B2B Pay provides NGOs and SMEs from developing and developed countries with a virtual bank account in Europe to make it easier for them to receive funds via a domestic bank transfer. Payment aggregation and the automation of compliance procedures provides them cost savings of up to 80%.
The problem
Transferring funds from Europe to developing countries is inefficient and slow. Furthermore, it is costly due to high fees, poor exchange rates, and bureaucracy (average costs are 3 to 6%). As a result, charities and NGOs lose money destined for developing country projects and beneficiaries. SMEs and small exporters also lose money, and also have greater difficulty accessing European markets, loans, and reasonably-priced credit for investment.
Our solution
We provide high quality banking services to SMEs/NGOs worldwide at a fair price. Upon initial sign-up and customer verification the customer gets a local European IBAN (International Bank Account Number). They can use this number for invoicing and receiving payments from 35 countries in Europe (SEPA countries). We move the difficult paperwork to the start, so it only needs to be done once.
After that, we only require the invoice (or similar document) for each incoming payment to process the funds. We send the money to the local bank account for a transparent fee of 1% from the mid-market rate.
In comparison, a European bank would usually charge more than 6% in fees to send Euros exchanged to Indian Rupees to a local Indian bank account.
Innovation
Large banks are unable to support SMEs in a cost effective way and with the same quality of service that they provide larger corporate clients due to their high overhead costs, and extremely complex IT systems, compliance requirements, and foreign exchange products. As a result, SMEs and low volume recipients such as charities must pay huge fees and are thus unable to fully engage in international markets.
B2B Pay is an innovative approach to banking for small-scale recipients of funds, such as those in developing countries. We offer an alternative to the large banks in order to provide fair exchange rates, reduced bureaucracy, and access to vital European capital, credit, and investors for SMEs/NGOs in developing countries.
We also have automated compliance as well as simplified the international payment process and currency conversion.
Our Impact
We bring high quality banking services, benefits, and lower costs to the wider SME/NGO sector. For example, we help a small tour operator in northern India become better connected with their customers in Northern Europe by alleviating customers' anxiety of sending money to India. Now the customers simply make a domestic transfer to the tour operator’s virtual EU bank account, making the process hassle and anxiety-free for everyone. The tour operator saves money on the cost of the currency conversion and fees by 80%, so they keep more of their profit margin, and are therefore able expand their business, hire more employees, reinvest funds, and the (positive) cycle of progress continues...!
We're working with NGOs in the United States (501(c)(3)) and Canada.
B2B Pay - UBS Asoka social innovations 2016 from guaka on Vimeo.
B2B Pay is a financial technology company. Together with partners like Nordea Bank and Barclays Bank, we are changing the way importers and exporters make their international payments. We have made the process simpler, faster, more secure, and very affordable. We offer solutions to global traders exporting to Europe for whom we facilitate payment through virtual bank accounts, with a strong focus on small and medium sized exporters.
B2B Pay is dedicated to improving the social welfare of the community it operates in. We go beyond the mandatory requirements of government regulatory bodies and environmental protection agencies. We organize various corporate social responsibility or CSR activities with the goal of making a positive impact on the community and environment at large.
Beyond business
Beyond business, we aspire to make the world around us a better place. We do this through various activities.
An example: A Conscious World
Canadian NGO A Conscious World sells books about children with autism. B2B Pay makes receiving money from sales in Europe a lot easier and cheaper.
Open source
We aim to give back to the free software community.
https://github.com/b2bpay/open