Globe Wireless announced an exclusive worldwide sales and marketing relationship with CrewCash, LLC (CrewCash), a payments company offering comprehensive prepaid solutions to the commercial maritime industry.
CrewCash and ShipMoney is a new prepaid Visa® card program for captains and crew members. The program provides a very efficient and cost effective alternative to the delivery of currency to ships. It is based on reducing the number of cash deliveries and the amount of cash held onboard, thereby significantly reducing costs.
Historically, maritime companies are faced with an expensive logistical problem of delivering cash to their vessels. Cash is always required onboard and is used for crew advances as well as provisions and emergency expenses by captains. Companies generally limit the amount of cash that can be drawn onboard by their crew due to the high cost of delivering currency to vessels throughout the world. It is estimated to cost five percent or more to deliver currency to vessels.
CrewCash and ShipMoney is being introduced to the commercial maritime industry as a cost saving alternative to cash-to-master programs and a new benefit to crew members.
CrewCash offers an alternative to onboard cash advances and works like any other Visa debit card anywhere in the world. With CrewCash, crew members can receive their pay, send money to family or friends, withdraw local currency at ATM’s, make purchases using their card at stores, restaurants or online and much more.
CrewCash will make it easier for crew to receive their wages, is less expensive to convert to their home currency and is safer than carrying cash. CrewCash cardholders do not need a bank account and there is no credit check.
ShipMoney is a prepaid Visa purchasing card for captains. It provides them with a financial tool for provisions, emergency and other ship expenses. ShipMoney can be loaded and unloaded with funds any time of day, any day of the year, offering maximum flexibility to the onboard treasury function at the lowest possible cost.
ShipMoney is fully customizable and can be configured to include or exclude ATM access, as well as restricting merchants by merchant category codes. For example, ShipMoney cards can be restricted for use at casinos, massage parlors and other places captains should not be spending company funds. The Program includes real-time and downloadable expense reporting so corporate accounting will always be informed and in control.
“As a leading provider of communications, operational and IT solutions to the maritime industry, Globe Wireless is perfectly positioned to introduce CrewCash and ShipMoney” stated David Kagan, President of Globe Wireless. “We are very excited to introduce a new benefit to crew members while saving commercial maritime companies money.”
In addition to reducing costs, CrewCash will offer maritime companies a compliant solution to crew remittances once the Maritime Labor Convention is ratified. The International Labor Organization (a UN Agency) drafted the Maritime Labor Convention in 2006 to standardize and update international maritime law. Title 2, Regulation 2.2 of the states:
Each Member shall require that ship owners take measures…”to provide seafarers with a means to transmit all or part of their earnings to their families or dependents or legal beneficiaries…..and….… a system for enabling seafarers, at the time of their entering employment or during it to allot…a proportion of their wages for remittance…”