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Case studies Expense Management Insights Travel

B4B simplifies payment for Italian tour operator IPV

Based in Rome, Idee Per Viaggiare (IPV) is a leading Italian Tour Operator. Since 1995 it has specialized in realising tailor-made itineraries to a wide number of long haul destinations.

Cooperating with the world best airlines, the most prestigious hotels & resorts and the most important tourism boards of the world, IPV is recognized as a key partner for Italian outgoing leisure tourism market.

In 2016 they won Best Tourism Catalogue at the Italian Travel Awards again. This success was repeated in 2017 and 2018 when they won both the Best Emerging Tour Operator as well as the Best Facebook Page awards, a recognition that fully captures the development and growth trend over the years of Idee per Viaggiare.

IPV have been working with B4B Payments since 2017. “We are very happy to be working with B4B,” says CFO Roberto Viola. “We count on our partners to support our client offering. B4B makes the payment process very easy.”

B4B Payments works with travel companies both in the UK in Europe but also in the US too.

“We are very pleased to partner with IPV. It’s a pleasure to provide a payment solution to their customers”, says B4B Director of Accounts, Tim Robson. “B4B works with many travel companies both in Europe but increasingly in the US too. Our prepaid solution is ideal to support the industry where security and convenience are key.”

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Case studies Expense Management Insights Payroll & Payouts Sports & Leisure

B4B provides payment support for ICC Cricket World Cup

On the 30th May to 14th July 2019, cricket fans around the globe had their eyes firmly fixed on Lord’s as the thrilling 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup took place. As the top ten cricket teams in the world came together to battle it out for the world cup title, B4B Payments offered their services to the cup’s hosts, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), to provide elite payment solutions to the cricket teams, their management and key CWC staff.

B4B Payments’ prepaid business cards allowed teams from around the world to easily distribute funds to their players and staff. As B4B Payments’ prepaid business cards can be used anywhere in the world that accepts Mastercard payments, they can be monitored closely to ensure funds are being used in the correct way. This ensures corporate expense management is effortless and receipts can be managed through B4B Payments’ digital tools.

“I was very pleased with the solution B4B Payments provided to help support the players, officials and staff during the CWC19. The B4B team’s professionalism when rolling out the solution and the support provided to ensure the teams and officials could concentrate on their on-field performance, providing the best World Cup experience for the fans around the world.”

Sam de Terte, Financial Controller for the ECB

When trying to execute such a prestigious event, or travelling around the world to compete in a sports event, the last thing you want on your mind is obtaining, carrying and storing a large amount of cash. For the ECB and the teams taking part in the event, B4B Payments eliminated this problem with their prepaid business cards.

B4B Payments is privileged to work with many sporting events to provide payment solutions, for example, the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The Greater London Authority and B4B Payments also supported the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.

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Case studies Education Insights Payroll & Payouts

UWL use B4B Payments cards to tackle student hardship

The University of West London is known as The Careers University. The University has several campus’ including sites in Ealing, Brentford and Reading.

The University offers a wide variety of courses, ranging from business to nursing. 98% of UWL graduates are in employment or further study within six months of graduating. UWL has the highest satisfaction rating of all London universities according to the National Student Survey (NSS).

UWL takes its duty of care for its students very seriously. B4B Payments cards are used as a convenient way to support students who are facing financial hardship whilst pursuing their studies. After qualifying for a hardship payment, students are issued with a B4B card which is instantaneously loaded with the requisite money.

“We find the B4B system really easy to use,” says Helen Prince, Senior Finance Officer. “We often have to make payments quickly or out of hours. B4B Payments allows us to meet students’ needs as they arise, whenever that may be.”

“I’m pleased we could partner with The University of West London to support their students,” says B4B Director of Accounts, Tim Robson. “B4B works with many higher education institutions in the UK to assist them with their expenses, research payments, bursaries or open-day travel payments.”

To find out how B4B can help with payments for your educational establishment, please contact us here.

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Case studies Incentives & Perks Insights

How Bunzl used B4B Payments to reward loyal staff

B4B Payments are happy to partner with global logistics and distribution group Bunzl plc. Bunzl is the hidden giant behind many businesses taking care of non-core processes from packaging to hygiene products, from cleaning services to catering infrastructure.

“We were looking for a solution that allows our employees the freedom to spend their reward where they wish,” says Krystle Siaw, HR Business Partner. “Working with B4B Payments we came up with the My Bunzl Rewards branded Mastercard.”

The cards have been distributed across the many Bunzl divisions in UK and Ireland. The B4B system allows companies to set up their account to mirror the structure of their business units. This is important in a large company such as Bunzl with many subsidiary companies who all demand different accesses and separate reporting.

“The feedback from the business divisions and Bunzl employees themselves has been really positive,” says Krystle. “We wanted the reward process to be as easy as possible for everyone and we’re very pleased to be working with B4B Payments to make this happen.”

To discuss how B4B Payments can help your company reward its employees, please get in touch here.

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Newsroom Tools & Guides

Universities reduce the need for cash on and off campus

Cash causes so many problems for universities and other educational establishments. It’s a headache to distribute and account for with huge opportunity for fraud. It’s also a turn-off for many young people who view cash as an outdated inconvenience. In fact, increasing numbers of young people prefer not to use cash at all. Research shows that teenagers are four-times less likely to use cash than the general public and use cash for just 6% of their payments, according to debit-card company Current.

With over 2 million students in UK higher education last year, it’s a big problem for which universities are increasingly determined to find an innovative solution. The goal is to reduce the inefficiencies of cash for themselves while increasing their appeal to prospective students.

The alternative to cash

Some progressive educational establishments in the UK are turning their backs on cash-based expense management systems in favour of issuing prepaid cards.

Many of the most interesting innovations in financial services in recent years have been made with prepaid cards. The Oyster card for travel around London’s rail network was an early example followed by new challenger banks such as Monzo which targeted millennials with services initially based on prepaid cards.

One of the main reasons for this growth is that prepaid cards have emerged as a convenient way to overcome many challenges from simplifying expenditure management to breaking down barriers to financial inclusion.

Here are a few examples of how prepaid cards are delivering benefits to universities and students.

Travel Bursaries

Course days and open days are huge opportunities for universities to attract new students in person. These are important days, with most universities opening 2-3 times a year.

Many educational establishments offer travel bursaries as a way to incentivise and help students to attend these events. A prepaid card can help remove the hassle and admin involved with distributing cash for travel purposes to visitors before the open day.

Research Programmes

Research programmes are one of the most important services universities can offer to a variety of industries. They often involve some form of reward in exchange for student participation. Dealing with the administration and distribution of funds after the research is often a time-consuming task with huge scope for fraud.

Alternatively, prepaid cards offer an easy way to upload funds in a way that is far less open to fraud. Cards can be retained by regular participants so funds can be uploaded remotely after each research programme is complete and rewards have been earned, removing the need for postage and associated administration.

Supporting Student Financial Hardship

University can be a financially challenging time for many students with a reported 40% worrying about how they will finance their studies and daily life. Financial Hardship programmes can, therefore, be an important factor when students are choosing their university.

Managing such a programme can however be challenging for universities as a robust, reliable and ongoing financial process is required with regular payments being made. Delivering funds to students using a prepaid card can be automated with recurring payments. Prepaid cards enable universities to monitor spending and take far better control of where funds can be spent with the ability to prevent spending on activities such as gambling. Moreover, certain goods and services can be excluded to ensure funds are used appropriately.

And there’s more

Prepaid cards can replace the use of petty cash throughout the university, from any one-off payments to expense cards for employees and contractors. Combined with powerful receipt management tools, prepaid cards can deliver a solution that keeps you in full control of your expenditure.

How to choose a prepaid card solution

An important factor in the success of a prepaid card programme to meet the needs of both the University and its students is its ability to be used in many locations. 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.

The B4B solution is currently used by further education bodies, companies and government departments in the UK to replace inefficient cash-based systems. 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 universities and how we can help you, contact us today!

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Company News Expense Management Insights Newsroom Uncategorised

GLA Renews ambassador card programme

B4B Payments has extended its relationship with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Team London to provide prepaid cards for its London Ambassador Programme.

For the past five years the volunteering programme, driven by the Mayor of London, has welcomed nearly one million visitors to the capital every summer. The Ambassadors are the friendly face of London welcoming and assisting visitors at some of the capital’s top tourist hotspots and major sporting or cultural events.

The Ambassadors give their time freely but receive a prepaid card to use for the small expenses that enable them to carry out their duties.

Tim Robson, B4B Payments Account Director, said: “We are delighted to be renewing our relationship with the GLA to support this valuable service and the tourism industry here in London. These voluntary Ambassadors do a great job and we make life easier for both the volunteers and the GLA by streamlining their expenses process.”

The B4B solution was named Best Prepaid Product Of The Year 2019 at the prestigious Card and Payments Awards earlier this year.