A top fintech has ‘done the double’ at the Emerging Payments Awards securing two nominations in the same category for a charity that began at home and another that moved out.
When Herefordshire saw some of its worst-ever floodings, allpay waded right in with its payment cards to keep victims afloat.
The Herefordshire-based fintech was already on a wave having lucked out on a National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) tender to issue prepaid Mastercard® cards distributing a special £2m fund to selected individuals.
Now, both are up for Best CSR or Charity Initiative at the Emerging Payments Awards in November.
“Charity has always played a pivotal role in ourcore values at allpay. Being in the fortunate position we are, we can positively impact those going through hardship with the use of our payment methods.
To see these results whilst supporting those impacted by the flooding in Herefordshire was an incredible experience and then to back this up with nationwide support for those who needed help during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the benefits of being prepared for the worst. We all have a role to play and being able to help those most in need is something allpay is extremely proud of.
The recognition of both programmes by this years Emerging Payments Awards judges highlights the incredible work our teams are doing day-in-day-out and we are looking forward to sharing the experience with other like–minded business’ at the awards ceremony” said Tony Killeen, Owner of allpay Limited.
Earlier this year, the Storm Dennis Flood Appeal fund was launched by The Herefordshire Community Foundation in conjunction with local newspaper The Hereford Times.
After contacting allpay to understand if they could disburse funds to victims of the floods using prepaid cards, HCF worked with the fintech to set up an emergency prepaid solution and streamlined application process that got cards to those whose property had been affected.
Supported by allpay’s in-house call centre, the cards were loaded with a one-off amount intend to alleviate the immediate impacts of flooding and allpay waived all fees for their creation to have them out and fully functioning within a week’s turnaround from compliance approval to personal asap delivery.
Some 200 cards were delivered with a total load value of just over £22,000 – of which over £17,000 was spent.
As the cards went out, the stories came back, like that of the mother whose kitchen had been devastated able to able to use her card to buy prepacked sandwiches and withdraw cash for her children to buy lunches at school. The Mastercard branded card provided an everyday way method of purchasing those essential items.
allpay backed the cards with a donation of its own to HCF (confirm sum)
Following the tender award by The NLCF, allpay worked closely with the 25th birthday project team to agree on a card delivery in line with NLCF’s 25th Birthday in November 2019 as the artwork was finalised by allpay.cards – the fintech’s card manufacturing arm of allpay.
Time scales were tight with the contract was awarded in September and competed for scheme setup, sign off card design and manufacture of the card in the first week of November 2019.
From the approval of The National Lottery’s artwork, it, again, took just over one week for allpay.cards to manufacture the new prepaid cards on-site.
Once winners were selected for the project, funds could be spent online, over the phone or at the point of sale just like a normal payment card – however, users do not have to have a bank account or credit check, there is no credit or overdraft facility.
Merchant category limitations ensured funds were spent appropriately and entirely controlled by National Lottery’s specifications.
“As a charity disbursing money to be spent on specific projects, this innovative feature positively impacted National Lottery and the local communities who have been issued cards to be spent purely on community projects”.
The card allowed for all transactions to be recorded and monitored as an audit trail – data that the National Lottery could adapt for annual reports or statements outlining the impact of the scheme.
“The prepaid cards offer a safe way to distribute funds and any unused grants can be reclaimed by The National Lottery to be used for other good causes. Over time, this can become a significant amount of money which can make a significant change if redirected to other causes and no other form of disbursing payments offers this ability.”
In total, 1990 cards have been issued to winners selected by NCLF with the total load value exceeding £1,800,000.
So far, over £400,000 has been spent using the prepaid cards already improving communities around the UK.
