through each stage of its growth with a flexible and scalable set of services. Gaining an eMoney license means you’ll no longer need to leverage your BIN sponsor’s license, but you may well still need to leverage card scheme memberships. Further down the line, should you be granted your own scheme memberships you may still need support from your BIN sponsor for things like funds safeguarding or accounts.

B4B Payments’ BIN Sponsorship 2.0 solution is designed to support fintech organisations through every step of their transition from a new, unregulated business to a fully regulated EMI with scheme permissions. Our offering is designed to flex and scale as you grow, helping you to become more independent whilst continuing to offer the features you need to get to the next stage of your journey.

Does my BIN sponsor’s platform integrate with my technology?

It’s important to consider how you and your customers will access their services, and this means checking that they have a robust technology platform which will integrate with your own offering.

Fintechs often live or die based on their customer experience, and most invest huge amounts of time and effort into designing an intuitive, inviting and easy-to-use interface for their customers. It’s vital, then, that the transition from your company’s own platform into the areas your BIN sponsor controls, such as payments or accounts, is seamless – an ugly iFrame could negatively affect your customers’ experience, and your brand’s reputation in turn.

Ensuring that features like card issuing, management and payment are integrated with your own systems in a way that maintains the high quality experience and technology, you’ve spent so long developing means finding a BIN sponsor who has the same commitment to UX as you do.

B4B Payments’ card issuing and payment platform is designed to integrate seamlessly into your own workflows for an end-to-end embedded finance solution. Our robust API and webhook functionality makes it easy for developers to build our advanced payment features into your own platform, whilst maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance throughout.

With over 15 years of expertise in payments and now as part of the Banking Circle group of companies, B4B Payments is a globally recognised and trusted provider of card issuing and payment services.

Since 2006, we’ve supported thousands of businesses to bring innovative fintech solutions to market via our robust payments platform.

Our next-generation BIN sponsorship 2.0 solution supports fintechs along every step of their journey from co-brand to fully regulated issuer and scheme member.

Our team has a market-leading level of knowledge and expertise to help you grow your business with the power of scalable and secure payments, and our market-leading solutions provide everything you need to put payments at the heart of your proposition.

Get in touch today to find out how B4B Payments can help you make your fintech ideas a reality with our next-gen BIN Sponsorship services.