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ISS teams with Brightwell on cash-free crew pay system

ISS teams with Brightwell on cash-free crew pay system
Inchcape Shipping Services teamed with Brightwell Payments to introduce a payment system for shipowners and managers aimed at simplifying cross-border crew payments, cutting on-board cash and enhancing safety.

The new Brightwell Navigator platform enables shipowners and managers to pay crew via bank transfer and/or by loading to an OceanPay MasterCard prepaid card.

With traditional cash payments to crew, the cash is transferred from a bank to the ship by an agent, administered by the master and then carried in port by crew to make purchases or transfer money home. ISS said these cash transactions can be costly, require additional administration on board and may cause security risks.

According to ISS, through Brightwell Navigator crew will have access to less costly methods of money transfer to home accounts and their use of the OceanPay Prepaid Card provides savings over typical foreign exchange of cash.

The platform allows changes to be made in real time, such as edits to beneficiary bank accounts and OceanPay prepaid card enrollment.

The service also can be used for exception pay; shipowners can easily distribute funds to a crew member if additional financial support is required for medical bills or other emergencies.

Brightwell Navigator will confirm the registration of any recipient’s funds, ensuring transparency on transactions for any international bank and making financial institutions’ AML and KYC requirements more manageable for owners and charterers, ISS added.