Research reveals that over a quarter of UK employees claim personal spend from their employers

Research by foreign currency expert FairFX has revealed that over a quarter (26%) of employees admit to claiming back personal spend on their company expenses, costing UK businesses an estimated £3.5 billion a year*.

On average, employees claim back £462 per annum of personal spend on their business expenses, telling their employers that they have spent the money on travel (24%) and accommodation (19%), when in truth many have been splurging on entertainment, food and alcohol (39%).

The promotions industry was the worst offender, with a shocking 67 per cent of respondents admitting that they had claimed personal spend back from their employers. They were closely followed by graduates and trainees, 43 per cent of whom had made fraudulent expense claims.

Financial services were the biggest culprits when it came to numbers, with the accountancy industry falsely claiming an average of £1,070 per year – more than double the overall average. They were closely followed by the banking, insurance and finance industries, who admitted claiming back £850 per year.

Stephen Heath, Chief Executive of FairFX commented:

“Times are changing and the age of overspending and overindulgence in the business sector is over.

Businesses need to find a new approach to managing employee expenses that makes the system easier and less time-consuming for the employee, and leaves a smaller margin for error. A prepaid corporate card for example could erase fraudulent claims, cut employee administration time and ensure the expenses process is easy and cost efficient, both in the UK and abroad”.

*Number of People in UK working = 28,926,000 (ONS), average amount claimed 462.45

Thursday 27 May 2010, 10:35am

Tags: business expenses, fairfx.net, research, stephen heath, study

• Businesses can make substantial savings on employee spending overseas

FairFX, the online foreign currency provider, today announces the launch of its unique business expenses platform, bringing substantially better exchange rates and significant cost savings to the business travel market.

The business expenses platform will be offered in conjunction with the FairFX prepaid currency card (available in Euros and US Dollars). The Card is a MasterCard prepaid debit card that provides market leading foreign currency rates for UK travellers.

Stephen Heath, Chief Executive of FairFX, said: “We have almost reached parity between Sterling and the Euro, so it has never been more important that businesses get better value when spending overseas. The foreign exchange market has been opaque about costs for years. We launched FairFX.com in 2007 to challenge the status quo and bring better value and complete transparency to holidaymakers. Today’s launch, via FairFX.net, is about delivering the same promise to businesses.”

The Business Expenses platform provides the capability for employers to issue, load and monitor cards, as well as exercise better control over employees’ expenditure.

The key benefits of this platform vs. other Corporate Card services are:
• Substantial reduction in foreign exchange conversion charges
• Significantly lower expenditure on initial card acquisition and annual service fees, conventional cash advance fees and late payment penalties
• Large cost savings by eliminating uncontrolled employee expenditure
• Flexible reporting system including real time alerts/exception reporting
• Reduced resources and costs by streamlining expense control and reporting

The platform has been structured as a pyramid, allowing password controlled access to its functions and reporting as required by management. Thus, full or selective access can be provided at head office and departmental levels with tailored access at the individual level.

Stephen added: “It is the online reporting area that provides the real opportunities for reduction of wastage and improved cost control. The system provides online real-time detailed reporting by user and by transaction but also has the flexibility to provide real-time alerts on spending, cost centre allocation, expense reporting and client billing allocation.”

Typical corporate charge cards:

• £30 to £80 per card per annum
• Foreign exchange conversion fees of 2.75% to 4%
• ATM withdrawal fees of 2% to 4%
• Late payment charges based on very high interest rates
• Limited real time capabilities and general system flexibility

FairFX’s corporate card:

• A 1% foreign exchange cost
• A flat ATM withdrawal fee of €1.50 or $2 (levied by the ATM networks)
• A platform usage fee to be determined based on volume
• No late payment charges as cards are pre-funded
• No hidden charges

For further information, please visit www.fairfx.net

Thursday 01 October 2009, 10:59am

Tags: business expenses, business expenses platform, business expenses software, corporate expenses