Discover how to take the stress out of payroll, reduce FX fees, and manage corporate expenses with B4B Payments card services and platform solutions

Finding solutions to common business challenges in a digital world is no easy feat. Whether businesses are looking to tackle payroll challenges, take the effort out of corporate expenses, or transform payments and FX, there are solutions out there to cater for every need. 

While countries worldwide are transforming into cashless societies, the power of the card continues to grow. 

Although some might contend that smartphones and electronic payments are the way of the future, the statistics suggest that card payments are stronger than ever. 

In fact, in the UK alone, we saw 2.1 billion transactions with debit cards in August 2022, 8% more than the same month in 2021, representing a 4% higher total spend at £64.1 billion. 

With this in mind, card services are quickly becoming the top way to pay for consumers and businesses alike – but can they be used to solve payroll, expense, and FX challenges too? Read on to find out how the card services from B4B Payments can help businesses achieve just that. 

Tackling payroll challenges

According to global research findings, 16% of companies operate remotely, providing better work/life balance opportunities for those working at a distance from their company headquarters. As a result of the so-called ‘Rise of Remote Working,’ the need for employers to provide flexible payment services has also increased. 

Add to this the widely reported The Great Resignation phenomenon leading to talent shortages across industries. Many in-demand professionals are finding themselves in the advantageous position of being able to opt for new, highly-paid flexible contracts with better employee perks. Subsequently, more companies are being forced to explore outsourcing, turning to temporary contractors overseas to fill their skill gaps or restructuring their benefits packages in a bid to retain their existing employees. 

However, paying contractors or remote workers overseas can be tricky to navigate, often subjecting finance teams to complex FX fees and currency complications. Using card services can reduce foreign transaction fees and offer more currency choices for employees, contractors, or even affiliates based abroad. 

B4B Payments payroll card services are the perfect solution to the challenges of paying remote workforces, offering multi-currency support in up to 25 countries.

With reduced cash and cheque handling fees, companies can reinvest the money saved and put the funds towards providing better benefits packages. Increasing employee incentives does more to attract new talent to organisations. It can also lead to greater employee retention in the long term, so it may be an excellent option for brands that want to increase employment opportunities at their firm.  

Simplifying expenses with card services

Managing corporate expenditure is a monolithic task for finance departments, whether handling employee travel, event costs, food and drink, entertainment, or office supplies and inventory costs. 

To illustrate, in 2020, the global business travel market alone was worth approximately $700 billion and is set to grow by 188% by 2028.

Keeping track of all company expenses can take a lot of work. But, B4B Payments card services make it easy for businesses to control expenditures efficiently. We provide a safe and secure platform to load cards with funds entirely remotely. We can even help businesses set up automatic money top-ups for frequent corporate expense users. 

From a business owner’s perspective, it makes sense to allocate specific departments with carefully budgeted spending limits. B4B Payments categorises all business expenses through an easy-to-use platform that tracks and manages card expenditure on a departmental level. 

In addition, B4B Payments provides a downloadable app for employees to upload receipts. This feature centralises and stores all crucial VAT receipts from anywhere in the world, making it straightforward for accounts teams to process them for their financial statements. 

Transforming corporate payments and FX

Cross-border payments bring numerous challenges in navigating and applying fees for multi-currency transactions. 

According to Mckinsey, the total revenue of cross-border fees, mainly FX and transaction fees, can amount to up to $200 billion per year globally.

Cost-saving on these types of expenses is crucial for large or scaling businesses. In some cases, fluctuating currency rates can make long-term supplier contracts unaffordable overnight, forcing companies to look elsewhere for a better deal. 

At B4B Payments, we offer a solution with our payment and FX services that provide cost-effective solutions for corporate payment needs. 

For example, for large or scaling companies with a high volume of transactions, using B4B’s platforms will execute low-cost transfers, offer competitive FX rates, and facilitate speedy settlement times to ensure that cross-border payments in over 25 currencies remain as cost-effective and efficient as possible. 

Our B4B Payments platform is highly customisable, and delivered through a robust API that integrates into various existing systems such as Xero. Plus, businesses can export data easily in XLSX, CSV, QIF, and OFX to use in other accounting solutions like QuickBooks and Sage. Our user-friendly interface simplifies bulk payment processes and provides a clear transaction audit trail for businesses to use for reporting and analytics activities. 

Furthermore, many companies across the EU are fluent in several banking rails and card formats, including SEPA, Faster Payments, CHAPS, (USD) ACH, DKK intraday, and SWIFT. 

B4B payments instantly recognises all of these payment rails and card formats, providing businesses with a complete solution to cross-border payment needs. 

Finally, transparency is the key to managing overseas payments, and with B4B Payments, businesses are not subject to any hidden costs. We even offer a free FX transaction calculator, letting stakeholders know how much a multi-currency transaction will cost ahead of payment. 

B4B Payments make managing business finances easy

Here at B4B Payments, we have over 15 years of experience in payment innovations. We offer a host of unique card services that make handling expenses, payments, and payroll easy and highly secure. 

Our goal is to keep our clients one step ahead of their competitors and to ensure that they can keep their teams (no matter where they’re working in the world) happy by facilitating fast and transparent global transactions.

So, book a demo with us now if you would like to learn more about our card services, corporate payments, and FX transactions and how they can help stabilise your cash flow.