How does one of the largest container operators instantly fund SWF’s around the world?
CHALLENGE
One of the biggest cargo operators at sea runs a fleet of more than 300 vessels that each have their own expense account called a Ship Welfare Fund (SWF). Traditionally, SWF expenses were paid in cash, so receipts had to be tracked, reconciled manually and reviewed by corporate accounting – a tedious, time-consuming and error-prone process. The client asked ShipMoney to solve pain points for both masters and management by creating a digital payment solution for SWFs.
Read below how does one of the largest container operators instantly fund SWF’s around the world.
SOLUTION
ShipMoney issued a Master Expense eWallet and corresponding Visa Card for each Ship Welfare Fund designating each with a unique naming configuration. Now, all of the client’s SWFs are digitally organized and corporate accounting can access automated reconciliation reports across the entire fleet.
Master Expense eWallets can be funded instantly and funds can be transferred between ship accounts in real time which helps treasury and keeps fleet-wide cash reserves more intelligently allocated. The cards allow masters to make critical purchases wherever Visa is accepted – both online and in person – and reporting is as simple as emailing scanned receipts to the payroll team.
As an example of ShipMoney solutions in action, one ship wanted to use SWF funds to print t-shirts for a crew incentive. The merchant they selected couldn’t accept cards, so the captain used ShipMoney to send a payment voucher via MoneyGram, which the merchant picked up locally in cash. Even in places where cards can’t be used, ShipMoney has developed ways to help make digital payments possible.
RESULTS
ShipMoney helped significantly reduce idle capital and the associated costs in addition to reducing the security risks and inefficiencies of sailing with large amounts of cash. Adopting ShipMoney has allowed the client to instantly fund SWFs around the world. Each ship can now carry out cashless transactions with vendors and merchants worldwide, and reporting and reconciling expenses is now a simple process.
Our platform saves considerable time for both masters and management and provides the accounting team with real-time, global visibility of funding across the entire fleet.