B4B Payments provides smart and flexible payment processing solutions, which enable any size organisation to manage expenses, simplify payroll and offer employee rewards and incentives.
MPC Interviews the Head of Channels & Strategic Partnerships, Lori Breitzke, of B4B Payments.
Check out further information here.
Paula Roberts, payments expert at B4B Payments, discusses the potential benefits of digital transformation of payments in the waste industry.
Check out further information here.
B4B has a long history of supporting charities that align with social and financial inclusion values. These organisations use B4B’s proprietary technology and prepaid Mastercard card solution to manage and distribute funds in challenging circumstances. However, these organisations are more than just clients, and B4B goes beyond standard commercial relationships to support these important causes.
In 2016, B4B was approached by Human Appeal, a non-profit organisation working globally to strengthen humanity’s fight against poverty, social injustice and natural disasters.
The organisation aims to invest in real, effective solutions by providing immediate relief and establishing self-sustaining development programmes.
One of the main challenges facing Human Appeal was managing the process of buying emergency supplies such as food, blankets, and other urgently needed essentials. These purchases would need to be made by field agents who were face-to-face with victims and their often-desperate circumstances.
The B4B team saw that their expense management solution using prepaid cards was the perfect solution for Human Appeal.
The expense cards provide an alternative to cash when paying for essentials like food, shelter, or medical care. They also give team leaders access to a portal so disbursed funds can be tracked and spending monitored. In emergencies, funds can be topped up remotely, no matter where the cards may be.
As a Sharia-compliant financial organisation, B4B and Human Appeal are growing together, allowing funds from Zakat to be spent compliantly and where most needed. Being Sharia-compliant means the aid dispatched fulfils the principles of the Islamic faith and adheres to Sharia law.
Human Appeal manages its prepaid card portfolio through an intuitive, easy-to-use platform and app that enables staff to send representatives recurring or one-off payments instantly.
For the representatives in the field, the process is simple and convenient. They receive their B4B card and complete financial visibility through the app, enabling them to monitor and manage their funds in one place. Balances can be checked, and transactions can be reviewed at a glance. Features such as real-time SMS notifications help representatives keep track of their spending and balances.
In 2023, the two organisations were able to support each other’s growth into the US market, which is strategically vital for both organisations.
As part of the planning and setting up of its new centre in California, Human Appeal extended its UK relationship to include the services of B4B’s operation in the US in March 2023. This extension of the relationship enabled Human Appeal to issue B4B Visa cards to its US-based team.
The next step in the growth of the partnership is to integrate Human Appeal’s German and Irish entities with B4B’s expense programme. For these entities, B4B has once again offered to adhere to its lower rates offered for humanitarian organisations.
“Human Appeal has worked with B4B for many years and have found them an ideal partner to work with to support our charitable work. We have found B4B responsive to our needs and have extended the partnership to our sister organisation in the US. We look forward to working with B4B in the future and growing our collaboration.” – Asif Nazar, Head of Finance, Human Appeal.
The B4B Payments solution is designed to be as straightforward and innovative as possible. For charities, its prepaid cards offer a practical solution, enabling Human Appeal to distribute funds to their aid workers instantly and eliminating the risk that comes with carrying cash.
Humanitarian causes are close to the heart of the B4B team, and they are pleased to be able to offer Human Appeal preferential commercial terms for a service that has become an essential part of its growing global operations.
Photo of Tim Robson & Edwina Wilkins, B4B Payments, with Asif Nazar & Misbah Shikdar (Head of Finance & Finance Manager) at Human Appeal’s Manchester HQ (2023).
The Nordic region, known for its tech-savvy population and stable financial systems, is becoming a prime breeding ground for ambitious fintech startups. With high mobile payment adoption, a focus on sustainability, and robust regulatory frameworks, the stage is set for exciting innovations and collaborations.
Check out further information here.
The show’s host, Rogier Rouppe van der Voort, explores Brian’s expertise in BaaS and how this breakthrough model is enabling companies to extend their services to provide customers and generate new revenue.
BaaS breaks the mould for the delivery of banking services. It gives non-financial institutions the ability to offer core banking services such as card issuance, payment acceptance and FX service. Thanks to BaaS, a business can launch its own banking services without having to go through the lengthy and costly process of attaining its own licence. They also avoid the need to build their own complex infrastructure for the delivery of those services.
Swedish startup Juni, which was listed as 2021’s fastest-growing fintech startup in Europe, is one of B4B’s most recent high-profile BaaS success stories.
‘BaaS has grown rapidly in recent years,’ explained Brian, ‘which has naturally attracted some new service providers into the market. With BaaS, organisations can quickly integrate banking functionalities into their existing products or services, eliminating the need for extensive development and regulatory hurdles.
‘BaaS is pushing innovation by allowing for the creation of tailored financial solutions that boost customer loyalty and engagement. Ultimately, it empowers businesses to scale efficiently, adapt to evolving market demands, and enter new markets with ease.’
The PCN podcast episode featuring Brian Lawlor is live, and you can catch it on all major platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Power your payments vision with B4B Payments as your
Banking as a Service Provider.
Meet the team at Money 20/20 Europe at stand 8A 300.
Book a meeting here
In a world where companies struggle to offer incentives that truly satisfy their employees and traditional benefits often miss the mark, a significant change is happening. Performance Bonus solves the pains of incentive and rewards scheme administration and delivery whilst also increasing companies’ Return On Investment(ROI).
Teaming up with B4B Payments since 2019, Performance Bonus specialises in delivering BONUS rewards through prepaid Visa / Mastercard products. These cards, accepted globally in over 30 million locations, comply with the UK’s taxation requirements.
David Burton, CEO of Performance Bonus Ltd, states, “Partnering with B4B Payments has created exactly the ‘win-win’ result we intended. For Performance Bonus, it has broadened our offering, already winning new clients, and for B4B Payments, it has opened up a ‘turn-key’ solution through us into the incentives and rewards market”.
To date, Performance Bonus has successfully administered over £20 million in rewards through various programs, including Business (B2B) promotions, in-house sales incentives, and staff recognition initiatives.
Experts in leveraging accessible digital channels, Performance Bonus ensures effective communication and delivery of incentive programs. This extends to embedding the reward payment solution into clients’ Intranets/Apps or their BONUSme Microsoft Azure Hosted application.
Clients can either outsource their complete programme fulfilment through Performance Bonus or have direct access and control of their brand solutions using their systems and support as required.
The Performance Bonus success story includes helping a lead client dominate the motor finance incentive space for over a decade. This was achieved through a bespoke incentive solution that evolved to reward salespeople based on customer satisfaction and NPS score achievement via a branded prepaid card solution.
To achieve Performance Bonus’ potential, they found B4B’s flexibility, capability and approach enabled them to
David Burton continued, “We had experienced a couple of ‘false starts’ with other possible partners, but the ‘can do’ attitude at B4B has made the creation of our joint offering a real pleasure to be involved with”.
Together, Performance Bonus and B4B Payments have built the strategic asset that Performance Bonus sought by adding compliant prepaid capabilities alongside their performance measurement and rewards administration offerings.
Tim Robson, Account Director at B4B Payments, expresses optimism for the future, stating, “It’s really good to see the incentive and reward products we have created together working so well, and with much of the market turmoil of the last few years hopefully now behind us, we wish Performance Bonus every success in our partnership moving forward”.
London, 19th March 2024 – Thredd, a leading modern payments processor serving clients globally, has announced its official entry into the United States debit and prepaid card issuing market with long-standing partner, B4B Payments. This strategic move underscores Thredd’s commitment to support its clients’ expansion plans in key global markets.
Check out further information here and the sources below.
PYMNTS – Thredd Enters US Card Issuing Market With B4B Partnership
Finextra – Thredd enters US debit and credit card issuing market
Fintech Finance News – Thredd Announces Expansion Into the United States Card Issuing Processing Market
Financial IT – THREDD ANNOUNCES EXPANSION INTO THE UNITED STATES CARD ISSUING PROCESSING MARKET
Fintech Global – Thredd partners with B4B Payments to launch US debit and prepaid card processing
Electronic Payments International – Thredd expands into the US card issuing market
Only Strategic – Thredd announces expansion into the United States card issuing processing market Trend
The Paypers – Thredd expands into the US market
B4B Payments, a global leader in electronic business payment solutions, has proudly announced that it has joined Payments as a Lifeline (PaaL) to significantly reduce the time it takes to provide financial assistance to individuals, especially during a natural disaster, emergency, or in cases of chronic aid.
Check out further information here.
‘Why breaking up banking means better financial services’
Legacy banking services will be a hot topic when Brian Lawlor, Group Chief Commercial Officer, B4B Payments, is the special guest on the Tech People podcast in January.
B4B Payments offers Banking as a Service (BaaS) technology that enables businesses to provide the kind of financial services that previously only banks could offer.
‘We are helping to break apart the old model. Through BaaS, we allow organisations to offer new and improved access to those core banking services such as issuing cards, making payments, or FX – and it can be virtually any type of business that takes advantage of that. Not just banks or even financial service companies.’
Brian met the podcast’s host, Ken Coyne, at Money 20/20 USA in October last year, and Ken was interested in learning more about Brian and the ethics driving B4B Payments.
The podcast seeks to show ‘how diversity, creativity, and innovation, when nurtured in people, can lead to an unbeatable formula’. This series of interviews ‘share the experiences of some truly inspirational leaders on their journey to customer success.’
Brian joins a long list of previous guests from major organisations across different types of technology industries organisations. Recent podcasts have featured Diane Acevedo, SVP, Operations and Customer Experience at Gabb Wireless, speaking about how to overcome the negative impacts of technology on children. Owen Fitzpatrick spoke about leadership principles and the importance of what leaders believe rather than what they think. David Urban, CEO of Auctioneer, shared his views about AI and the future of coaching for founders.
Brian will be sharing stories and learnings from his professional journey, leadership insights and the principles driving B4B Payments today.
As part of his 20-year career, Brian has played vital roles in launching key fintechs, including Soldo, Revolut, Wise, Monzo and Juni. In 2020, Brian joined Banking Circle, which eventually acquired B4B Payments, an EMI in the UK and Lithuania and a principal member of both Visa and Mastercard. Following the acquisition, Brian assumed the role of Group Chief Commercial Officer at B4B Payments.
The benefits of BaaS are most widely felt across the whole eCommerce sector especially travel. Buyers can now not only choose the goods or services they want to buy but also select other banking products that might help them make their current purchase, such as a loan or apply for a card that rewards their future loyalty to their favourite brands.
B4B Payments have a long history of shaking up industries and cutting through red tape.
Migrant Help is an organisation that provides invaluable initial assistance to victims of modern slavery and trafficking.
Exploited individuals often don’t have the ability to open a typical bank account. So, physical cash handouts were given to migrants for immediate help. This presented obvious risk and security issues. A prepaid Mastercard was the perfect alternative – offering all the benefits of a cash-free system without requiring the paperwork and process of an individual bank account.
B4B Payments are helping to make businesses more competitive, as showcased by the services it provides to two Danish fintechs, OneMoneyWay (insert link) and Zento (insert link). They are using B4B technology to simplify corporate payments for SMEs, eliminating the lengthy processes and high costs typically associated with opening a corporate bank account in Denmark.
The episode of the Tech People podcast featuring Brian Lawlor will be published on (the 28 February) and available from all popular aggregators, including Apple and Spotify.
“B4B is a key voice in the payments landscape, and they will continue to play a critical role in helping shape the future of payments.”
— Brian Tate, IPA President and CEO
Check out further information here.
Skip to the content
