Case study: BizAway

:desktop_computer: Website: https://bizaway.com
:briefcase: Industry: B2B travel booking
:chart_with_upwards_trend: Stage: Scale up, 150+ employees
:round_pushpin: Headquarters: Italy
:credit_card: Product used: Accounts and cards

BizAway has been working to simplify business travel in Europe since 2015, aiming to streamline the user experience for complex travel needs.

Both travel agency and tech company, BizAway offers an all-in-one booking tool that works to save time on business travel planning through independent self-service and seamless customer care. BizAway has been Europe’s fastest growing company in travel according to the FT1000 for the last three years and to satisfy both provider and customer, the company needs to process and send payments efficiently. Read on to discover how Revolut Business’s virtual cards changed the game for them.

Challenge: What were their roadblocks?

As a global business, BizAway felt the obstacle of financial borders. Many of their global transactions were one-offs to overseas providers, so speed and security were critical to meeting deadlines and keeping up with customer needs.

With their original approach, the company would move money into prepaid accounts to pay global providers. Transfers often came with a lot of approval red tape and took several business days to go through, slowing the process and demanding forward planning. But it didn’t end there. The team then needed to keep an eye on the funds as they journeyed away from their main account, and ensure they securely landed in the right hands.

As BizAway started expanding rapidly in 2018, stretching from a 28-person team to nearly 160, the company outgrew this method, causing the approval process to drag. With each delay, they risked losing deals.

The team needed a scalable solution that saved time and helped them maintain a high quality of service, something that helped payments land faster and more securely, in the provider’s currency – without relying on time-consuming overseas payment corridors such as SWIFT. That’s where Revolut Business stepped in.

Solution: How did they fix it?

BizAway moved away from the several step payment process, opting instead for a condensed and simplified approach: Revolut Business’s virtual cards. Now, they use our platform to manage their business funds and make payments to global providers quickly and securely.

Virtual cards are exactly what they sound like; they don’t need to be printed or posted, so it only takes seconds to create them. Doing so smoothed out BizAway’s payments system and offered greater visibility. The company could create new cards for each supplier it needed to pay, grouping payments for better tracking over what spending went where. Setting spend limits on each card also ensured they had control over the payment amounts.

All in all, this solution allowed the company to make necessary payments seamlessly, in a variety of countries, without having to move money around. These overseas payments landed faster than other methods, which helped reconcile them efficiently.

Even better, cards could be linked to multi-currency accounts on Revolut Business to minimise FX fees. But with our competitive FX rates, BizAway could quickly exchange funds in 28+ currencies when necessary to make payments worldwide.

On top of all this, single-use virtual cards are linked to specific accounts, instead of one central one. This helps prevent fraud by allowing BizAway to protect the funds in their main account while also facilitating fast, secure overseas transactions in a range of currencies.

Results: What did they get out of it?

“We get a sense of safety with Revolut Business. We use virtual cards with automated spend limits for one-time overseas payments. That means we can manage everything from one central account, while protecting our money,” said Luca Carlucci, CEO at BizAway.

Virtual cards transformed the way BizAway handled their overseas payments. The company’s now able to easily process thousands of global transactions worth millions of euros monthly.

This payment solution also provided greater flexibility, convenience, and scalability that evolved with their business. Each employee on BizAways Revolut Business account can hold as many as 200 virtual cards, letting them continue to easily manage these payments as they grow. And if they worry about the security of the providers, they can freeze, unfreeze, or disable these cards directly in-app.

Bottom line? The team said goodbye to waiting time and hello to better control and visibility over their cash flow and spend from one central hub. With all the time they saved, the team could focus on maintaining their company’s core goal: to make business travel simple and efficient. Revolut Business’s cards have helped BizAway break down the borders of their company to go truly global.

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